ROCK SCHOOL Series 2

You might want to bookmark this one to come back to as you have time. I have posted videos from the Rock School series in the past, but this is currently the most comprehensive set if not the complete series - eight episodes broken up into twenty four videos. I opted to create eight playlists for the eight episodes so you can read the description for each under each set of three videos. This one in via willy who sent in Series 2 - Episode 5 (part 3 of 3) with Bill Bruford explaining his simmons drums. I figured I'd put the whole series up. Videos below.


YouTube Uploaded by tomstimemachine on Jul 14, 2008

"Taking over from where the first series left off, the second set of ROCKSCHOOL television programs focuses its attention on new technology and its implications for the musicians of the day.

Synthesisers, samplers, sequencers and drum machines are all covered, as are electronic drum systems, computer hardware and software (remember this is 1987 - so this is for retro-heads only) and synthesisers for guitar and bass. There are also tips on how to make the most of the human voice, and on songwriting and arrangement.

This series was shown on TV in the UK during 1987.

EPISODE ONE

KEYBOARDS
THE ACOUSTIC PIANO WITH THE COMMUNARDS ON "BREADLINE BRITAIN" AND HERBIE HANCOCK.

HISTORY OF THE SYNTHESISER
TOUCH SENSITIVITY, MODULAR SYNTHS, MINI MOOG, CLIP OF JAN HAMMER AND THE MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA IN 1972, CLIP OF RICK WAKEMAN, POLYPHONIC SYNTHS, MELLOTRON, TONY BANKS, SYNTHS WITH MEMORY SUCH AS THE PROPHET FIVE, CLIP OF JAPAN ON THE "OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST", RACK-MOUNTED EFFECTS.

HOW DOES A SYNTH WORK ?
WAVEFORMS, OSCILLATORS, HOW TO CREATE A SOUND, WHAT TO PLAY - CLIP OF THOMAS DOLBY."


Uploaded by tomstimemachine on Jul 19, 2008

"EPISODE TWO

MIDI
HOW TO USE MIDI, JAN HAMMER ON LAYERING SOUNDS USING MIDI.

GUITAR SYNTHS
A DEMONSTRATION OF ROLAND'S G-707 AND G-77 BASS.

SEQUENCERS
CLIP OF DEPECHE MODE , DEMO OF ROLAND MC-500 , VINCE CLARKE USING THE BBC COMPUTER.

DRUM MACHINES
DEMO OF KORG DDD-1, PROGRAMMING YOUR SEQUENCER OR DRUM MACHINE, CLIP OF ERASURE, DRUMMERS USING DRUM MACHINES AND "WORKING WITH THE CLICK", DEMONSTRATION BY STING DRUMMER - OMAR HAKIM.


Uploaded by tomstimemachine on Jul 20, 2008

EPISODE THREE

EIGHTIES SYNTHPOP
CLIP OF THE YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA IN 1979, CLIP OF BRONSKI BEAT.

SO ! - HOW DO YOU MAKE UP THESE SINGLE NOTE MELODIES ?
MAJOR AND MINOR SCALES, TRIADS, CHORDS, CHORD INVERSIONS AND TWO-HANDED KEYBOARD PLAYING.

THE VOCALS
CLIP FROM JAMES BROWN, MIDGE URE ON VOCAL TECHNIQUE AND GRAHAM BONNETT ON LOOKING AFTER YOUR VOICE, CLIP FROM EURYTHMICS.


Uploaded by tomstimemachine on Jul 22, 2008

EPISODE FOUR

SOLOING - VOCALS
EXPRESSION, PHRASING AND DYNAMICS, MIDGE URE AND JAMES INGRAM ON VIBRATO, GRAHAM BONNETT ON TECHNIQUE.

SOLOING - GUITAR
STRING-BENDING, VIBRATO AND TREMELO TECHNIQUES, IMPROVISING, THE PENTATONIC BLUES SCALES, MAJOR AND MINOR SCALES, DORIAN AND MIXOLYDIAN MODES, HAMMER-ONS AND PULL-OFFS, FRET TAPPING.

SOLOING - BASS
BASS PLAYING TECHNIQUES.

SOLOING - KEYBOARDS
PITCH BENDING, MODULATION, TOUCH-SENSITIVITY AND AFTER-TOUCH, FINGERING TECHNIQUES, JAN HAMMER DEMONSTRATING HIS TECHNIQUE AND TONY BANKS ON WRITING SOLOS.

SOLOING - DRUMS
HOW TO BUILD A DRUM SOLO.


Uploaded by tomstimemachine on Jul 23, 2008

EPISODE FIVE

GUITAR AND BASS SYNTHESISERS
USING ROLAND'S GR-707, GK-1 PICK-UP AND GR-77B, CONNECTING TO SYNTH MODULES VIA MIDI, MIDGE URE ON THE DIFFICULTIES OF USING GUITAR SYNTHS.

THE SYNTHAXE
IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE SYNTHAXE PLUS DEMONSTRATION BY ALAN HOLDSWORTH.

CREATING SOUNDS ON DIGITAL SYNTHESISERS
PROGRAMMING THE DX-7, CONTROLLING OTHER KEYBOARDS VIA MIDI USING A SYCOLOGIC PATCH BAY.

ELECTRONIC DRUM KITS
OVERVIEW OF USING ELECTRONIC KITS AND MIDI, BILL BRUFORD USING THE SIMMONS SDS-9 , SDS-7 AND MTM.


Uploaded by tomstimemachine on Jul 24, 2008

EPISODE SIX

KEYBOARD TECHNIQUES
TWO-HANDED PLAYING, BASS-LINES, BLUES, ROCK'N'ROLL AND BOOGIE LICKS, FULL DEMONSTRATION OF TECHNIQUES BY JOOLS HOLLAND, CLIP OF ELTON JOHN PLAYING LOVE LIES BLEEDING. SELWYN BROWN ON REGGAE KEYBOARD TECHNIQUES.

DRUM TECHNIQUES
BUILDING FROM BASIC RYTHMNS, LEFT-HANDED PLAYING.

GUITAR AND BASS TECHNIQUES
BUILDING FROM SIMPLE TO COMPLEX FUNK PATTERNS, FITTING-IN THE BASS IN WITH THE DRUM RYTHMNS.


Uploaded by tomstimemachine on Jul 27, 2008

EPISODE SEVEN

ORCHESTRATION TECHNIQUES
STRUCTURING CHORDS AND MELODIES, TONY BANKS ON COMPLEX ARRANGEMENTS, MAJOR TENTH AND MINOR TENTH CHORDS, VOCAL HARMONIES, MICHAEL McDONALD, JAMES INGRAM, AMY HOLLAND AND DAVID PACK DEMONSTRATING VOCAL HARMONIES USING THE DOOBIE BROTHERS HIT "MINUTE BY MINUTE" AND PYRAMID HARMONIES USING "JUST CAN'T LET GO".

SAMPLING
USING A SAMPLER FOR ADDING TOUCH-SENSITIVITY TO AN ANOLOGUE SYNTH SOUND AND COMBINING SEVERAL KEYBOARDS ONTO ONE.

GUITAR ORCHESTRATION
GUITAR VOICINGS AND CHORD ARRANGEMENTS, ANDY SUMMERS (THE POLICE) ON ARRANGEMENTS AND HARMONIC TECHNIQUES, ARTIFICIAL HARMONICS.

BASS ORCHESTRATION
USE OF PEDAL NOTES, CHORD INTERVALS.


Uploaded by tomstimemachine on Jul 31, 2008

EPISODE EIGHT

SONG STRUCTURE AND ARRANGEMENTS
THE BRIDGE, THE MIDDLE-EIGHT, PUTTING TOGETHER ALL THE TECHNIQUES DISCUSSED DURING THE SERIES.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR DRUMS
CHOOSING A RYTHMN, "STING" DRUMMER OMAR HAKIM ON HOW HE DEVELOPED THE DRUM PARTS FOR THE TRACK CHILDRENS CRUSADE.

BASSLINES
DEVELOPING A BASS LINE USING , THIRDS, FIFTHS, OCTAVES AND KEY SCALE NOTES TO BUILD A MELODY, USING THE 5-STRING BASS GUITAR.

KEYBOARD AND GUITAR ARRANGEMENTS
RIFFS, SUSTAINED CHORDS, PADS, SELWYN BROWN ON ARRANGEMENTS, MIDGE URE (ULTRAVOX) AND TONY BANKS (GENESIS) ON MAJOR AND MINOR KEYS WITH REFERENCE TO "SUPPER'S READY", RICHARD COLES AND JIMMY SOMERVILLE (THE COMMUNARDS) ON CHOOSING KEYS.

THE VOCALS
JULIET ROBERTS (WORKING WEEK) ON LYRICS, VOCAL TECHNIQUES, GETTING TO KNOW YOUR VOICE, MIDGE URE ON VOCALS, AND ROUNDING OFF THE SERIES WITH THE "ROCK-SCHOOL" BAND PLAYING A FULL SONG.