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What is more concerning to me is the lack of timing in that loop. It starts fast - smooths out - then seems to really drag at the end of the loop.
At least, that's what it sounds like to me.




Scott,
I know what you're talking about. How a person listens to drums has a bearing on the perceived timing.
I worked with a drummer (Franky York) who was/is a true percussion phenomenon - he could/can play a different beat with each hand and foot, and be right on the metronome with all four. Franky's drum teacher played guitar and bass in a band with Franky and I, and when those two were the rhythm section, things got very weird - you know they were right on the money, but the beat sounded "off"....to me
Larry Thornton is another technically excellent drummer who I had the pleasure of sharing the rhythm section with when playing bass in a country band, and he was all about "nuances". Larry would (typically) keep the kick drum on the beat, and work the rest of the kit all around it, slightly off the clock, to suit the style of the song. To me, Larry sounded more "on the beat"...




Oren, I hear you - but I don't think that's what was going on here. I think it might be the way the .mp3 decoder was working on the desktop machine I first auditioned rharv's loop.

On my laptop, I didn't hear any of the slow-downs that I heard on the desktop.

In High School, I played in bands with Doug Corella. Doug is the percussionist/keyboard player in a band that had some commercial success in the early 2000's called "The Verve Pipe". You may remember their big hit 'Freshman' (I'm pretty sure this was a Billboard top 10). Anyhow, Doug could play around any beat he felt like. While most High School drummers in my day had posters of Neil Peart and Alex Van Halen on their bedroom walls, Doug had posters of Louie Bellson and Buddy Rich on his walls. He could play hi-hat like Stewart Copeland. In fact, it was likely that he was a better drummer than the Verve Pipe's "official" drummer, but I believe Doug joined the band several years after it was formed. He's still the best drummer I've ever had privilege to play with. I got used to it. I didn't know how special it was until trying to play keys in the pickup-jazz band we had at college. Doug could make any beat have a pocket that was easy to get into no matter where it was and make you smile the whole time. My playing was better because of it. In fact, I was so used to it that I felt my live skills dwindle and personal frustration rise over the years with playing live, to the point that I didn't play in any bands for a good 10 years. I still haven't experienced that joy since.