STEWART COPELAND

Hi Stewart,

When I was 15 my family went on holiday to the South of France and I borrowed one cassette from my Auntie to take with me as I had just got a walkman but no music for it yet...

So i borrowed the Reggatta de Blanc album from her.. and it blew me away on the first listen; which was travelling by coach through the night to France with the yellow motorway lights whipping past...
I listened to it straight for two weeks and when I got back to the UK I took up the drums.

It's still my favourite Police album not just because it was the first one I heard but because there was a freedom to the group's playing on it which was never repeated somehow...

Now over the years I've managed to learn various Copeland licks and patterns but there's one that still eludes me which is ironic because it's one of the pieces that insipired me to play in the first place.

"Reggatta de Blanc" - the fast cross stick /hi hat pattern at the start of the track. Played very fast and smothered in delay it's impossible for me to work out. And I've tried various approaches; slowing it down; paradiddles; I can get something close to it but I can't work out the real pattern underneath the surface.

Please Stewart, if you read this would you send me a jpeg of the pattern in music notation?

My email: ghorra23@yahoo.co.uk

I'd appreciate it man.

Anyway, continued good luck to you and thanks for all the music!

Lawrence Ghorra

Hey, Larry, and welcome aboard ! Hope you get a response and please post it here. Surely St. Jeff will comment. There are probably some tracks laid down and played over, or however they do it in the studio ( how can I forget this as I've read different things here. Did you try searching this here to see if there are any related threads?)

Thanks for the welcome. I will.

On Google - site:stewartcopeland.net "your keyword here"

This has been suggested to work better than the internal search, Larry.

A forum member named Spec A has posted many videos of himself playing the drum part of Police songs. He's really good, and you may find the answer to your question by viewing his videos. He doesn't drop in here too often these days, so you may have to do some digging for yourself. A thread search may help you come across it, or you might try to find the video on his Youtube channel. I'm not sure what name he goes by on Youtube. It may be Special Anthony. Can any of you guys with better memories than me (that's like all of you at this point) help me out here?
Oh, and it's nice to hear from you, Larry. (I'd say welcome, but I see you've been a member for awhile now.)

luddite lady wrote:A forum member named Spec A has posted many videos of himself playing the drum part of Police songs. He's really good, and you may find the answer to your question by viewing his videos. He doesn't drop in here too often these days, so you may have to do some digging for yourself. A thread search may help you come across it, or you might try to find the video on his Youtube channel. I'm not sure what name he goes by on Youtube. It may be Special Anthony. Can any of you guys with better memories than me (that's like all of you at this point) help me out here?
Oh, and it's nice to hear from you, Larry. (I'd say welcome, but I see you've been a member for awhile now.)

Hi Luddite Lady!

I found Special Anthony's You Tube channel. I'll try contacting him through it and see if he can help.

Thanks for the advice!

Well, I believe I have solved the mystery of the opening fast cross stick pattern on REGGATTA DE BLANC - and it only took me 28 years!!

I slowed it down yesterday with VLC player on my phone and I think I've got it down.

The pattern is made up of 2 rhythmic motifs: a 3 beat and a 6 beat.

the 3 beat is: LRR
the 6 beat is: LLRLRR

the pattern starts on the "and" of beat 1.

it begins: 3 3 6 3 3 3 6 3 6
after this the pattern loops round: 3 3 3 6 3 6

or in sticking notation: LRR LRR LLRLRR LRR LRR LRR LLRLRR LRR LLRLRR
followed by: LRR LRR LRR LLRLRR LRR LLRLRR - this line repeats:

LRR LRR LRR LLRLRR LRR LLRLRR / LRR LRR LRR LLRLRR LRR LLRLRR...

**WARNING DO NOT TRY AND PLAY AT FULL SPEED YOU MAY INJURE YOURSELF!**

Many thanks for transcribing this, Larry. Wow! Practice, practice, practice.