Ricky Syers D-Rail Station
This groove begins at 1:14 in the video where Syers plays a wicked linear pattern. The word linear simply means that no two drums hit at the same time (as you can see from the notation above). The cowbell plays a son clave rotation with the right stick while the left stick fills in with hi-hat and snare.
The first time through the groove (i.e. measure 1), Syers actually misses the snare drum on beat 2, hitting the rim instead because of his small setup. While it was an accident, I think it made the groove even cooler. Starting off by only smacking the snare backbeat on 4 makes a great intro and a less repetitive-sounding beat. I’ve notated the rim mishap in the transcription above. Sometimes accidents bring just the right sauce!
