DESCRIPTION:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/darkest-hour-deluxe-version/id896071929
https://www.facebook.com/DarkestHourDudes
http://officialdarkesthour.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkest_Hour_(album)

To my memory, I haven't really recounted the story of how I joined DH--at least on my YouTube account--so this is as appropriate a time as ever, methinks. Back in November 2011, Taylor told me that the guys were renting a space for rehearsals for upcoming tours (this is shortly after they parted with Parrish). Taylor recommended me for the gig, told me they were interested, and I learned "Savor the Kill" and "Your Everyday Disaster" and made the drive to the studio. We hit it off well and they particularly appreciated the fact that I played to a click, something they'd never done before in a live setting. We kept in touch and eventually reconvened in March of the following year to hold the first pre-production/writing session of what would become this self-titled record. Many sessions of its kind would follow, as well as some one-off gigs before--in April 2013--I was announced as an official member. These drum tracking sessions transpired in August of last year.

"Lost for Life" is the first tune we ever wrote as a collective and "Wasteland" was within the first batch that comprised that initial pre-pro session. The writing process itself was incredibly rewarding, as we wrote the vast majority (90%) in a room together, just bouncing ideas around. It was wholly organic, collaborative, fun, and something I hadn't truly experienced since Taylor and I were in bands together many years prior. Invariably, we'd record our pre-pro sessions then I'd take the drum parts that I was writing on the fly/improvising, plug the parts into Guitar Pro and further refine them. Although we took our time and put every ounce of effort into making this the best album we could produce, many factors would change; be it days before tracking drums, seconds before delving into a take, or in some instances after I tracked (more on that in future videos, hah). Consequentially, there are an abundance of punch-ins but hopefully that doesn't detract from the entertainment.

As for gear, although I was endorsing a different brand of cymbals at the time, everyone agreed on using Zs for the bulk of my setup. If we had had access to an A Mega Bell ride and some 13" A Custom Mastersound hats, we would've used those as well hah. The tom-toms were 14" and 18" Pearl Session floor toms from the 90s, and the kick was Taylor's own. We also used a few different snares, also from Taylor's collection; "Wasteland" features a pre-DDRUM Vinnie Paul Pearl signature snare.

Notes:
"Wasteland"
0:42 - cymbal orchestrations complement chords
1:14, 2:15 - double bass onslaught subsides, transitioning into a syncopated, angular, quasi-linear beat
guitar solo - super simple playing to highlight teh noodlez
3:22 - cymbal orchestrations complement vocals
3:43 - 9-tuplets
3:46 - 4:02 - china locks in with guitar stabs, excluding the two bars from 3:55 - 4:00
"Lost for Life"
verses - hats/crash trade-offs complement guitar
5:26 - crash/china complement vocals
6:29 - 6:37 - the disappearance of the foot cam here is because it slipped my mind to film this particular punch-in. whoops

Full drum set transcriptions:
"Wasteland"
http://www.travisorbin.com/images/DarkestHour-Wasteland.JPG
Tempo = 111 BPM
"Lost for Life"
http://www.travisorbin.com/images/DarkestHour-LostForLife.JPG
Tempo = 170 BPM

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