Nick Mason and his drums are a bundle deal. You may’t have one with out the opposite. Because the lead drummer and sole member of Pink Floyd to have been part of each single one among their albums, Mason’s drumming expertise and enter in making Pink Floyd sound the way in which they do, have been an important a part of serving to the band attain nice heights.
Mason has been fully dedicated to his drum package, and his array of different percussion devices, solely on uncommon events has he performed some other instrument. He has had a jazz and large band music affect, an element which has led him to take up acoustic drums. He has mastered utilizing tuned percussions, digital drums and rototoms as properly, combining all of the percussion devices to create a harmonic and melodic sound.
He was appointed a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) within the 2019 New Yr Honours “for providers to music”, introduced to him by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace in Might 2019, additional solidification of his legacy. Mason, who has additionally been awarded a BASCA (British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, now often called The Ivors Academy) Gold Badge in recognition of his contributions to music, pioneered a brand new solution to play the instrument he loves so dearly. He has carried out on the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Video games and collaborated with numerous artists together with his former Pink Floyd members to carry out on stage.
Though Pink Floyd had by no means formally disbanded, the band successfully got here to an finish with Richard Wright’s demise in 2008. Nick Mason shaped a brand new band in 2018 known as Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets and techniques to carry out Pink Floyd’s earlier works. The band has, since then, toured world wide, however needed to halt and postpone their third tour as a result of Covid-19 pandemic.
Listed below are 5 of Nick Masons’ remoted drum tracks so that you can pay attention whilst you wait for his or her tour to renew.
Nick Mason’s finest drum tracks:
Pink Floyd – ‘Time’
‘Time’ is the fourth observe on Pink Floyd’s album Darkish Aspect of the Moon which was launched in 1973. It was shared as a single within the US. The lyrics of the track cope with the traditional idea of how time slips by and earlier than one realise it, it turns into too late to return. To make the sound of the observe appear extra actual, lengthy introductory passages of clocks ticking and alarms charming we included in it.
The sound of the clocks was adopted by Nick Mason’s drum solo with rototoms. Within the background, Roger Waters performed a tick-tock sound by choosing on two muted strings of his bass. Mason later stated, “The drums used on the ‘Time’ observe are rototoms. I feel we did some experiments with another drums known as boo-bans, that are very small, tuned drums, however the rototoms truly gave the perfect impact.”
Pink Floyd – ‘Younger Lust’
‘Younger Lust’ appeared in Pink Floyd’s album known as The Wall which was shared in 1979. The album revolves round a narrative a couple of character known as Pink, who’s an alienated Rockstar. On this track, Pink has achieved fame, and due to standard demand, he has needed to lead a life on the street. In fact, that bought tedious. So, to alleviate the monotony, he went round having informal intercourse. In direction of the top of the track, we hear a dialog between him and the phone operator whom he tells about how his spouse retains hanging up on him.
Nick Mason performed the drums and the tambourine on this track, which included within the sound, a quite vagabond-like way of life that Pink led.
Pink Floyd – ‘Cash’
One other track from Pink Floyd’s 1973 album Darkish Aspect of the Moon, ‘Cash’ grew to become their first hit in the USA. ‘Cash’ is famous for its uncommon time signature and the money-related sounds performed on loop (just like the jingle of the cash, or the clinking of the money register).
‘Cash’ additionally has a really advanced rhythmic background. There’s a fixed shift within the rhythm in numerous components of the track, and Nick Mason as all the time on his drums, improvised his components accordingly to make these apparently completely different beats be in concord with one another all through the track.
Pink Floyd – ‘Comfortably Numb’
‘Comfortably Numb’ was launched in 1980 as a single of Pink Floyd’s eleventh album The Wall again in 1979. ‘Comfortably Numb’ is one among Pink Floyd’s most well-known songs, well-known for the 2 guitar solos. In 2005, it grew to become the final track ever carried out by Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason collectively.
Whereas the guitar items had been the star of the observe, Mason’s drums did a implausible job of preserving the uniformity within the track and carrying the melody ahead.
Pink Floyd – ‘Echoes’
The sixth and remaining observe from Pink Floyd’s 1971 album Meddle. The track was written in 1970 by all 4 members of the teams. With all of the completely different sort of sounds being included into the track to type a various however coherent melody, Nick’s 4/4 drum beat saved the whole lot of the track grounded regardless of its wide-ranging range in tune.
Mason stated, “Generally nice results are the results of this sort of serendipity, and we had been all the time ready to see if one thing may work on a observe.”
