BIG FISH AUDIO Tower of Funk by David Garibaldi

Nov 1, 2003 12:00 PM, By Marty Cutler

Overall EM Rating (1 through 5): 4

Tower of Power may very well be the textbook purveyor of funk, and David Garibaldi provides the heartbeat for the band's energetic and propulsive style. Tower of Funk by David Garibaldi ($99.95) from Big Fish Audio offers Garibaldi's unique drumming in a CD-ROM of 16-bit, 44.1 kHz WAV files with an accompanying audio CD.

Big Fish Audio's Tower of Funk by David Garibaldi sample library ably captures the sound and style of the drummer best known for his work with Tower of Power. Garibaldi's grooves and fills are useful in many styles of music.

The files reside in folders sorted according to tempo, ranging from a languid 66 to a brisk 136 bpm. A subfolder in each folder contains anywhere from 4 to 11 groove variations and a separate subfolder of fills. If your sequencer supports Acid-formatted WAV files, you have a modicum of leeway in adapting the file tempos to taste. You also get an assortment of WAV-format individual instrument hits, should you wish to use a sampler and create your own grooves. I tested the tracks in Mark of the Unicorn's Digital Performer 4.01.

The booklet lists all of Garibaldi's hardware, which includes three Yamaha signature series snares: the David Garibaldi, Peter Erskine, and Manu Katché models. Some files refer to an undocumented fourth snare; a query to Big Fish Audio revealed that the snare in question is a muted version of the Erskine snare.

Although folders are sorted by tempo, some folders contain more than one group of files — sometimes with an unrelated groove, and other times with different hardware. Unfortunately, the file names don't help to distinguish between the grooves unless the hardware is different; that can be confusing when loading files into your digital audio workstation, especially if you are importing them into a portable digital studio with a less informative display and no auditioning capabilities. It would have been more convenient to store them in separate folders.

Oakland Strokes

I have always been a fan of Garibaldi's style, particularly within the context of Tower of Power. In my experience, the band's forte is an up-tempo, busy style that eschews swing in favor of an incredibly driving, almost rushed-sounding 16th-note pulse. However, Garibaldi's playing extends well beyond the busy, propulsive grooves so representative of that band, so don't paint yourself into a stylistic corner. I particularly like the way the grooves in tracks 1 and 2 evolve from simple, down-tempo timekeeping chores to complex half-time feels. Track 24 dishes up a subtle, loping 88 bpm feel, with patterns moving from sidestick to snare.

The 130 bpm folder containing track 89's grooves offers relatively straight-ahead rock patterns, at least until you add the syncopated performances from track 90. These tracks offer accompaniment from the cowbell and ride cymbal while the snare parts almost obstinately avoid beats two and four. You could take almost any pattern and simply loop it; however, doing that would be a shame, because variations dish up syncopated surprises that can impart more of a live feel than typical drummer themes and variations. It feels like you're working with a very clever drummer who encourages you to play more interactively.

I tested the Acid formatting by adjusting the files to different tempos within a range of 5 to 10 bpm. I got no audible artifacts, but some performances sounded a bit too rushed and simply did not fare well at faster tempos. That is not the fault of the formatting or the drummer; the timing variations that constitute a pocket at one tempo may not always work well at another.

What Is Hip

Tower of Funk is not without a few dings, however. I found a couple of file-naming inconsistencies. For instance, 07-Groove 094 BPM-SN1.wav should have had an R designator appended to it (indicating that the ride cymbal was in use on that track); conversely, 09-Groove 094 BPM-SN1-R.wav has no ride cymbal.

The recordings are rather dry, and because the grooves are stereo files, adding ambience to instruments individually poses a problem. I would have appreciated a few more snare samples at different dynamic levels; as it is, there is only one individual-hit sample for each snare.

Still, Tower of Funk presents a unique, world-class drummer with an incredible pocket. Garibaldi's grooves are also useful for pop, rock, fusion, and other styles. Many of the files made me wish for a companion collection of Rocco Prestia bass lines. For live feel and creative drumming, Tower of Funk is hard to beat.

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