Name: Massimo Discepoli
Nationality: Italian
Occupation: Producer, composer, drummer
Current release: Massimo Discepoli's Play-along Loops For The Creative Musician is out now. It is an education and skill-improving tool which "consists of a collection of drumless loops of various styles, divided into two volumes, for a total of almost 250."
Drum related recommendations: If we talk about drumset-only recordings, without other instruments, there aren't very many; some of the most famous are Terry Bozzio's records, where he plays real compositions with a drum kit with an incredible amount of drums and cymbals; maybe it's not for everyone, but they are certainly very interesting works and the technical ability and sound research are mind blowing.
On the opposite side, much more minimalist (only one drum at a time!) I really like Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, an incredible percussionist who also collaborated with Burnt Friedman, for his ability to exploit every single centimeter of the instrument. Watch two videos here, and here.

If you enjoyed this Massimo Discepoli interview and would like to find out more about his work and current projects, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.

To dive even deeper, visit our earlier 15 Questions interview with Massimo Discepoli and our conversation with him about production, technology, and creativity.



What was your first drum set like and what are you using today? What, to you personally, are factors in terms of build and design that you appreciate in drums and percussion instruments?

My first drum set was a very basic and cheap 5 piece kit. I was 13 and had just started playing, not really knowing what I was doing (laughs). I got some others drum set over the years, the one I mainly use is a maple Tamburo kit from the early 2000s, it sounds amazing. I’m also using cymbals from many different brands and the same goes for the snare drums.

I don't have great requirements in terms of build or design. What particularly interests me is how the instrument reacts and whether I feel comfortable playing it. The sound in and of itself is important, but beyond a certain minimum range of quality there are many ways to shape the sound of a drum, mainly by changing the heads (or the way you play it).

With cymbals obviously you have to be more careful, because there is no way to really change the sound.

Late Rush-drummer Neil Peart said: “The equipment is not an influence. It doesn't affect the way I play. It's an expression of the way I play.” What's your take on that?

As far as I'm concerned it works both ways: obviously the instrument is a means of expression, but different instruments lead me to change my way of playing.

The drum kit is probably the instrument with the most customization possibilities, both from a sound and an ergonomic point of view: every time I find myself playing someone else’s drum set, there are always small or big differences that influence my way of playing (sounds are often differents and the way the parts are ergonomically arranged could make some techniques more difficult to perform than others).

However, the important thing is to be able to play in your own style with any instrument, and after a few minutes I usually manage to adapt and play (in my own style) a drum set that I've never played before.

Drumming is an integral part of many cultures, and traditions. Which of these do you draw from in your playing – and why?

I would say above all the African musical tradition, filtered through the great jazz drummers.

But in recent years I have approached Middle Eastern percussion such as Tabla, Doumbek etc ... discovering a world of unique rhythmic complexity.

What were some of the main challenges in your development as a drummer / percussionist? Which practices, exercises, or experiences were most helpful in reaching your goals?

The biggest difficulty was moving from purely technical studies to understanding how to play a groove convincingly, in order to support a song in the best way.

And, while there are almost an infinite number of technique exercises, it is very difficult to learn how to play a great groove and understand what is needed for a song only from the exercises.

The best way usually is to play as much as possible together with other musicians and, during a gig, observe how the audience reacts to the music being played

What do you think you're doing different than other drummers?

Moving away from the study of technique, I turned more and more towards the development of creativity, also writing dozens of exercises to derive a large amount of musical ideas starting from a single, simple initial rhythm, and this is what I teach my students.

This is even more accentuated by the fact that I have been composing my own music for several years, and therefore this leads me to think more musically and to avoid putting the drums too much in the spotlight.

I don't know if this is what distinguishes me from other drummers, but it's the aspect that I feel strongest at the moment.

How do you experience the concepts of "groove," "swing," and "rhythmic feel" in music?

Well, these are concepts that musicians have been trying to put into words for decades, probably longer, without much success! All three concern the space between one note and another, a space that can be narrowed or widened, regardless of the "grid" into which the notes should mathematically fit.

This brings a human component to the music and is what makes us react with the body to a given song, from simple foot tapping to actual dancing.

How do time signatures and tempo affect our perception of rhythm?

I would say that the time signature serves to make us understand where the beginning of the rhythm is every time; rhythm which, repeating itself always in the same way and thus becoming predictable, is one of the ways in which we can become involved in a piece of music. The speed with which the rhythm repeats itself depends on the tempo which, with its many nuances, from very slow to very fast, influences our state of mind, from relaxation to excitement.

In the case of pieces with different (or weird) time signature changes, everything becomes more complex, since they can be inserted to produce a state of continuous surprise in the listener, to accommodate asymmetrical melodies or simply for the musician’s will to to show off (laughs)

What is the relationship between harmony, rhythm and melody? How do non-percussion instruments contribute to the overall rhythmic texture of a piece?

They are like three dimensions that define a piece of music.

They often work in symbiosis but many other times you can decide to put them in contrast; moreover, they are not always necessarily present: drone music may not have rhythm and melody, purely percussive music may not have harmony and melody, and so on.

Even non-percussive instruments operate in rhythm, in the vast majority of cases whatever they play will always have a rhythm: it can be a non-repeating rhythm or one with a less defined attack sound than percussions, but they still contribute to the rhythmic texture of a piece of music.

Only in few cases will they not play a rhythm (as in drone music, as mentioned above) or are such abstract and irregular / chaotic rhythms where the emotional aspect becomes predominant (as in the case of free jazz and some types of avant-garde music).

Different drums have a distinct sound and drums and percussion are also timbral instruments. What drum sound are you aiming for and how are you making use of the timbral potentials and possibilities of your instruments?

The sound I've been most drawn to in recent years is an open, resonant one, similar to jazz drums, but with a slightly lower pitch; it is a type of sound where each drum almost "sings" and every note has its own duration, it does not fade out immediately. This also leads to playing more deliberately, with fewer hits and avoiding doing too many fast rolls, which tend to get mushy with this type of tuning. Even with cymbals I prefer a darker sound, without too many high frequencies.

Obviously if I find myself having to play genres (such as pop) that require brighter sounds I adapt, but for my projects and whenever possible I prefer the other type of sound.

Besides this I like to modify the timbre of my kit in many other ways, putting small cymbals or other objects on the drums, chains on the cymbals etc ...

In relation to drumming, Stewart Copeland said: “Listening is where the cool stuff comes from. And that listening thing, magically, turns all of your chops into gold.” What do you listen for?

I try to listen to all the musicians playing with me at that moment or, if it's electronic music, all the sounds around me.

Exactly as Stewart Copeland says, by doing this you don't think about "what" you have to play or about technique, but the music comes out by itself.

Do you feel that honing your compositional / songwriting skills has an effect on your drumming skills?  

Absolutely! As with the previous answer, focusing on all the rest of the music led me to play the drums in a more musical way, trying to avoid unnecessary technicalities.

The drums are a purely rhythmic instrument, melody and harmony (at least in the traditional sense) are marginal at best; this leads many drummers to develop this rhythmic aspect more and more, sometimes exceeding with technique or abstract concepts and losing sight of the role that most of the time the drums should have in a group or in a piece of music in general (except than in the case of more creative projects).

Composing music or even learning to play another instrument are among the best ways to broaden your vision of music and become aware of how what you are playing affects the economy of a group.

How has technology, such as drum machines and sequencers, impacted the way rhythm is created and perceived? Has it been a concrete influence on your own approach?

Technology has certainly pushed drummers to become much more precise, having to play along with sequences or even "compete" with electronic drums; the interesting thing is that producers soon realised that too precise rhythms could become sterile, and therefore they began to make them more "human" by inserting small imperfections ... which the drummers in turn began to imitate!

Personally I am continually influenced by electronic music like jungle/d'n'b and artists like Squarepusher or Aphex Twin, where the drums are programmed by people who don't think like drummers and who therefore obtain original results, both in terms of rhythms and choice of sounds.



Physical strain is a particularly serious issue for many drummers. How does it manifest itself, how do you deal with it and in how far does it affect your creativity?

If you have physical problems often you will find it difficult to play certain things, or even not be able to play at all for more or less long periods; generally the solution is to play in a relaxed manner, to grip the sticks not too hard, to find the right height of the stool and the distance of that from the pedals, to adjust the drums comfortably and to warm up before playing.

Fortunately I have never had any problems (touching wood!), because I have always played in a very relaxed manner, in addition to regularly practising various sports.

The worst part for me is not playing but loading / unloading the drums at gigs (laughs).

Many recording engineers have remarked that the drums can be particularly hard to capture. What, from your perspective, makes drums sound great on record and in a live setting?

I like drums that sound like a "single instrument", that is, when you don't try to completely separate the sound of the individual pieces, as often happens in pop music.

In addition to this, the way in which the drummer manages to regulate the volumes is important, playing each piece with the right intensity without imbalances.

Drums and percussion are remarkably often used for physical therapy / healing. What, from your point of view, makes them particularly suitable tools for this?

The ease with which, right from the start, almost anyone can manage to play a simple rhythm, thus gaining pleasure from it; the meditative condition that is reached with the repetition of a rhythm, the same every time; the simultaneous use of all limbs that develops coordination and motor skills.