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Wind Technique (DASH version)

By -----DASH-----

Listen to the whole original MP3 tutorial

The Wind Technique

The Beat Pattern

First, listen to my version of the wind technique, which is slightly different from Kenny Muhammad’s:

I used to think that Kenny Muhammad used hi-hats between the kick drums like this:

{ b - t t / ^kh - b t / t - t t / ^kh - t t }

{ bf - t t / ^kh - b t / t - b t / ^kh b t t }

{ bf }

However, he does not. What he does is:

{ bf - t k / ^kh - b k / tf - t k / ^kh - t k }

{ bf - t k / ^kh - b k / tf - t k / ^kh - - - }

{ bf - t k / ^kh - - - }

So that is a hi-hat { t }, an outward ‘k-snare’ or rimshot { k }, and then an inward ‘keh-snare’ { ^kh }

{ bh - t k / ^kh - - - }

Practice this riff:

{ t k ^kh }

and then this riff:

{ t k ^kh - / t k tk - / t k ^kh - }

Then try it these patterns:

{ boh - t k / ^kh - b k / tash - t k / ^kh - t k }

{ beh - t k / ^kh - b k / ce - do - / ^kh - sah - }

{ bm - t k / ^kh - - - }

So the full Wind Technique sounds like:

{ Eins - - - / ^sh - - - / slash - - - / ^sh - - - }

{ shpee - - - / ^sh - - - / ce do - - / - - sah - }

{ BOH - t k / ^kh - b k / TASH - t k / ^kh - t k }

{ BEH - t k / ^kh - b k / CE - DO - / ^kh - sah - }

{ bo - t k / ^kh - bo - / t k t k / ^kh - t k }

{ BU - NO - / ^kh - t k / DOS - - - / ^kh - t k }

{ TRES - - - / ^kh - QUA - / TRO - - - / ^kh - t k }

{ b - ONE - / ^kh - t k / TWO - t k / ^kh - t k }

{ bo - t k / ^kh - ti gi / ti gi ti gi / ti gi ti gi }

{ BOH - - - / ^kh - b - / EH - - - / ^kh - - - }

{ BOH - - - / ^kh - b - / t g tng - / t g tng -}

{ BOH - - - / ^kh - b - / EH - - - / ^kh - - - }

{ BOH - - - / ^kh - b - / ^sh - - - / - - - - }

Tip

It may help you to know that the original Kraftwerk song called Numbers counts from one to four in different languages:

Eins zwei drei vier funf sechs sieben acht
Uno due treis quattro
One two
Ichi ni san chi

And in the live show from Columbia University that is not in the Four Elements battle, he does a part where he uses only fast hi-hats:

{ - - - - / - - - - / - - t - / t - t t }

{ts - - - / - - - - / - - t - / t - t t } X3

{ ts - - - / t - t t / ts - - - / t - t t } X4

{ bf - t t / ^kl - b t / t - t t / ^kl - t t }

{ bf - t t / ^kl - b t / t - b t / ^kl b t t }

(repeat these last two beat patterns - first slow and then fast)

How to make the low voice

To make the low voice you breathe out hard while trying to make your voice as low as possible. Like this:

If you can do that, you can make it sound like:

Then make the sound into words, like this:

How to make the high pitched sound

The high-pitched sound is a combination of three sounds. The first one is this one:

This is going falsetto and is the sound that guys use to imitate a girl’s voice. You make your lips o-shaped as if you are saying 'Oooo'. You can make the hole between your lips to make it sound different.

The second sound is made by pressing your lips together and then breathing out hard. It is called a lip oscillation and sounds like this:

When you combine the two sounds you get:

Finally you a ‘p’ to the the beginning and it should sound like this:

How to make Kenny's snare drum

The snare that Kenny uses is an inward snare. You can breathe in while doing it and so you can keep the routine going without running out of breath.

A lot of people ask me how I do this inward snare. It is a product of years of practice. I started with an outward snare. TyTe calles this the 606 snare or { cl }. It is where you imitate Donald Duck but you make it shorter, like this:

You do the same sound but make it inwards so it becomse { ^cl } :

If you change the shape of your mouth you can make it sound different:

Now, you can make this sound and take a deep breath at the same time, so it becomes { ^clh } :

And again, you change the shape of your mouth to make it sound it different:

Note

There are two different ways of making an inward snare that you can use in the Wind Technique. Both sound similar but are made differently.

The first is the true 'keh' snare that uses the back of the tongue and the throat to make the sound - 'k'. This is represented as a { ^kh }.

The second is made using the side or sides of the tongue and the sides of the back of the mouth to make the sound - 'cl'. This is represented as a { ^clh }.

The Arpeggio

This is the fast low-to-high sound that Kenny makes. It sounds like this:

I still don’t know exactly how he does it. I think he does:

{ d d d d / d d d d }

However, I have never heard anyone who could do it like Kenny. so I do it differently more like:

{ ti ga ti ga / ti ga ti ga }

When you close your lips a bit it sounds like this:

Double Kick Drum

I like to use a double kick drum { b b } when I do the wind technique. Kenny doesn’t do this but I like the way it sounds, like this:

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