Lessons: Breaking the Code. Click cover to Buy Now

David Garibaldi’s new DVD Breaking the Code focuses on a few key concepts, and works very well as a companion to his groundbreaking book The Code of Funk.  It also touches on the ideas contained in his earlier work Future Sounds. Being that this is a TIP product spotlight, let’s focus on the more education- oriented aspects of the DVD.

To begin, most of the DVD is spent on material from the Code of Funk. David plays through three tunes (Page One, Pocketful of Soul and Back in the Day)and explains the different grooves and sections to each song.  His speaking is always clear, concise and you learn quickly that David knows precisely what he is playing at any given moment.  His seemingly effortless execution of these grooves is simultaneously inspiring and frustrating!  However, the viewer always gets the sense that the focus of this DVD is to educate, not show off.  The use of loops throughout the DVD to explain concepts is very helpful and is essentially what you would do when teaching this material to a student.  

The Two Sound Level concept from Future Sounds is demonstrated very clearly.  David plays along with the loops from The Code of Funk to demonstrate this concept.  In this manner the loops take on the role of a (very) musical metronome.  This idea could be expanded on to include material from other books – Advanced Funk Studies or Gary Chaffee’s books come to mind. Also included in this section is the use of the Hi Hat foot as a voice.  David begins this section by playing the beat from The Oakland Stroke, a classic Tower of Power song that has had many drummers in the woodshed scratching their heads. (I’m one of them!).

The “Diddles” section presents odd groupings of 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 and shows different ways of applying them in a funk groove context.  David often refers to them as “twisted” grooves and again uses the loops from the Code of Funk as a musical reference point. 

The Code of Funk Book. Click cover to Buy Now

The DVD closes with a short segment on how to use the DVD-ROMs from the Code of Funk. This section seems very fitting, as that book is the most technologically advanced drum book on the market.  Its benefits cannot be fully realized until you begin to exploit all of the play along opportunities it has to offer in addition to the ability to isolate, remix and record yourself playing with Tower of Power. 

David  Garibaldi’s drumming with Tower of Power has influenced many drummers since the 1970’s. His teaching – via books, clinics, lessons, etc, – is first rate. This DVD will serve as a valuable reference in any drummer’s library.  To get the most benefit I recommend having all three resources – both Future Sounds and The Code of Funk  books along with the DVD. They all work together to make a wonderful package for the study of funk drumming.  Also take a look at David’s other book, the Funky Beat.  For more information and to order the DVD, click here to check it out in our store.