A Few Minor Modifications

It started with a solo. In 2006 Marco Minnemann recorded 50 minutes of drums and invited musicians to fill the empty spaces with melody ( or at least spastic notes) to create their own 50 minute piece. This would prove a tremendous mission, tying this group of musicians together while showcasing what sets them apart. The resulting pieces showcase just how transformative music can be.

Amongst those ambitious enough to take on the project is Aaron Ruimy. He spent the better part of 2012 composing and recording the album A Few Minor Modifications; a phrase uttered often throughout his creation process. With the help of guitarists Emilio Guim and Taylor Patterson, as well as Eugene Draw on violin; this piece balances fluttering flourishes of melody, spastic avant-guard style, and the smooth ebb and flow of jazz inspired stanzas with the complexity of the original drum line. Progressive in nature, Ruimy uses the themes he hears in the drums to build an exploration of his musical flexibility. The album makes for some great driving music too! The improvisations are engaging and perfect for calming road rage. Hints of Ruimy’s humour are throughout the song titles; inspired by old TTC ads, angry phone calls from his friend’s ex girlfriends, and sumo wrestlers.

In a quiet carpeted room filled with broken pieces of furniture, we sat down to chat about this albums creation. Slouching into one of the few intact chairs we can find, he’s quiet and aloof. “ I get nervous when i have to speak into microphones” he explains. After a few sips of coffee we’re both buzzed up and laughing and he begins to open up about his music.



What made you want to write a piece over this in the first place?

I’ve had bad luck with drummers in the past, and I thought working with a pre-recorded drum track would help me skip a couple steps. Also, just the idea that so few people were actually doing it, its kind of an exclusive little club that I’m in now with a lot of musicians that I admire.

Walk me through your writing process a little bit. You hear this drum solo thats almost an hour long…where do you start?

I started at the beginning about 6 times and got no where. Then I started in the middle one time and liked what i was hearing, so i started building up momentum and putting one riff in front of the other. After that I went back and finished the beginning.

What instrument did you start with?

90% were written on piano. Even the sections where there is no piano in the piece were written on piano. I’ve played bass in most of the bands that i’ve played in but I’ve always done most of my writing on piano.

How do you hear the music in your head when you’re writing? Do you hear it all at once or in pieces?

Sometimes it occurs to me fully formed, and I’ll roll out of bed at 4 am and say “oh man, i have to deal with this right now or i’ll forget it”. My brain gets so active right before i fall asleep.

I love how some of the best creative stuff happens then! (right when you’re trying to sleep). So a lot of this album was written in the wee hours of the morning then?

Pretty much! And since I’m constantly sleep deprived in my day job, it kind of helps. I spend a lot of time in that state. I can get a lot of creative stuff done, I[ guess.


Did you listen to a lot of the pieces that had been written [for this project] before you started yours?

I bought about 6 of them and listened pretty regularly, and then when I decided I was serious about writing mine, I decided to take a break from them so they wouldn’t influence me too much

How much time did you leave before starting yours?

About a month, and only now 2 years later, I’ve started listening to them again.

Its hard to tell where one song begins and another ends. If you were to make a chart of all the different people who have written [pieces for this project] you’d see that all of their songs start and end in different places. I think the shortest amount of tracks someone made was 5, and the longest was 36. There are 18 on mine.



You have a few guest performers on the album. How much leeway did you give them when you were writing and recording?

Well for Eugene [the violinist], since I’m so crazy about the way he improvises, in a couple of places I just told him “do whatever you want!” For [the guitarists] Emilio and Taylor I had a really specific idea of what I wanted them to do. I told them they could take away and simplify or add to it wherever they wanted, but for the most part they just did what I asked them to do. In a few parts where they decided to improvise I was so blown away by what they did

You said you’ve had problems with drummers in the past. What kind of problems?
Um.. how do i say this without offending anyone?

[laughs]

Most of the really good drummers I’ve been in contact with over the course of my life don’t really like playing drums because their main instrument is something else, so they’re a little frustrated with playing drums all the time. One of the best drummers I ever knew was so fed up with being asked to play drums over and over because he’s even better on guitar.

and so no one hears that?

I think the problem is good guitarists are a little easier to find. so yeah, no one hears it.

Which song was the easiest to write?

The Oh Canada bit in the middle just popped in my head fully formed. I heard Marco [Minnemann] do that little trick he does with the toms and splash cymbals and thought “that sounds a lot like Oh Canada! I better explore this a little bit”. Not a lot of people notice it.

What was the hardest to write?

Go Home, the 12 minute epic at the end. From the beginning I wanted the last 12 minutes to form a self contained piece that actually holds together and isn’t wandering around exploring different ideas. Making that happen in a way that I was satisfied with took a really long time. I didn’t write that one from start to finish in sequence. I had a chart on the wall, like a storyboard.

and that helped?

It did! It helped me remember what needed work. For some months I was working on 5 different compositions at the same time. Sort of fighting a 5 front war.

Have you heard any feedback from Marco Minnemann himself?

I sent it to him for approval before I went ahead with mastering. I kind of just said “your reputation is on the line here a little bit too and I won’t go ahead without your blessing.” He responded! He seemed to like the melodies. He said it was catchy and poppy which is not what I was going for at all but it works, haha! I like it. I’m really grateful for the feedback he was able to give me. 


Take a listen and buy A Few Minor Modifications here: aaronruimy.bandcamp.com

If you want to try your hand and creating your own piece with Minnemann’s drum solo head over to www.normalizer2.com for more information.

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