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Bio

Details
Category: General Information
br-15mos

Bill Ray pretty much showed up on this plane of existence with sticks in his hands. Born into an hyperartistic and ubercreative family of photographers, musicians and scientists, it was no wonder that a 15 month old child would stumble upon his father's drums. At the age of 4 his path was clearly lit upon seeing the local drum guru George Lawrence perform a drum solo during a photo shoot at his parent's photography studio in Jackson, MS.

Since then, he has gone on to reside/play in over 20 countries, played on 150+ albums including Ike Turner's 2007 Grammy-Award winning "Risin' With The Blues".

He now has a musical project called The Odd Get Even that involves improvised drum tracks and emailing them to a musical partner-in-crime named Bill Cornish in Chicago, IL. and also including a longtime friend Mike James in Priest River, ID.

Bill is endorsed by Taye Drums, Pro-Mark Drumsticks, Aquarian Drumheads and Slug Percussion Products.

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My Gear

Details
Category: General Information
billraydrums
Pro-Mark Sticks
Aquarian Drumheads
Slug Percussion Products
Exodus Cymbals

Sticks: Pro-Mark

I've been a Pro-Mark endorser since 1996 and have played them since I can remember. My father was a stickler for quality drumsticks and it rubbed off.

Accessories

I've been with Slug Percussion Products since 1995. Their Slug Beaters are the greatest, and durable too! I've had two of them now in service for years and they are still going strong.

I've been with Taye Drums since 2003. They've been wonderful! And their sound..I hear this: "that's one of the best sounding kits I've ever heard" ALL the time. And the secret to that is to keep great heads on them. That's why I use Aquarian Drumheads exclusively.

My current setup consists of the following drums:

Drums: Taye Studio Birch in Galactic Ice Finish.

  • 18"x 22" Bass Drum
  • 8.5" x 10" Tom
  • 9" x 12" Tom
  • 14" x 14" Floor Tom
  • 6" x 14" Birch Snare Drum, but snares may vary

Heads: Aquarian

in 2001 I signed with Aquarian. They have helped me define my voice and have helped create a lot of great music.

  • Superkick II - Bass Drum
  • Response2 - Toms
  • Texture Coated Reverse Dot - Snare

Read more: My Gear

The Odd Get Even

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Category: What I'm Doing
The Project:

Recording original music in the Jazz Fusion vein, with a third album on the way. These start out as drum solos and become works of music.

The Odd Get Even

bill cornish

The Odd Get Even is a project with my friend Bill Cornish who lives in Chicago. The tunes start off as improvised drum "solos" which are actually my sketching out a drum part for something I'm just clicking along to in my head. There's an organic nature to all of this that lends itself to some pretty cool arrangements.

The general philosophy is to play the drum track like a hole of golf; "play it like it lays" with no nips/tucks but sometimes a small trim or loop is necessary for continuity. In any event, the inspiration is there. If ever there were truly an album "created from the drums up" it would be this collection.

The project picked up steam and Bill finished the album in 2009; Self-titled. In 2010 the next album was being written and it became "Objects in Motion".

We have a third album on the way with the title "Happy Critters". The tunes are as eclectic as you'd imagine and there is one that is a 10 minute epic titled "Stumbling Towards Nirvana" with a guest guitar player Mike James on two tracks.

Read more: The Odd Get Even

Mike Watson

Details
Category: What I'm Doing
The Project:

Recording an album of songs that are extremely musically dense and challenging in the vein of The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Frank Zappa. Other offshoots of this are projected to be a drummer's minus-one track playalong + an instructional method book to accompany it.

Giant Robotic Insects 3-27-2013

5
Videos in this list
Giant Robotic Insects 3-27-2013All Roads Lead to Taylor Negron - Rehearsal 4-8-13The Dance (Reason) 3-27-2013Redaction in Real Time 3-27Redaction in Realtime- 4-6-2013 no click

Another one of Mike Watson's incredible compositions.

Mike Watson and Bob

Mike Watson and I go way back. So far back that it predates a certain musical history. You see, there was a 1980's/90's San Diego band called Daddy Longleggs which was a sort of Mr. Bungle-ish affair. Mike Watson was playing guitar in that group and then eventually split off and formed a band called "Schmaltz" which is still in rotation today.

Schmaltz consisted of Robert Walter on Piano/Organ/Vocals, Mike Watson on Guitar, Chris Stillwell on Bass and a very young 15 year old Zak Najor on the drums. Zak was my student for a bit, and in some ways I was his student as well. We would set up two drum sets and play all afternoon at his house in Del Mar. It was about 1992.

Read more: Mike Watson

Drum Tracks On Tap...

Details
Category: General Information

You've got great songs but the computer drums you've been writing to just aren't cutting it; You're ready for the next level - real drums with a skilled professional.

session drums

Remember that time is $$$ in the studio!

There are no scheduling conflicts. We lay down the tracks, bounce a mix over, and you give the "yay" or "nay". Really, it's that easy. We know technology!

So, when do we start?

Hear finished albums I've done

The Way It Works

Ike Turner- Risin with the Blues

Get a groove on!

  1. Play your tracks with a metronome or drum machine. If there are rubato or freestyle sections where the time goes away don't worry about that, I will interpret it.
  2. Set up an account with Dropbox or YouSendIt. When you send the link to your tracks include two files- one version with your "scratch" drum track, as well as one without the drum track, preferably with a click track and 8 clicks leading into the tune.
  3. I will chart out the tune, play the track down and send you back a mix of the performance. If it's not right we'll recut it with your suggestions and ideas.
  4. Once everything is to your liking we will zip up the ProTools session files and send them over to you in whatever bitrate you prefer. 48 or 96 is the usual preferred size.
  5. Mix your album as you normally would, save tons of time and hassle by having the "foundation" created by true craftsmen of their art with decades of experience.

All Styles- Rock, R&B, Jazz, Funk, Country, Free Music, etc. Even brushes!

Please note we have a "Pay First" policy.

For more information on the drums I play, please visit my Gear Page.

$150.00 / Track Current Internet Special, Drums Only

Need a bassist or other instrumentation? We got that covered as well! Full package deals available. We provide all services needed from instrumentation to mixing/mastering/artwork/duplication. Your entire project can be realized here.

Actual Drum Track

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Got Questions? Ask Here

Pay For Tracks Here

Enter Amount:

Lookin' for FREE? Yeah I got that too. Check out Billysbeats.com

Checkin' in on the mixdown....

5
Videos in this list
Checkin' in on the mixdown....Mike Watson- Irony EngineMike Watson Session - Soundcheck Pt IVMike Watson- Soundcheck VMike Watson Session- Soundcheck pt III

This is the control room at Maida Vale studio 3 (BBC). The Kings of Rhythm featuring Earl Thomas were in the midst of recording for Paul Jones' BBC2 Radio programme. Edit: I erroneously said "Studio 2". It was indeed 3.

Read more: Drum Tracks On Tap...

Organic Drum Tracks Vol. 1

OGE- Objects In Motion

The Odd Get Even

The Journeymen- Dog Days

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