ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Clayton Cameron - Drummer
A pioneer in brush technique, drummer Clayton Cameron has toured with Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett and jazz legend Kenny Burrell.

Why you should listen

Clayton Cameron holds a unique title: Brush Master. That's because this percussionist prefers brushes to sticks, and has spent his career perfecting the art of brush technique. Cameron grew up in Los Angeles and started drumming at a young age on empty oatmeal boxes. After college, he moved to Las Vegas, where he was hired as the drummer for Sammy Davis Jr.'s big band. "It would be Sammy's tap dancing night after night that would inspire my brush playing," says Cameron.

During his tenure with Sammy Davis Jr., Cameron played with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. And, after moving to New York, he struck up a longterm friendship with Tony Bennett, and spent 15 years touring with the master. Cameron recorded 15 albums with Bennett, including his Grammy-winning Tony Bennett Unplugged.

Cameron has also worked with jazz legend Kenny Burrell, who encouraged him to teach at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music. In addition, Cameron released his debut album in 2012, Here's to the Messengers: Tribute to Art Blakey, and formed his own group, Jazz eXplosion. Cameron has also released several DVDs over the years as well as a book, Brushworks

More profile about the speaker
Clayton Cameron | Speaker | TED.com
TEDYouth 2013

Clayton Cameron: A-rhythm-etic. The math behind the beats

Clayton Cameron: Ritmática. A matemática por trás da batida

Filmed:
1,035,486 views

Pronto para dançar na sua poltrona? O baterista Clayton Cameron analisa diferentes gêneros musicais, desde R&B até latino e o pop, pelas suas batidas. Uma palestra que prova que o hip hop e o jazz não são mais descolados que a matemática. Eles só se baseiam nela.
- Drummer
A pioneer in brush technique, drummer Clayton Cameron has toured with Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett and jazz legend Kenny Burrell. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
How many of you love rhythm?
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Quantos de vocês adoram ritmo?
00:16
Oh yeah, oh yeah. Oh yeah. (Cheers)
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Ótimo, ótimo, ótimo.
00:18
(Drumming)
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(Batuque)
00:27
I mean, I love all kinds of rhythm.
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Quero dizer, eu adoro
todos os tipos de ritmo.
00:31
I like to play jazz,
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Eu gosto de tocar jazz,
00:33
a little funk,
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um pouco de funk,
00:36
and hip hop,
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e hip hop.
00:40
a little pop, a little R&B,
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Um pouco de pop, um pouco de R&B.
00:47
a little Latin,
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Um pouco de música latina.
00:54
African.
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Africana.
01:05
And this groove right here,
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E esta levada aqui
01:13
comes from the Crescent City,
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vem de Crescent City,
01:16
the old second line.
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a antiga Segunda Fila.
01:18
(Cheers)
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(Ovações)
01:25
Now, one thing all those rhythms have in common
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Uma coisa que todos
estes ritmos têm em comum
01:31
is math,
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é a matemática,
01:32
and I call it a-rhythm-etic.
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que eu chamo de "ritmática".
01:35
Can you repeat after me? A-rhythm-etic.
Audience: A-rhythm-etic.
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Podem repetir comigo? Ritmática.
Plateia: Ritmática.
01:40
Clayton Cameron: A-rhythm-etic.
Audience: A-rhythm-etic.
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Clayton Cameron: Ritmática.
Plateia: Ritmática.
01:42
CC: A-rhythm a-rhythm.
Audience: A-rhythm a-rhythm.
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CC: Ritma ritma.
Plateia: Ritma ritma.
01:44
CC: A-rhythm-etic.
Audience: A-rhythm-etic.
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CC: Ritmática.
Plateia: Ritmática.
01:46
CC: Yeah.
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CC: Isso.
01:50
Now all those styles of rhythm
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Todos esses estilos de ritmo
01:55
are all counted in four
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são contados em quatro
01:59
and then subdivided by three.
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e então subdivididos por três.
02:02
What?
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O quê?
02:04
Yeah. Three is a magic number.
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Sim. Três é um número mágico.
02:08
Three is a groovin' number.
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Três é o número da batida!
02:10
Three is a hip-hop kind of number.
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Três é um tipo de número hip-hop.
02:14
But what does subdividing by three mean?
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Mas o que significa subdividir por três?
02:17
And counting off by four?
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E contar com quatro?
02:19
Well, look, think of it this way.
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Bem, pensem desta forma.
02:21
A measure of music as a dollar.
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A medida da música é um dólar.
02:25
Now a dollar has four quarters, right?
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Um dólar tem quatro vezes
25 centavos, certo?
02:31
And so does a 4/4 measure of music.
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E uma medida de música 4/4 também.
02:34
It has four quarter notes.
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Tem quatro quartos de notas.
02:38
Now, how do you subdivide?
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Agora, como se subdivide?
02:40
Now let's envision this:
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Vamos imaginar o seguinte:
02:45
three dollars' worth of quarters.
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três dólares em 25 centavos.
02:48
You would have three groups of four,
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Teríamos três grupos de quatro,
02:52
and you would count it,
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e você os contaria
02:54
a-one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four,
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1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4,
02:56
one-two-three-four. Together.
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1-2-3-4. Juntos.
02:58
All: A-one-two-three-four,
one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four.
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Todos: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4.
03:01
CC: Okay, now you feel that?
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CC: Certo, vocês sentem?
03:04
Now let's take those three groups of four
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Agora, vamos pegar
esses três grupos de quatro
03:09
and make them four groups of three.
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e fazer quatro grupos de três.
03:13
And listen to this.
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Escutem isto.
03:15
A-one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four,
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1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4,
03:17
one-two-three-four, with me.
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1-2-3-4, comigo.
03:19
One-two-three-four, one-two-three, come on, y'all!
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1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, vamos lá!!!
03:22
All: One-two-three-four,
one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four, ah.
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Todos: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, ah.
03:27
CC: There you go.
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CC: Agora sim.
03:28
All right, second line.
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Certo, segunda fila.
03:34
One-two-three-four, one-two-three.
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1-2-3-4, 1-2-3.
03:38
One-two-three-four, one-two-three.
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1-2-3-4, 1-2-3.
03:41
One-two-three-four, one-two-three.
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1-2-3-4, 1-2-3.
03:44
One-two-three-four, one-two-three. Yeah.
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1-2-3-4, 1-2-3. Isso.
03:48
Now, that's what I call a-rhythm-etic.
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Isso é o que eu chamo de ritmática.
03:51
Can you say it? A-rhythm-etic.
Audience: A-rhythm-etic.
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Conseguem dizer? Ritmática.
Plateia: Ritmática.
03:53
CC: A-rhythm-etic.
Audience: A-rhythm-etic.
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CC: Ritmática.
Plateia: Ritmática.
03:55
CC: A-rhythm a-rhythm.
Audience: A-rhythm a-rhythm.
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CC: Ritma ritma.
Plateia: Ritma ritma.
03:57
CC: A-rhythm-etic.
Audience: A-rhythm-etic.
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CC: Ritmática.
Plateia: Ritmática.
03:59
CC: Yeah. Now pick the swing
beat, and do the same thing.
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Agora peguem esse ritmo
e façam a mesma coisa.
04:02
One, two, one, two, a-one-two-three-four.
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1, 2, 1, 2, - 1,2,3,4.
04:12
Yeah. Mm.
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Isso.
04:16
One-two-three, one-two-three,
one-two-three, one-two-three. Whoo.
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1 - 2 - 3 , 1 - 2 - 3
1 - 2 - 3 , 1 - 2 - 3
04:21
So I want to take the second line beat
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Eu quero pegar a batida de segunda fila
04:25
and the swing beat and put them together,
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e a batida do ritmo e juntá-las.
04:27
and it sounds something like this.
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E se parece um pouco com isto.
04:43
Aha.
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Aha.
04:44
A-rhythm-etic.
Audience: A-rhythm-etic.
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Ritmática.
Plateia: Ritmática.
04:46
CC: A-rhythm-etic.
Audience: A-rhythm-etic.
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CC: Ritmática.
Plateia: Ritmática.
04:48
CC: A-rhythm a-rhythm.
Audience: A-rhythm a-rhythm.
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CC: Ritma ritma.
Plateia: Ritma ritma.
04:50
CC: A-rhythm-etic.
Audience: A-rhythm-etic.
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CC: Ritmática.
Plateia: Ritmática.
04:52
CC: Yeah. Hip-hop.
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CC: Isso. Hip-hop.
04:56
Now it's using a faster group of three
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Agora usando um grupo de três mais rápido,
04:59
we call a triplet.
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que chamamos de tríplice.
05:01
Triplet-triplet. Say it with me.
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Tríplice - tríplice. Repitam comigo.
05:03
All: Triplet-triplet.
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Todos: Tríplice - tríplice.
05:06
CC: Triplet-triplet. Triplet-triplet.
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CC: Tríplice - tríplice. Tríplice - tríplice.
05:12
CC: So I'll take all the rhythms
that you heard earlier,
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CC: Agora vou pegar todos
os ritmos que já ouvimos,
05:16
we'll put them together, and they sound like this.
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e colocá-los juntos, que ficarão assim:
05:43
A-rhythm-etic.
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Ritmática.
05:45
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Marcio David
Reviewed by Gustavo Rocha

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Clayton Cameron - Drummer
A pioneer in brush technique, drummer Clayton Cameron has toured with Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett and jazz legend Kenny Burrell.

Why you should listen

Clayton Cameron holds a unique title: Brush Master. That's because this percussionist prefers brushes to sticks, and has spent his career perfecting the art of brush technique. Cameron grew up in Los Angeles and started drumming at a young age on empty oatmeal boxes. After college, he moved to Las Vegas, where he was hired as the drummer for Sammy Davis Jr.'s big band. "It would be Sammy's tap dancing night after night that would inspire my brush playing," says Cameron.

During his tenure with Sammy Davis Jr., Cameron played with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. And, after moving to New York, he struck up a longterm friendship with Tony Bennett, and spent 15 years touring with the master. Cameron recorded 15 albums with Bennett, including his Grammy-winning Tony Bennett Unplugged.

Cameron has also worked with jazz legend Kenny Burrell, who encouraged him to teach at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music. In addition, Cameron released his debut album in 2012, Here's to the Messengers: Tribute to Art Blakey, and formed his own group, Jazz eXplosion. Cameron has also released several DVDs over the years as well as a book, Brushworks

More profile about the speaker
Clayton Cameron | Speaker | TED.com