People generally hire me to; make organic electronic sounds, to bring something different to the song/cue, to bring life to existing loops and samples, to come up with an approach that’s unique. I compose, produce and have released 23 solo records, so I bring all that to creating drum and percussion tracks. IG @quinnmusician
Drummer • Percussionist Quinn has recorded and toured with Daft Punk, T-Bone Burnett, Tracy Chapman, Kanye West, India Arie, Janelle Monáe... and played on numerous films; The Greatest Showman, Lady and the Tramp, Onward, The Addams Family... He’s also released 23 solo records and has a vast collection of instruments, including many one of a kind invented instruments. Please DM/Comment to say hello or for more details. Thanks!
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QUINN DRUM GROOVES
* NOW AVAILABLE
Vol 1 - Drums (left of center)
Vol 2 - Drums, Perc & FX
Vol 3 - Four Cocktail Kits, Swamp Drum & Shakers
Plus Ralston Groove with Stems
Vol 4 - Mod Drums
Bonus: April Groove (4 Bar Groove with Stems)
I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.
Credits
11 Reviews
Endorse Quinn
Highly imaginative, creative and soulful drummer. A major talent that would enhance ANY project !
I have had the privilege of knowing and working with Quinn for 25 years. He's simply A True Original.Amazing creativity -sonically and musically - and chops for days ! He's the best .
I’ve had the privilege to work with Quinn in live performance and studio recording sessions. He’s BRILLIANT!
Quinn isn't just one of the most remarkable drummers I've ever had the privilege of working with — he's one of the most remarkable musicians, period. His concept of percussion is unique, imaginative, and profoundly soulful. He always plays the unexpected, but not in a "weird for weird's sake" sense,. His parts always makes musical sense, and they alway amplifies the emotional intent of the song or composition. Don't miss an opportunity to collaborate with this remarkable musical thinker.
Quinn brings world class skill and a deep well of experience to each collaboration and I’ve never been disappointed. I’ve worked with Quinn on a number of different tracks and have always found he can not only deliver incredible feel and rhythmic creativity to come up with parts I wouldn’t have ever thought of, but his true talent is the timbre and highly intentional sounds he’s compiled within each of his kits. His tones and sounds, whether they be an accent “click” or deep, pillowy kick drum, always take me somewhere outside of the room and elevate my own creativity. Work with Q, do it.
Absolute dream to work with, Quinn always comes up with incredible parts and sounds you won’t find elsewhere. Equally great with standard drum kit and oddball percussion.
I have worked on over two dozen records and EPs with Quinn for over twenty years now, and continue to call him first for any project I am putting together. I second what has been already said - great skills and attitude - but most importantly a unique perspective on sounds and musical ideas. It has been a privilege over the years to watch artist after artist react to the first time they hear him play on their songs - mouths open, OMG, and all the rest:) I am booking him for three upcoming recording sessions as we speak, and I can't wait to get him and his magic drumming into my studio again!
I have know Quinn for over 30,years. He is so creative and committed to making amazing music. He is great for outside the box drums and exotic sounds but he is also an super tight player on a standard kit. I have worked with Quinn many times and he always comes through with awesome sounds and amazing feel. You will not even disappointed.
he's the best. great attitude, chops, instruments... no one better
Quinn is truly in a league of his own. Masterfully stylized in his aesthetic , passionate in his approach, he brings so much more to a project than just drums and percussion. With his unique sonic palette and super creative rhythm making, your music is instantly elevated to a higher place.
A master musician with a magical soul. Quinn brings integrity and creativity to his projects with a collaborative spirit that inspires. It is always an honor and absolutely joy to co-create with Quinn.
Interview with Quinn
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I’ve been drumming since before I was 3 years old. Went to The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston then moved to Los Angeles to be a studio and touring drummer percussionist. Quinn Discography: 1. Quinn - 1994 (In A Perfect World featured in the short film Father, winner at the Damah Film Festival and the Saboath Int'l Film Festival in Milan for Best Short. Sacred Revelation, The Crown of Life and Autonomous featured in and on the soundtrack to the movie Silent Trigger - 1996) 2. Ecstasy in Avila - 1996 (Ecstasy in Avila featured on the compilation cds Elevation II, Respirar II and Tribal Dreaming - 1996) 3. The Solemn Vow - 1998 (Modern World Opera Ballet) 4. Chasing Silence - 2000 (Acedia - The Noonday Demon featured on the soundtrack to the Academy Award winning film Crash called Crash music from and inspired by the film - 2005) 5. Beneath the Quiet - 2003 ('Best of 2003' list at Backroads Music and The Winds of Evenfall included on the television show The Black Donnellys) 6. Ensoul - 2004 (Stand By The River With Me featured in the movie Americanese, The Great Unfolding featured on the television show Friday Night Lights and A Simple Kind Of Life featured on the compilation cd Luna) 7. Becoming - 2007 (Recorded and Mixed in Hamburg, Germany, St. Petersburg, Russia, Lyon, France, Maine and Capitol Recording Studios (The famous and histroicalRoom A), Hollywood, California) 8. secrets from the whisper dome - 2007 (Soundtrack to and imaginary movie) 9. Midway to Midnight - 2008 (In rotation on the radio program, Echoes) 10. The Seduction Serenades - 2010 (Recorded exclusively with acoustic instruments in a minimalist approach, drawing inspiration from French Cinema, Erik Satie, Edgar Degas and the movie The Painted Veil) 11. Everything Fell Silent - 2010 (Features ten stellar performances from thirteen incredible guest artists. An expedition in emotion that explores the rise and fall of the human condition) 12. So That I May Live - 2011 13. Tales of the Glistening Skin - 2013 ("Excuses" played on Kcrw radio in Los Angeles, and featured on a cd compilation). 14. The Abstrusian Dream - 2014 (A filmscore to a dream) 15. Pax Intrantibus - 2015 16. Depictions of Wu - 2016 (Five stunning sonic odysseys, each over ten and a half minutes long, that gracefully merge the music, art and culture of China, into a Western, cinematic and pop landscape). 17. First Comes Abigail - 2017 (Soundtrack to the W. F. Quinn Smith Film, First Comes Abigail) 18. Gothington Harrow - 2018 (3.18.18) (Soundtrack to the W. F. Quinn Smith Film, Gothington Harrow) 19. Smitty the Sleuth - 2018 (7.19.18) a record based on a detective’s cases, with songs from point of view of the detective, witnesses and criminals. 20. From Where The Beauty Hides - 2018 (10.20.2018) - Dreamy Instrumental Record 21. Spiritropolis - 2019 - A twenty-eight minute danceable, vibey, cinematic, ambient, meditative and auditory stream of consciousness, consisting of instruments Quinn made, invented and modified. You’ll hear voices and instruments from all around the world, as well as sounds and instruments you’ve never heard before. 22. Quidditopia - 5.22.2020 - Quidditopia is Quinn’s 22nd solo release, and features other worldly guitars, soundscape piano, evocative vocals, driving drums, salvaged percussion, ethereal choirs, and dance floor synths, that will take you on a mind bending, atmospheric and blurry rich, hazy odyssey. 23. A Flourishing Finish - 7.23.2020 - A Flourishing Finish is Quinn’s 23rd solo release and was written entirely in Quarantine. It’s a danceable, positive, hopeful, funky celebration that will empower you and bring you to A Flourishing Finish.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Either, but I work digitally remotely and love it. So many options and nice and clean.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Peter Gabriel, Sting, Loreena McKennitt, London Grammar, M83, Phantogram, Zola Jesus, Agnes Obel, Jonna Lee, Bat for Lashes, Austra, Beach House, Kate Bush, Fever Ray, Dua Lipa, Portishead, Massive Attack, Andrew Bird, Asia, Bjork, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Ellie Goulding, Melody Gardot, Diana Krall, Thom Yorke, Billie Eilish, Niki and the Dove, The Knife,
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Always working with different people and projects and coming up with different approaches, instruments and sounds.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Peter Gabriel and Sting. Because they are my earliest influences and I greatly admire their work ethic and the way they’ve managed their careers.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Usually I’ve been sent the mp3 in advance to come up with ideas, so in the studio I play what I hear to see what the artist thinks. Tweaking from there until there’s jumping for joy, smiles and dancing in the control room. If that’s not happening then I haven’t done my job.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Remotely I can put 18 mics on my drums and perc, getting the most mixing options possible. I have a huge collection of instruments, including invented and unique instruments, as well as many huge taiko drums. All at my studio with no Cartage necessary.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I bring as much gear that will fit in my car (unless there’s Cartage) filled with lots of options to the studio and spend as much time as it takes to get exactly what the artist would like. Sometimes I’m replacing loops and samples and other times coming up with an approach from scratch. When I work remotely I have my full collection of instruments to choose from at arms length.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: Daft Punk RAM. Drums & Perc
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: 2 records and a film.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Bass player Sean Hurley
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I’m not happy unless your smiling, dancing and jumping for joy after hearing my tracks.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Are you in town/available. Yes
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: That I only do my weirder left of center hybrid drums and perc. I practice 3 days a week on a standard drum set with regular drum sticks.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What they’re looking for, and to give me as many adjectives as they can on what they hear.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Listen to some of my work esp on my 23 solo records and keep an open mind to fresh new approaches. It’s fun to reinvent the wheel.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: 1. A solar powered lithium battery. 2. Condenser mic 3. Laptop 4. Drum Kit 5. Bag of miscellaneous Perc
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Left of Center, unique, jazzy, folky, funky, groovy...
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Label everything, be really organized, keep all the files clean and back up everything.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Being a long time studio drummer Percussionist I’ve worked on pretty much every type of music.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Inventiveness and unique sounds.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: A unique approach, finding the essence of the rhythm and supporting the vocal.
I was the Quinn in this production
TBD
- Daft Punk
- Tracy Chapman
- Peter Gabriel
- Pro Tools with 18 mics for a full setup. Drums and percussion from around the world
- unique and invented instruments from my very large collection. Including 5 taiko drums.
Instagram @quinnmusician has a lot of drum and perc videos that represent what I can do for your track.
