Dook question

[thatsmilingface]

Does Dook LaRue actually play the drum set on stage, or are the drum sounds part of the RAE show's soundtrack?

~thatsmilingface.

[CEC Kid Check]

Someone correct me if im wrong, it is recorded on the sound track....But if you position Dook correctly, he will hit the symbols and drums during the songs making a little extra side sounds during the songs, but that was only with the old programming of the RAE, the newer programming doesn't have Dook playing the drums exactly like the music playing...

[captslappy]

That is correct. Duke's drumming is recording by the band just as all the instruments are. He does however hit the snare, hi-hats, crash and bass drum intime with the recording. In later programmings the accuracy of his drumming was not made a priority and he didn't actually make contact with any of the drums. This is laregely due to the fact the air pressure was turned down later to prevent wear and tear on the characters. It started at 90 psi and over the years has been reduced. I think the MMBB uses a psi of about 50 or 60. The amount of air pressure is relavent because it determines how fast the characters move. The faster the movements the more believable it looks. That is part of the reason the MMBB looks so slow and tired compared to the RAE. Of course by lowering the pressure on the characters it takes longer for them to move. For example, Mitzi's arms might take 2 seconds to fully extend when she shakes her pom poms in the air at 90 psi and it might take them 5 seconds to raise them at 60 psi. Often times the signals go by on the tape faster than the cylinders can react. Now relating this back to Duke's drumming, by lowering the air pressure it doesn't give the character enough time to hit the drums and cymbals in time with the music. So in later programmings (post Showbiz) there wasn't a lot of attempt to keep Duke in time with the actual recording like he did in the early days. If you watch Pasqually no attempt was ever made to really make his drumming believable in the MMBB. This wasn't the fault of the programmer, it was just the fact CEC uses such a low psi and most of those characters are shot anyway. We all know how bad most MMBBs in service today are.

[MMBBfan327]

*kinda not abut Dook*

At the Chase store, I noticed Pasqually actually hit the drums and it was obnoxious, and it somewhat ruined that segment. Kinda funny, though.

[captslappy]

That would be annoying. Mix explained one time that he didn't really try to syncronize the playing because most of the robots were in poor shape and you didn't really see the programming the way it was intended anyway. That and all the technical stuff I explained about about PSI. Most Pasqually's I have seen don't come close to touching the drums for that reason.

[MMBBfan327]

Well, Chase better do some work soon, then. I wouldn't be surprised if they still have the curtains.

[YoungCaliHottie]

lol. reminds me of the rae stage in indio, ca! dook currently hits off beat, and it is soooo annoying! it makes all the songs just sound noisy! when no one was looking, i was extremely tempted to hop the rope in front of the stage and pull the drum set back a little!!!!

[MMBBfan327]

Isn't Dook missing his hat there?

[YoungCaliHottie]

i dont recall. but it looks like his mouth tore on the sides... maybe from being so old and singing so much or something? so his mouth i think was stitched back together on the sides.

[RodHouTx]

The masks would often start tearing at the sides of the mouth. Those latex masks had a very short life, but looked really good.

If you can find the "Pretty Woman" diagnostic for Duke, you can see that he is hitting the drops, cymbal, etc and his feet are moving them too. But it was very annoying to actually hear him playing the drum even when it was in sync. Hearing him hit the cymbal and hi-hat were cool, though, and he did that up until the end.

They still program the hi-hat and possibly the bass drum for Pasqually feet, or at least they used to. I don't know if Michael still programs those.

[YoungCaliHottie]

lately i havent seen any of the characters move their feet. ...well except studio c