Excellent job young man ! That's one the toughest songs ever recorded to copy. The great Steve Gadd put together a true masterpiece with the Aja track. 🎶🥁
I think a lot of people don't grasp how incredibly difficult this is. Pascal is a true PRO. note for note accuracy, timing and feel, and reading charts. BEAST of a drummer!
Pascal Theilen. Magnifique... what you have performed. . I' am now 69 years of age . I have been a playing drums since I was 9. I have been a Steely Dan fan since the late early 70's. What you have shown in this AJA Video is an inspiration to me to continue to play my drums along you and SD. Thank you Merci.
I’ve watched others cover this very well, what impressed me about Pascal is he is so relaxed behind the kit and he is sight reading when he needs to, seems effortless.
Always hard to pick, but I would say this is my favorite SD song, and what players they had on this. Gadd was exceptional on this, and so were you. Back in those days, I am showing my age, great drummers were not a dime a dozen like today. What set them apart was their creativity, passion, taste, etc., and today those great drummers are copied, rightly so.
This is one the most accurate and very well played drum covers of AJA I ever heard! Great job on your performance, Nailed it while turning your own charts! Drum tone is spot on!
On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give that about an 11. Note to note perfection, drums & cymbals were tuned exactly as they were recorded but the stick click at 4:57 iced it! I would say great job but it was a little better than that.
Bro Gadd doing this in a few takes, improvising most of this, is just flat out insane to me.. The hi hat and cymbal work, like its just truly brilliant.
Pascal, You have perfectly recreated the Steve Gadd experience. The look and sound of your kit is amazing and you nailed this song better than anyone I’ve ever seen. Thank you for posting. This was a thrill.
Brilliant time keeping. Playing awesome time is the true skill of being a good drummer. Steve just keeps on nailing it. Even at 79 years old, he is to me still one of the best to ever be alive
This is utterly incredible. I have been a fan of this incredible drum performance by Steve Gadd for decades. You literally captured every single note and nuance of this iconic drum track. I learned things about this drum performance I had never known. Incredible!
Great cover, solid and accurate! Also I liked how the air pushed by the hi hat caused the music sheet to fly off the stand at 7:34, gives an extra feel of energy to the ending haha
I could play every song from steely Dan lick for lick. I don’t read but u nailed the only song I just could never grasp. Awesome. From a fellow drummer of 56 years. Ty again awesome
The texture brought to the song by the hi hats is incredible. I always keep time with them when riding but I need to learn how to give them that resonance. Amazing job!
Did you sight read that whole song and nail it note for note? Holy farts man. Thats unreal. Bravo. Not to mention, the recording work is spectacular. Its spot on. You are a Legend. Double Bravo.
Nice cover!!!! Great attention to detail. You got the right drums, tuning, and probably the same mics that were used on that session. Hell, you even got the famous "stick click" in there, which no one, not even Steve remembers if it was intentional or not. Great work.
I think this probably one of the best drum covers I’ve heard… in general. Pascal you absolutely nailed it! Steve would be proud of your fills & by including the all important stick click!
❤Perfect execution of the playing. ❤❤Nice tuning. ❤❤❤To The point guidance. All compositions of steely dan are not easily absorbed.......from the general audience
Hi Pascal. Life-long drummer from Toronto.. Been quite a fan of yours for quite a while now but this cover was my favorite considering my love for The Dan.. Your cover was lick-for-lick perfecto! Mr. Gadd would be proud!! ..Also love all your recreating great drum artist sound series is fantastic! You're a great talent and asset to YT Drum community.
Great job! When I was a teen in the 80’s I spent so much time listening to this song trying to figure it out. Even then I know I got some parts wrong. All I can say is that young drummers today have no excuse. I WISH there was as much info back then as there is today.
On the first set of fills, Pascal even did the stick click! (Yes, Steve Gadd did it on the recording) You guys dedication to faithfully representing the song not only sonically/recording wise but note for note, perfectly is so inspiring. If I ever want to know exactly how a song should be played, this will be my master reference.
He even nailed what to my mind is the hardest figure in the whole thing, at 13:16. Fitting those ghost notes in on the snare with the LH in that figure is incredibly difficult to do repeatedly using a match grip. One hand has to move very quickly between the snare and the tom while playing ghost notes on one and a real note on the other. With a traditional grip, which is surely how Gadd played it, it happens a bit more naturally. But trying to do it cleanly with a match grip is really just very difficult. Like all of Gadd playing Aja is all about internalizing the rudiments underneath the figures. Then it's just like talking, knowing what phrase to throw in where. But that figure at 13:16...yeah there's no short cut to that one. It's just straight up next level difficult. Bravo!
Amazing recreation of this legendary drum part by the great Steve Gadd. Never thought that he recorded Aja with single headed toms, since i never saw him performing on such set, but you nailed the sound, so it must have been so. Respect!
Absolutely extraordinary cover! In addition, it allowed this long-time drummer to experience an even greater appreciation for the original track laid down by the genius of Gadd.
His cymbals sound amazing !
I’m 64. That song means so much to me. A wonderful time in my life with my closest friends. Thanks for absolutely nailing it and making me smile!
Excellent job young man ! That's one the toughest songs ever recorded to copy. The great Steve Gadd put together a true masterpiece with the Aja track. 🎶🥁
Even the stick click at 4:58! Great to get to see someone play this incredible piece of drum history, and nailing it.
That's humour right there! Extremely well played as well. Brilliant!
I was actually awaiting the stick click to authenticate the accuracy. Well done !!!
This man certainly did his homework on this song and Steve Gadd’s technique. Excellent work on this cover!!
Outstanding work, awesome sticking & terrific stamina Pascal!!!!! Keep reaching for the ✨ stars!!!!
I think a lot of people don't grasp how incredibly difficult this is. Pascal is a true PRO. note for note accuracy, timing and feel, and reading charts. BEAST of a drummer!
He is reading the charts. If you can read that fast just means you are a great drummer
@@AndyVillegas-fk3kgmany people can read fast, but not play drums particularly good. This guy can do both
Pascal Theilen. Magnifique... what you have performed. . I' am now 69 years of age . I have been a playing drums since I was 9. I have been a Steely Dan fan since the late early 70's.
What you have shown in this AJA Video is an inspiration to me to continue to play my drums along you and SD. Thank you Merci.
Man holy shit definitely the best cover of this song I’ve heard
Are u from this planet? This is unbelievable! I mean I know its not impossible, but your sound is exactly the same, 99% as recorded. AMAZING!
Thank you very much!
Nice and tight. Very clean and crisp. Complimentary to the style Steely Dan was known for
agreed
Outstanding.
Helps that the transcription is super accurate now, down to the stick click lol.. Still impressive either way.
Dads everywhere are freaking out.
lOLOLOLOLO
I certainly did, and I am a granddad
True. The nice thing is that my son sent me this link. 😊
Dad chiming in, here. I sat in absolute awe of this man’s rendition of Aja. He nailed everything perfectly!! 😮
Totaly yesse
I’ve watched others cover this very well, what impressed me about Pascal is he is so relaxed behind the kit and he is sight reading when he needs to, seems effortless.
Always hard to pick, but I would say this is my favorite SD song, and what players they had on this. Gadd was exceptional on this, and so were you. Back in those days, I am showing my age, great drummers were not a dime a dozen like today. What set them apart was their creativity, passion, taste, etc., and today those great drummers are copied, rightly so.
This is one the most accurate and very well played drum covers of AJA I ever heard!
Great job on your performance, Nailed it while turning your own charts!
Drum tone is spot on!
The drum tone is beyond amazing! So perfect it is spooky!
Agree 100%, he hit a home run for sure
It IS the most accurate I’ve heard. I dare say Donald Fagen would approve of Pascal, and that is speaking volumes .
Fagen would say, "Eh. It's alright. Amazing? Sure why not. I gotta go." @@prongATO
On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give that about an 11. Note to note perfection, drums & cymbals were tuned exactly as they were recorded but the stick click at 4:57 iced it! I would say great job but it was a little better than that.
I was wonder if I’d be the only Steely Dan nerd to recognize he included what Gadd did on the original recording, lol.
GREAT SPOT ON!!! WILL STUDY the tape.
The perfect 70s Steve Gadd sound (and performance).
Bro Gadd doing this in a few takes, improvising most of this, is just flat out insane to me.. The hi hat and cymbal work, like its just truly brilliant.
The foot control to get that perfect amount of sizzle on the hats to open the song.. man.
This is the most accurate AJA cover I've EVER heard. And you nailed Steve's kit sound.
Incredible.
It's pronounced Asia Not Aja.
@@Frip36 Amazing how you could hear him pronouncing it from him typing
Even the famous "stick click"... I love it
I always wondered how Steve Gadd made those drums sound so good until I watched you doing it! You are one of the best drummers I have ever watched!!!
Fantastico!!!
Pascal,
You have perfectly recreated the Steve Gadd experience. The look and sound of your kit is amazing and you nailed this song better than anyone I’ve ever seen. Thank you for posting. This was a thrill.
From one drummer to another: this is tight, clean, and if I wasn't watching I would have thought it was Steve Gadd himself. Super nice job bro!
get off his balz ur probly not good enuf to tell its dubbed hi volume
Steve Gadd has the deepest groove of any drummer I've ever heard! Great job on this iconic piece 👍🏽
This is the only person I’ve seen who not only nailed it, but got all the little nuances and details…..like the snare part for the outro!
That was Beautiful/Perfect. Excellent dynamics. Well done. 👍👍👍
Brilliant time keeping. Playing awesome time is the true skill of being a good drummer. Steve just keeps on nailing it. Even at 79 years old, he is to me still one of the best to ever be alive
Nice! Everything Gadd…His Yamaha drums, Zildjian cymbals and signature sticks!
Love Steely Dan. Can't say enough good things about their music.
Steve Gadd should be proud...
Thanks for impressing an old Dan fan.
This is utterly incredible. I have been a fan of this incredible drum performance by Steve Gadd for decades. You literally captured every single note and nuance of this iconic drum track. I learned things about this drum performance I had never known. Incredible!
Nice recording, and exceptional tuning on the toms, good choices on the cymbals. Really sounds great!
Excellent! Top of the line drum cover on one of the best Jazz/Pop tunes ever written!
Excellent. A nod to the details like taking off the bottom head of the toms and making them concert toms for the tone of that era.
Perfect! Keith Carlock, Steve Gadd here's your drummer for a day off.
This is the best cover of Aja drum part that I have ever watched...... Sweet Lord.
Great cover, solid and accurate! Also I liked how the air pushed by the hi hat caused the music sheet to fly off the stand at 7:34, gives an extra feel of energy to the ending haha
Outstanding young man. Gadd would be proud. Thanks and Cheers from Seattle! 🍻
One of the truly great grooves. Steve Gadd was brilliant.
Makes me wanna cry, such feel this young guy plays with, wish I wasn’t so old
Replying to myself 2 years later, still feel the same way😅
Got to remember steely Dan was so heavy on perfection no telling how many takes it took
Aja last solo always gives me chills
I could play every song from steely Dan lick for lick. I don’t read but u nailed the only song I just could never grasp. Awesome. From a fellow drummer of 56 years. Ty again awesome
The texture brought to the song by the hi hats is incredible. I always keep time with them when riding but I need to learn how to give them that resonance. Amazing job!
What an absolute joy to see this. The care and effort involved to produce this for us.
Incredible! Literally thought I was listening to Steve Gadd.
why have I never heard this song before.... it's so good and pascal has to be one of the most well versed drummers I've ever seen
Amazing that you are playing on this level, and sight reading it. Impressive!!!
Excellent
I love Steely Dan. Your drumming is perfection!!! Totally mesmerising.
The snare sound is absolutely spot on
Did you sight read that whole song and nail it note for note? Holy farts man. Thats unreal. Bravo. Not to mention, the recording work is spectacular. Its spot on. You are a Legend. Double Bravo.
He knows the drum part. The notes were for an added bit of flare.
Nice cover!!!! Great attention to detail. You got the right drums, tuning, and probably the same mics that were used on that session. Hell, you even got the famous "stick click" in there, which no one, not even Steve remembers if it was intentional or not. Great work.
Correct
Nothing but perfection!!! Outstanding performance.!!!!
Gotta love Gadd!
I think this probably one of the best drum covers I’ve heard… in general. Pascal you absolutely nailed it! Steve would be proud of your fills & by including the all important stick click!
Wow, those fills are bang on, never seen Aja done this well
Even got the stick click, love it, great job!
This is Amazing. Every detail is on point. Sounds like Gadd to Me. FANTASTIC JOB!!!
❤Perfect execution of the playing. ❤❤Nice tuning. ❤❤❤To The point guidance. All compositions of steely dan are not easily absorbed.......from the general audience
Amazing how you got those 70s tones out of modern Yamahas. Pinstripes, tape, and no bottom heads...killer
Absolutely freaking. Amazing! Can't stop watching this , excellent playing man !
incredibly well done, even the stick click in there!
I was waiting for it and cheered!
Brilliantly Played, Congratulations Man.
Congratulations brother !Those were the good years of music and good times for the soul!!!
Hi Pascal. Life-long drummer from Toronto.. Been quite a fan of yours for quite a while now but this cover was my favorite considering my love for The Dan.. Your cover was lick-for-lick perfecto! Mr. Gadd would be proud!! ..Also love all your recreating great drum artist sound series is fantastic! You're a great talent and asset to YT Drum community.
Thank you very much!
SO GOOD. Gives me hope for the future of drummers around the world.
5:48 flip the stick to max top sound
The is incredible!
Great job! When I was a teen in the 80’s I spent so much time listening to this song trying to figure it out. Even then I know I got some parts wrong. All I can say is that young drummers today have no excuse. I WISH there was as much info back then as there is today.
4:41
5:15
6:57
7:26
I just watched you do one of the best Bonham R&R drum covers I've ever seen and now nail Gadd? Smokin', dude.
That’s an A + in my book. I thought you played Steve’s parts exceptionally well. The sheet music does not lie and you nailed IT. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Impressive… most impressive!
The drum solo was so crazy, even the music sheets couldn't handle it.
Very very very good....awesome work man.
The last solo into the bell groove still sounds super fresh 40 odd years later
This was just spot on and spectacular. Steve Gadd would be proud 🥁!
On the first set of fills, Pascal even did the stick click! (Yes, Steve Gadd did it on the recording) You guys dedication to faithfully representing the song not only sonically/recording wise but note for note, perfectly is so inspiring. If I ever want to know exactly how a song should be played, this will be my master reference.
Dave Holland from Judas Priest could do this. He started as a jazz drummer.
damn. even the stick click 😍
Best cover ever of the best drum solo in the lower atmosphere. Nice isn't nearly enough.
Very very nicely done. Incredible sound (those cymbals are gorgeous)
Great work! Even included the STICK CLICK!!
Great sound and amazing performance - well done, sir!
Out of this world. Epic.
He even nailed what to my mind is the hardest figure in the whole thing, at 13:16. Fitting those ghost notes in on the snare with the LH in that figure is incredibly difficult to do repeatedly using a match grip. One hand has to move very quickly between the snare and the tom while playing ghost notes on one and a real note on the other. With a traditional grip, which is surely how Gadd played it, it happens a bit more naturally. But trying to do it cleanly with a match grip is really just very difficult. Like all of Gadd playing Aja is all about internalizing the rudiments underneath the figures. Then it's just like talking, knowing what phrase to throw in where. But that figure at 13:16...yeah there's no short cut to that one. It's just straight up next level difficult. Bravo!
BRAVO, Pascal !
Maybe one of the best Aja drum covers on UA-cam. Amazing job young man.
What you came here for is at 4:57
12:38
13:10
14:52
15:21
Wow, truly admire the work you put into that! Fantastic.
I was playing this on the background and I didn't realize it was an actual drum cover 😮. Truly amazing man🎉
That's as incredible as if it was Gadd! Absolutely amazing!
Goosebumps!!!
Amazing recreation of this legendary drum part by the great Steve Gadd. Never thought that he recorded Aja with single headed toms, since i never saw him performing on such set, but you nailed the sound, so it must have been so. Respect!
Even got the infamous stick click in there!! Great job.
Just perfect. I've listened to many covers of this and none of the others come close.Both the sound and playing are spot on.
Absolutely extraordinary cover! In addition, it allowed this long-time drummer to experience an even greater appreciation for the original track laid down by the genius of Gadd.
Agreed, I have listened to many covers and your sound, your cadence, and your accuracy is impeccable.
I can't even believe that anyone could transcribe this, much less play it... amazing.
Reading n drumming....so much harder...awesome....
Congrats!
One of the best drum covers of the song I've ever heard.
My first thought as I began to watch was, “Will he include the stick click?”
Spot on, my man. And the tuning of the kit is perfect.