Stewart Copeland & The Police Breakdown 

I like him because he doesn’t play exactly to the record, he improvises every live performance

Steward Copeland plays as a drummer and as a percussionist in the same time. He manages to pull out a steady pulse while bringing in these amazing fills at unexpected moments. His fills are so diverse in rythm and sonic texture, it never gets old and never sounds as a gimmick. And, more important, it always serves the music. It’s very tasteful, never « tacky ».

Most people don't know that The Police was Stewart's band, not Sting's band

My favorite drummer for 44 years. Thank you.

Him doing "wrapped around your finger" live is one of the best things i have ever seen.master percussionist.

My love and admiration for Copeland are infinite. I grew up on The Police and it sets a pretty high standard when it comes to drum.

I've always loved Stewart Copeland's drumming. He's one of my favorite drummers of all-time. Super unique. John Bonham, Neil Peart, Stewart Copeland, Phil Collins - all great!

In the era of gated reverb, Stewart's sound was SO crisp, clean and unique.

Besides being an awesome drummer, he's a musical genius. His creativity, his musical knowledge, his vision... There's a reason why he made the music for one of the most iconics videogames trilogy for PlayStation: Spyro the Dragon

Stewart Copeland: your favorite drummer’s favorite drummer.

No one has ever come close to Stewart’s style. What an amazingly dynamic drummer. And the even gnarlier part is he doesn’t repeat anything, every 4/4 groove is completely and insanely different.

My favorite drummer of all time. I like him more than Peart because as spectacularly good as Peart is, Peart is predictable. Stewart is unpredictable, and is very hard to air drum with, but in spite of the unpredictable beats, they all sync up perfectly, Stewart is also a master of space, and that space was one of the magic factors in playing with Andy and Sting.

people, even most drummers, never know how truly awesome Copeland is until they see him live. he's untouchable.

Stewart Copland was and is a highly underrated drummer. His drumming concepts, techniques, and his syncopations go unmatched even today…he’s in a league all by himself…the man is legendary. The RRHF should add categories to their inductee ceremonies. Guitarists, bass players, drummers, piano players, synth’s, singer, songwriters, etc…

I hate that a generation of kids will not know about the brilliance of a guy like SC. He's Mount Rushmore of drummers for me, no doubt

Amazing how many of his tracks on their studio albums were first - and only - take.

Welcome to the Stewart Copeland fan club! You need to listen to the whole Police back catalog, starting with Ghost In The Machine. The fills he does on that album are incredible.

I think one of the aspects of Stewart’s playing that isn’t always mentioned is his amazing ability to swing for a rock drummer.

Stewart Copeland is a legend! Love the vid ❤

The man is in my top 3 of most badass drummers of all time.

Cool analysis of one of my favorite all time drummers; Stewart is a BOSS Behind the kit!

What's even more impressive and often overlooked, is that you can copy his playing, note for note, but still never be able to sound like him. Something about the way he accents everything he plays, together with a feel and groove that is hard to describe, let alone match...

No one knows everything. The fact that you've only discovered Copeland's brilliance now is no issue, just explore him more. He's commonly listed in the top 6-7 rock drummers of all time. The Police were insane, all 3 were brilliant in their own right.

Also… Stewart used primarily Tama Imperialstars which have luaun shells… very dry and fundamental tone. they respond really well to high tunings and hard hitting.

I’m a guitar player but I remember as a kid in the 80’s being completely hipnotize by the drums when listening to The Police

Yeah, Copeland's cross stick technique is insane... and the way he smashes that bass drum!!! He has a very improvisational style, which helps to keep the music fresh. The downside of that is that I tend to miss some drum parts, such as the ones he recorded in One World. For I long time I thought Copeland carefully composed them for the song (a la Neil Peart), but after listening to the live versions I guess he probably came up with those on the fly at the recording session. Maybe there was some equally tasteful editing involved. Anyway, from a compositional point of view, the studio drum parts are really genius. Also, great observations about the frequency range of the toms and cymbals.

THANKS MY MAN. HE IS THE BEST DRUMMER EVER AND I NEEDED IT SO MUCH - YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WAY - ONE2

"Message in a Bottle" has long been my favorite example of Stewart's drumming performance. Especially the flurry of activity at the end. But thank you for pointing out all this nuance going on earlier in the song!

Well, I left N.Y. in November 1978 and there was no Police there yet, for me. I moved to LA and began to go to auditions. EVERY band I audit for said “play like Stewart Copeland”!! I had a lot of catching up to do, a lot of woodshedding! Stewart, ah what an influence and a source of inspiration to drive a drummer to massive practice and to strive for excellence!! Great to see here that he is still doing that today! Oh, I did join a band called “Ioneyes” and we were together for just one amazing year ha ha!

Always loved Stewart's flams. They sound HUGE, especially in that 1983 concert.

Stewart is a phenomenal drummer! Truly one of the greats. I really love how he tuned his drums: such great snap and personality, and it fit his style - and the band - perfectly. My favorite snare sound of his is on "Spirits In The Material World". One of the best snare sounds ever recorded! Thanks for sharing the video!

I saw the Police reunion tour, Stewart the GOAT has incredible energy and intensity in his playing even now and he is in his seventies probably. Best drum /percussion solo I ever heard, so musical, dynamic and importantly FUN!

I’m 55, Stewart was and always will be my favorite rhythmatist. I tried to emulate him but ultimately gave up drumming. Haven’t played since my teens. Still absolutely love listening to the Police!

A post on a video I saw one time said that Copeland is the drummer every band wishes it had. I think that about sums it up.

You should listen to more Police. Stewart also is the king of doing a fill with no cymbal at the end. The studio version, Stewart also plays a different drum part for every verse of Message in a bottle. He layers stuff. Also good of sting to add a little distortion and chorus on the bass to help everything out.

I saw Stewart play a few months ago and he is still brilliant

Always felt he sounded like a 32nd behind or ahead of where snare should be normally. What a Master!!!!!!!

When I was a teen, listening to him on Message in a Bottle made me just - wow. All his drumming is inventive and progressive, he never just played the "root notes" of drumming. A total legend, and the best The Police could've had, he just "made" their music on another level.

My favorite all-time drummer, Carl Palmer, was using a gong back in the very early 70's. Buddy Rich agreed with me and said that Carl was the finest drummer in Rock music.

Dimitri how you point out Copeland's insane drumming is amazing. He was one of a kind. Similar to Jeff Porcaro even though their styles were miles apart, their incredible ability and uniqueness is untouchable.

Also, this is why he's my favorite drummer.

Thanks for doing this, love the format! Copeland is a absolute beast for sure, probably the hardest drummer ever to try and imitate or sound like. My one suggestion would be to maybe pause a little less and let the footage play out for a minute or so before pausing to interject. But, you may be doing that for copyright reasons so it doesn't get blocked so I get it!

Great video, mate! 😀👍 Stewart has been one of my favourite drummers since I was 10, and The Police's third album 'Zenyatta Mondatta' was among those I'd started to teach myself the drums to, back then 😊 And I definitely dig that higher-pitched tom sound myself! 😍 Another great example for it would be Rush's Neil Peart; Maybe check out their song 'Digital Man' some time, from their '82 album 'Signals', which has my favourite drum sound on it 😊 No doubt Stewart had been the inspiration for Neil to tune his toms higher from around 1980 onwards and compared to Rush's 70's albums 🙂

Man, I am enjoying watching all the videos in your channel! such funny, witty, well edited and informative analyses! Been a fan for a couple of years. thank you for your service to music appreciation!

Stewart Copeland was and is like a coiled spring of brilliance. The best.

7:32 Stewart's stick goes flying and he's right back to keeping time!

We need to see a video on Vinnie Colaiuta playing with sting on his Soul Cages tour!

Stewart is so original, so talented, and had so much swag man. This dude is so cool looking on stage then he's actually a massive nerd. But the duct tape, the shorts, the flowing blonde hair. Dude played and looked like few else. Never seen someone more confident in being different.

I worked with Stewart on the drum solo week for the letterman show. In fact I own the entire set up He was great .

The fact that Stewart was left-handed but played a mostly normal kit surely added to his unique style 🤷‍♂️

This video is fantastic! More, please!

I love a lot of drummers, but I think it's safe to say that Copeland is the most unique rock/pop drummer ever, full stop. Nobody plays even remotely like him. Nobody can groove the sh*t out of a song with only a kick and high-hat. When I was learning to play drums in my high school cover band I loved playing Police tunes but they were so difficult to get right. You have to fight every normal drummer instinct - crashes are never where you expect, fills begin and end in insane places, everything is so tight and snappy there are no moments of "letting go and rocking out." There were passages I'd figure out and be stunned they were so "simple" because they grooved so damn hard! Maybe "minimal" is a better description. Just incredible economy of strokes. He's in a category all his own as far as I'm concerned - kind of transcends the "best" drummer competition. Great video, glad i found you!!

Awesome job. This song and that video of the performance from Japan, leaped into my brain the other day, and voila - here we are. What you touched on are what I also think are the hallmarks of his drumming - the four on the floor/interplay with the toms, and the dancing on the hi-hats/crazy cross-stick.

Rip tylor hawkins lots style got from Copeland

My toms on my 26" kick are 10"and 12" I love the high toms cutting thru. Copeland live in his young days was an ANIMAL..

I think Stewart plays a lot of paradiddles and flams. He's number two in my list of drummers. He used to be number one until I heard Phil Gould. I think what makes Stewarts playing unique is a) his talent, b) his composition, c) his nous and d) he's left handed playing right handed. Similar to Ringo. If you notice his octobans go the wrong way because he plays them with a left hand lead.

He's such a beast

The Police Synchronicity Tour was the first live show I attended. I was, like, 8-years of age! Think I slept through most of the show but (possible when your 8) I vividly recall the band wearing the outfits shown your clips. Memorieees.

Brilliant job with this, Dimitri. I was (and still am) a massive fan of the Police and in particular Stewart (my favorite drummer of all time) when this was current. I almost broke body parts trying to emulate him as a teenager. Yes, lots of echo effects and overdubs in the studio but you have laid out what I've know all these years - he was legendary playing live behind his Chariot of Thunder. Thanks for this, it made my day. -- Jay

I saw them in San Francisco during that tour. Never forget. They opened with this song

Guys it's Stewart Copeland. He always was. Unmatched and unique style. My all times favourite and not only mine. Every drummer love Copeland come on.

I think Stewart Copeland should play with Rush now. He’d be up to the task and add a different angle to Rush’s sound. I think it would be amazing. Great video!

I love how he not only never overpowers the rest of the sound, he layers it to sound round and rich. A lot of drummers will drum to drive the rest of the instruments, whereas Stewart drums to enhance them. It's an entirely different thing.

I was a fan of The Police when I was young. Stewart has always been my number one drummer ever. When I watch these videos and his own youtube I still get amazed by things he does that I hadn't even noticed before. All that being said, this band was great because it was the three perfect people to make music together. Sting was an excellent lyricist and bass player, Andy is one of the most underrated guitar players, and Stewart is Stewart. What most people, including Sting, don't want to admit is that they were all responsible for the way their songs turned out. Andy wrote his guitar pieces, Stewart put together his own drum parts, yet Sting got sole writing credit for a lot. See Andy's statement about how they wanted to throw away Every Breath You Take before he introduced his part or Sting's hatred for what Stewart did to Roxanne after he wrote a bossa nova song and Stewart just said hold his beer and went to town. There is video done in later years where the two of them tried to do it the original style with Stewart playing his part on a little frying pan, and he still couldn't hold it in and went crazy near the end, and the look on Sting's face said it all lol. These guys were all musical geniuses and their styles fit perfectly, even if their personalities didn't.

Hey Paisan. Good playing. I’m so glad you’re studying the masters. Oh by the way my cousin says damn good playing. J. Passantino

Stuart came from Jazz, so his left hand is much more free than the usual. Look also for Billy Cobham - One of the greatest

Please join up with Geddy and Alex. You were Neil’s favorite drummer.

Per 7:10 I think SC used a repeater (sorry, don't know actual name of device) on his toms during live performances to add an extra note -- and, YES, I think you articulate his use of empty space within the trio really well! Thanks for posting!

The dude is a treat to watch! and you're a blast too! Thanks

Dimitri I'm 66 and I agree, I enjoyed Steward's playing. I'd like to mention a few drummers--Billy Cobham with John mclaughlin, album Inner mounting flame song vital Transformation. Mike Clarke on Herbie Hancock's Actual proof. Lenny White on Return To Forever Romatic Warrior. And last Mike Clarke played with phil Collins with Brand X , Do They Hurt. Hope someone enjoys the info and Enjoys Life

a superbly talented band 😀

A few recommendations for you that really showcase Stewart's talent No Time This Time,One World,Demolition Man,Regatta De Blanc,Deathwish(great bass drum play)Synchronicity 1,Murder By Numbers, just a few examples of a genius at work in my opinion.

Sting had nice songs, good lyrics, regular stylings. Enter Andy and Stuart... BAM!!!

You did a great job of interpreting the fills!

A real nice breakdown of Mr Copeland. Like Bonham, they never played a tune the same way. That's just incredible groove

Thank you. that was fun

Saw them in a small place in 81! Was amazing. Moon like energy.

One of my Stewart faves is “Can’t Stand Losing You.” Funky and fun.

I was at that concert in 1983. That was recorded at The Omni in Atlanta, GA.

Finally, everyone now realizes the unique immensity of these three musicians. The alchemy produced remains a landmark in the history of pop/rock. Stew Copeland has a rare finesse, a strike so "narrow" and a complex sense of the rarest ryhms, quite the opposite of a J.Bonham or Phil Collins.

Yes, in interviews Carter Beauford has said Stewart was a big influence.

Best and most underrated drummer Ive heard (except for Bernard, perhaps).

I am pleased to see a younger professional drummer praise STEWART COPELAND. My answer to his place in Drumming History was that he was born to do this, and he works at it to this day. He goes out on Tour with an Orchestra, so his dual gifting of Percussion and Drumming are active now. P.S. I saw THE POLICE from their early NYC gigs to their final stadium shows and Sting played for STEWART COPELAND, not the other way around. He has the longest career between the pair of them, and has an expansive range of projects. x!

Best Stu Copeland lesson ever - you don't have to play the same damn thing to provide a beat. *rips off an improv sequence that keeps time but doesn't really repeat any specific drums* Still gettin' paid...

Copeland is truly unique.incredible. thx for breakdown

Big thing to remember, Stewart Copland is left handed. That's part of why he plays the way he plays. And pretty much everyone knows this but he grew up in the Middle East so he became familiar with different rhythms at an early age.

There's a very funny interview with Stewart at the NAMM show 2015, where he mentioned he is impressed by the Police coverbands playing the drumparts, not only that but with the drum overdubs live all at the same time. "I never did that" lol

Your observation about how much of Stew's sounds are in the high end, and the toms tuned up high is a lesson for drummers everywhere. So many drummers in the band rooms I've been in have this notion that the drummer needs to have something going on in all the registers, and there snare has to have a bass tone, makes it impossible for anything else to be heard. Same thing with guitarists that set their sound before anybody else plays, and then when it disappears when the band shows up, because there's no mids like the guitar needs in the mix, their answer is to turn up the volume instead of cutting the bass and adding mids. Everybody needs to understand that mixing your instrument with others in a band means conpromise, and that what sounds good solo rarely sound good in the mix. Yes, I am a bassist, and get tired of everything else in my territory. Only bass , and bass drums need bass in the mix, and the mid range need lots of space for vocals and lead and chord instruments like guitar, piano, sax, or violin.

Mahavishnu Orchestra started concerts with Billy Cobham hitting gong. Only drummer I remember Buddy Rich say he admired

The motor on Stewart is unreal. The Police are imho the best pop/rock band of all time.

The thing about Stewart is this: like Ringo, he doesn't play the drums - he plays the song!

I told you back at SoR in Columbia that Copland was a monster drummer.

Ive heard he was a big influence on Neil Peart. Btw you play his stuff to a tee. Nice!

In an interview he says that tuning your drum higher makes easier to be heard in a live session

Yep he nuts incredible! 💯👍👍

An absolute beast.

Man , check out the Omni in Atlanta gig , he is also a left handed. This attributes to his technique

Great Breakdown and Appreciation of El Maestro Stewart Copeland . . . ! . . . :-) (-,

Killer video. Informative and entertaining. When I was a 12 year old and Synchronicity first came out (1983) I would listen to "Walking on the moon" on that album and wonder what sticking Stewart Copeland used on his hat rolls on that cut. Recently I watched the Police Synchronicity live video and perhaps, those hi hat rolls are made with a digital delay and you can hear from the mix at the live Synchronicity concert video. In that Synchronicity live video it sounds more like a reggae dub out effect from the board than him actually playing it live. So I wonder if he played in the studio on the original cut for the album.

For the pinnacle of Stewart Copeland stream-of-consciousness playing, listen to “One World (Not Three)” from “Ghost in the Machine”. Incredible.