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Drummer Talk

Drummer Talk

818 Studios

Drummer Talk is a weekly podcast devoted to drums, drum technology, percussion, and many other drum-related topics. Features educator and Orlando drummer, Dave Kropf See www.drummertalk.org for show notes and more!
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Top 10 Drummer Talk Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Drummer Talk episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Drummer Talk for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Drummer Talk episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Drummer Talk - Drummer Talk 273 – So you want to MD! Now what?
play

10/13/16 • 103 min

If you’re ready to jump into the next level as a music director, be sure to check out today’s episode!

Opening Detritus

  • What happened to September’s show?
  • Gigs, gigs, and more gigs!
    • Rock of Ages
      • Wigs, Fake Cigs, and Drummer Gloves

Mailbag

From Lance

Hey Dave, been listening off and on for awhile now and wanted to get your opinion on something. I’ve been wanting to get back into playing drums and hopefully start doing some side gigs down the road. However, I need to practice as I am sure I will be extremely rusty and I would of course want to improve my skills. My house will not accommodate an acoustic drumset in regards to either space or volume for practicing. I’ve been starting to look at electronic sets. All I would need is something to practice on, so I’m trying to keep it as inexpensive as possible. I saw a Simmons sd100 for $200 but didn’t like how you can’t really adjust the spacing of the pads. I also saw the sd300 which would be just about perfect at $300. Do you have any suggestions on an inexpensive electric kit (really hoping to keep it under $300) for purely practice? I may actually use it for some midi work but that’s not my primary purpose. Just want to get something that feels as close as possible to an acoustic kit. Thanks! Lance

From Maximillam:

Hey, Dave & Troy! Been listening to the podcast for the past year – but thanks to the Archives I’ve probably heard close to 200 episodes. Thanks to both of you for the incredibly valuable information as well as the entertainment. I have a legal question and can’t think of anyone better to ask than the two of you, and would super-appreciate any kind of clarification on the matter! When transcribing drum parts, are we dealing with any copyrights/licensing fees/etc? Am I allowed to completely transcribe the drum parts for a whole tune and share it with the world? How about if I were to sell the transcriptions? Again, thanks to the two of you for going strong with this podcast. I’m an absolute fan. /Maximiliam Andersson

From Lynn

Hey guys, been a while since I wrote you, but still been listening. Question, so I was asked to sit in and sub for a drummer for a cover band. They do 80s and 90s rock. I am familiar with most of the songs, but many of them I’ve never actually played on drums. No practice and I have a week to learn 60 songs. I may be able to meet with the guitar player for a little bit. So my question is do I chart out the songs? Or is that bad? If I do chart them do you have a way you would use for 5 hours worth of music with is about 60 songs? You can use this question for podcast, but if you have time could you try to respond ASAP, I’m nervous about this, but excited too. I normally just play at church lately so I’m looking forward to playing out again. They are paying me $150. Thanks guys keep up the great work! Lynn


Topic – So You’re Ready to MD. Now What?

  • Why be the Music Director?
    • Power trip?
    • Attention to detail and genuine joy from keeping all the plates spinning
    • You must have patience!
  • Running the show
    • Situational Awareness
    • Multithreading
    • Knowing what all the other musicians are doing and should be doing
    • Cues and count-offs
  • Booking the band
    • Networking
      • Knowing players you can trust
    • Know all the details before you reach out to other players
      • Money
      • Gig Time(s)
        • Including rehearsals
      • Venue and Rehearsal Location
      • Gear the players will need to bring
        • Music Stands
        • Stand lights
        • Odd instruments
    • Dealing with W9’s
    • Contracts
  • Venue Details
    • Sound Needs
    • Stage Needs and Stage Plotting
      • Power Needs
      • Make a diagram in Keynote or Powerpoint!
    • Indoor/Outdoor
    • Directions
    • Load-In/Load-Out
    • Green Room
  • Rehearsals
    • Scheduling
    • Running the rehearsals
      • Timekeeping
      • Call times vs. start time
      • Breaks
  • Charts
    • Gathering the charts
      • PDF/iPad
      • iReal Pro
    • Knowing the arrangements, yes even the chord changes
    • Are you needing custom arrangements?
  • More money?
    • Add’l Percentage
    • Flat fee

Music from this week’s Show

In cl...

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Professor Troy drops the knowledge in part 1 of our two-part series on bearing edges.

Opening Detritus

  • Shout out to our newest DT Patrons, Craig Parton, Samuel di Prete, Jonathan Winfrey, Brady Ponton, and Eric Ahern
  • We’re getting caught up on Patreon rewards!

Drummer Talk Mailbag

From Eric:

Hi Dave-

I’ve been an on and off listener to the podcast for the last two years or so, and I have to tell you that the last episode, featuring Mrs. What Is Up speaking about music theory, was probably my all-time favorite so far. It spurred me to finally donate to support the podcast. I’m a 38 year old teacher of French and Spanish, and have been a (sometimes frustrated) life-long music learner. I could completely relate to that feeling of giving up on music when hitting a wall in learning music theory (and in my case notation). Growing up taking music classes in school, I was a failed saxophone player, then a failed guitarist, and finally a mediocre snare drummer. Later in life I finally got my hands on a drum kit and felt like I had found my instrument. I progressed and starting playing in bands, loving every minute of it. But the music theory cloud loomed over me like a fowl reminder of my inadequacy. As you so rightly said, it was like the other members of the band were speaking in a foreign tongue that I longed to understand. That spurred me to pick up a ukulele and learn some easy three-chord pop songs. Ukulele got me back into guitar, and the more I learned the more I wanted to learn. Now I still play drums, but I am also learning more and more music theory just by virtue of playing guitar, learning scales, song structure, keys, chord formation, etc. This knowledge has greatly benefited my drumming. Plus now I can shred on guitar in a Strokes cover band.As a language teacher, the entire podcast I kept waiting for someone to make the analogy to language learning. In fact, I only ever made any progress in music once I started thinking about the steps I took in learning languages, which for some reason was always easier for me. When you made the comparison to learning German, I actually yelled out “Hell yes!”. Sorry for the long-winded email; I just wanted to say thank you so much for this inspirational conversation, and for the resources that you, Shannon and Troy shared. It would be so great to hear another episode getting more into the details of theory with your lovely wife.Best,Eric

News

Topic Notes

Music from this week’s Show:

In closing...

  • Find out when new articles and next episodes hit by following us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/drummertalk) and Facebook (http://facebook.com/drummertalk)
  • Want to support Drummer Talk and help us to continue to bring news, reviews, articles, transcriptions, and videos to free to you? Please consider becoming a Drummer Talk patron. You can find out more information including patron rewards (like shout-outs, stickers, T-shirts, and more) at drummertalk.org/support. Patron levels start at just $1. Remember, every donation helps keep us on the air and ad free!
  • Have a topic suggestion or question for the show? Let us know at www.drummertalk.org/contact

Next Week: All About Bearing Edges (Part 2)

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Drummer Talk - Drummer Talk 259 – Music Theory Demystified
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10/08/15 • 88 min

Mrs. What Is Up, Shannon Kropf, joins us to help demystify music theory and why we drummers should care about it!

Drummer Talk Mailbag

From Dan,Hey guys, Just finished watching the companion video for episode 257 (drum programming) — great stuff! Would you consider doing an episode where you would break down the sonic elements of some classic drum sounds, and show how you would model those in your DAW? A possible format could be to play a snippet of an iconic tune from a genre, and then show how you would set up your DAW to achieve that sound. While I don’t have a DAW myself, I do have a Roland V kit, with its own dizzying array of settings. If I could see how you do this in your DAW, I think I could transfer that knowledge to my Roland module. Similarly, I’m guessing that an acoustic kit player could transfer that knowledge to figure out how to tune, mic, mix and apply effects to their kit. As always, thanks so much for what you do!

News

Topic Notes

Music from this week’s Show:

In closing...

  • Find out when new articles and next episodes hit by following us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/drummertalk) and Facebook (http://facebook.com/drummertalk)
  • Want to support Drummer Talk and help us to continue to bring news, reviews, articles, transcriptions, and videos to free to you? Please consider becoming a Drummer Talk patron. You can find out more information including patron rewards (like shout-outs, stickers, T-shirts, and more) at drummertalk.org/support. Patron levels start at just $1. Remember, every donation helps keep us on the air and ad free!
  • Have a topic suggestion or question for the show? Let us know at www.drummertalk.org/contact

Next Week: All About Bearing Edges (Part 1)

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Drummer Talk - Drummer Talk 258 – What Not To Wear
play

10/01/15 • 77 min

Dave and Troy share tips for gigging attire.

Drummer Talk Mailbag

From DanHey Troy & Dave, It’s so great to hear have you guys back on the air after your hiatus — I was anticipating the show’s return all summer long.At the beginning of episode 257, Troy mentioned that he’s been into acapella lately and is amazed by what beatboxers are doing today. I wanted to share with you that I recently discovered a professional acapella group named Home Free — these are the guys that won the 2013 season of the show ‘The Sing Off’. As it happened, my wife and I were lucky enough to catch them in concert earlier this week. By far the biggest surprise was the beatboxer, Adam Rupp. While I’m certainly no expert, to my ears his abilities sound other-worldly.

It would be a hoot if someday you could have a beatboxer do a guest spot on the show and explain a little of how they do what they do. As always, thanks so much for what you do, and know that I get a happy ‘bump’ every Thursday knowing that a new episode of Drummer Talk is waiting for me on my podcast player. Dan

Blake Lewis Beatboxing

News

Music from this week’s Show:

In closing...

  • Find out when new articles and next episodes hit by following us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/drummertalk) and Facebook (http://facebook.com/drummertalk)
  • Want to support Drummer Talk and help us to continue to bring news, reviews, articles, transcriptions, and videos to free to you? Please consider becoming a Drummer Talk patron. You can find out more information including patron rewards (like shout-outs, stickers, T-shirts, and more) at drummertalk.org/support. Patron levels start at just $1. Remember, every donation helps keep us on the air and ad free!
  • Have a topic suggestion or question for the show? Let us know at www.drummertalk.org/contact
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We wrap up our multi-part series on drum kit makeovers today by talking about veneers!

Opening Detritus

  • It’s the mid-season finale. We’ll be revisiting website features like reviews and transcriptions during the summer!

Drummer Talk Mailbag

From Sebastian

I’m listening to your podcast over here in Germany. You guys really make my day on the way to work every morning. Thanks for keeping me inspired.
When you said you were spending the whole weekend on improving your mixing and mastering skills I thought: Holy Cow! One weekend for mixing AND mastering is like trying to repaint the Empire State Building AND the Rockefeller Center in two days... with a toothbrush.

So apart from drumming I’m also into recording, mixing and well, maybe a bit of mastering. I’m not a professional but I know how frustrating all that DAW-business (compressors, reverbs, headroom, panning, EQing aso) can be.

I discovered another great podcast that covers a lot of your problems with recording, mixing, producing, composing and mastering. It was very useful for me and I believe it might also be helpful for you. So I would like to share Kenal Osborne’s Recording Lounge Podcast for those interested in the topics mentioned above.

Here is the link to the podcasts on Itunes. It is free.

Kendal has done several shows that could be interesting for drummers. I recommend Episodes: 13,14 ,22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 46, 49, 50 and 51

I absolutely love the idea of making a drummertalk show about composing, producing, mixing and mastering. Maybe you could even contact Kendal and make an interview with him, because I think he has some great knowledge on this subject.

Enjoy your summer break!

PS @Dave: I also have a Tama Starclassic Performer Set.

From Dan

OK, I promise this will be my last comment (rant) on the Ludwig P-85 strainer.

Last week when you read my comment you kinda deviated from the its core message. I, like many, don’t feel that Ludwig needs to deviate from the core look/feel of their strainer. If they would only make it drum key operable instead of phillips screwdriver they would alleviate a major pet peeve. By all means, they can keep the classic look and feel but give us drummers (who shell out a premium for their great sounding shells) a small bit of modernity.

Keep up the great work guys – your podcasts are “must listens”.

Cheers, Dan

News

Topic Notes – Veneers

Places To buy Materials

We dive into refinishing on part 3 of our series on drum kit makeovers!!

Opening Detritus

Drummer Talk Mailbag

From Rich:

Thank you Dave and Troy!

I’m totally geeking out on the refinishing series. I’ve been contemplating building an exotic wood kit from Keller shells so can’t wait for the show on veneering. Recovering my current (cheap Guitar Center Sound Percussion) kit, however, may be more realistic. I’ve replaced everything but the hardware, tung oiled the interior, and cleaned up the bearing edges. While not as punchy as I would like, my drum teacher is amazed at the sound quality. Dave jokes about Wal-mart contact paper, but before these shows I actually considered putting 3M carbon fiber automotive vinyl over the existing wrap. After listening to the re-wrapping show, I found that Bum Wrap Drum Company has some beautiful exotic wood wraps. Re-wrapping my current kit would certainly be easier than veneering new shells, but I don’t think I could ever get over the psychological hurdle of knowing that I’m playing crappy shells. I’d love your thoughts.

Rich

From Chris:

Dave and Troy, I love the podcast. It helps get me through the work week. In the past, Troy has mentioned music companies are always looking for technology specialists. Can you touch on ways to seek out these opportunities and maybe list off top music companies that are out there? From what I have seen, many companies are held by larger organizations and jobs may be posted under a different company than expected. I’d love to do something involving music, but have not been able to find anything in the Missouri area. Any ideas? Thanks! Chris

From Dan:

Greetings gentlemen. First off, if this podcast ever went off the air there’d be a void in my life that would, sadly, remain unfulfilled. So, do me (and drummers worldwide) the favour of keeping on doing what you’re doing! OK, enough butt-kissing... I just finished listening to and thoroughly enjoying episode 252. One thing that made me go “what the heck...” was the comment about how Ludwig replacement parts are so ubiquitous. This may be true with the exception of the P-85 strainer. I’ve called/emailed every drum part company I can find and no one makes a 2.5′′ hole spaced aftermarket strainer. All of the P-85 style options won’t fit Ludwig’s spacing. I have an LM402 and an Acrolite and it drives me nuts that it’s not drum key operable. When you said they’ve been using this design for 60 years I believe it. If they would only get with the program every other drum company figured out 30+ years ago I (and many others) quit b****ing about it. I love Ludwig snares, but for the price they charge it’s frankly idiotic that they continue to use Phillips head screws instead of drum key screws. Rant over, thanks for reading.

News

Topic Notes

Places To buy Materials

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Dave and Troy bring part 2 of our series on bearing edges by focusing on how to cut your own!

Drummer Talk Mailbag

From ChrisDave & Troy, I loved the episode on bearing edges. Between that and the refinishing podcasts, it’s making me want to dust off my old basswood Sonor Force 2001’s and refinish them. The toms are 12×10, 13×11 and 16×16. That seems really deep compared to the kits I’ve been playing on recently. Can you touch on how tom depth and bearing edge variations work together to produce certain sounds? Also, the drums have a flat black lacquer finish I’m not crazy about. Would I be able to varnish over that or do anything to bring some life to the physical appearance?Thanks! Chris

News

Topic Notes

Tools

6 Part process

  1. Rough cut the shells
    • Using a caliper measure the thickness of your drum shell ( Use a digital caliper )
    • Set your router in the routing table and raise the bit height to ? of that measurement from below
    • Flush the shell against the bit so that it’s touching the blade and measure the distance between the blade and the bearing
    • repeat steps until you have the gap between the shell and the blade that you want
    • Lock your router and plug it in. Cut outside edge first: slowly ease on and off the bit using a clockwise motion. Cut inside edge next: s...
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Drummer Talk - Drummer Talk 257 – Hands-On Drum Programming
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09/24/15 • 114 min

We continue our examination of drum programming with a demonstration on how to craft convincing drum patterns in a DAW. Be sure to watch the supplemental video!

Opening Detritus

Drummer Talk Mailbag

From Max,
Hey! I just subscribed to your podcast but I was wondering if there’s any easy way to download and access older podcasts!

From Dov,Great episode on drum programming! I’d like to share a few comments from my experience. I was in film school from 2004 to 2008, and used Pro Tools for all of my sound design and Foley/ADR work. I can attest that they have always been behind major OS releases, since long before Avid bought them. It is definitely annoying, but that one specific thing is not Avid’s fault. You would hope that they cared enough to test and certify against the betas and release an update to coincide with the public release. Betas have always been available to developers, and are now available even to the public, but alas, they care not. It’s an inconvenience to wait on the major OS updates, but even more problematic with the minor point releases, which you’re more likely to install without a second thought.

From Brady,I recently got back into drumming after a 5 year hiatus and finding this podcast was an absolute blessing. I listened to every episode on iTunes in just a couple of weeks and was ecstatic to see a new episode up! I have been kicking around the idea of diving into a DAW and trying to record some stuff from my Roland kit and the ‘DAWs in a nutshell’ was really helpful-as I was completely lost when looking at them online. Thanks for breaking it down from a drummer’s perspective. Just wanted to drop you guys a line and tell you how much I appreciate this podcast and the wisdom, knowledge and advice that I have taken from it. Thanks, Brady PPS- I bought a Tama Starclassic B/B a couple of weeks before I started to listen to the podcast and I love all the positive things I hear you guys say about it, and that Troy just bought one himself. I love that thing!

From CraigHuge thanks to you guys for the refinishing drums episodes. It was truly the inspiration behind vision drum wrap. It all started with this show inspiring me to fix up my daughters old drums. I wanted something custom that was all her and started looking at the other wrap companies and just didn’t like what I was seeing. So I remembered a friend of mine had a really large flatbed printer that will print on anything up to 4′′ thick. So we discussed many material options for strength and durability and came up with a new type of wrap. Here are some of the kits that have already been done just for locals that have really loved the product.

From TomLoved your Restoration show. Any recommendations for chrome paint on metal? Most of the highest rated ones I found on the Internet are for plastics. Thanks

From PacemakerHey guys! welcome back, you’ve been missed this summer. I just came across this and it goes against everything i’ve seen about drum tuning. What’s your take?

News

Topic Notes

  • Drum Programing Plugins
  • Akai MPD18
  • Question: Could you make a complex track sound convincingly realistic if you imagine them being played by two separate drummers (as in a band like The Grateful Dead) as you compose? Thanks, and I can’t wait for the next part(s) in this series!

Music from this week’s Show:

<...

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Drummer Talk - Drummer Talk 256 – Drum Programming 101
play

09/17/15 • 114 min

We’re back from Summer break with a fresh show talking about why we drummers should look at learning to program drums.

Opening Detritus

  • What have we been up to all Summer long??
  • We have a huge queue of transcriptions!

Drummer Talk Mailbag

From Jonas:Hi, i’m a finnish guy and i just discovered your podcast and now it is all i listen to at work. Anyway, i am using a birch kit which i heard Dave also uses. Could you give me some tips on how to remove the ringing around the kit? Thanks:)

From NicoleHi Dave and Troy, Longtime listener and fan of the podcast – first time writer. While you are on your 2015 summer hiatus, I thought I would take a moment to suggest a future topic for the show. I would really enjoy a podcast dedicated to female drummers or women in percussion. Your show has mentioned and sometimes featured female voices (i.e. February 2015 interview with Staff Sergeant Jackie Jones), but there are definitely more male voices heard on the podcast.

This comes as no a surprise, turn on the TV and drummers in mainstream popular music are overwhelmingly male. Previous generations of girls and women were explicitly told they could not play drums because “it was an instrument for boys.” Thankfully, today more girls and women are picking up drum sticks than ever before AND organizations exist to help encourage women and girls to explore drumming. If as male hosts you feel apprehensive to tackle this topic, perhaps hosting a panel discussion that includes women with knowledge about female drummers can shed light on the exciting initiatives to “raise awareness about women percussionists” and “inspire women and girls of all ages to drum.” I am a female percussionist and have been teaching drum set for 13 years. I currently teach at the Women’s Drum Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. My experience at the Women’s Drum Center has demonstrated that after being told drumming is not for them — girls and women are thankful for a safe space to explore their dream of drumming. My suggestion for this topic is not meant to divide the drumming community by gender, but simply to shine a brief spotlight on female drummers. Such insight might help the drumming community think about ways to be inclusive to all of it’s members...or at least see things from other drummers’ perspectives. Thanks for your all of your hard work on the podcast. It’s a tremendous resource that covers such a wide range of topics. I will continue to be an avid listener.

News

Topic Notes

  • Why bother learning drum programming?
    • This is the future (present?) of modern music production (especially if it’s not 100% rock oriented)
    • Drummers make the best programmers because we know what real drum patterns should sound like
    • There is more work to have out there!
  • Difference between the DAWs
    • Logic Pro X – $199
      • Best all-around tool and best bang for your buck. Huge stock library complete with patches, samples, and loops. Great MIDI editor. Mac only
    • ProTools – $599
      • The industry standard for audio recording and editing with broad plugin support. Most widely-supported in studios. AVID is known for spotty customer service and the MIDI editor is lacking
    • Ableton Live – $449/$749
      • Best tool for audio manipulation, especially time-stretching and remixing. The interface is unique and colorful, but many of the parameters all look alike. Its unique workflow can make for a steep learning curve if you already know Logic or ProTools
      • We record DT in Ableton Live!
    • Reason – $399
      • 2nd best bang for your buck! Solid and extremely stable (due to its enclosed architecture) with great customer support. It’s siloed nature is also its greatest weakness: no outside plugin/library support (although they do have a proprietary plugin called rack extensions)! This really keeps it from being fully embraced by the professional community and keeps it feeling more like a consumer tool.
    • FL Studio – $737
  • MIDI vs Recorded Drums
    • Strengths
      • Infinite editability
      • Infinite sound tweakability
    • Weaknesses
      • Live drum parts can have a lot more energy, n...
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Dave and Troy pop in for a show to bring you up to speed with what’s been up this Summer.

Opening Detritus

  • The state of the union – what have Dave and Troy been up to?
  • What’s next for Drummer Talk? We want to hear from you!

News

Music from this week’s Show

In closing...

  • Find out when new articles and next episodes hit by following us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/drummertalk) and Facebook (http://facebook.com/drummertalk)
  • Want to support Drummer Talk and help us to continue to bring news, reviews, articles, transcriptions, and videos to free to you? Please consider becoming a Drummer Talk patron. You can find out more information including patron rewards (like shout-outs, stickers, T-shirts, and more) at drummertalk.org/support. Patron levels start at just $1. Remember, every donation helps keep us on the air and ad free!
  • Have a topic suggestion or question for the show? Let us know at www.drummertalk.org/contact
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FAQ

How many episodes does Drummer Talk have?

Drummer Talk currently has 20 episodes available.

What topics does Drummer Talk cover?

The podcast is about Music, Dave, Podcasts, Education, David, Arts, Drum, Teacher, Musician, Performing Arts and Drumming.

What is the most popular episode on Drummer Talk?

The episode title 'Drummer Talk 273 – So you want to MD! Now what?' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Drummer Talk?

The average episode length on Drummer Talk is 79 minutes.

How often are episodes of Drummer Talk released?

Episodes of Drummer Talk are typically released every 13 days, 22 hours.

When was the first episode of Drummer Talk?

The first episode of Drummer Talk was released on May 28, 2015.

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