Source hunt 2026-09-05

Zappa Evidence Matrix

Twenty six tracks across three albums, with direct drum evidence separated from structural score evidence, so meter information is never mistaken for kit orchestration.

The correction that reshapes the plan The 1982 Frank Zappa Guitar Book carries the Steve Vai transcriptions from Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, Joe's Garage and Sheik Yerbouti. None of these 26 tracks appear in it. It is a reference for Zappa's rhythmic notation language and tuplet practice, never a source for these songs.
Tracks
26
7 + 9 + 10 across three albums
Full drum obtainable
6
1 in hand, 5 to acquire
Critical red zones
3
no automated repair permitted
Need the album book
16
bar skeleton source
Performer source
1
Ralph Humphrey on Be-Bop Tango
The rhythm red zone rule Every passage carrying quintuplets, sextuplets, septuplets, octuplets, nonuplets, ten-note groupings, simultaneous meters, nested tuplets or rapidly changing odd meters is marked before any hit-level comparison. The same marking applies wherever the structural transcription shows drums reinforcing a melody accent or an ensemble attack. No automated repair inside a red zone from neighbouring drum context alone. Establish the exact bar duration from the album book or academic score, then the fractional attack grid from the written ensemble parts including documented ratios such as seven against six, then the kit assignment from a direct drum transcription, performance footage or drummer source. Compare Songsterr against that using rational beat positions rather than a fixed sixteenth grid.

01The seven evidence fields

Chart found or chart missing was the wrong axis. These are the fields that tell the repair pipeline what kind of correction each song can actually support.

fieldwhat it licenses
FULL DRUMA complete independent drum-kit transcription of the track
PARTIAL DRUMA drum staff covering part of the track only
OFFICIAL STRUCTURAL SCOREAlbum book, note-for-note. Gives bar geometry and ensemble attacks, never kit orchestration
ACADEMIC SCOREThesis or dissertation score, sometimes carrying a real drum staff
PERFORMER SOURCEWritten by the drummer who played it
MATCHED PERFORMANCE AUDIOA specific recording or film the tab can be aligned against
RED ZONE RHYTHMTuplets, simultaneous subdivisions, nested tuplets or rapidly changing odd meters. No automated repair permitted inside these ranges

HAVE = on this Mac now GET = exists, must be acquired blank = none found CRIT red zone HIGH red zone

02The matrix

Hover any cell for the specific source. The on-disk column counts zappa-analysis and publisher assets already present at ~/Projects/_outputs/zappa-drum-sources/, measured on this Mac.

trackfull
drum		partial
drum		official
score		 academic
score		performer
source		matched
audio		 red zone
rhythm		on
disk		action
Over-Nite Sensation
Zomby Woofs412162 HAVEGETGET HAVEHIGH 27 Four-source comparison
Montanas35870 GETGETGET HAVEHIGH 13 Acquire immediately, $7.99
Camarillo Brillos187082 GETGET HAVE 7 Acquire MayMusic first, $12
I'm The Slime GETHAVE HAVE 4 Structural audit first
Dirty Love GETGET HAVE 7 Acquire immediately, $3.99
Fifty-Fifty GETHAVE HAVE 13 Structural audit
Dinah-Moe Humm GETHAVE HAVE 10 Structural plus audio
One Size Fits All
Andys21495 HAVEGETHAVE HAVE 13 Compare immediately, sources in hand
Inca Roadss412178 GETGETGET HAVECRIT 4 START HERE. Highest confidence calibration target
Can't Afford No Shoes GETHAVE HAVE 2 Structural audit
Sofa No. 1s6822181 GETHAVE HAVE 1 Structural audit, cymbal audit half done
Po-Jama People GETHAVE HAVE 0 Structural audit
Florentine Pogen GETGETHAVE HAVE 2 Acquire and calibrate, $13
Evelyn, A Modified Dog GET HAVE 0 Current tab lacks drums
San Ber'dino GET HAVE 0 Current tab lacks drums
Sofa No. 2 GET HAVE 0 Current tab lacks drums
Roxy & Elsewhere
Penguin In Bondage GETHAVE HAVE 15 Check coverage intersects the suspicious bars BEFORE buying
Pygmy Twylytes627774 HAVE HAVE 9 Structural audit
Dummy Up HAVE HAVE 0 Structural audit
Village Of The Sun HAVE HAVE 12 Structural audit
Echidna's Arf (Of You) GETHAVE HAVEHIGH 6 Direct partial audit, moves out of the no-drum bucket
Don't You Ever Wash That Thing? HAVE HAVECRIT 4 High value structural audit, move UP the queue
Cheepnis HAVE HAVE 10 Structural audit
Son Of Orange County HAVE GET 9 Audio alignment first
More Trouble Every Days412170 HAVE GET 11 Audio alignment first
Be-Bop Tango HAVE GETHAVECRIT 0 Dedicated high-complexity test, NOT the generic no-chart bucket

03The three critical red zones

These are the passages where an ordinary sixteenth-note comparison would convert a legitimate drum attack into an apparent error.

Inca Roads

drums play SEPTUPLETS against bass sextuplets, then a QUINTUPLET against marimba sextuplets, in the same bar, over a sustained 4/4 pulse

Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?

opening figures 4/16, 5/16, 9/16, 11/16 with equal 5/8 percussion passages between. 11/16 groups as 3+3+5, 9/16 as 4+5.

Be-Bop Tango

beat 1 a QUINTUPLET, beat 3 a SEPTUPLET subdivided 2+2+3, both against the continuing pulse

Zomby Woof — high

bar 2 barred 10/16 or 5/16+5/16 depending on source; 15/16 x4; 5/4 quintuplet fill

Montana — high

intro rolls measured as 64th notes, not 32nds; rolls start on the offbeat and run 2.5 and 3.5 beats

Echidna's Arf (Of You) — high

melody accents against a 4/4 accompaniment, accents reinforced by bells and later by BASS DRUM. Ensemble doubling polices kick placement.

04Inca Roads is the calibration target

Why it beats every other candidate

Benjamin Wall's thesis carries a complete study score transcribed from the record, explicitly including drum kit, percussion, timpani, bass, marimba, keyboards, guitar and vocals, written because no suitable complete score existed. That gives real drum-lane evidence alongside the surrounding ensemble parts, so a suspicious drum event can be tested for whether it independently follows the groove or copies a composed ensemble attack. It is free.

The difficult material is exactly what the validator has to survive: drums playing septuplets against bass sextuplets, then a quintuplet against marimba sextuplets, in the same bar, over a sustained 4/4 pulse. The One Size Fits All book independently supplies the interlude meters, 11/16, 8/16, 7/16, 5/4, 2/4 and 4/4. Meter, ensemble rhythm and drum orchestration can all be triangulated rather than trusting one Guitar Pro file.

05Revised work order

  1. Inca Roads. Free academic score with a real drum staff, plus the hardest rhythmic relationships. Build the validator against this one.
  2. Andy. DRUM Magazine material already on disk plus the One Size Fits All book. No purchase needed.
  3. Zomby Woof. Four independent sources already on disk, 27 assets. The ghost verdict is already settled as drop 32 and add 8.
  4. Acquire four full drum charts, $36.98 total. Dirty Love $3.99, Montana $7.99, Camarillo Brillo $12 via MayMusicStudio, Florentine Pogen $13.
  5. Roxy pass. Echidna's Arf, Don't You Ever Wash That Thing, Be-Bop Tango, Penguin In Bondage. Richest combination of partial notation, explicit meter, drummer-authored material or purchasable score. Check Penguin's 2:06 to 5:30 coverage intersects the suspicious bars before spending $14.99.
  6. Son Of Orange County and More Trouble Every Day. Align against the complete Edinboro source performance before any event-level comparison.

06What each book is for

Over-Nite Sensation and One Size Fits All — the bar skeleton source

Note-for-note across every track on their albums. They supply section boundaries, time signatures, bar lengths, tempo changes, written tuplets, rests and exact attack positions wherever the kit clearly doubles an ensemble figure. Extract that into a machine-readable rhythm map before the next large correction pass.

The 1982 Vai guitar book — notation language only

None of these 26 tracks are in it. It carries Zappa's high-complexity rhythmic vocabulary and transcription conventions, so it is precedent for how sixes, sevens, nines and conflicting subdivisions get represented rather than flattened into ordinary sixteenths. It is never a source for these songs.