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The first vintage & Custom Drum Magazine, since 1988
Articulation - Miss Manners would certainly advise that you shouldn't talk with your mouth full. There's the visual aspects, to be sure, but there's also the issue of garbled speech with the attendant lack of actual communication. Better to have your vocal system free of debris if you want to be heard clearly and be understood.
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Whenever the discussion turns to click tracks, drummers like to cry foul (usually accompanied by a sour face). For many drummers, the use of a click track is unnatural, cheating, insulting, or all three. I'm afraid I can't agree. A drummer's prime responsibility is to keep time. Unfortunately, keeping steady, unwavering time is hard to do.
Read moreResearchers played music for groups of subjects and then asked them how much they ‘liked’ the rhythm. In one group, the drum part was played by a drummer (Jeff Porcaro unbeknowst to the participants): in another test group, the same rhythm was played by a drum machine. Although subjects could not quantify their answers, they somewhat preferred the 'real' drummer.
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The Drum Yoda's Totally Awewome Dictionary of Drum Terms - compiled by Richard Best.
What I wanted to offer was not curt definitions but reasonable explanations
09/1999 - I do a lot of work as a "sub"; a pinch hitter". I and a pool of other drummers that I share gigs with in Nashville have honed certain preparation skills to the point that we can guarantee an artist that we can come in with little or no rehearsal and play the parts right, catch all the cues and make the artist feel at ease. There are two gigs that I am presently preparing for. One is a Tanya Tucker gig that I am subbing for fellow drummer Steve Ebe who also plays with Kim Richie, Webb Wilder and used to play for the Dixie Chicks. The other gig is subbing for Brian Prout, drummer for the country band Diamond Rio, while he is recuperating from scheduled carpal tunnel surgery.
Read moreGeorge Lawrence at Poco concert . Mid 2000s
In 2007 my friend Joe Lang suggested putting my little stories that I tell in the shop into writing because he finds them interesting to drummers, so if this bores you it just shows you how easily amused Joe is! My current gig (2007) with Poco is a lot different than the gigs I worked out of L.A. and Nashville in the earlier part of my career. This band is celebrating its 44th anniversary this year (2012) and has seen the glory days and the tuna fish sandwich days; from southwest flights and crowded vans to luxurious tour buses and Mac trucks full of gear. You should read the Wikipedia history on this band, it's quite a family tree. I joined Poco in 2004 as a sub for their original drummer George Grantham who was taken ill. When it became apparent that he would not be able to rejoin the band they offered me the job.
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