The same might can be said of drum exercises. They all work because they all get your hands (and feet) moving. But, like diets, not all exercises are equal. Some will transport your playing to the next level, while others won’t have much impact on your actual playing, and some may send you off in the wrong direction.
Read morePercussion-Creative Looking for vintage drum photos for "genesis" of drums poster
We are writing to you because we are currently working on a poster about the genesis of drums and drumming and are looking for photos that we may officially use on this poster, which we wanna release December 2019.
Read moreInspiration From The Stars
I picked up a copy of the Sabian publication “Create: 2017 Cymbals & Sounds”. It’s a 40-page full color magazine provided free by Sabian and distributed through music equipment outlets. It’s really just a catalog of their various products, but it delivers quite a bit more. The book is filled with information about cymbals: how they’re made, how they’re used, how designs came about, what different features mean. There’s lots of cymbal lore and history too. If someone wanted to quickly learn about cymbals, this edition would be a great place to start.
Read moreDiversify and Conquer: Part II
Richard Best
There are lots of gigs within the music industry that do not necessarily involve playing drums. Here are just a few examples.
Read moreA Bright Idea
When we speak of tone, we often use terms like warm, round, dark, and the like. Each tone quality has its place, but the one that many drummers seem to forget about is bright. It's one thing for our drums to sound great when we're seated behind them, but what does it sound like out front?
Read moreCovers? Cover Bands? I've Got You Covered
Almost all musicians play cover tunes … it's where the majority of music comes from. And almost all bands are cover bands, at least in the beginning. Artists depend on the tunes and the tunes depend on other artists. But sadly, the term cover seems to have morphed into almost an insult. Nobody is offended when they remake a movie, such as Godzilla (not once but twice!) And no way would anyone protest, “It’s just a cover of the Ishiro Honda movie” or suggest that the film-maker had cheated or copped out.
Read moreLet's Get Married
Perhaps you're teamed with a bass player who doesn't lay down a solid line. Or maybe someone in the band just doesn't connect. In either case my recommendation is to work with the strongest or the weakest player.
Read moreIs the Moeller Method wrong for today's drumming?
Everywhere you turn these days, someone is talking about, writing about or demonstrating something they cheerfully call "Moeller". But here's the thing -- there appears to be a lot of different techniques being presented as Moeller. So I decided to see if I could get to the bottom of the apparent confusion, and here's what I found out about our friend "Gus" and his teachings.
Read moreMelvin and Me - "I've never had a bad night"
"I've never had a bad night!"
Yup, that's what Mel Lewis said, as stated by John Riley in "Beyond Bop Drumming." At the time, John thought it seemed like a bit of hubris, but Mel had a very good explanation. You see, Mel strove to be such a proficient player that even on an off night he was still plenty good at his job.
Read moreMany Ways To Kick A Drum
Forget the 'flat foot vs. toe' argument. When it comes to working the bass drum foot pedal, pretty much anything goes. All of the pedal techniques listed below have advantages and limitations. My advice is to try them all, as each one can bring something worthwhile to your bass drum execution. Note that some pedals may not be suitable for certain techniques.
Read moreTime To Get Creative
This brings to mind the adage “You don't stop playing because you get old. You get old because you stop playing”. The same might be said of creativity. Maybe we don't stop being creative because we're not very good at it, we're not very good at it because we stopped being creative.
Read moreYoung Ambition - Making A Good Impression
Sad Car
When I was a young professional musician, I had a reputation of being extravagant. It's a bit ironic because I'm a total cheap-skate. While I was making a pretty good living from drums, I still had to live frugally. I also had to allocated funds carefully. The main areas of contention were instruments and transportation. You see, I had very expensive drums and a fairly expensive car, whereas many of my peers made do with lesser equipment. There's a simple reason for that: TCB.
Read moreDifferent Strokes
Your job as a drummer is simple: Hit stuff. Usually you'll want/need to hit things in a more-or-less controlled manner. Below are the basic strokes from which all others flow. Note that for each type of stroke, the position of the stick at the end of the stroke is just as important as the start position.
Read moreBook Review: The Tommy Thomas Percussion Library"
Tommy Thomas is a classic example of “the most famous drummer you probably never heard of”.
Read moreGordy Knudtson: the Visionary - part one
After Gordy’s presentation Joe Morello said…
“I’m so glad you did this! Billy Gladstone was messing around with this when I was studying with him, but he never documented it. I think you took it further than he did!”
Read moreHolding it all together
The band was about to play their final number and the leader was introducing the band members one last time. It was a bit redundant because the line-up was a who's who of Canadian jazz players. Finally the MC announced the drummer, adding that he was the glue that held it all together, and all the band members nodded in agreement......That struck me as a bit odd.
Read morePrevent Hearing Loss
Drummers, wearing protective ear plugs is a highly effective way to prevent hearing loss. H.E.A.R., through our nationwide affiliate network of audiologists, offers free screenings and consultations with audiologists. Ear doctors have also joined us as Affiliates to test hearing and fit custom plugs or ear monitors for musicians. Our clientele range from rock legends to local school marching bands and all those interested in preserving their hearing for their music.
Read moreFelicia and the Rat
Illustrator, composer, drummer and story teller Mauro Magellan publishes a wonderful children's musical story book and companion videos about a lowly Rat who wants to play drums for the Elite Cats! Perfect Christmas gift for kids. Suitable for adults too! In hardcover and softcover with free MP3 down loads. Order Here
Read moreDrum Yoda: The Voice of "Doom"
We were sitting around discussing our usual topic: drums. When we got around to the topic of tuning, the more senior drummer among us (defined as someone who'd actually had some real gigs) said: "A drum should go Doom."
Read moreThe P-p-p-power of Love
I'd like to dedicate this post to the memory of Jim Blackley, the man who I will always call “teacher”.
I recently spent a lesson with a youngster listening to a Katie Perry tune. This fellow was just beginning to be interested in music, and the tune really spoke to him. I like to work with real world examples, so we listened to the tune and talked about it. I pointed out things the drummer was doing that were things we'd been working on. For his next lesson, I prepared some exercises that he could play along to the tune. We spent maybe 10 minutes on the drums that day, but it was one of the best lessons ever because he got it, and he got it because it meant something to him.
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