Where in the World Is...?

I admit it. I have neglected my blog, but I have a valid reason. 

In the middle of March I received a call from my former cruise ship agent Mike Moloney, who was looking for someone to help out in his Las Vegas based entertainment company, Mike Moloney Entertainment. So in the process of interviewing with Mike, making another huge life decision, acting on it, moving across the country, and settling in to a new apartment with nothing more than a suitcase, computer, and electronic drum set I have missed out on my writing. But hopefully I am back.

I will admit that my drumming has had to take a back seat to my professional career. I still play, but only in my apartment on my electronic kit with the headphones on. And to be honest, I am all right with that.  For close to a decade I made a living performing, and thanks to the drums I have seen most of the world, met some interesting people, and played some damn good music.

For all of you who read my blog, you know that I regard playing the drums as a spiritual endeavor. Over the years that spirit has been pushed aside and compromised so I could make a living via my craft. Then one day, as I found myself engaged in the usual band politics, I decided that I wanted drumming to be fun again. And that enjoyment was found when I played my kit alone with the headphones on to any song I wanted. So I decided that to keep my passion for drumming, I would have to stop drumming so much.

Eventually I will join another band and go play some music, but for now I am enjoying enjoying drumming once again. No pressure, no compromise, just me playing with whomever I want, be it Miles, Jason Aldean, The Cars, or Taylor Swift. I still read my modern drummer, keep up on drumming news, and interact with my drumming brothers. So the blog shall continue, and hopefully with some great insight that includes my continued passion for drumming, my music business education, graduate studies in marketing, and what I will learn "in the trenches" at a true entrainment company.

Blog to you soon!

A Drumming Thankful List

This Thanksgiving I wanted to make a list of things drumming related that I am thankful for. Some items on the list may appeal to every drummer, others to just a few of you, and the remaining are special to me. Enjoy and Happy Turkey Day to all.

1. Buddy Rich - I am thankful for Buddy because he continues to inspire me to this day.
2. Modern Drummer Magazine - Thanks to all involved for giving the drumming community our monthly Bible.
3. Ludwig - For giving us the first bass drum pedal in 1909, paving the way for future generations of drum set players across the globe.
4. Steve Gadd - Thanks for giving us the white whale of drumming with the groove to "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover."
5. Kenwood Dennard - Thanks for never giving me a perfect grade during my private lessons, thus teaching this young drummer there is always room for improvement in everything he does.
6. Steve Jobs and the iPod - Thanks for giving me a convenient spot for all my albums so I can jam anywhere my kit takes me.
7. Amazon Kindle - Thanks for giving us drumming instructional books in digital format. Finally I can have all the lessons of the masters with me wherever I travel.
8. Electronic Drums - My neighbors thank you, and I thank you for giving me a way to practice without getting evicted from my apartment. 
9. Duct Tape - Thanks for giving me a way to fix my kit on the fly, help kill overtones, and for the million other uses you supply while on the road.
10. All the musicians I have and will play with - Each of you has and will continue to help me evolve into a better player and happier human being.

That's my list. What are you guys thankful for?

Internet Radio...A Modern Drumming Practice Tool.

When I was a younger drummer we didn't have iPods, iPhones, or even computers small enough to set-up next to our kits. We had Sony Walkmans and a little later on CD's.  While these mediums were great to utilize in a practice session they had their drawbacks. Most importantly you were stuck to the single artist on the cassette or disc. If you wanted to change up your routine you had to waste time changing discs or worse yet make a mix tape before you began hitting the drums.

To counter this problem I would play along with FM radio. This allowed me to practice to a variety of artists without having to change out CD's or cassettes after every song. Jamming to the radio had some great advantages. First it allowed you to practice along with a multitude of artists and second it always kept you "on your toes" because you had little time to prepare for the next song in cue. For me this proved beneficial because it trained me to handle the many pick-up situations I would eventually encounter during my drumming career.

Thanks to the Internet and streaming services today's drummers have a radio on steroids to accomplish this same task.

I currently use Slacker Radio in the same fashion that I used the FM dial so many years ago. But Slacker has a number of benefits over traditional radio. First users can select a number of genres to listen to, or if you are a musician jam along with. These genres include country, jazz, hip-hop, rock, classic rock, hard rock, R&B, and even Christian.  Each of these genres has a number of sub-genres that allow you to dive deeper into a particular style. For example under the jazz heading you can choose classic jazz, modern jazz, smooth jazz, and vocal jazz, among many other sub-styles.  And all of these stations remain in radio format so you can stay on your toes as you move from artist to artist.

With such a deep selection of stations the drummer can really focus their practice routine on a particular style or a multitude of genres.  On some days I move from Slacker's modern country station, to classic R&B, and finally their classic jazz channel.  This has really helped me to stay on my game, find new artists, and develop my playing repertoire in each style.

Slacker isn't the only streaming service available. Available radio based stations include Pandora,  iHeart Radio, and Last.FM. There are also a number of streaming services such as Spotify, MOG, and Grooveshark, among many others that allow you to listen to virtually any artist of your choice instantly. Many like MOG allow you to listen to customized play lists that match the artist of your choice with similar acts. So if you like Hendrix you can listen to a station with Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Jeff Beck thrown in the mix.

All of these Internet streaming companies can be enjoyed via a web browser, or through one of their apps, which allow you to enjoy them on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Android device. And if you opt for their premium services you can even enjoy their music offline. This allows the drummer to have a pocket full of musical genres and artist to jam along with no matter where they are in the world.

Happy drumming!

The Degree is Over, But the Learning has Just Begun!

It has been a long time coming...This week I will graduate with my Bachelor of Science in Music Business Management.

Over the past two and a half years I have been studying, but not in a classroom.  Because I was "on the road" I had to obtain my degree with the help of technology...Online.

I chased that degree while I worked on cruise ships, paying 35¢ per minute to watch my lecturers, research and upload assignments, and participate in virtual discussions. At some times this cost me close to $200 per month in Internet bills alone.

For a while I got to study "on land" as I worked as a show band drummer for a five star resort nestled in northern New Hampshire. The remote spot where I lived lacked an Internet connection, so I went to my virtual classes via a mobile hot spot. It was slow, so slow that sometimes I drove an hour out of town seeking a stronger cell signal to upload my assignments.

I worked hard for those two and a half plus years. I think I averaged about 45 hours per week on school work while I traveled, played some late nights, and then traveled some more.

With a few months left before graduation I moved in with family in Florida and started working for Apple Retail. Luckily my sister had a really good Internet connection so I could finish my tenure at the college strong. I was up early every day and in bed late as I polished another assignment, researched another business topic, or read another chapter.

And in the end I got my last grades and was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had achieved a 4.0 for all of my hard work. The same hard work that put me at the top of my class in Music Business Management at Full Sail University.

Many people question the validity of such a degree. I do not.

The music business landscape has radically changed. Everything is different from marketing to promotions, artist management, the record deal, contracts, and, of course, distribution. What is funny is that if you asked any "Joe blow" on the street he would tell you the same, but for some reason so many artists think otherwise. They still dream of that big record contract, the globe trotting tour to packed football stadiums, the debut album that goes platinum in the first week.

Without people like me, people who have trained in the modern music business landscape, they would starve. Or worse yet return to a normal 9-5 job. You see during this degree that many would deem somewhat useless I have studied how artists can not only survive in this new marketplace, but also prosper.

In the end I am proud of what I have accomplished thus far, but I am even more excited of what is to come. If the music business has shown me one thing, it is that the Internet is here to stay and those who don't hop on board will wither and die. I have studied one industry that almost died at the hands of an interlinked world, now I will learn how to leverage that power to help both myself and the lucky organization I will eventually work for succeed in the modern marketplace.

So you may see my posts change a bit.  I will continue to talk about the drumming world, but you will probably see more research on the modern music business landscape and the power of the Internet taking a larger role.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you!

Drumming Greats: Mick Fleetwood

As I weaved through traffic on Orange Blossom Trail with my windows down and music cranked up the other day I couldn't help but notice that I was getting some awkward looks from other motorists.

Now let me explain for a second. OBT, as we affectionately call it, is propagated by people who enjoy hip hop and Latin music, so when I pull up at a red light and Fleetwood Mac's Dreams is blaring from my VW sound system I guess I can understand the funny looks from other motorists sitting on their 22" rims. What these motorists don't realize is that I am a drummer, and Fleetwood Mac is backed by one of the greats in the drumming community – Mick Fleetwood.

OK, so I will admit that Mick wouldn't be a drummers first choice when it comes to inspiration. He isn't  a blazing jazz pioneer like Billy Cobham or Max Roach, he isn't a progressive superstar such as Neil Peart, or a modern day rock star such as Rich Redmond, but we should all give Mick Fleetwood his due and here's why:

1. You know a rhythm section is great when the band is named after the bassist and drummer.

Sure many fans associate Fleetwood's fame with the vocals of Stevie Nicks, but many do not know that the band started out as a blues group and was named after bassist John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. Hence the name Fleetwood Mac.

2. To be a drummer you have to have brass balls.

Part of being a great drummer is having confidence. Nothing says confidence like wearing a wedding dress for a Rolling Stone article, and Mick did just that.

3. Mick kept the band alive.

We all know of the chaos that is Fleetwood Mac. The marriages, the divorces, and all the drugs, but through it all Mick is responsible for keeping the group going. After a long hiatus Mick urged the group to get back together for a new album in 1997 called Dreams, which brought them back to the mainstream and put the original line-up back on stage thus reinventing the Fleetwood brand.

4. Showmanship.

Watch any Fleetwood video and you will see Mick making faces, dancing on the kit, and feeling the music. To be a great drummer you have to be "in the music", and for his entire career Mick has been inside the music.

5. The tick-tock.

This is what keeps Fleetwood Mac on my playlist. Sure some drummers can burn the double bass, others can swing like mad, and newbies can play at 200 plus beats per minute, but to get the audience to dance and your records to sell your music has to have a groove. When it comes to groove Mick and John created a tick-tock that is always in the pocket, on time, and infectious.

I urge all the young drummers out there to give Fleetwood Mac a listen. See what these musical pioneers do that has pushed them up the charts and put them on stages across the world. In this day of speed drumming competitions and programmed beats we often forget that when you put great musicians together you get a great product. When that band has a drummer who can keep solid time, create an infectious groove with the bassist, and perform with confidence and musicality you can survive the test of time.

Finally watch this video from their successful Dance video, even with the University of Southern California Marching band Mick keeps the groove alive.

A Great FREE Learning Resource for Drummers

During my practice routines I like to devote some time to playing with study materials that give you music without drums and a chart to follow. I have found Tommy Igoe's Grove Essentials series (you can find these great books here), and Steve Houghton's Ultimate Drumset Reading Anthology (you can check out this manual and more here) to be great resources.

But after daily practice with these books the purpose behind reading charts and playing along with the tracks looses it's value. I mean it's pretty useless to read through a chart when you know the songs inside and out because you have played them too much.

So I went on a search this morning to find some new play along material, and being a consumer of the new technology driven universe I wanted to download something as opposed to purchasing a CD and then waiting for said disc in the mail before I could practice.  Through an Internet search I came across Vic Firth's Education section of their website and was pleasantly surprised.

I have to thank the folks at Vic Firth because this is a great resource for both drummers looking to boost their game and music instructors seeking ways to efficiently pass down their craft. They have countless videos of the drumming community's best offering lessons, live footage, and their own theories on the instrument. You can download their copy of the 40 Essential Snare Drum Rudiments, although I would encourage you to get my book on that (shameless plug), along with a plethora of other resources. They even have an ongoing Podcast that keeps you up-to-date with performances of today's top drummers.

The gem I found was at their drum set play along section (you can get there here).  

This page offers countless songs with and without drums. These free online lessons cover a number of genres and each one includes music to help you work on your chart reading skills at the same time. They are all songs by today's top drummers so be prepared to be challenged during your practice routine when you connect with these bad boys. 

All in all this is a great free resource for drummers looking to up their game. I encourage you all to take a tour of Vic Firth's website and see how they can help you get better on the kit.

Go Get Igoe's Groove Essentials

This week I had to prep for an audition.  The prerequisites called for a versatile drummer whom could play various styles of music.  Now I had just gotten off the road and didn’t have the comforts of home, a place to practice, or access to my library of drumming books.  I needed to figure something out so I got to work.  I found a friend with a spot to practice so I could get some wood shedding in, but I still needed something to motivate me to practice. 

Now when I am at home in the comforts of my own studio with access to my own library of materials I often find myself working with a great multi-style play along series by legendary drummer Tommy Igoe called Groove Essentials.  I have purchased series 1.0 on DVD and followed up with series 2.0’s play along set and have been quite impressed by this master drummer’s methodology so I made my way to a local music store to find Groove Essentials 1.0 play along series and was amazed that the drum department employee had no idea about this book or this amazing drummer.

For all of you who don’t know Tommy Igoe was a child drumming phenom who toured with The Glenn Miller Orchestra at the age of 18.  From there he landed in New York were his career really took off becoming an in demand session drummer and hitting the road with a roster of legendary artists from Blood Sweat and Tears to Stanley Jordan and Art Garfunkel.

In 1997 Igoe was asked to create the drum book for the Broadway musical version of Disney’s The Lion King.  His charts converted world and African Rhythms into a pop style for the drum set and have become the standard workbook for a slue of drummer who play the show in New York and around the world.  Soon after that success Igoe teamed up with Vic Firth to create a study manual that opens up drummers to the various styles of world music and to adapt those styles to the drum set.  Together they created Groove Essentials 1.0 that teaches drummers how to play a number of core rhythms on the drum set from rock to funk, to jazz, salsa, calypso, reggae, samba, bossa nova, and so much more.  According to Igoe’s website “This groundbreaking work has been credited with influencing more teachers and educators than any educational publication of the last 50 years.”  The book has won numerous awards in publications such as Modern Drummer Magazine and has become a staple in drum set instruction practices and universities across the U.S.  The book was so successful that a follow was introduced quickly after entitled Groove Essentials 2.0 and itself became it’s own drum set education success.

The included poster that outlines 47 various styles of music.

The packages include a great poster, DVD, play along CD and workbook full of charts.

What is unique about Igoe series is the various packages the lessons come in.  There is a DVD that includes a beautiful poster with the transcribed rhythm notations of the various styles.  On the DVD students can watch as Igoe picks apart each style and demonstrates each rhythm at varying tempos.  The more courageous can purchase the DVD and Play along package that includes written charts for each style minus the drums so the student can attempt to play along to a number of different songs in each style.  

All together this set includes six hours of play along material, and printed charts that represent what a drummer should expect in the real world, minus the bad notations by previous drummers that haven’t been erased.  The charts help you understand how to read music while you work through the demanding selection of rhythms with the play along real band.

Groove Essentials 2.0 goes deeper into various drumming styles and offers the same packages for the student.

Groove Essentials 2.0 is offered in the same packages, but goes deeper into the drum set style dictionary with 53 brand new grooves including jazz brush work, interesting rock and funk styles, less known world rhythms, a section on odd meters such as 5/4, 7/8, and 9/8, and it’s own selection of “World Tour” charts (Groove 1.0 has these also) that are a commanding workout in which the drummer must play to music that changes through various styles. 

For the advanced drummer the “World Tours” found in both the 1.0 and 2.0 version is a unique challenge.  The pieces range from 15 to twenty plus minutes and require the drummer to read and interpret the accompanying charts as the student plays along to a killer band without the drums.  During the music the drummer must change tempos and styles while leading the band on fills, accents, and changing genres of music.  They test your ability to stay focused, move from one style to another, read and interpret charts, and keep great time throughout the process.   

I strongly suggest that any serious drummer look into adding both of these systems to your learning library.  They are available at any brick and mortar or online music store as well as directly through Tommy’s site at http://www.tommyigoe.com/store.htm.  They have helped me elevate my playing and my understanding of the world of music and I am sure they can do the same for you.

Your most important musical product.

Ok, so now that I am a few months away from graduating with my Bachelor's Degree in Music Business Management it seems that so many of my friends, and even people I didn't know, are after for me on advice to launch their musical careers.  In listening to them I am overwhelmed at how many of these green musicians are still under the impression that a huge musical industry professional will show up to their next show, wave their magical record deal wand and turn them into the next Adele or Lady Gaga overnight.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news guys, but this just isn't going to happen.  So pack up your delusions of grandeur and think about what you really want from your music.  If you want to be the next international jet setting superstar that's cool, but it may also be impossible.

So how do you know if you have what it takes to get the bowl of M&M's minus all the brown ones at your next show at Madison Square Garden?  Well the answer is quite simple.  It all starts with your music.

I am often overwhelmed at how little importance young artists put into their music.  I have heard everything from "we have an amazing show, the lead singer eats a baby kangaroo on stage" or "the label will give us this big name producer who will make our music into the next big radio, or better yet Spotify, hit.  Where is my red buzzer, or better yet my hoop to pull these idiots off of their pedestals so I can scream Trump's catch phrase "your fired".  Honestly if you think that your music comes second in your career I hope you enjoy salting fries at McDonalds.

Remember this the music business is just that a business and the central point to any business is a competitive product and/or service.  I mean Henry Ford didn't start selling his automobiles to the public in hopes that someone would come along and build them for him after he made a number of sales.  No he had the cars first and then marketed his product to the marketplace.  The music industry is no different.

First and foremost your music is going to define who you are in this huge market.  According to www.quora.com there are upwards of 15-20 million bands on the Internet. And when it comes to live shows Martin Atkins in his book "Tour Smart" reports that there is close to 2940 bands performing each week in L.A., and 1235 in New York, and that's only two markets.  The U.S. is a HUGE country, and we are just a small part of the music world on this planet.  Do you still think that the head of A&R for Atlantic Records is going to show-up at your show in bum fuck New Hampshire and sign you to a multi-million dollar deal.  If you still think yes stand there for a moment while I grab my hook.

The first thing I tell young bands is "take it slow".  Your music is so vital to your success so you should be willing to woodshed the group for weeks and really craft your songs.  Then pick five or six gems and practice them some more.  When you can play through those tunes perfectly your next step is to find a decent studio, and by decent I don't mean your buddy with his Radio Shack recording set-up.  In today's market there are dozens of people with quality home studios who can record your demo.  Make sure they know what they are doing, after all this is your business "product" and it needs to sound as good as it possibly can.  Why?  Because we are going to use that as center point to your marketing, touring, and promotion strategy.  And for Christ's sake after your done recording get that CD professionally mastered. Spend the money and you will be very glad you did.  Unmastered CD's, even those mastered by some dude with a Dell laptop and some free program, get tossed in the garbage by more radio stations, promoters, and label executives than I care to research right now.

So now you heeded my advice and you have a killer demo of your tunes.  Here is how that one little product can change your career.

Your "quality" demo can be uploaded to a digital ramp service provider like ReverbNation or TuneCore to get your tunes in the digital music stores such as iTunes, Rhapsody, and Amazon along with the multitude of streaming services out there.  Or it can be used to press CD's to sell at your shows, to your friends, or your parents.  I hope your parents are buying your music, or at least taking the cost off of the food and rent you currently owe them among other things. Now you have created a product that can sell and earn you some cash, but there is more to it than that.

Your demo will be used to get clubs and promoters to book you at shows.  Who do you think they are going to hire the group that calls them and says: "Hey dude we are the next Metallica. We don't have a CD for your to hear, but trust us we are awesome the drummer has the most expensive kit you can get" or the band who is able to direct them to their music on iTunes, or even send the owner a copy of the CD?  There you go that "quality" demo can help you land shows.

Ok, so now a few club owners bit and you have some gigs.  With your music available you can use it to promote that show with journalists, radio dudes, and possible fans.  The more people you get in that door the better and the best way to get them there is to showcase how great your music is.

Once the show starts you now have a room of fifty people exited to hear you.  With music available you can sell them CD's or hand out free stickers that push them to your website where they can buy or download that music for free.  You can even give away discs to people in the audience who traveled the farthest to your show or street team members who hung posters promoting the event.  Basically your music can be used to build your fan base and as a sales point at the same time.  You need good music to do that.  You need a good product.

Then down the road you are playing to 400 people a night.  Your website and Facebook page is jammed with thousands of fans and "like" comments.  All the sudden you are on a labels radar and they sneak into your next performance.  Like what they hear and offer you a deal.  It is now your choice to accept or tell them to fuck off, because you are doing just fine on your own.  I suggest you sign, but that's another blog.

The point is this I have never heard of a label signing a band without first hearing their music.  Sure they have created bands out of the blue like NSYNC and 98º, but they knew that these cats could sing and perform before they invested.  The labels understand that this is a business and at the core of their business model is music.  If you call them and tell them how great you are they won't care.  You have to show them how great you are which means you must show them that you can connect with fans and make them buy your music.  How can you do that if you never recorded a demo?

I will end this blog with a great point to hammer home that demonstrates how important good music is. One of my favorite groups is The Dave Matthews Band.  Their music was so good that a local bar owner named Coran Capshaw sold his business to manage them band.  In an interview he stated that the biggest factor in his decision was the quality of the group's music.  Because the group had such great music they peaked the interest of one of the best managers to walk this planet.  This manager helped them sell close to 40 million records worldwide, win a Grammy, and sell out some of the biggest venues on the planet.  As Capshaw saw it is all about the music, your product, in this business.  Why rush creating that product?  Why try to sell someone a bridge you do not own?

The story behind the Heel Toe Technique

I was on a road trip from Orlando to Tampa with my sister and we were skipping through radio stations trying to find something to entertain our ears.  After about thirty-five minutes of skipping through song after song, genre after genre we landed on the old classic “One” by Metallica.  Very few songs in the world force me into air guitar mode, but within minutes I was shredding away with Kirk.  My shredding session quickly stopped when the song neared the end and Lars kicked into that iconic double bass rhythm that acts as a foundation for Hetfield’s poetic verse:

           

            Darkness imprisoning me

All that I see

Absolute horror

I cannot live

I cannot die

Trapped in myself

Body my holding cell…

Now in my opinion Lars’ double bass playing ushered in a new dimension to the drum set; the idea of using double bass as a core component in the drumming structure of a song.  Sure the idea was already out there.  I mean Slayer’s Dave Lombardo was killing the double bass as were drummers from other 80’s metal groups such Iron Maiden and Megadeth, but for some reason Lars’ use of double bass in “One” quickly had young drummers around the planet seeking out a second bas drum, or at the very least a double bas pedal.  Today double bass has become a basic component to any drum kit and even icons such as Steve Gadd have jumped on the bandwagon.  

I don’t want to burst any metal bubbles out there, but double bass drumming has been around for a very long time.  Sure Keith Moon and Bonham used this type of set-up.  So have Billy Cobham and Tony Williams, but we can go back even further.  Take the late Louie Bellson who became renowned for using two bass drums in his big band set-up.  I like to cite a story about my drumming icon Buddy Rich to hammer the point.

In one of Buddy’s legendary rages he punched a wall and injured his hand while on a tour with his big band.  The injury was so bad he had to wear a brace and his manager was concerned that the superstar wouldn’t be able to play a big gig at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.  Buddy wouldn’t give up so easy.  He called up Ludwig and had them deliver a second bass drum.  That evening with no double bass training he played the show minus one hand and one extra foot.  The crowd didn’t even know what was happening until he took his final bow and they realized he was in a cast.  Many thought it was a marketing trick, but it wasn't. 

For all you young double bass drummers out there I want you to consider how much time you have put into playing a double bass kit.  I know it has taken me lots of woodshed hours to get proficient at the craft.  So why could Buddy do it almost instantly with prolific results?

The answer lies in the heel toe technique.  And contrary to what us drummers may believe this isn’t a drumming technique, but one borrowed from the tap dancing world.  Yes you heard me right.  The tap dancing world. 

It turns out that Buddy started his life as a young vaudeville star called “Traps, the drumming wonder.”  In that training he was taught the stage performance techniques of the day including tap dancing.  One of tap dancing's core moves is a technique called "The Flap Heel Toe Combination".  Take a look at this tap dancing instructional video and you will see our teacher explaining the technique.  Listen as she get going.  Can you hear the double bass?

Ok now take a look at this video by Derrick Pope.  I find him to be a very cool online resource and his technique is spot on.  The Heel Toe Technique starts at about 4:23.  

Do you see the similarities in methods.  I know the drummer isn't moving around, but watch their feet and how they make that same rocking motion with their foot as you should already be doing with your hands when you do a single stroke roll or triplet with The Moeller Technique.  

The unique thing about the Heel Toe Technique is that when it is mastered you can do it forever without the burning you may get from the standards heel down or heel up technique.  Your double bass playing will become more fluid, and like Buddy you will be able to dance on your kit.  I encourage you to check out the technique and see how it can elevate your drumming. 

Now just to prove that drummers can tap dance take a look at this video of legendary drummer Roy Haynes and Jack Dejohnette having a tap off.

One of the first lessons I learned at Berklee was that drumming is all about the dance, and as Buddy, Jack, and Roy have shown us the great ones have no problem getting down.  Is this a secret to their greatness?  

To change the palette or not to change the pallet?

For any of you who know me you know that I am very specific when it comes to my cymbal pallet.  Over the years I have tested a number of cymbals in various playing situations to develop my own unique cymbal sound.  In these trial and error scenarios I have stuck by the Zildjian brand.  After all I was handed my first set of cymbals from my father, who was also o a big Zildjian fan.  To this day I still use those vintage 1960’s era hi-hats on the road and in the studio.

On a recent contract my ride cymbal developed a nasty overtone out of the blue.  The technicians thought it was the stand, but they were wrong.  After talking with a Zildjian representative I found out that the molecular composition of the cymbal had changed and that nasty 4K overtone was there to stay.  The only way to kill it was by placing gaffers tape at strategic locations on the instrument.  This killed the bounce and made playing jazz, swing, and certain world rhythms a difficult task.  It also got me questioning if it was time to change out my brass for a new brand.

I have been researching and testing a number of other cymbal manufacturers and have narrowed my choice down to either Sabian or Meinl. This change will cost me thousands, as I will now need to reinvent my cymbal palette.

All of this raises the question.  Is it worth it?  Should I stick with Zildjian and just change out the ride and risk another dead cymbal that is out of my control or switch to a knew unknown brand that may present their own problems?

Cymbals and drums are the tools of today’s modern drummer.  Much like a drill for a carpenter they can make your work much better and efficient.  Unlike a carpenter they require you to adjust and possibly reinvent your sound with a single change, which can affect your personal brand.  So how do you do it?

I follow a specific cymbal selection pattern.  First and foremost I develop a foundation sound with my ride and hi-hats and build up from there.  With that foundation developed, I usually go with a darker sound.  I then add my crashes, usually a bit brighter cymbal sound.  This helps define them in the sound spectrum, much like engineers do with EQ settings.  Once these colors are in place I add effects cymbals such as splashes and Chinas.  Once complete I have created a new cymbal pallet and defined my new sound.  It is fun to try, but expensive and time consuming.  In the end it can be very rewarding.

If you have any suggestions let me know what I should try as the cymbal hunt is on folks. 

YOU CAN FINALLY DOWNLOAD MY BOOK!!!

Happy days are finally here for me.

With a little down time from the road I was able to finally get my book "Rudimental Technique and Analysis" available for download through an online merchant for only $9.99.  You can Download it NOW! Check out this promotional video on the book's features.

I started this book after I finished my first cruise ship contract.  After getting home I felt the need to step-up my playing so I started working monthly with Berklee professor and drumming icon Kenwood Dennard.  His lessons on timing, independence and technique opened up my ears to the core concepts of drumming.  I had always been a huge fan of the 26 standard drum corps rudiments so I started putting together a practice regiment that revolved around the simplicity of using just those twenty-six moves to better my playing.

As drummers we all know of these rudiments, but many of us are confused of how they can be used.  Sure anyone can play a paradiddle, but it is a different thing to play that paradiddle to your metronome at various note values.  In my sabbatical with Kenwood and my private studies I found that I could use these basic techniques to develop my hand technique, double bass foot technique, timing, and independence.  I then used my experience as a graphic designer to chart out how each rudiment can be played to the click with your hands and feet, how they can be used for fills, grooves, and how you can gain your independence with them.

I recorded samples of myself playing through each exercise and had originally planned to get the book published, but thanks to the ol' Internet I was able to convert the entire book into a PDF format that includes the audio samples embedded in each lesson.  You can learn more about the book at my website www.jeremylarochelle.com or if you are feeling frisky download it today from e-junkie.

A Reading Challenge

I met a great pianist on this past contract and got to know a little about his years in the music business over many dinners together.  It turns out that this amazing player actually started out as a big-band drummer spending many of his childhood years in New York working in this complex style of drumming before making his way out to LA to study with some of the best teachers.

At his first college audition he was presented with a very difficult challenge.  He was asked to site read parts from the iconic snare drumming manual Portraits in Rhythm by Anthony J. Cirone.   It was this story that peaked my interest about the manual and pushed me to download it from Amazon's Kindle service for my iPad.

For all you drummers who think you are a great reader this book will challenge your personal opinions about your ability.  The manual covers a number of rudimental styled snare drum solos that will challenge even the most ambitious drummer.  There are lessons in 4/4, 2/4, 6/3, 3/8, single beats and ones that cover a number of changing time signatures.  And if the time signatures couldn't challenge you enough the stickings will.  You will be forced to do flams and ruffs into six stroke, seven stroke and nine stroke rolls all in weird time markings. Perhaps the books greatest attribute is the use of dynamic markings and accents in the most unusual places all designed to turn regular drummers into great musicians.

I have been working through the pages for about three weeks now and I am starting to understand many of the lessons, but the work has just begun.  Each page must be practiced slowly and diligently.  At times I have to break out a pen and paper to figure out what is written, but I am on a quest to be a better musician so I accept the challenge with open arms.  As I am learning there is a reason that Modern Drummer magazine placed this book in their Top 25 Drumming manuals.  Download it today at Amazon Portraits of Rhythm, grab your metronome and get ready to work.

Can You Hear Me Now?

It was probably the scariest story I have ever heard as a drummer.  It came from an elder statesman in our craft, and it changed his life forever.

It took just one rim shot and the ringing in his ears started almost instantly and never went away.  Eventually the tinnitus took over his life.  He had trouble sleeping at night with that constant humming in his ear.  He went to countless doctors and eventually had surgery to remove the bone that protects his eardrum, the root of his problem.  Now he has to wear hearing aids constantly.  He almost lost his ability to hear and with that his ability to play drums, all because he didn’t wear earplugs.

Immediately after learning his tale I have taken ear protection on the gig, in the practice room, and behind the kit much more seriously.  I think we all should because hearing isn’t like other things in our life were you loose it for a little bit, retrain yourself and get it back.  Once you loose your hearing, any part of your hearing, it is gone forever.  Have you ever been at a loud rock concert and left with that ringing in your ear?  That is a sign of permanent hearing loss.  And if you don’t think playing drums is just as loud as a rock concert, have I got a wake-up call for you.  That China cymbal you bang away on alone is louder than a passenger jet taking off, and like my buddy it only takes on hit to change your life forever.

There are many types of hearing protection on the market.  You can use the disposable gummies you roll up with your finger and insert into the ear canal that cost a couple bucks.  There are the orange hard rubber ones that you twist in that you can buy at Wal*Mart for under ten bucks.  Finally for you serious folk there are the custom molded plugs that come with a choice of noise reduction, they call it attenuation, and I use a 15 reduction in my left (hi-hat ear) and 10 in my right.  This is what I use every time I sit behind the kit, or at a loud show.  

(Picture from http://hearnet.com/) 

Getting this protection was easy and pretty cheap.  I think I paid under $150 and they have lasted me for four years now of constant road use.   I visited a local audiologist who specialized in hearing aids; got a mold made and sent it into Westone http://www.westone.com/ and they did the rest.  At the same time I also purchased a set of their dual driver In-Ear Monitors, but that is a whole other post.

 

To learn more about hearing loss visit this great website on the subject.  http://hearnet.com/ , Westone has a wealth of information at http://www.westone.com/hearing/hearing-and-your-ears. I encourage all you serious drummers out there to start protecting your greatest asset today.  Before it’s too late. 

A Steve Gadd Story Story from my Boss.

I was recently stressing out about a drum chart that gave me some trouble on the gig. I approached the bandleader to apologize for not getting it right the first time. "Don't worry about it. It isn't that important" he replied. But being the perfectionist I am I kept on stressing. Then he told me a story about Steve Gadd.

It turns out that my boss had the great pleasure to play with the legendary drummer. Not only did Gadd back him up, but he also played my bandleader's arrangements and even remarked on their top quality and readability. Anyway, back to my story.

My boss told me about his time sharing the stage with Gadd. He told me "you know when we rehearsed Gadd made mistakes, he wasn't perfect. The thing that separated him was that when he came back for the gig that night it was perfect."

As drummers we tend to look up to our heroes and place them on this pedestal, thinking that they have superhuman powers. Many do, and I am not belittling anyone, but we must all remember that with a little hard work, practice, and perseverance you can acquire great things with your craft. Just as Gadd did. Remember it was, and still is, his hard work that sets him apart.

Fundamentals of jazz versus rock.

I recently was hired for a six-month contract with a jazz quartet.  Now I’ve played jazz before with trios, quartets and even big bands so I had some knowledge going into the gig, but I had been playing rock and country for the past three years so it felt like I was heading back to my hometown after being away for years.  I mean I still knew the streets, but a lot had changed.

Luckily for me the leader of this band was heavily experienced in the concept of, let’s say, classic jazz.  A former pianist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, child prodigy, and killer big band arranger this guy new what he wanted to make the gig work.  In our first conversation I caught him telling me a story about past experiences with Miller Orchestra drummers.  As the rhythm leader he wanted one thing “give the horn section air conditioning with that hi-hat on 2&4.”

Now Ron’s story reminded me of my lessons with famed drummer Kenwood Dennard.  I had arrived in Dennard’s lab seeking to better my swing and chart reading.  Our first lesson was on the fundamentals of jazz, meaning what went where.  Kenwood passed on a lesson he had learned from Dizzy Gillespie and informed me of one important fact of jazz.  “In jazz you have to make sure the band can hear your hi-hat.”  And so my studying of jazz fundamentals began.

In rock you keep the time with your kick drum and your snare.  With your heavier beat falling on one and three and the backbeat on two and four.  In jazz this concept is almost reversed.  The hi-hat and ride take over, with your hi-hat keeping time on two and four, and the ride providing the swing.  The snare is played a lot lighter and acts as an accent to mimic melody parts, and your bass drum drops the bombs to liven the story up. 

Take a listen to past masters.  A good place to start is Max Roach and Roy Haynes. Kenwood hipped me to “A Study in Brown” by the Clifford Brown and the Max Roach Quintet to open me up to the basics of jazz.  I encourage any new jazz drummer to take a listen to this great album, as Max was one of the most prominent pioneers of our craft.  These cats kept that hi-hat pumping on two and four and swang’ the band with that ride like it was nobodies business.  As jazz drumming history evolved new players like Elvin Jones came along and changed things up.  Elvin pretty much kept his hat around the two and four, but kept time with the entire kit flip flopping the beat with his infectious tom fills and snare drum comping rhythms.  Art Blakey used the snare to reinforce his time so well that I think Swiss watchmakers use him as the source of time for their products.  And then arrived Tony Williams and the concept of jazz evolved to a whole new level for the drummer.  But Tony is a whole other story that I am not ready, or schooled enough, to tell.

Cymbal Sounds

I got a call from a drummer buddy the other day and he was psyched.  While putting together a new cymbal set-up he heeded my advice, well not really my advice but anyway, and decided to mix the sound spectrum placing Zildjian K’s in the ride and hi-hat position and Zildjian A’s on the crashes.  “It sounds great and mixes well” was his response.

What he is talking about is his cymbal sound spectrum.  A lot of drummers don’t pay much attention to this fact, but the great ones do.  It works like this.  As an old engineer friend of mine once related to me about mixing drums;  when mixing drums in the sound spectrum think of placing them on an imaginary bookshelf.  You put the kick and floor toms on the bottom shelf, snare in the middle and cymbals on the top.  I just took his sound advice, no pun intended, and applied it to cymbal acoustics.

Generally speaking you want your crashes to be on top of the ride and hats when it comes to drum set sound.  Your foundation cymbals, the ride and hi-hats are part of the solid groove to your sound; the crashes are actually accents in your playing.  So by using a brighter cymbal for those accents you get a different sound than your foundation brass. 

Now my buddy, a great heavy metal drummer, decided to switch the idea up and use brighter cymbals for his rides and hats and darker cymbals for his crashes.  Generally this is the same idea and it accomplishes the same task.  It separates your sound spectrum and helps your drums fill different head space in the EQ. 

 All manufacturers have different lines of dark and bright cymbals.  If you can give it a shot, mix up those choices and see how you can create your own cymbal sound spectrum.