Drum Related

The tambourine was invented many centuries ago and was traditionally a shallow drum made of a circle of wood with calfskin stretched across one side. The tambourine also has small jingles or metal discs set in the circle of wood. The tambourine produces sound when it is shaken, rubbed, or struck on the head with the knuckles. Early tambourines were played by Turkish army musicians known as “Janissaries,” and Mozart first used the tambourine in his orchestra in 1782.

Now days there are many different styles of tambourine that are used in conjunction with the drum kit to give a variety of sounds. These usually don’t have the skin or head on and are just the evolution of the circle with jingles idea! Traditional tambourines however are still very popular in Gospel music.

Old “traditional” style

Variation without skin

An evolution without skin specifically for a drum kit

Further evolution specifically for a drum kit

Interestingly enough I’d never heard of a “snake pit” in a musical sense until last weeks gig. It turns out a snake pit is a slang term for a stage box. For those of you who are still none the wiser, a stage box is a box that you use up on stage into which you plug your various leads (like an XLR or Jack). From the stage box you then have just one big fat, but neat, cable running into the mixing desk. They save having a whole bunch of separate cables running all over the place and getting in people’s way.
So there you go, a “snake pit” is another name for a stage box! 

Name: David Eric Grohl

D.O.B: 14th Jan 1969

Place of Birth: Warren, Ohio USA

Started playing aged: 16yrs

General info:

A young master Grohl, as you may well know, started out playing guitar and got very into the “punk” scene as a youngster. He started to teach himself the drums when he was in a band as a freshman in high school and felt that the drummer wasn’t really all that great! At the time he’d played guitar and sang but when they kicked out the bass player of the band he decided to become the drummer. His influences as a drummer around this time were the likes of John Bonham from Led Zepplin.

At age 17 Dave dropped out of high school to tour the world with a new band, Scream. He spent the next four years. It was while touring with Scream that he met up with some of the guys who would later on become Nirvana.

A few months after Scream broke up and Grohl, in search of work tapped up Buzz Osborne for some advice. He then teamed up with Nirvana to become their full time drummer. It was here that Grohl really got recognised as a drummer. Also while in Nirvana Grohl got involved in the song writing process and over the years made more and more contributions. Band life was going well until, as many know, Kurt Cobain decided to blow his brains out! So that was kinda the end of that!

Dave didn’t quite know what to do for a while, and it was rumoured that he might even become a replacement for Pearl Jams drummer Dave Abbruzzese, but this never happened. After doing some recordings and demos and what not, the Foo Fighters were finally born in 1995. Grohl is famous for being multi talented and in the Foo Fighters dabbled in playing all the instruments. Though, eventually Taylor Hawkins joined the band as the permanent drummer. People left and joined, as is quite the norm with bands, but still the Foo Fighters continued to crank out hits.

Grohl’s life of non-stop touring and travel continued with Foo Fighters’ popularity. During his infrequent pauses he lived in Seattle and Los Angeles before returning to Alexandria, Virginia. It was there that he turned his basement into a recording studio where the 1999 album There Is Nothing Left to Lose was recorded.
In 2000, the band recruited Queen guitarist Brian May to add some guitar flourish to a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar”. Grohl and Hawkins joined Brian May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor to perform “Tie Your Mother Down”, with Grohl standing in on vocals for the late Freddie Mercury.

Near the end of 2001, Foo Fighters returned to the studio to work on their fourth album. After four months in the studio, with the sessions “finished”, Grohl accepted an invitation to join Queens of the Stone Age and helped them to record their 2002 album Songs for the Deaf. (Grohl can be seen drumming for the band in the video for the song “No One Knows”.) After a brief tour through the USA, Britain and Japan with the band and feeling rejuvenated by the effort, Grohl recalled the other Foo Fighters to completely re-record their album at his studio in Virginia. The effort became their fourth album, One by One. While initially pleased with the results, in another 2005 Rolling Stone interview, Dave Grohl admitted to not liking the record: “Four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life. We rushed into it, and we rushed out of it.”
Grohl and Foo Fighters released their fifth album In Your Honor  in 2005. Prior to starting work on the album, the band spent almost a year relocating Grohl’s home-based Virginia studio to a brand new facility, dubbed Studio 606, located in a warehouse near Los Angeles. Featuring collaborations with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Norah Jones, the album was a departure from previous efforts, and included one rock and one acoustic disc.
Foo Fighters’s sixth studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was released on September 25, 2007. It was recorded during a three month period between March 2007 and June 2007, and its release was preceded by the first single “The Pretender” on September 17th. The second single, “Long Road to Ruin”, was released on December 3, 2007.
Grohl is undoubtedly a massively talented and sort after musician and I know that he’s widely regarded as a great drummer and an inspiration for a new generation of drummers. Though his style is very abrasive and unpolished he’s certainly got a great sound and rocks the world! For this he has to get a solid 8/10!

If you want to improve your groove with tips and tricks from the finest funksters the UK has to offer, look no further than Great Yarmouth’s Residence Club, which will be welcoming the Jamiroquai band for a masterclass of funk and soul on the afternoon of 17 August 2008.
The event will feature long-standing Jamiroquai drummer Derek McKenzie, plus guitarist Rob Harris and Paul Turner on bass, who’ll not only play some of their biggest tracks but also take part in a Q&A session with the audience. It’s not often you get the chance to pick the brains of a band who can have six multi-platinum albums, a Grammy Award and an Ivor Novello stopping their collective doors, so we’d recommend getting your groove on for tickets. Visit Elusive Events Management’s MySpace site for info on how to book.

Products: Yamaha DTXTreme III Special Kit

At the music live show this year I got a chance to play on a Yamaha DTXTreme lll. This kit wasn’t actually for public use but seeing as I asked nicely…!

I was really impressed with the stuff it could do! The guy – Simon if I recall – had set up the pads so that he could play entire tracks using just the kit with no external CD or soundtrack. All the separate sections of the track were allocated to different triggers around the kit. He showed us “Ain’t no other man” by Christina Aguilara – A song I love playing to – and Stronger by Kanye West…. Both very impressive! Some people would watch something like that and say “yeh, it’s alright but the drummer ain’t really doing anything…. he’s just hitting the pads at the right time to make the next bit play.” As true as this is in part, it’s not the case. I had a go and let me tell you, it ain’t as easy as it looks! Not only have you got to hit the right things in the right place in the drum at the right time. You’ve gotta remember where to hit, when to hit it, and the order in which to go round the pads as well as keep it all relaxed and in time with the click – which to be fair, is something I don’t struggle with - Not to mention holding back when you play – something which I DO struggle with! -  Once the triggers are set up you then can’t use the kit in the way you normally would… there are things you CAN’T hit otherwise it triggers the wrong bit of the track in the wrong place!

His demo was really impressive and it did actually really make me want to go out and buy one of these kits. Or at least the brain and some trigger pads just so I can add them to my acoustic set up. I think this is the way forward.

Anyway, here’s what Yamaha have to say about their kit:

DTXTReme III Special Set - Your Style, Your Sounds!
Introducing the new DTXTREMEIII Special Kit, an electronic drum kit like no other. Coming from a long and illustrious line of Yamaha electronic drum kits, the DTXTREME III features a brand new brain that’s based upon ‘Motif’ AWM2 sounds.
The DTXTREME III has an outstanding sampling capability (with optional memory installed) and a powerful sequencing engine. With USB MIDI on board, the DTXTREME III is not only a standout stand-alone instrument, it can function as the front end of a complete music production system embracing live performance, rhythm training, music creation and studio recording.
The DTXTREME’s preset kits and voices are just the beginning. You also have full WAV/AIFF sampling capability that lets you store your own sounds and compile your own kits, and a MIDI sequencer to drive new beats.
The 6 individual outputs make the DTXTREME III the perfect instrument for live- and studio performances as you can mix each channel (as e.g Snare, Toms & HiHat) separately for your individual sound.
The digital output (S/PDIF) enables you to send a signal in digital quality to any external recording device.
With the AUX IN/SAMPLING IN jack, you can attach any CD Player or audio device and jam along with your favourite songs.
The Special Set is equipped with the 4-leg HexRack system that guarantees absolute stability.
Components…
•  DTXT3 – Module
•  HXR4L – Rack System Pad Set:
•  2x PCY135 ( 3- Zone Cymbal Pad)
•  1x PCY155 ( 3- Zone Cymbal Pad)
•  1x KP125 Kick Pad
•  1x RHH135 HiHat Pad
•  1x TP120SD ( 3-Zone Snare Pad)
•  3x TP100 (3-Zone Tom Pad)
•  2x CH750 (Cymbal Holder)
•  1x SS652 (Snare Stand)
•  1x HS650 (HiHat Stand)

Here is the groove breakdown for Changes, I’ve written it out as it’s played in the song, and given some suggestions if you find it to hard.  Give it a try and let me know how you get on.

Click on the link below to open in PDF format.

Changes - groove

This weeks’ track of the week is Changes by the late, great Tupac. If you don’t like swearing then see if you can get the radio edit rather than the explicit version!

This is great track for working on your broken hi hat lines (if you’re at that stage). It’s also a good track for working on your stops, as well as your bass drum patterns.

Plus, if you fancy yourself as a bit of an MC why not try rapping over the top!?!?

Here’s the breakdown…
Section          No. of Bars

Piano Intro  …..

Drums           2

1st Verse      20 (stop on the “1” of the 20th bar)

Chorus         16

2nd Verse     20 (stop on the “1” of the 20th bar)

Chorus         16

Mid Section  8 (stop on “1” of 8th bar)

3rd Verse    20 (stop on the “2” of the 20th bar)

Chorus        8  (stop on “1” of 9th bar)

Tomorrow I’ll give you the two bar loop that’s played through this track.

Well, what can I say? A fantastic day I’m sure all who attended would agree! The guys who performed – most of whom had never done so before - did a marvellous job. Of course there were mistakes – from everyone…. Including myself! – but everyone listened to the advice I gave and took it on board. I think most would agree – or at least the one’s who dropped their sticks – that my handy “Stick Tip” was one of the most valuable bits of advice people took on that day! I’m so proud of all of them for playing like they did. The whole day was a pleasure because the guys were such a great bunch to work with. I know how hard they all worked on their tracks prior to the event and I’m so pleased it went so well for them.
I’ve had some great feed back from people who attended.

The line up was as follows:

1. Tim   Sweet Home Alabama

2. Charly  Makes Me Wonder

3. Mike   You Really Got Me

4. Steve   Tell Me Baby

5. Bazza   Mustang Sally

6. Adam   By The Way

7. Malcolm  You Really Got Me

8. Clive   I Believe in a Thing Called Love

9. Mel   Summer of 69

10. Huw   Tell Me Baby

11. Gaz   Play That Funky Music

12. Sam   Brown Eyed Girl

13. Lisa   Jonny B Goode

14. Jamie   Sultans of Swing

15. Ric   Crazy Little Thing Called Love

16. Ian   Smooth Criminal

17. Yellow Garage 2 Covers, 1 Original – “Suited and Booted”

18. Me   Sweet Home Alabama + solo

If you wish to make NICE and CONSTRUCTIVE comments about the performances you saw that day please feel free.

Special mention goes to Charly who had one of the most difficult tasks on the day as Dave, Craig – Guitarist and bassist – and myself were least confident with that track. Because of this we all messed up! Despite this she held it together and we all kept it going to the end like the professionals that we are!

From what I’ve heard all the performers enjoyed themselves and many are very eager to do it again as soon as possible. I think they all got a little taste of what it’s like to be a rock star. Especially at the end when we all lined up along the stage and had photos taken from a wall of people! All the guys needed to do was sign a few autographs and they would have been there!

Next time we’re looking at an even bigger event so guys… get practicing!

Here is the next clip on stretching, this one covers the foot and lower leg.

The Beat 2008 event has been announced as taking place on Sunday 19 October from 1.00 – 5.00pm at the Sheffield Carling Academy.

World renowned drum educator/ drummer Toni Cannelli founded the Drummers Alliance 21 years ago when he organised the first young drummer competition in 1987 and Beat 2008 is now one of the most established annual UK drum events – celebrating the art of drumming with top drummers from all over the UK.

Beat 2008 will include special guest drummers (soon TBC, keep checking the Rhythm blog), final of the young drummer competition, trade/ exhibition stands and much more… Some of the event’s previous entrants, not always the winners, have gone on to play with bands like Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse, Basement Jaxx and Sugababes.

So, are you a talented young drummer? If you think you have what it takes visit www.drummersalliance.com for more details on how to enter this years Drummers Alliance Beat 2008 young drummer competition (17yrs or under). The winner of the competition will walk away with a fantastic set of Sabian AAX cymbals.

The closing date for entries is noon on 01 September 2008