Drum Related

When we “trademark” genres basically we’re talking about things that make them what they are. Things you use to identify it is THAT genre. We’re not talking about exacts, we’re talking about descriptive words to begin with.
Of course there are no EXACT answers as music has NO RULES, but generalizations can be made.
We can use the following descriptive words as generalizations for Funk:

Bass Heavy
Sharp
Blocky
Tight
Chilled (or at least more chilled than thrash metal!)
Not majorly fast
Laid back
Upbeat

Funk is very rarely ever:

Super fast
Trashy
Dark
Depressing
Bland/flat

This is what you should try and identify when playing in a genre. See, the way I teach is that there aren’t really “Funk” grooves or “Pop” grooves and such…. It’s more about HOW you play what you’re playing. Of course some grooves and fills lend themselves better to different genres, but you can’t say as a rule THIS is a such and such groove and THAT is a such and such fill. You can use them in many genres and simply change how you approach playing it.
So when thinking about playing in a style or genre from now on, think more about HOW you play it rather than WHAT you play. Identify the trade marks and the rest will follow

Popularity: 8% [?]

People often ask me what exactly makes a kit expensive, what the “shells” are, and why they all sound different. Well, firstly there are many reasons for the difference in price such as metal work (lugs, stands, pedals, thrones) to the wood used all the way down to a custom finish. “the wood is used in the “shell” construction. The shell is the actual drum itself. The head is the bit you hit, but the head is put onto the shell, and it’s the air within the shell that vibrates to give the sound…. Follow?? Different quality of wood makes and difference, as does the amount of ply’s used (how many slices of wood used to create the cylinder… the more slices, the thicker the drum, the more solid the sound)

Spaun, a custom kit maker have just come up with this new series of shell construction…..
Spaun Drum Company has expanded on their Edgevent snare drum designs and our now offering complete Edgevent kits. These unique drums feature a “shell within a shell” design. The outer shell holds all the parts (lugs, spurs, strainer, butt, etc) and also has outside holes for venting. The inner shell has no holes and no parts attached, so it resonates independently from the outer shell. Both top and bottom bearing edges also have vent holes to allow the air to escape. These “edgevents” work with the outer shell vents, creating a unique voice that are said to translate into a fat, warm sound with excellent attack and sustain. This drum has a very different look as is obvious from the photo.

As with all Spaun drums, Edgevent kits are custom built with nearly unlimited choices in size, finish, and options. Pictured kit has Swiss Cheese Venting. The colour is Black Glass outside with Red Glass inside and Candy Red hardware. The snare is in reverse colour- Red Glass outside with Black Glass inside and Black hardware. Retail price varies depending on sizes, finish, and options.
Visit www.spaundrums.com for more info

To give you an idea of price I just looked on a site that sells these drums and it’s about £500 just for the snare drum!

http://www.spaundrums.com

Popularity: 11% [?]

This week I decided on Higher Ground by the Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘cos I was just flicking through my iPod and landed on it!
This track is in 8th note triplets and uses a trashy/loose shuffle, however if you aren’t at a shuffle stage yet you can just play ¼ notes and it’ll work just fine.
It’s pretty quick so do try to keep up! It also has a double time bit after the break at the end. I’ll include this in the write up but if you think it sounds far too tricky then leave it out.

Section        No. of Bars

Intro            4 (don’t play bars 1-3 but play a fill on the 4th as a pick up)

Inst             8

1st Verse    12

Inst             4

2nd Verse   12

Inst             4

Chorus        8

Inst            4

3rd Verse   12

Inst            4

4th Verse  12

Inst            4

Chorus       8

Mid Section   16  (flam on “1” of 17th bar and STOP!)

Guitar solo (double time) 3 ish bars but not to a click! Don’t play!!

Outro (double time)  8 (1/4 note hi hat. End with a flam on the “1” of the 9th bar.)

Popularity: 10% [?]

I was talking to a student earlier and he was telling me how yesterday he had a terrible practice day and how it really p**sed him off! He asked me what he should do when he was having such a day, so I thought I’d write a post about it!

Firstly I told him that we ALL have bad practice days. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been playing, or even what instrument or sport you play, sometimes you just get ‘em! There can be a number of different reasons for them too. Your mind might be a little pre-occupied, you might be tired, achy, feeling a bit under the weather, bored, frustrated, annoyed….. the list is kinda endless! Unless the reason is something physical such as a broken foot (in which case just practice hands!) then there are a few things you can try.

I recommend having a track or two that you LOVE to play, but don’t often play, that really make you smile. They don’t even have to be complicated, fast or energetic. Just track you love to play. (Ideally they’re tracks that you know inside out and don’t mess up on, ‘cos if you do it can make you feel worse!) Give them a play once or twice until you feel more relaxed. There idea here is to elevate your mental state.

Another thing to do is simply to turn off the lights or shut your eyes, take some deep breaths and just PLAY! Nothing specific. Nothing from any music. Just let it out and see what happens! So many people get hung up on a specific when practicing and it annoys them, which in turns makes you think you’re having a “bad practice”. Give your mind a rest and clear it out while playing something random. Give your CONCIOUS mind a break from it while giving your SUB-CONCIOUS mind time to work on it.

Another thing to do, if you feel you’re having a bit of a rubbish day is some simple exercises. Run through whatever exercises you know well. Some might be stick control, some co-ordination, some may involve moving round the kit. Just exercises that you know well. And don’t set yourself goals with them, the doing is enough. All you’re doing is some maintenance work.

Any time spent at the kit is good so don’t worry about having to notice big results every time you sit down. Even if you don’t think you’ve had a productive practice, at least you’ve worked your brain a bit and you never know what seed you may have planted.
So make sure you don’t associate bad feelings with playing the drums, always try to leave on a high so you’ll want to come back.

Popularity: 9% [?]

4) Keep it simple.
I see so many people trying to play, at say 150bpm, what they could only just play at 100bpm. This is ludicrous. Play to the speed, don’t just play one thing! I can play way in excess of 400bpm, but I ain’t talking about an 8th note hi hat and 16th not bass here. I’m talking ¼ note hi hat and 8th note bass at most. And even then it’s sporadic! Fills are pretty simple too. Remember, as things get faster, they need to be straight forward. Watch the fasted dudes in the world in an Olympic 100m race…. Now imagine that was a slalom 100m race, do you think it would be as quick? No way! So as things get faster, trim the fat and fanciness!
5) Know where you’re going
Now I’ve saved the most important until last. And some of you will be like “what?” but go with me on this.
Think about it. If I said to two people “meet me at JJ’s café, 1st one to arrive I’ll buy ‘em lunch…. Go!” One could have a rocket car and one might have to crawl. But if the person in the rocket car doesn’t know where the hell JJ’s café is, but the person crawling knows it’s actually next door then the person crawling will win! Knowing exactly what you intend to play AHEAD OF TIME is a concept that most people don’t think about and then come unstuck when it comes to playing fast. So knowing where you’re going (i.e. what you’re gonna play) is the more important than all of the above.

People often come out with answers like “good technique” or “have some sort of sports drink”, but no, my five tips will stand you in better stead than that! So stop reading and get practicing!

Popularity: 9% [?]

I’m known for being somewhat of a fast drummer and people often see what I do and go “wow!” which, to be fair, is quite cool for me to hear! So I’m gonna give you a few little tips on how you can become fast and see people go “wow!” when you play!

A couple of things to bare in mind when it comes to playing fast are:

1) You must exert as little energy as possible to get maximum speed.
Put another way turn minimum input into maximum output. Try to be as efficient as possible when you play. Try to use your body as it was meant to be used. Don’t use BIG muscles, use minimal movement using smaller muscles. These require less energy to exert them to their fullest. Just always remember to treat them well by warming up and stretching. Don’t use any kinda sticks or gel that are supposed to give you extra grip, as you’ll just end up getting blisters!

2) Relax!
As you get faster the bodies initial reaction is to tense up. But you must fight this instinct and actually relax as you gain speed. Think of it this way…. If you wanted to pick up a heavy weight down the gym what would you do? You’d tense your muscle to do that right? And what does tensing said muscle do to the weight? It stops it moving toward the floor as gravity intends it to. So by tensing you’re RESTRICTING movement. And what’s the quickest way to get that weight to the floor? That’s right… relax every muscle holding it and that bad boy will drop! So relaxing is vital to gaining speed.

3) Breathe!
I know this sounds a bit silly for playing drums, but as any great athlete will tell you, breathing is a massively important part of any physical activity. When you’re pushing your muscles you MUST deliver oxygen to them otherwise they simply won’t work for you! So when you play at speed do try to get into a nice comfortable breathing pattern whereby your muscles get all the oxygen they need to work at full capacity. I’ll give you the last 2 tips in my next post.

Popularity: 9% [?]

People often hear about “rock kits” or “fusion kits” but few new drummers actually know what the difference is. So here you go….

A “rock” kit is a drum kit characterised by toms which are larger and deeper than on a “Fusion” kit. For example, a “Rock” kit traditionally consists of 12″, 13″ and 16″ toms and a base drum size of 24”

A “fusion” kit is a drum kit characterised by toms which are smaller and shallower than a standard “Rock” kit. For example, a fusion kit may consist of 10″, 12″ and 14″ toms, and a base drum of 22”

Popularity: 13% [?]

This week I’ve chosen 6 of 1 thing by Craig David. Now I know this isn’t exactly a hard core track for drums, but it’s actually a great play! It’s full of energy and has plenty of opportunity to try out some flashy stuff!
If you’re at the stage where you use sextuplet fills then here is a great place to try some. It’s also a good track to work on your ghost note snare drums within the groove if you play that kinda thing.

Here’s the breakdown:

Section    No. of bars

Intro     1 (ish!) fill “+a4e+a”

Chorus     8

1st Verse    8

2nd Verse   8

Bridge     8

Chorus     8

3rd Verse   8

Bridge     8

Chorus     8

Mid section    16

Chorus     8

Chorus     8

Chorus  8 (end “1 +” with a flam on the snare on the “1” and bass/crash on the “+” of the 8th bar.) 

Try and make the verses real tight, bridges build a little, chorus flashy and the mid section chilled. 

Popularity: 11% [?]

Mikedolbear.com have a couple of very good reviews, click on the title above to open the article and then click on the links.

Drum Fest 2008 Review

Please follow link:

http://www.mikedolbear.com/story.asp?StoryID=1642

DVD Reviews for August 08

Please follow link:

http://www.mikedolbear.com/story.asp?StoryID=1641

Popularity: 10% [?]

Renowned British drum teacher Bob Armstrong has announced that he will be hosting an ‘Up Close and Personal’ clinic with top UK session man Ralph Salmins, plus a Special Guest Appearance by the Corps of Drums from The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, Portsmouth.

The clinic will take place at Bob’s Masterclass Studios in Essex (Drum City, 24 North Street, Romford
Essex, RM1 1BS) on Sunday 5 October at 2:30pm.

Tickets are available now by calling 01708 763708 or email masterclass.bob@btinternet.com.

Popularity: 10% [?]