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Happy New Year!
as we kick off a new year, the tradition is to make a resolution
to change and improve some area of our lives. most of us
stick with it for about a month then it's back to our rut. why
not be realistic and make simple, attainable goals? come up
with only one resolution, period. or maybe make one
for each major
area of your life (health, job, money, spiritual, recreation).
since our subject IS drumming, think about one thing you can
do
raise the bar on your playing in 2005? i haven't completely
decided what my ONE thing will be, but right now learning a
new genre style is appealing. once i'm comfortable with it, i
can occasionally mix it in with my standard grooves and genre.
surprise my band mates and add some fun!
| strip it down |
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i was talking with a friend the other day about a drum kit that
he played a few years in the 80's. he said it was big enough to
fill a bedroom from end to end. i know you've seen pictures of
'monster' kits like this. i recently saw one at a forum with four,
count 'em, four bass drums. while many of us are awed by
this, and consider that bigger is better, i would like to throw
out a challenge to play a set stripped down. just as an
experiment of course.
stripped down may mean something different to everyone. it
could be a five piece kit with a hi hat, ride, and crash.
personally i would remove two of the toms, leaving just the
floor
tom.
Instead of relying on a big selection of drums and cymbals to
create your voice range, you now have 3 drums and 3 cymbals.
play the same songs you normally do with this bare bones kit,
and then pay attention to how you approach the music. do you
play more simply? do you have to use more creativity to fill
the gaps? is your approach, or style, or groove different?
study your notes and see keep them in mind when your
banging on the full meal deal.
"why the banana picture?", you may ask. i don't know,
i guess
because i love eating a "naner a day" and the
comparison
fits. removing the peel gives you something with a
completely different look, feel, and taste ;-)
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| drum teacher highlight |
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karlston yago shares some advice on creating a media
package
from experience he has gained as the vice president of
marketing and advertising for a recording label...
within the music industry trade papers, any band can find an
event featuring prominent A&R representatives willing to listen
to new talent. the people representing these labels are either
scouts or A&R department heads. so when a band or individual
looking for a record contract attends anyone of these
conferences, how do you make an impression? it is called the
media package.
in the media package, you are leaving the lasting impression
between you and the record company. with so many people
having rock star dreams and aspirations, you want to leave a
lasting image of who you are and what you sound like. every
A&R scout or big wig will come across an average of a
thousand demos a month, so now more than ever do you need
to define who you are with originality, class, and intelligence.
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| rudiment of the month |
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the five stroke roll is one of the 26 NARD (national association
of rudimental drummers) rudiments. for all of the rolls other
than the long roll, the name indicates the number strikes.
here we have five strikes. these can be played as a single
stroke or double stroke. what do i mean by that? the stroke
number refers to how many times one hand is used. in a
single stroke roll, you would alternate hands until you have five
strikes. RLRLR LRLRL and so on. in a double stroke roll the
pattern would be RRLLR LLRRL. make sense? believe it or not,
the two approaches can have the same resulting sound.
(side note: there are actually rudiments that use
three
strokes. obviously this is much harder to do, but by the time
we get to those rudiments, you should be ready for the
challenge!)
when playing the five stroke roll, be sure to alternate hands
(i.e. don't lead with your strong hand every time- RRLLR
RRLLR).
another important point is to make sure you play the
accent is played on stroke #5. there are two primary reasons
for this. #1 it serves as a great marker for increasing an
decreasing tempo, and #2, it helps in developing stick control
due to the sound dynamics since strokes 1-4 are played quite
to moderate and stroke 5 is loud.
as with all rudiments, it's best to learn them on a single playing
surface. once they're mastered, then it's OK to experiment
with multiple surfaces. practice these on the snare, a practice
pad, and a tom to get familiar with different surface responses
and sounds. how we hear the strokes has as much to with
learning as how we feel them.
a couple great tips were offered for practicing the long roll in
december's newsletter. if haven't seen them, or don't recall,
check them out HERE.
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Featured Article |
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i would like to argue that the snare drum is by far the most
critical piece of drum equipment, which is why finding your
voice in the snare is so important.
do you like a deep voice? a raspy one? high-pitched?
metallic? each of these are affected by the material the drum
is made of and the dimensions of the snare.
i find it interesting that most drum sets come with a 14" X 5"
snare drum. is this because that's the median size, which is
more likely to please the majority of drummers? given that
most kits are made on an assembly line, it's much easier and
more profitable to make one size fit all.
what about the OTHER snare sizes? if the 14" X 5" drum is the
jack of all trades, why would you consider another size? and
for that matter, what is the difference in sound if you changed
the depth or diameter of the drum? to brush up on drum
shells, i recommend that you go here
next month we'll review the other snares sizes commonly used!
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