August 4, 2014
OK, time to do some improvisation/comping with the Samba beats you’ve learned so far.
July 28, 2014
More variations – this time moving that Samba ride over to the hihat!
July 21, 2014
Let’s keep rolling with some more Jazz Samba grooves, courtesy of yourmusicmuse.com.
July 14, 2014
World Cup Fever! Let’s take a little Brazilian break – want to know how to samba on the drum set? Here is a great little lesson to get you started, courtesy of yourmusicmuse.com!
July 7, 2014
Mark Guiliana is a guy that has been getting alot of attention as of late due to his appearances with Jojo Mayer in Sabian’s Dark Omni series. He’s a very creative player both on drumset and with electronics and has a variety of great projects to check out. This video is his Mehiliana project with Brad Mehldau.
June 30, 2014
Here’s the last episode of Daniel Glass’ History of the Drumset. Part 15- The Beatles!
June 23, 2014
Rock N Roll!!!!
June 16, 2014
OK, back to some learning – here’s Daniel Glass with Week 13: Rockabilly!
June 9, 2014
One more diversion – Who says drummers can’t multitask? How about a big hand for drummer and Frisbee enthusiast Patrick Wilson?
June 2, 2014
We interrupt the educational drumming videos – there’s been a Phil Collins sighting! He’s not playing drums but it’s still nice to see him back onstage if only for a moment or two!
May 26, 2014
Week 12 and we’re in the home stretch – time to loosen up those legs and get ready for the introduction of double bass drumming!
May 19, 2014
Week 11 is all about the blues…
May 12, 2014
Week 10 – time for some bebop!
May 5, 2014
Week 9 is all about the master himself, Mr. Gene Krupa!
April 28, 2014
Week 8: Classic Big Band Drumming – now we’re cookin’!
April 21, 2014
History of the Drum Set Week 7 is all about Silent Movies and the Traps that drummers used to accompany the film.
April 14, 2014
Back to some more great drum set history with Daniel Glass – Week 6 is Chicago Style Drumming, circa 1919.
April 7, 2014
We interrupt the informational sessions with a serious masterclass level performance from Brian Blade and The Fellowship Band. Take notes (if you can) but really just do what I do and watch this with your mouth agape.
March 31, 2014
Week 5: Time to hit New Orleans and see where the modern drum set really starts to come together.
March 24, 2014
OOH Week 4: It’s 1913 and brushes have just been invented!
March 17, 2014
Week 3: The Bass drum pedal. Thank goodness we don’t have to use those wooden ones anymore!
March 10, 2014
These are so good I’m going to link them all! Week 2 is Ragtime!
March 3, 2014
Why is the drumset configured they way it is? Daniel Glass is here to help answer that question. His Century Project DVD is amazing and he’s condensed some of that knowledge into these little bites thanks to VicFirth.com. Here’s Part 1: Double drumming.
February 24, 2014
Borrowed a book from my friend Steve about Tom Petty and it reminded me how much I loved Stan Lynch’s playing and those crazy enormous Tama drums he used to play. This one is from the early days of MTV and I must have seen it a million times.
February 17, 2014
Hat tip to my friends at Crescent cymbals for calling this one to my attention. Elvin Jones kills a guy and then does a drum solo. Wow. From the movie Zachariah.
February 10, 2014
50 years of Beatles! Ringo is the Godfather of all rock drumming and I never get tired of hearing his playing or hearing him talk. Here’s a little snippet from Conan where he explains being a lefty(!) behind a righty kit.
February 3, 2014
There’s an old (very old…) joke about how Ginger Rogers was a better dancer because she did everything that Fred Astaire did, but BACKWARDS. Along those lines, I often think of Chester Thompson who has been Phil Collins’ right hand man (literally) for 30+ years with Genesis and with Phil as a solo artist. He did all the parts that Phil recorded, backwards and then also did some double drumming live as a bonus. Chester is soooooooo underrated as a drummer and deserves more attention!
So here’s to Chester and also happy belated birthday to Mr. Phil Collins (my favorite lefty!) A full live concert from 1980, compiled from bootlegs and broadcast video, where they were still doing a lot of the great older tracks.
January 27, 2014
This song has the greatest drum entrance of any song I can recall. Mark Brzezicki is the Neil Peart of the Eastern Hemisphere as far as I’m concerned!
January 20, 2014
How about some more percussion? You gotta love some good old latin conga work – Thank You to the Latin Cuban All Stars!
January 13, 2014
Pete Lockett is a well known drummer in some parts of the world but in the US he might still be a “best kept secret.” Here’s a nice introduction to how he approaches Indian rhythms in a drum kit setting.
January 6, 2014
Happy New Year!
I’ve been working more with percussion lately (cajon, hand drums, various shakeables) and the one thing that seems to be missing is good textural cymbals sounds that you can achieve with your hands. Well, enter the Crescent Haptic Series. Here’s Jamey Haddad with a demo of how they came about and how they sound. (great!)
December 30, 2013
As another year comes to a close, it’s important to remember why we make music. For our hearts, or minds and our spirits. Bring love and joy to all and have a Happy New Year.
December 23, 2013
Mmmmm, pizza. (Jason Sutter!)
December 16, 2013
Dave Elitch is a monster on the drums. He just started a series on Drumchannel.com called “What’s the DElitch?” and here he is with Elias Malin (from our old Chicago pals Kill Hannah as well as Ke$ha) doing a little double drumming.
December 9, 2013
Speaking of Elvin, here’s a proper video with great audio of the trio back in 1968. Damn.
December 2, 2013
OK,I Just have to do another Bonham iso. This one is for the Hobbits! Ramble on!
November 25, 2013
Seriously, who, other than maybe Elvin Jones, could groove this deep while hitting this heavy? Also, the yelling!?!?!
November 18, 2013
Fine. Here’s some Neil Peart. You knew I had to do it. (Skip to 2:37 for the sweet fills)
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November 11, 2013
Man, my influences are showing during these iso searches, haha. Here’s Stewart Copeland’s iso track from “Next To You.” It’s funny how boingy the toms sound soloed but how great the fit in the mix. His cymbals, as always, sound prefect.
November 4, 2013
Every so often it’s fun to try and find isolated/solo drum tracks. As great as some drummers are, you also realize how important it is to really gel with the other instruments. Here’s a Keith Moon iso track of “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
October 28, 2013
One more! Closing out this month’s unintentional theme, here’s a very long 3 hours with the great (and fellow Taye Drums endorser!) Hal Blaine.
October 21, 2013
Even more from “I’d Hit That.” Here’s the great Steve Smith.
October 14, 2013
More from the “I’d Hit That” podcast. Here’s Mark Guiliana.
October 7, 2013
I’ve become a little obsessed with the “I’d Hit That” podcast. It offers up some great longform interviews with a wide variety of drummers. It’s audio only AFAIK so these links will only have audio and still images. Here’s one from Kenny Aronoff.
September 30, 2013
OK, one more from our new release, this is an a capella version of the track that closes the new CD called “Dream of Home Once Again.”
September 23, 2013
Here’s another video to celebrate the release of our new CD, this is an animated version of “American Martyr.
September 16, 2013
Here’s a nice video compilation of snippets from our past year of touring leading up to the release of the new cd “Red-winged Blackbird Man.”
This is our new single “American Martyr.”
September 9, 2013
I’ll toot my own horn a little bit this month since we’ve just released our new cd – here’s a great animated video from our friend David Leiberg: “Somewhere, Somebody” by Mike Mangione & The Union.
September 2, 2013
Happy Labor Day!
August 25, 2013
Sadly, there not a lot out on the internet to choose from but maybe its because he’s the king of “meat and potatoes” drumming. No frills, no fills, Mr. Phil Rudd.
August 18, 2013
Here’s another cool Rob Hirst video of him using everything on stage. That’s a percussionist!
August 11, 2013
I’ve always been a big fan of Midnight Oil and the original recording of this song has an exceptionally cool drum break, especially for a “new wave” song. Rob Hirst is one of my all time faves and you can really see the old school in his playing (Gene Krupa crossovers and Buddy Rich rolls!)
August 4, 2013
OK. So I have this thing about Australian drummers, or at least the one I grew up listening to. So August will be for the Aussies.
Here’s one of my all-time faves, Jon Farriss from INXS. He had such a crazy unorthodox kit in the 80s for awhile – rototoms with coated heads, Pearl electronics and all really low and flat. He wasn’t doing that power tom kit thing and it really stood out.
July, 29, 2013
The great Steve Berrios passed away this last week. He’s was described by NPR as “A Walking Encyclopedia Of Rhythms” and this video only hints as his genius.
July 22, 2013
Went down the youtube hole with that Live Aid post for awhile and it reminded me of how upset I was at that “Led Zeppelin” reunion set. I love Phil Collins but he should have just let Tony Thompson handle the drumming duties. Tony was on it and Phil kinda drifts in and out and messes up some stuff. I can’t post that video without getting mad so instead, I’ll post some sweet Tony Thompson studio stuff during the Power Station sessions.
July 15, 2013
I’m not overstating it when I say that U2 at Live Aid might be single handedly responsible for me sticking with music all these years.
July 8, 2013
Did you play in a 4th of July parade this week? I bet this guy did!
July 1, 2013
Chris “Daddy” Dave. There is so much to absorb in this video. The drum/cymbal sounds, the feel and the stickings are just out there and amazing. (LOVE that one handed roll at 1:01 and the foot roll beginning at 2:57!)
June 24, 2013
I never, I repeat never, get tired of watching Brian Blade play drums. He’s the purist example of converting emotion and thought into music that exists in theis day and age. Maybe Elvin Jones is the only other guy who did it better.
I was at this event in Chicago and it was amazing.
June 17, 2013
I repeat, this guys has the best gig in the world.
(PS: I don’t think John Lennon would have let him do that.)
June 10, 2013
This guy has the best gig in the world in my opinion. He’s a great drummer too! Abe Laboriel Jr in this cool VF spotlight.
June 3, 2013
In honor of Geminis everywhere, how about a little twin drumming? Here’s Jojo Mayer and Steve Smith via the Vic Firth website.
May 28, 2013
Happy Memorial Day – work on those rolls!
May 20, 2013
More of the goods from Tommy Igoe – can’t go wrong with a sweet shuffle!
May 13, 2013
Here’s another cool one from Tommy Igoe – a backbeat-less RnB/latin groove!
May 6, 2013
Anytime you get stuck playing the same old things, it’ nice to visit Tommy Igoe’s groove essentials DVDs. Here’s number 87, a rideless shuffle.
April 29, 2013
OK, one more.
April 22, 2013
Still thinking about Levon…
April 15, 2013
In a few days it will be a year since the great Levon Helm passed. So glad I was able to see the last Ramble tour he did in March of 2012. Here’s one of my all time faves from “The Last Waltz”.
April 8, 2013
What’s the most versatile rudiment when moving from snare drum to the full kit? Well, there’s the paradiddle, to start with. Here’s Pete Riley for Rhythm Magazine with some ideas.
April 1, 2013
Here’s is the great Gene Krupa playing his loudest, wildest solo ever! (Happy April Fools Day!)
March 25, 2013
Let’s wrap up March with the last part of this great brush series from Peter Erskine: Part 6-Medium/Fast Jazz Fills with singles and doubles
March 18, 2013
Time to grab a tropical beverage and warm up that blood during this chilly winter. Enjoy part 5: Bossa Nova and pop grooves.
March 11, 2013
More timekeeping in part 4 – working on fills in the same time feel and double time.
March 4, 2013
Now it’s getting good – Part 3: Basic Time Patterns. Stir the soup!
February, 25, 2013
More brush work with Peter Erskine! Part 2: Articulation.
February, 18, 2013
OK, back to learning! The Vic Firth website has so many resources and I just stumbled across this great series on brushwork with the great Peter Erskine. Here’s Part 1: Developing a Legato Sound.
February 11, 2013
I had the chance to meet the great Omar Hakim this past weekend. His rock playing has been an inspiration since I first heard him play with Sting. And let’s not even get started about his jazz and funk skills!
February 4, 2013
My pal Justin didn’t believe me when I told him Phil Collins was a huge influence on my playing growing up. Maybe it’s not obvious upon first listen, but we’re both lefties! 😉
January 28, 2013
OK, back to learning. Professor Peter Erskine wants to talk to you about unison notes. Pay attention!
January 21, 2013
Respect.
January 14, 2013
Speaking of groove – Mr. John Henry Bonham: this is an iso drum track from Fool in the Rain. Good God! Had he lived I think he could have become one of the most sought after drummers in the 80s studio scene. If only…
January 7, 2013
When you have an extended break, it’s always a good time to try and learn something new or revisit things you’ve learned to sharpen your skills. Let’s start at the beginning: lay down a groove that is undeniable. Piece of cake if you’re this guy:
For more videos, visit the archive here and visit my youtube page here
LLRLRR 