How Many Drumkits does A Drummer Need?

Nearly two years ago, I began a series of entries (quite popular, I might add) with respect to my acquisition of an older Canwood drumkit, and my efforts to restore them.
The entries begin with the first installment: "How Many Drums Does A Drummer Need?", and continues with the article: "Status of the Makeover". I was then contacted by a new Canwood drumkit owner, when I penned the "Response to J.T. Massacre" entry. The fourth entry described my gripes with tuning, aptly titled: "Tuning Lug Annoyances". The fifth entry centered around my desires to purchase a second Canwood kit to ensure I had one kit to gig, while the other kit underwent extensive restoration.

Well, cyberspace is a serendipitous place, and out of the blue, I was contacted by a fellow Canwood owner in my neck of the woods who claimed he had a Canwood kit for sale, and if I was interested in purchasing it. To make the deal even more desirable, the drumkit was in the shell sizes I was desiring. He was kind enough to provide me with photos of the drums, including areas of concern -- the bearing edge on one of the drums has been damaged and repaired with wood filler.

We exchanged further emails, telephone numbers, and we agreed on a price. Last Friday, I jumped in my car and made a three-hour drive to his city to inspect the drums in person. I met the seller, who was friendly, helpful, and easy to get along with. We spent about an hour together, not just talking about drums, but about the music scene in his city, and a great deal about the music our bands play. I guess I don't need to say that I purchased the drums on the spot, and was home in time for dinner.

According to the seller, this is one of the earliest kits Canwood manufactured -- in fact it is likely drumkit number 14. The drums are in a flaming bright red finish, though over the years, the lacquer has cracked due to changes in temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure. The drums are scratched, thus the drumkit will need refinishing. A number of tuning lugs and washers have rusted, and will need replacement.

Most of the issues the drums have are cosmetic, though there will be an order to drumbuilder.com to order some necessary replacement hardware. as I noticed tuning hoops on the 12" and 13" tom are out of round, and the Wood hoop on the bass drum is cracked and will need replacing.

The first matter of business is to get the drums playable as soon as possible, as I plan to gig with them this weekend (approximately 1 week after purchase). So I did a quick cleaning of the shells, and put my trusted Evans G1 coated heads on the shells. As you can see from the attached photo, I began building the kit I plan to gig with this weekend, mixing and matching parts from both drumkits. Since the colors do not match, I'm calling it my "FrankenKit" for the time being.

When my schedule is a little more free, then I will attempt the restoration process, and I will continue to blog about it step-by-step.

So, two years later, I again have to ask myself the question: "How many drumkits does a drummer need?"

And my answer is at least four.

I'd Sure Like Some More Canwoods

Ah yes, the never-ending drum addiction continues.

It's been a little more than a year since I purchased a used set of Canwood drums, and spent some time fixing them up. Even now, the drums aren't fully restored; the bass drum hoops could stand to be replaced, and perhaps all the hoops could be replaced, but most certainly, the drums need to be refinished.

And what's tearing me apart, is that I love the finish. That deep candy-apple red with a tinge of purple. Oh how I wish the finish wasn't so scratched.

I've resolved to refinish the drums someday -- and by that, I mean someday in the near future -- and by that, I mean in the next five years.

But there is a problem. There is always something in the way, and the problem is, is that it is going to take me a very long time to pull out the sandpaper, use some elbow grease, sand the drums down, re-stain, and re-lacquer the drums. This isn't something I can do over a weekend -- though it probably could be done in a weekend -- it's just that my attention span can't deal with the fact that I would blow an entire weekend (or 2, or 3) doing such a task.

No, I would need something like 6 months. And there is no way on this earth that I could retire those drums for that amount of time.

So I began thinking about how nice it would be if I had a second set of Canwoods in my inventory. This way, I could restore one kit while playing the other. And vice versa.

Now, I wouldn't want a replica of the kit I already have. No, the trick is getting a drumkit with completely different sizes. I was thinking I'd like a 22" kick drum, with 13" and 16" toms. This way, I would have all major drum sizes in my inventory, and would allow me to build a kit in any configuration I would want. After the restoration was completed, both drumkits would be stained to the same color. I could have a rock kit, or a jazz kit, or a blues kit, or one major behemoth if I wanted to join some Rush tribute band in the distant (and unlikely) future.

I have always wanted a little versatility in my music. The Canwood kit is ideal for my blues act, the Savoy Blues Band, but it's a little on the small side for Tung N' Groove, my rock act. Having a second Canwood kit with the same finish would fill that void.

But this is a pipe dream that doesn't have to be fulfilled tomorrow. Maybe next month, or next year. What's imperative, is that I will have to wait for the perfect kit to come my way, for the perfect price, and then I can pounce.

Every now and then a Canwood kit pops up for sale on eBay, but they are few & far between. I may have a little better luck searching the area Craigslist, or Kijiji.

Funny thing is, about 4 or 5 years ago, I found a Canwood drumkit for sale in a pawn shop in Lethbridge for about $650 dollars, if I recall. I never bought the kit, as money was a little tight, and the drums weren't in the best shape. But it had the drum sizes I am currently looking for. Serendipity is kind of funny that way.

The most important thing, of course, is the journey. Playing the drumkit is important, but what is more rewarding, is finding the instrument, giving it as much TLC as you can muster, and bringing that instrument back to its' former glory.

If I had that second kit, I could go through the stripping, sanding, and refininshing process one drum at a time, yet allowing me to play the rest of the kit. It's kind of like having your cake and eating it too.

Anyway, if you have a Canwood kit, in sizes 13" 16", and 22" (or 18" or 24" bass drum), and you are thinking about getting rid of it (and you live in Western Canada), drop me a line quoting an asking price. We might be able to work something out. I may ask for a few pictures as well, if I can be so bold. Who knows what could happen? The internet is a curious and wonderful thing, it has created a community and friendship among strangers that cross borders, geography, and even culture. But that's another story for another day.

Ed. Note: As of February 20, 2009, this request has been filled.

2007: Year of the Empty Bank Account

Before I get into too many details, I'd like to wish my readers a belated Merry Humbug and a Happy Hangover Day. I hope your last week has been filled with joy, fellowship, and lots of 'walking through the winter, drink in hand'.

The pillaging of the tree this year wasn't quite the cache as it has been in years past, though all I really asked for was clothes. I did however, brave the lineup at Visions on Boxing Day, and walked out with a 40" Samsung LCD high-definition television. I'll be feeling the pinch of that purchase when my January credit card bill arrives.

It has somewhat been a bit of a yearly tradition here at mcfro.blogspot.com that I take a few minutes on the first day of the new year to reflect what I accomplished this year, and what I would expect in the next 52 weeks to come.

Sifting through this year's posts, I have come to the early conclusion that I really didn't accomplish anything, given the astounding few number of posts there have been. I mean, there were at least three months were I didn't blog at all. Like I have said on here ad nauseum, I have been busy -- I've been lazy too, lethargic, exhausted, and unmotivated. It's all derived from worker burnout, and is a big reason why my New Year's resolution is to find a healthier work/life balance. Money can buy lots of things; but it can't buy sleep.

2007 got off to a very expensive start, as I quickly dropped four digits into a newer, faster, and larger iMac, which has, more or less, become a machine I use for audio production. Since the successful resurrection of my derelict iBook, I spend most of my web-surfing time on it instead of the desktop machine. Sure it's not the fastest, but it's good enough for most mundane tasks, and even runs a number of video games quite nicely. The laptop also keeps me out of the windowless basement, which ensures that I see more sunlight -- indispensable for someone like me who goes through mood wings and bouts of depression.

2007 continued with a string of large purchases, as in April I added a third drumset to my arsenal. Price is relative: though I got a great deal on the kit, I still paid a pretty penny for it. I have subsequently spent small sums over the course of the year for replacement parts and upgrades. The Canwoods have also seen a number of gigs already, so they are paying for themselves -- if they haven't already.

An expensive set of concert tickets allowed me to see the Police in concert in Edmonton. After paying for fuel, meals, accommodations, and toys, the trip escalated well into four digits, but it was worth every penny to see Stewart, Sting, And Summers together for the first time in nearly 25 years.

June also saw the most successful blog post on this site, ever. Skeet from medhatblog.com kindly linked to me from the website. Though it didn't elicit comments as I had hoped, it did generate scores of traffic -- over tenfold what I was accustomed to. It even increased my readership -- albeit temporarily. Had I continued blogging regularly, I may have managed to keep those readers, but they have since gone.

I guess this was where I really got lazy. Now that I was generating a great deal more traffic than I had been, I also felt increasing pressure to be delivering work of exceptional quality in order to maintain that readership. That was, to say the least a little daunting. In one hand, the site was beginning to become what I had wanted it to become (popular!). On the other hand, I didn't have the energy to invest the time and effort required to make this site what it was becoming. So I sat on my haunches and meditated on what I wanted to do with this site. The next thing I knew, nearly four months had passed, with nary a post on this site, and all my readers found other weblogs to be entertained by. Thus, the answer became clear -- I'll just write about my insignificant little life whenever I am inspired, and if readership increases, great. If they do not, that's still great too.

The first entry since my 'hiatus', was a review of Matthew Good's performance at Medicine Hat College this November. The posting also generated a fair amount of interest from readers across Canada, including a few views from Mr. Good himself. He didn't drop a note, but he left a trail of bread crumbs that said he had been here.

Musically, 2007 has been a year of transition and flux. The Savoys took an extra long vacation this year, and by the time the band got back together to prepare for this year, it became clear that the band would be falling apart. We have best intentions to continue in 2008, and we are currently auditioning a replacement for BG, which we should know in a week if he is the right guy -- or not.

Tung 'N' Groove also got out of our heads and onto the stage. It took a great deal of rehearsing, and a large number of hefty equipment purchases, but we are now gigging regularly, and continue to build a dedicated following. We have secured a number of dates for 2008, which will be posted on the band's website when I have both time and motivation.

I hope everyone's 2008 is a prosperous one. See you (hopefully) soon.

Tuning Lug Annoyances

Ed. Note: This is the fourth entry into the "Canwood Drum Restoration" thread that I began writing this past April. For those who are interested in reading the first three entries, you can view them here, here and here.

An update to this project is long overdue, and my work is far from finished. But recall me saying that this would be a labor of love. It may take me a few more years to get the kit back to 100%, but it's the journey that most rewarding.

Of most importance, was getting the snare drum back into a condition where I could use it as a primary snare drum. It may be difficult to see from the pictures, but I measured the drum to be 4.5" deep by 14" diameter. I already had a Yamaha maple 4 x 14 drum in my arsenal, so I needed to find a a way to make this drum have a different character than the Yamaha.

The Canwood snare had been heavily used. A few of the tuning lugs were broken, the tuning hoops were rusting in areas, The snare throw-off was broken, and the snare wires were stretched. New snares and the throw-off were purchased in a local music store and fitted on the drum in a pinch, but some of the harder-to-find parts, such as the tuning lug swivel nuts wouldn't be found in my city.

Enter Drummaker.com. Searching through their vast inventory, I placed an order which included a pile of nylon lug washers, swivel nuts to refit every tuning lug on the snare, two "mighty-hoops" and a tube of machine thread grease, made by Loc-Tite. Now we are underway to do some serious restoration!

That's when I hit the first hurdle. It ended up that the swivel nuts I ordered did not fit my tuning lug casings (the ones I purchased were square; whereas mine were hexagon-shaped). That left me scouring eBay for the proper parts. I eventually found 2, and paid more in shipping than what I paid for the items -- go figure.

Once I had all the hardware off the snare drum, I again inspected the shell. The shell is quite round -- the drumheads spin freely on the drum, though there is a slight variance of about 1/16" in diameter. It's not severe, yet not perfect either. Now came the hard part: checking the trueness of the bearing edges. To do so, you need a perfectly flat surface. "One slab of marble, please."

This might have been the first time in my life that I wished I had a pool table in my house. My kitchen countertops are far from being perfectly flat. The closest thing I had was a mirror -- and I doubt a 16" X 24" mirror from Wal-Mart is perfectly flat.

But beggars can't be choosers, and a close approximation is better than none at all. So the mirror found a spot on the bedroom floor, the lights were turned off, the drum shell was placed on the mirror, and I shone a flashlight inside the shell.

Yup. Just what I had feared.

Over time, even the best-made drums can suffer from tortion. Poor tuning practices, transportation, changes in temperature and moisture can have an effect on the shape of the drum. Thus, the bearing edges are no longer true. The variation is very small -- 1/32" at the worst places, but in the world of drumming an untrue bearing edge can lead to nightmares. It is true that bearing edges can be re-cut, however the problem arises in finding a skilled craftsman whom you trust to perform such a delicate operation. One small mistake, and the drum is ruined. Alas, the bearing edges will have to wait. The snare was re-assembled using the new parts.

After a few gigs, I began to realize a mistake I had made during the first phase of restoration: Petroleum jelly.

AKA Vaseline. As it turns out, it is a fantastic lubricant. In fact, it's a little too good. There still needs to be a little bit of friction between the tuning lug and the swivel nut, for the drumhead to maintain pitch. What I found out, is that there was little to no friction at all, and my drums were detuning themselves at an alarming rate. It got so bad, that I was often tuning my drums twice a set (once every 5-6 songs). To compare, I was used to tuning my drums once per weekend.

So out came cleaning rags, and the Q-tips, and an afternoon was spent wiping each tuning lug free of vaseline. The Q-tips were run in and out of every swivel nut. I even tried placing a drop of the Loc-Tite machine thread grease on each lug. Then I found more problems.

A number of my tuning lugs were bent. They will undoubtedly need replacement. It appears another order to Drumbuilder.com will be placed in the near future. I reassembled the drums and gigged with them again.

Well the drums hold their pitch a little better, but they still detune more than they should. Maybe I'm just using a little too much grease. Wiping off any excess from the tuning lugs should allow them to behave they way they should.

From my standpoint, the upgrading of the drumset will continue in three phases. The first phase continues the hardware upgrade. This includes replacing bent tuning lugs, and installing nylon washers. All other tuning hoops should be inspected to see if they are flat. If not, they require replacement.

Phase two will include hiring a skilled craftsman to re-cut the bearing edges. This should eliminate most of the tuning issues I have with the drums.

Phase three is purely cosmetic; the drums are to be re-finished. A color is yet to be determined. This would also be the opportune time to replace the wooden hoops on the bass drum.

Response to J.T. Massacre

[Ed. Note: J.T. Massacre left a comment on my post: "Status of the Makeover". I felt a response to him was worthy of its' own post, so here it is:]

J.T.:

I am glad to hear that you recently purchased a set of Canwoods. I hope they sound as great as mine do. Sorry to hear that like mine, your Canwoods were also "well enjoyed" by a previous owner.

I hope you managed to look at my initial post: "How many drumsets does a drummer need?", as this post in particular has pictures that show in detail the condition of the shells, especially with respect to the finish.

You mentioned you wanted to re-lacquer your drum shells. I have a simple question for you -- were you planning on re-staining your drum shells, or were your planning on keeping the original color?

If your shells are in a similar condition to mine, and you plan on keeping the original stain, I have some bad news for you.

I have been involved in several discussions with "wood experts" (i.e. carpenters, luthiers, and a number of on-line drum discussion forums), and the consensus is that the deep gouging that is apparent in my drum set will not be remedied by re-lacquering the drum. The drum will have to be sanded smooth, re-stained, and then re-lacquered.

When I said in my previous post that a drum can be re-lacquered without adversely affecting the stain is true. It is a very delicate process of using chemical strippers to remove the lacquer, then re-applying a lacquer spray, and buffing to a high-gloss shine. But this will only remove superficial scratches -- I sadly only learned this very recently.

So now I am in the situation where I have to decide if I want to venture into the world of full-blown drum-shell restoration. If these drums have to come apart one more time, I had better "do it right" this time around.

I will continue to document my work on this drumkit. You may however get some benefit from the links below:

• Join the Yahoo! group: Drumzilla's Lair. There are many posts dealing with drum restoration (many of the discussions instigated by me), who was seeking the very advice you are:
  
  
• Visit Vintagedrum.com. There are a number of links within that deal with drum restoration.
  
  
• A fellow named Big Fred built a snare from scratch. Though this project is beyond the scope of yours, he did discuss in detail, the process of staining and finishing the drum shell. He also has a large number of pretty pictures to drool at.
  

I had other web links related to drum restoration, but I just can't seem to find them right now. The links above are a good place to start though.

I of course, will be discussing the trials and tribulations of refinishing my Canwood drumkit on here.

Status of the Makeover

The reclamation, uh restoration continues on my new Canwoods.

For 2-3 weeks now, whenever time can spare, I am pulling apart my drums, cleaning, tweaking, tuning, polishing, and replacing damaged parts on them. With each part I replace, with each piece of chrome I polish, and with each drum I clean, the drumkit looks better, and sounds better that it ever did -- that is since I have become its' rightful owner.

As of today, each drum has been completely disassembled, the bearing edges cleaned of gunk, the drum shells cleaned with Windex and/or wood cleaner (also remember that Windex cures all that ails you).

All drumheads have been replaced including the resonant heads, which are often neglected. An Evans EQ pad now provides the desireable amount of muffling I wished in the bass drum. All tuning lugs have been greased with petroleum jelly. New stands and hardware has been purchased, all chrome components have been cleaned and buffed to a gloss shine with chrome polish. A new snare strainer has been replaced, as the old strainer was damaged beyond repair, as well as a 50-strand snare installed on the underside of the drum. The tom mount on the bass drum has been upgraded with new parts. Lastly, new bass pedals, hi-hat stands, and snare stands have been purchased to accommodate my new kit.

Given the fact that I have spent between 3-4 hours cleaning each drum, you might say I have already invested a lot of care and attention to my new babies. In fact, I have spent much more time restoring them, than I have had playing them.

Though the drums look a lot better, and sound a lot better than what they did when I first received them, all is not finished. There is still a lot of work to be done on them before I can consider the restoration complete. The following details what still needs to be done:

The bass drum hoops need replacement. I would like to determine a way I can stain replacement hoops to match the color scheme currently on the drums. This will prove to be difficult, as I would think only a master craftsman would be able to create an exact match.

The bearing edges need to be evaluated. I am fresh out of large, smooth, perfectly flat surfaces such as a granite slab.

Some hardware still needs to be replaced. The triple-flanged hoops on the snare drum will likely need replacement, as they are rusted. I may consider replacing them with die-cast hoops, but those are very expensive. There are a few tuning lug casings which require replacement on the snare. I may as well just redo them all.

I am missing only 1 piece of hardware. This is the ever-important throne. I have already identified what I will buy, but it does not come cheap.

The biggest job of all will be redoing the lacquer finish, which (I hope) will mask all the scratches, gouges, dings, dents, and other imperfections of the finish. My research has concluded that the restoration of the lacquer finish, without affecting the stain of the drums, is possible. This is also very risky, as I could really mess up the appearance of the drums, if I do not express due diligence where required. The end result will be -- if I may say so -- breathtaking.

If I have very little to do this summer, it is likely that I may be able to accomplish the entire restoration project by the time the Savoys return from their summer hiatus.

Not only am I looking forward to playing my Canwoods on the gig; I can't wait to record with them.

How Many Drums Does a Drummer Need?

You know you are addicted to drugs, er, drums when you can't have more than just one. My first drumkit was an el-cheapo made-in-Taiwan no-name brand that had seen better days before I even purchased it for $100 in 1989. I likely sunk in some $400 just to get it playable, and it served me well, even through the days of my first band, Hot Chocolate Boy.

By the time I began to collaborate with JL and create The Anglers, I felt like I outgrew my cheap drumset, and I wanted a more professional instrument. I spent the entire summer of 1993 working my bollocks off so I could buy my new drumkit -- a 6-piece Tama Rockstar DX in a deep metallic blue finish. It was a huge improvement over my little blue sparkle jazz kit, and it served me well over the years, earning enough mileage to likely circumvent the earth at least twice. It also happens to be the only drumset that I purchased new.

I used that kit as my primary drumset throughout my career, including bands such as The Anglers, Left of Centre, ZanZee, Legacy, Mule Shoe and many countless one-offs, sit-ins and recording sessions. As good as it has been to me over the years, there is one nagging thing about my Tama Rockstars: They are classified as an "entry-level" drumset, and as such, have compromises in the quality of construction. It is not a professional-level instrument, but it is well enough for the working-class drummer or student. I kept it in shape and it still sounds good, even after all the gigs and the miles and the (one) car accident -- but I have heard some drums sound better, much better than my Rockstars.

When I began teaching, and gigging on a heavy schedule, I realized the limitations of having only one drumset, as I had retired my P.O.S. jazz drumkit, and later sold it to a relative. A second drumkit was necessary to teach; I could sit at one and demonstrate while the pupil sat at the other kit and copied the rhythms I had just shown them. Furthermore, as my teaching schedule got more hectic, there were some nights and weekends where I needed one drumkit in the club, and the other at my studio waiting for my next student.

It became imperative that I needed a second drumkit -- one small and portable; one that could be packed up in a pinch. Thus, in 2002 when my good friend and mentor Bernie Anderson closed his drum shop, I was lucky enough to buy a piece of drum history, a late 80's or early 90's PureCussion portable drumset -- one in his personal collection which he gigged with regularly.

The PureCussion kit is a wonderful instrument -- completely collapsible, and easily fits in the back of an MG. It sounds good -- for its' size, and for the fact that the drums are only single-headed. These drums have seen a lot of gigs, and (mostly) rehearsals, but I have used it for shows such as the Best of Broadway series at the Esplanade, Medicine Hat Musical Theater's Grease, Fut in the Hat's I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On The Road, and the Savoy Blues Band.

Now that I play in two bands, I am beginning to see the limitations of having two drunkits,; I really would like to have one drumset living in cases, ready for the moment the telephone rings. I could essentially load and go to the gig, ready for anything. No packing, no hassle; just load and go. Furthermore, being a professional drummer, I still don't have a professional-level drumkit.

Until now.

Last week, I bid on a set of Canwood drums, and out of sheer luck, I was the only bidder. The seller mentioned that the drums had seen a lot of miles, and they would likely need some maintenance -- something I was prepared for.

Canwoods are high-quality hand-made custom drums built in Lloydminister, Alberta. They are comparable to flagship models of major drum manufacturers, including Ayotte, DW, Yamaha, Gretsch, Tama, Taye, and many others. We are talking top of the line here.

On Saturday, my new Canwoods arrived at the local Greyhound station, and I could not wait to pick them up. I brought them home, eagerly opened the cases and began to assess what kind of shape the drums were in. As you can see from the photos, the drums were a little beat up; the finishes were scratched, there was some rusting and pitting on the chrome, and the heads needed replacement. My objective was to give them a quick-and-dirty cleanup job and get them playable in a matter of a few hours. This required a trip to the local music store to buy some replacement drumheads.

I had the drums in a playable condition by dinner time, and I took them to the Blue Turtle to test-drive them that very night.

Not only did they meet my expectations, they exceeded them in terms of sound. In fact, they were the topic of conversation of the entire band. Even my folks came by to the club to hear them, and they were very impressed with my latest investment. These drums sounded fantastic, and they served me well that night. I fully expect these Canwoods will become my primary drumkit for the next several years.

I wanted to get this drumkit playable and sounding good in the shortest time possible, and I think I have accomplished that. The drums are currently sitting at my studio being used when I teach. They will return to their cases once I begin gigging with Tung N Groove in about six weeks.

The long-term project for my Canwoods is to go through an in-depth assessment and restoration program. This will include refinishing the drums. I hope I only need to redo the lacquer, since I already love the color. It may take me several months, even a few years, but in the end this will be a drumkit that every drummer will drool over.

So how many drumsets does a drummer need? At least three, but I have yet to determine if a drummer needs more than that.

A Psychology Lesson Interspersed With Music

I cannot recall if I have ever discussed left-brained versus right-brained drumming on this weblog before. It is a rather complicated topic, with its' roots buried in Psychology rather than music.

Understanding the complexities of the brain is a huge academic undertaking, and even leading professors of Psychology will tell you that we still understand only very little of the workings of the brain. So, please accept this as my disclaimer that I know very little about the brain itself, but I know enough that I can make a few generalizations to further facilitate this entry.

The frontal lobe of the brain is divided into two halves: the left side, and the right. Both sides operate differently, and both sides are responsible for different aspects of thought, and reasoning. The left side of the brain is the logical side. It is highly mathematical, and rational, among other things, controls the actions on the right side of your body. The right side, is the more creative side of the brain, and controls actions on the left side of your body.

There have been many studies that have shown that artists are generally left-handed. This would make some sense since as just explained, the right side of the brain controls creativity. I am not going to develop this argument further, as I really don't have much knowledge of these statistics, but I would like to take this a step further as it pertains to music and drumming.

When a student takes lessons from an instructor (such as myself), they are provided with a number of exercises that helps develop the student's coordination and reading abilities. Exercises are little more than that - read, and execute in ad infinitum until proficiency develops. Exercises such as the above are logical, and thus only develop the left side of the brain.

Many of my students have developed a proficiency in exercises not unlike those described above, but when I ask them to just "play the drums", they fail miserably. What they play is tortured, rigid, and unmusical. The answer to why they cannot "play the drums" is simply because playing the drums without written material requires development of the right side of the brain.

Developing the creative side of the brain is much more difficult than assigning exercises that develop coordination. I am attempting to address this issue with some of my more advanced students to see how they take to this new approach. It will take a number of weeks, but I am going to see if they can eventually make music without the aid of written material.

Creative drumming is a lot like singing a song, or even speaking a sentence. Music is a language, thus it has conventions that are similar to written and spoken language. There are nouns, verbs, adjectives, grammar, and punctuation of sorts in music. Trying to get my students to speak in such a language is going to be a difficult task. The only way I think I can facilitate this is by starting very simply. Get the student to play some simple figures on the snare drum, and try to get them to develop on that idea. The ideas should be further developed by adding more complex rhythms, and colors such as toms and cymbals.

Applying the rudiments to this exercise is key to the success of this program. So far, I am going to spend a few weeks on the single-stroke roll, as this is the most often used rudiment, and likely, the most diverse.

I will also have to find a way that I can teach them how to listen to other players in order for the experiment to be a success. I have yet to determine the best approach to this idea. If my memory remains intact, I will update this weblog to indicate the degree of success of this experiment.

Building a Curriculum

For reasons that soon will become evident (remember my little "secret"), I have been considering building a comprehensive drum curriculum for my students. The idea is to build a graduated system with four or six levels of difficulty. Upon completion of the program, the student should have enough knowledge that they can gain acceptance to the music program in almost any post-secondary institution.

Warning! This entry may be very boring to the common reader!

The problem I am facing, is that I have so many topics I want to cover in said program, that it would virtually impossible for any student to complete the program in six years. I have about 40 drum-related books, plus I have literally hundreds (maybe even thousands) of exercises from issues of Modern Drummer Magazine.

What I really should do, is consult the music faculties at nearby Colleges and Universities, and ask them what their requirements are to gain acceptance to their program. Another avenue which would be beneficial is to pick up a copy of the Royal Conservatory of Music Drum Syllabus, and do some research there. It is easier to write such a program when you know what it should cover in the end.

I would really like a four-tier system, as this would work nicely with the way I teach rudiments. Since I teach 40 rudiments, I break them up into four sets of 10, of increasing difficulty. I would like to teach ten in each tier. I doubt I could cover all the material I would like in four short years. Six years might be more manageable. This works well, as most high-school band programs are six years in length. I still don't believe that proficiency in the high-school band program would guarantee acceptance into the music program at a post-secondary institution.

I know that my program should cover the following elements:

1. Rudiments
2. Coordinated Independence
3. Reading
4. Symphonic Snare Technique
5. Tympani
6. Auxiliary Percussion (Tambourine, Bells, Shakers, etc.)
   
7. Latin Percussion (Bongos, Conga, and Timbale)
8. Mallets (Xylophone, Vibes, and Marimba)
9. Rock Drumming
10. Jazz Drumming
11. Latin / World Percussion

Many of these subjects can take years to attain an acceptable degree of proficiency. The study of Jazz drumming, for instance, is a lifetime endeavor. How am I going to compress all I need my students to know in six years? Furthermore, I do not have access to all the instruments I would like. I only have a drumset and a few auxiliary percussion instruments at my disposal. It is unbelievable how expensive symphonic instruments are. I don't have the space I need to keep tympani and a marimba in my studio. I barely have enough room for two drumsests!

It is likely that I am going to have to first build a very large program, and then do my best to separate the "wheat from the chaff". I can already see that this process is going to take years.

Years ago, studio legend Gary Chester created a brilliant drumming program. Many of the exercises he provided to his students are noted in his books "The New Breed", and "The New Breed 2". One of his brilliant motivational tools was if his students performed his practice material well enough, Gary would then assign the student a "Bonus" exercise. The Bonus, was an exercise of considerable difficulty. I find it ironic that a student would be pleased by being assigned an incredibly difficult exercise, but Gary was a unique teacher, and drummers would travel across the world to study with him.

I thought I would like to apply the bonus ideas to my curriculum. I don't think I could build a system superior to Gary's, but it might be the answer to creating a comprehensive drum program with a minimal amount of paperweight.

Let's start simple. In the program I wish to build, the majority of the student's first year of studies would focus on Ted Reed's Syncopation. This is a brilliant book. At first glance, the book doesn't look like much, but it is in the applications that this book really shines. There are a million different ways to play the exercises in the book. It is in the applications that I hope I can build some ideas for Bonus exercises for ambitious beginner students. The student of course, would have to demonstrate the ability to perform the assigned exercise to some degree of proficiency, but then, I could apply the bonuses. The bonuses could get more complicated as the student progresses in the book. The following list is just a few ideas on the different ways to apply the first 12 lessons in Ted Reed's Book.

1. Play the exercise as written
2. Play the bass drum part with the hi-hat and play the snare part with the bass drum
3. As (2, above), but play 2 & 4 on the snare.
   
4. Play the exercise as written, but play eighth notes on the hi-hat or ride.
   
5. Play the exercise as written, but play a bossa-nova or samba pattern with the bass drum
6. Play the exercise as written, with a jazz ride pattern, plus 2&4 on the hi-hat with the left foot
7. Play the exercise as written, plus any of the following hi-hat patterns: quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, broken triplets (i.e. shuffle), plus various broken sixteenth note patterns.
   
8. Play any of the above exercises, adding either quarter notes, eighth notes, upbeat eighths, or 2&4 with the left-foot on the hi-hat pedal.

As you can see, using the above applications, there is no shortage of bonus material. Some, of course are much harder than others.

All this being said, to just cover the above 8 applications could potentially take the student 8 years to learn just the book. I think I am in over my head. I may return to this subject at a time when I have a better understanding of what I am getting myself into.

Weekend Jams, The Return of "Serious Damage", and Passive Personality Traits

It seems as of late, the only time I "go out on the town" is to catch a local band playing in one of the watering holes. This was a particularity full weekend of live music, as I went to see two bands on two separate occasions.

Saturday afternoon was spent at my favorite stomping ground, where there is an open jam every week. I go to the jam whenever I have the time and the energy. The great thing about the jam is once you play three songs, you get free alcohol (yes, free booze!) and your name gets entered in a draw for $100 cash prize at the end of the jam. The problem with the Saturday jam, is by 6:00, I am usually so drunk that I am at home and in bed by 8:00. What a way to spend a Saturday night.

This week a few friends of mine were the hosting band, and I haven't had the opportunity to visit with them in some time. They were kind enough to ask me to join them on-stage for a few numbers. I got to play that old 60's tune "Spooky" with them, which is one of my favorites to play with them, as I can let loose and play some intricate stuff. By the end of my short set, I was hungry and wanted to get out of the bar. I rarely stay to see the end of the jam.

The Saturday jams are touch-and-go. There have been days were the jams were really cooking; a lot of musicians showed up, there was good music happening, and good comradery. Days like this are getting fewer and far between. Fewer jammers are attending the Saturday jam, and likely for a large number of reasons. The biggest reason is obvious, there is a "clique" of sorts among the musicians at this bar. If you can prove yourself musically, and you kiss some ass, then you might gain access to the clique. The funny thing is with this clique, the musicians generally aren't working players. Their only gig is this Saturday jam. They have such big egos, that they figure that they are the better than the other musicians that go to this bar, yet they aren't great musicians in the first place. But if you want to get up and play, you'd better be prepared to do some ass-kissing.

I have refused to play this game for the better part of six years. It has gained me some respect with a few of the players at this particular club, while others snub their nose at me. Quite often, they will be pleasant with me when they are presented in a situation where they cannot avoid me, otherwise they would ignore me. If having a positive attitude is conducive to networking with other musicians, then I refuse to play this ego-game with these so-called musicians. I called their bluff a long time ago, and they know that I know their secret: they really aren't as good as they think they are.

Many of these jammers are the type that will watch and listen to the bands, and will scope out who they think is the best player in the club. They will then approach said player, befriend them, buy them drinks, and start kissing his or her ass. They will eventually go insofar as to suggest starting a "side-project" band with this player. The whole idea is that these parasites will surround themselves with the most talented players that they possibly can. This way, it makes them (the novice) look and sound a lot better than they are. The truth is, a terrible player , even surrounded by the best musicians still sounds like a terrible player.

These ass-kissing antics should not affect me. I know what these losers are doing when they start talking to me and buying me drinks. I should just roll with it and play these people for all they are worth. Unfortunately, I am disgusted and annoyed by this behavior. When I subject myself to this behavior, I find it mentally taxing. I don't like getting smoke blown up my tailpipe.

When I meet with other musicians in this town, I avoid kissing anyone's ass. I will often discuss topics totally unrelated to music. I must admit, the subject of music is difficult to avoid when talking with other musicians. You sometimes have to be very careful about what you say, you see, talking music with other musicians is often a lot like discussing religion and politics. We know discussing the latter two topics is a good way of quickly making enemies.

On Friday night, I went to see DS, another friend of mine who was playing in another club in town. This gentleman was one of the members of the Grease band, and I hadn't seen him since early December. He and I discussed the possibility of putting a band together and making some money playing a few clubs. I hadn't heard anything about this new band as of late, so I figured I should make the effort to re-establish old ties, and put the bug back in his ear.

After watching "The Lizard Brothers" for about thirty minutes, two other musicians AB and TH walked in the club and joined me at my table. AB was also a member of the Grease band, as well as the third prospective member of this new band. He also bailed me out last December, playing a gig with me on short notice. We had a few drinks, and talked about a few things (well, as much as you can discuss over an 80-decibel PA).

When the band took a break, the conversation went from light to serious. DS joined us at the table, and the three of us began discussing the possibility of making this prospective band a reality. Both DS and AB sounded enthusiastic about the idea. The problem is, that the three of us have very busy schedules, which is going to make it difficult for us to get together for rehearsals.

After a few sets, I decided to leave the club. Before doing so, I told DS and AB that I would be in touch with them to schedule rehearsal times. Both AB and I agreed that we could have enough material that we could start gigging by summer.

That evening, while lying in bed, I came to the realization that if I want to make this band a reality, I am going to have to do most of the legwork. I have just spent the last two months waiting for the phone to ring. If I continue to wait, I might be waiting forever before that call arrives.

I consider myself a passive person. I usually wait for people to call me for gigs, I wait until I am asked to join someone on-stage at the Saturday jam, and I wait for someone to offer me a better job. I will have to become a more aggressive person if I want to make any progress in my career and musical endeavors. Otherwise, a better life might just pass me by.

I will have to make a change in my life before I am old and cranky.

Effective and Efficient Practicing

I managed to get about 30 minutes' worth of practicing in on Sunday evening. I pulled out a book I have owned for a few years, but never managed to spend any time learning the material. The book is called "Future Sounds" by David Garibaldi. According to Modern Drummer Magazine, it is one of the top 25 drum books published (I believe the original article was published in the August 1993 issue, so it is a bit old).

I ended up working through the first page, and felt that there was a lot that this book had to offer to both myself and my students. This got me thinking about my practice habits.

I don't get to practice my drums nearly as much as I'd like. I have too little free time, so I manage to practice about an hour per week. I began wondering how I could get the most out of my compressed practice time. The answers began coming to me swiftly, but I think there is more than what I have deduced insofar. I call it "Effective and Efficient Practicing".

It is effective in the fact that a great deal of self-discipline is necessary. The student must sit down at the kit with the intention (i.e. goal) of accomplishing something attainable in a given practice period. Learning one page of exercises is attainable in an hour; learning an entire chapter is not. In a compressed practice session, there is no time for playing the drums -- practicing patterns and skills the student already knows; there is only time for material the pupil does not yet know, or is not yet comfortable executing. If the practice session is an hour long, dedicate the first ten minutes to rudiments and warming up. If the practice session is thirty minutes, spend 5 minutes warning up. If the practice session is less than 30 minutes, then it may be important that the student begins working on the exercises immediately if any progress is to be made. Focus is key to cramming such material in such little time. The student must be on-task and focused the entirety of the practice session.

The practice session should also be effective. What this means, is the student should be practicing material that works on many aspects of his drumming skills, rather than focusing on one. A student who practices only rudiments on the snare drum in an accelerating fashion (open-close) in an effort to develop speed is only focusing on one aspect of his drumming. Rudiments are important, but in this instance the practice session isn't as effective as it could be.

A practicing drum student should focus on many key areas during the practice session. Time is likely the most important. Coordination and independence probably come second in importance, while speed, musicality, and dynamics encompass other important areas, though they are often overlooked. The development of one's creativity is sometimes addressed in a practice session, but more often than not, only happens when one is playing the drums. An effective practice session would use proper material that would address many of the above key issues. After working through the first page of Garibaldi's book, I found that his book did address many key practice issues that I mentioned earlier.

The exercises in Garibaldi's book include metronome markings. In other words, it would be beneficial for the student to practice the material with the aid of a metronome. In fact, it's beneficial to practice all material with a metronome, but many students find the metronome intimidating, or they are too lazy to bother buying one. The first page dealt with some basic coordinated 4-way independence using the paradiddle (and its' inversions) between the snare drum and the hi-hat. He also changed things up by permutating the beats and the accents. [ed. note: To really understand what's going on here, it would be best if one examined the book. My apologies go to those who have no idea what I'm talking about.]

The accents are a nice addition to the exercises. This allows the student to develop a higher degree of musicality while playing the drums. Furthermore, if the student plays the exercises from start to finish without stopping, then the exercises develop the student's sightreading abilities.

Yes, it was a good practice session. I left the drums feeling better than I had all week. I accomplished my goals for the practice session, and I found material that I plan on pitching to my students in the future. Apparently, drumming is also therapeutic.

Grrrr...

In the last two days, I have written two lengthy entries, only to have Firefox crash on me at the last minute before publishing. My patience is wearing a little thin. If this post makes on the web, the Firefox has been granted a stay of execution.

Over the last few days, I have been considering the possibility of creating a third blog. I might call it "Zen and the Art of Drumming". I would like to keep some sort of practice journal, where I could document my progress on certain books, or exercises, as well as publish some exercises I have created. I would also like to discuss some of the deeper aspects of drumming, as well as some of the mental aspects, including some of the bio-physics issues.

I imagine most readers would find this quite boring, so I thought I would leave these issues off this blog. On the other hand, there might be some other drummers out there who might find this kind of publication appealing, and I could open the door for other drummers to post. It has the potential to grow into something larger, but at the same time, it could be one of those obscure corners of the internet.

I might have to consider this a little longer before I decide to commit to maintaining three blogs. I am having enough trouble managing two.

Small Pond, Bad Fish

I love the drums. I spend what free time I have immersed in music, playing the drums, and often shopping for drum equipment. I have been bitten by the gear bug, and I just can't seem to stop buying more and more stuff. I already own two drumsets. I have more cymbals than I have stands. I am running out of room to store them all.

Not only is drumming an important part of my life, so is drum education. Being a teacher, I feel that I should have as many drum-related educational resources at my disposal. This includes books, videos, and relevant websites.

Chris McCaig runs a teaching studio in Australia. In addition to his busy teaching schedule, he maintains his own drum education website. There are scores of drum transcriptions available on this site -- one site of a select few that offer transcriptions of popular recordings. This is an excellent resource for any student of the drums.

While discussing great drum-related sites, I must also include DrumBum. In addition to t-shirts and other drum-related paraphernalia, DrumBum offers the internet's largest drum lesson database. There are lessons on nearly every drum-related subject imaginable, ranging in difficulty from the very simple to the very challenging.

Though DrumBum is an excellent resource, like much of the internet, it suffers from lack of maintenance. The biggest critique I have for DrumBum, is that their database only provides links to third-parties; they do not maintain the quality of submissions. Herein lies the problem. There are several broken links. Many lessons have gone off-line. The quality control factor is absent, so we do not always know if the person submitting the lesson is a Ph.D., or some novice trying to pass for a teacher. Basically, what you search for on DrumBum may or may not meet your expectations.

Even though there is much work needed in order to make DrumBum an indispensable resource for all drummers, it is still worthy of mention. I have managed to find some excellent material within the database, but I had to dig pretty deep. I also appreciate files available for viewing in Adobe Acrobat format, though only a select few sites offer this privilege.

I severely doubt that DrumBum would have the resources to pay a qualified person a salary to re-build and maintain the database to achieve a higher standard in the material they host on the site. My guess is what little revenue DrumBum generates is from the sale of merchandise. It's too bad that there is little money in the dot-com economic sector anymore. People are afraid to invest in fledging dot-com companies anymore, and those that still exist are barely scraping by, unless you are one of the top one-percent (probably the top one-hundredth of a percent, be a little more realistic).

I admire those people who have had an original idea, and managed to successfully market it on the web. Sometimes, global marketing is the way to make your money. Sometimes, the competition is too fierce, and you are better off going after the small market. There are a lot of people out there who prefer to be the big fish in the small pond, rather than being an average fish in the ocean. This not only goes for entrepreneurs; it goes for athletes, musicians, and journalists, just to name a few.

Having spent my life living in cities with populations under 100 000, I sure know what it is like to witness the behaviors of big fish in small ponds. Most of these people are perceived to be "the best" at their craft at the local level, but refuse to go anywhere else at a crack at becoming very successful. In other words, they are quite happy making a modest living in the small center, because if they actually did move to the large market, they would be eaten alive. These people, whom I will not mention names (not like it would really matter anyway), are so incredibly self-absorbed and egocentric that they don't realize just how average they really are at their crafts. I often wish these people would get a humbling experience, and then the can realize that what they need most of all, is an attitude adjustment.

Being a musician in a small center is very difficult. It is not unlike the cliques in high school. Either you are "in" or you're "out" -- and it doesn't matter if you are "in" or "out", because they are all going to stab you in the back the moment you are out of earshot. How fickle. I have to put up with this crap all the time.