Dave Weckl

I have some lesson vids which i got of limewire of Dave Weckel. They are pretty good, some of them take you back to basics and there is some great advice in there. If you dont have them, get them because they are good value.
 
My $0.02. Dave Weckl is an awesome drummer. One of my favorites. After listening to him for many years (but never seeing him live), it was great to see him live in a clinic. I wrote up a review here ... http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20054&highlight=weckl

Having tried to pick up traditional grip unsuccessfully for many years (probably like 15+ years), the insights on ergonomics he provided at the clinic finally got me over a hump.

I'll always remember that clinic. His playing and drums sounded awesome.

Steve
 
finnhiggins said:
a) some Japanese avant-garde guitarist whose name I forget at the moment who played one note for 30 minutes straight; and


hahahahaha ... dude please get the name ... i so much want to hear that thing.
 
Dave Weckl would be my number one choice. I just recently got back into drums after a 30 year break and looked into this site thoroughly and decided to go with all Dave weckl's dvd's and lessons along with Portnoy and minneman and Jack bennett. Dave's dvd's span a number of years and styles as near as I can tell and he is constantly progressing. I dare say he could play any type of music. That being said I have learned from absolutely everyone on this site. Dave switches back and forth at times from traditional grip and matched grip when it is better to do so which makes perfect sense to me being almost exclusively traditional from way back to my drum teacher who was originally a drum and bugle core lad turned rock. I'm no expert and everyone has their own style but Dave just keeps getting better. He's starting to flow nicely and he's still young.
 
Dave Weckl would be my number one choice. I just recently got back into drums after a 30 year break and looked into this site thoroughly and decided to go with all Dave weckl's dvd's and lessons along with Portnoy and minneman and Jack bennett. Dave's dvd's span a number of years and styles as near as I can tell and he is constantly progressing. I dare say he could play any type of music. That being said I have learned from absolutely everyone on this site. Dave switches back and forth at times from traditional grip and matched grip when it is better to do so which makes perfect sense to me being almost exclusively traditional from way back to my drum teacher who was originally a drum and bugle core lad turned rock. I'm no expert and everyone has their own style but Dave just keeps getting better. He's starting to flow nicely and he's still young.
 
Correct. I totally agree.. .

Atleast even if one do not understand what Weckl is doing or maybe even if your musical perception is different to what Weckl is playing .... You have to have respect for the tenacity of this guy and his constant journey of improvement and trying to find the optimal.

Like any true academician and researcher .. this guy does not rest on his laurels..... on the other hand I can name atlast 20 "famous" drummers whose playing and comments reflect the "I have seen it all, am successful and best, I do not need any improvements anymore and my musical genre/style is the best" attitude.
( to the uninitiated am also talking about versatility here .... )
 
Dave is a phenominal technician and has really developed a beautiful feel, unfortunately most of the music he plays is bordering on elevator jazz. It just seem he (and Jay Oliver) tend to compose music for a cool drum part, as opposed to composing a drum part for cool music.
 
^ Bingo. I consider maybe 3 tracks on any of his CDs to be worth giving a second, or 50th listening. I love drumming, but I like drums that go to a song, not the other way around. And of course I respect his mastery of the drums, but there's still something about his playing that doesn't sit right in me.
 
KzSgDrummer said:
^ Bingo. I consider maybe 3 tracks on any of his CDs to be worth giving a second, or 50th listening. I love drumming, but I like drums that go to a song, not the other way around. And of course I respect his mastery of the drums, but there's still something about his playing that doesn't sit right in me.

I do also make something clear. I do think using the drums as a compositional tool, even the main one, is fine and in fact I do it all the time with my "band". However, it seems like he's appealing to a "song oriented" and probably baby-boomer age jazz fan (adult contemporary?) as opposed to the really hard-core jazz fan. The drumming is insanely beautiful in a field of badly sampled synthesizers and cheesey alto sax playing.

I think if Dave ventured off like Vinnie and did some crazy Fusion Rock like "Thanks To Frank " with Warren Cuccurullo or did a Megadeth album (Slayer?), or formed a fusion-y underground rock band or something.

I just can't do the adult contemporary, guys!
 
Last edited:
Could anyone please tell me which video shows Dave playing a yellow 4 piece Yamaha Hip-Gig kit. I've seen this once before, and I'm having trouble finding this video again. Thanks!!
 
after listening to a couple of criticism by some members here i really did an introspect and went through my Dave Weckl collection again ( it has been quite long i heard them ... mostly now a days i listen to west african bands like bembeya jazz , super rail road band etc) ......

but man ..... did it sound good !!!!! i was listening to "Dave Weckl Band Live and very plugged in" .......for example the number Rhythm-A-Ning !!! ... it had soul... and swings really hard !!!!!!!! somehow I found a great similarity in his chops with Trilok Gurtu's ......anyone else find it similar ??? also in "Mesmer Eyes" i found Gurtu like ambience and groove....
and "Hesitation" was too funky and the feel was so funny ..... it breaks midway leaving you somewhere up and hanging ....... almost falling of the cliff kind of feel
anyways ... i conclude that the ones who are telling Weckl doesn't have feel, is too mechanical is either lying or plain wrong.
also leave apart Dave Weckl band ........ Corea, George benson, simon&garfunkel, Diana Ross, Michel Camilo, Patitucci, .... natalie cole/ madonna's producers are not really so illiterate to take a machine right ???


in some numbers his playing is so tricky ( tricky cause... after all this dude has only 4 limbs like all of us) that it may seem to be aparently too overwhelming....... unreachable .... never-achievable ... OverPlaying ........but then why don't you leave those numbers and listen to the good feel ones ??? also i would suggest don't listen to the entire album at one go...... so much work is there it really becomes an overdose resulting in boredom to a Critical examining mind ......... but on the other hand suddenly if you listen to one Weckl number after so many other genres that you hear .... it sounds really good !!


but anyways .. for the last one year am going through a very earthy, belonging to soil and nature phase of mood .... so back to my Bembeya jazz and Oliver Mtukudzi :)

also can someone point me to good online /offline resources in english related to rhythms from Mali, Zimbabwe, Guinea etc like Shona Mbira, Mandinga etc .... I don't want to leave my family and go to africa :(
 
Last edited:
JayAlsman said:
Could anyone please tell me which video shows Dave playing a yellow 4 piece Yamaha Hip-Gig kit. I've seen this once before, and I'm having trouble finding this video again. Thanks!!

I think you are talking about the instructional DVD A natural Evolution - How to develop Technique ... its there at 16:30 and couple of times after that .......... in that same video he also used other kits besides Hip-Gig.
 
Ian Ballard said:
It just seem he (and Jay Oliver) tend to compose music for a cool drum part, as opposed to composing a drum part for cool music.
I agree with that but thats what they were trying to do - put him on the map as a soloist...
He said it himself..

To me after the first 2 cds once it became the Dave Weckl Band it became much more musical...of course hes featured alot cause its HIS band but I do think the songs and musicianship between band members was much more cohesive.....but thats just me....

geek_boy_in said:
anyways ... i conclude that the ones who are telling Weckl doesn't have feel, is too mechanical is either lying or plain wrong.
Man you just can't please everybody....too technical, too mechanical, not musical blah blah blah...its actuall pretty comical reading these posts...everybody has their OWN grading system on what they define as good drumming...

All I know is every show I've seen him play at everybody sure is paying attention to his every move...not bad for someone thats cheesy and non-musical huh :)
 
I personally think that the majority of people who criticize daves playing don't have the "ear" for that kind of music. I think the music is wonderfully put together and dave's playing fits it beautifully.. It's funny because everytime I play his music to one of my friends who listens to only one type of music (mainly rock) they all describe it as elevator music. They don't understand more complicated music and hear it completely different from the way I do. ((Just an opinion))
 
Dave Weckl plays a niche appeal genre. He plays fusion, but its more sophisticated and more "musicians music" than other types of fusion. Anybody who has seen his band live or has their live album knows what I'm talking about.

Dave has amazing chops and technique, yet a very free flowing style. He plays technically, yet he plays musically at the same time, wrapping wonderfully around the rest of his phenomenal band. And he is constantly improving. Years, ago, before he started taking lessons with Freddie Gruber, his playing was fine. I mean it was very good, but it wasnt spectacular. Gruber turned Weckl around, and turned him into a true master. Now his style is very loose, very natural (hence a Natural Evolution).

Dave Weckl has been my favorite drummer ever since I disovered him, and is by far and away my biggest influence and role model as a musician (not that i have even the slightest chance of becoming as good as he is)
 
aside from preferences(pro and con) about weckl playing people saying he's too mechanical,too technical,"elevator music,"etc., the ONE thing no one can say is he's "sloppy."
 
Weckl, Steve Smith and Danny Seraphine are all bringing their repective bands to the Hilton Ballroom on September 18th in Harrisburg Pa. It should be a great night of drumming and music. I am making the trip from down south to see them. I am really looking forward to it.
 
My favorite drummers are
Mike Portnoy
Nick Menza (I couldn't him on site)
Dave Weckl

mike portnoy: pro-academic drummer, very complex drumming (easy to learn)
Nick Menza : truly the best
Dave Weckl: let's make samba man :D, his teaching videos are very good.
 
Back
Top