Search results

In general, the research points to everyday practice of a handful of things, rather than one or two. Going further, it’s even better to switch up tasks every few minutes. Going back to a task means that you have to “re-learn” it, and that helps it to become more quickly acquired. So a good...

The problem with those cameras is that the mic is usually located on the top or side, and not in the front where it should be. So yes, the sound can get worse. I used a GoPro once and the mic was covered by the case. The audio was terrible, to the point of being useless. I would steer you...

I don't think I've had a single student practice on their thighs, although I certainly did. I get better results from air-drums. Kids want to look like they're playing the drums, even if they're not.

You're in a really tricky spot. Overall, when the kids are 7-9, your job is only partially "drum set instructor". It's more "teaching fundamentals and exposing the kids to music", and "not ruining music". Like a doctor: first, do no harm. Be aware that no music store or lesson studio is going...

This happened to me like two weeks ago. Most young kids, unless they're already in marching band or concert band, don't like working on a pad. And can you blame them? It's tedious and doesn't seem at all musical. I explain to the parents that, yes, we'll learn songs and do fun things, and that...

The most important questions are: what kind of music do you want to play? What drummers do you want to emulate? Go to GC and do a lot of in-person listening. Listen for overall pitch, length of decay, and higher overtones near the end of the decay. How pronounced is the “ping”? Is the bell...

You're wecome! You're kind of stuck as far as the ambience goes then, huh? You could try lowering the cymbals/overhead mics, and/or bringing up the kick, snare, and tom channels. Try dampening the toms and kick a bit more, if you haven't already. This might get you close enough. Are you able to...

An Aquarian Super Pad, placed on an snare drum, will accomplish all of that. You probably don't want to include the actual snare drum though, right?

You have the SoCal bundle, so it's a good guess that there is a bit of room sound in the samples. Unfortunately, Rick Rubin produced SOAD, and those drums are dry as can be, and compressed to heck. When you load up the samples, are you able to decrease the amount of ambience or reverb on the...

Hey there, I teach kids and adults in a school of rock type place, and we set them up with gigs and PA, sometimes in outdoor venues. Your guitarist and bassist will be fine. Their amps will be loud enough. You and the singer will need what a DJ would need, plus mics, cables, and stands...

You're trying to mount mic stands onto your drum rack, for overheads, in a recording set up? Not a good idea. The mics will pick up the vibrations of the toms and cymbals through the rack/stands/clamps, and you'll end up with an annoying hum in your tracks. Better to mount the overheads on...

Matthew Ball aka The Boogie Woogie Kid. Featuring yours truly on drums! No rehearsal, and never played a boogie woogie gig before. This was the first tune of the day. I'm a bit timid here, but I swear I'm having a good time! Love it!

The whole point of Moeller technique is to use it when you have an accent, and then some nonaccented notes before or after the accent. If there is no accent, then any whipping motion is a waste of energy.

Let's say you're playing 5 stroke rolls, like this: R ll rr L rr ll R ll rr L rr ll If we take away the left hand notes, and just consider the right hand, we get: R rr rr R rr rr which is an accented note, followed by four unaccented notes. You can go faster, and quieter, if you use some...

#1. If you spend enough time performing, you’ll end up using Moeller. I think it’s vital to a working drummer’s training, even if you only use it occasionally on certain songs, beats, and vocabulary. It’s also great for establishing some flexibility and strength in the wrists, and, for trad...

Brainy stuff, very nice work!

Hey, I have the 17", and I really like it! I'd say it's on the quick-ish side, and medium-low in volume. It's definitely not a splash, but it doesn't have quite the length of a 17" crash either. On louder gigs, really playing loudly, I felt I needed a bit more cymbal, but in bars and pubs where...

There is, but you'll need custom molded ear plugs. First, get impressions of your ears done, then order some molded ear plugs from Westone, fitted with these filters. The filters reduce sound very evenly across the spectrum, so you hear a "natural" sound, but much quieter. I've used the -15dB...

For me it was the other way around. I feel like my left foot came together when I started to practice things that directly involved it, where it was a leading element, and not just trying to keep up with my right foot. Specifically, the Tony Williams thing where you're alternating singles...

A common conversation with a student: Me: "Did you get to work on that exercise/song/routine we talked about in our last lesson this week?" Student: "So I was watching this YouTube video..." Ouch! There's a lot here that seems a bit unfair. But as a kid, I did have a pretty lame teacher at...