Drum Instruction DVD & Book Reviews

NAME:
Encyclopedia Of Double Bass by Bobby Rondinelli
STAR RATING:
####
WORDED RATING:
An excellent comprehensive book on Double Bass playing. This book has an updated feel over the Joe Franco book. The beats are interesting and the fills are real world applicable.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Intermediate to Advanced - Anyone looking to improve their double bass skills
PUBLISHED BY:
Modern Drummer Publications
DESCRIPTION:
This book covers every aspect of double bass drumming. It covers 16ths, Triplet, Sixtuplet 32nd and up tempo 8th note grooves. Extensive linear fills and groove/fill combinations. It uses an additive approach... as you progress more notes are added. A must have for metal guys or fans of double bass playing.


Matt Scurfield
www.myspace.com/centrestdrumschool
 
I received this video recently, and hadn't had a chance to view it......Simply the best hand technique instruction I've ever seen, including private lessons. The CG illustrations are priceless, and his sense of humor is hilarious.

BTW, did anyone notice the special thanks to Bernhard? That was nice.

SRJ
Hi, this is my first visit to any chat room, ever. I am a self taught drummer. I am gathering info. from experienced drummers to improve my style.
Also, I am learning to use this chat room. Any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks for the review of drum info.
Crlord
 
Mike Mangini's Rhythm Knowledge series

Price:
The 2 books and 2 cds cost 87$. Too expensive in my opinion.

Should You Buy it?
If you are into drum philosophy, intense practicing, and have some good money, it is worth checking out. If you dont have the money but still want to check it out, ONLY BUY the second book, it has all the excersizes. If you want to master subdivisions, get the second cd.. If you want a taste, check out the rhythmknowledge-online.com website.

Warning:
These are not "musical" or "groovin" studies. They are math, rhythm, and concepts

Star Rating:
# # #

Target Audience:
Intermediate- Advanced. It can also be used by all musicians but it is primarily for drummers

Rhythm Knowledge Volume 1: (25$)
This book is all concepts no excersizes. It is a short read. The writing is pretty inspirational, similar to what people write in the drummerworld forums. He says he gleaned information from neuroscience and psychology to help write this book. He really only scratched the surface and doesn't go into much depth. It sort makes you think "well the scientists were proving what we knew all along." His most concrete practice advice is to ingrain something into your nervous system practice it 90 min a day, 4 days a week, for 6 weeks. Its written very informally and talks about drumming and how it affects life.

Rhythm Knowledge Volume 2:
All the excersizes and some repeat information from volume one. Contains excersize called C & C limb system (can be found online somewhere). Teaches how and the importance of counting. Teaches all rhythmic subdivisions and lots of permutations of them. None of the excersizes are musical and they become very mathematical. Many pages are simply permutations of subdivisions. I consider this rather useless information, I don't ever plan on playing a group of 11 with 11th rests in it. It would be too difficult to apply it musically. The benefits though are the combinations of juxtaposed subdivisions. Playing these are very beneficial to the internal clock. The Counting aspect is very important. His advice on practice management is probably the most worthwhile. And C&C Limb system may be worth checking out.

Rhythm knowledge: CD 1: (18$)

CD# 1 is him counting the subdivisions. I DO NOT recommend this cd.

Rhythm Knowledge CD 2 (18$)

I like this one. What he did was record subdivisions next to each other. Ex: 2 bars of quintuplets and then 2 bars of septuplets. then these 4 bars repeat for 4 min. This really helps ingrain the subdivions into your memory so you can execute them. Playing one subdivision over and over doesnt really help, its the change in subdivisions that challenges your internal time. Thats why CD 2 is better than 1.
 
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question

hey guys, any suggestions about some good Afro-cuban and brazilian drumset books and DVD's? keep in mind that i have never played anything related to "latin" music that goes beyond the basic simple bossa nova grooves.
any suggestions?
pelase e-mail me at [email protected]

thanks.
 
Rick Considine: Rudiment Grooves for the Drumset

Book & CD - Rick Considine's "Rudiment Grooves for the Drumset"

5 out of 5

I spent years listening to rock drummers who are masters of applying rudiments to drumset and rock drumming, but I always had difficulties working the 26 main rudiments around the kit myself in a cool way. This book has completely changed everything about my playing. I would say my whole approach to the kit, confidence and creativity have gone through the roof since I started working this book.

Rick goes through the basic snare based rudiments first and then provides various "moves" and "grooves" throughout the book, showing how each one is based on the basic rudiment but can be orchestrated around the kit. I love his theory that basically all drumset playing can be broken down to singles, doubles and flams. This has helped my feel, time, independence (particularly getting my left hand working a little harder) and has made my playing far more interesting.

I had never heard of this book before and just happened to stumble on it while on a trip to Minneapolis (Ellis Drum Shop). I would highly recommend it for any level of player - kids just starting can see quickly the value of patiently learning the rudiments and advanced players can benefit by going back to basics in order to reach a new skill level.
 
Can anyone review the TERRY SILVERLIGHT book:

"The Featured Drummer" (includes 2 CDs)

The book is all about polymetric sequences; in other words, it shows you different ways of playing over the barline. If you don't know where to start with this subject, this book will give you a lot of ideas for further development. This book is fairly advanced, and working from this book will improve your time feel and rhythmic phrasing drastically -- don't even think about trying out this book if you don't know how to count out loud and play at the same time.
 
NAME:

Alan Schechner "Coordination and Groove: Learn how to play intermediate to advanced drums instructional drum lessons video" DVD

STAR RATING:

#####

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Intermediate to advanced

PUBLISHED BY:

Music Star Productions

DESCRIPTION:

I recently returned from my second lesson with Alan Schechner. I hope that anyone who has seen his DVD, Coordination and Groove, was as inspired as I was. It would make me feel better if I knew that they they struggled as much as I did to get my head around what he was talking about in this amazing DVD. Being a perpetual newb drummer, I seek rhythmic concepts that do NOT delve into the obvious: jazz mastery, odd-time wizardry, double-bass speed demons and the like.

Schechner's DVD present a remarkably simple idea about how to tranform common beats into mind-bending independence puzzlers. Alan explains his transformations thoroughly. The problem is that those who translate explanations will literally and quickly deduce Alan's rhythmic transformations as, "You must do it exactly like I do." Not so. This is actually what Alan does NOT recommend. He explicity says, for example, if you don't have a cowbell for your left heel (your other half of your foot plays your hi-hat pedal), then don't play the cowbell.

In my lesson, he boiled down the transformations concept even further: Simply, think of your limbs as creators of rhythms and melodies. To start, he had me play my two favorite beats back to back. Alan then transcribed and combined the beats to put one beat's kick on the right foot as we would normally play; the other beat's kick was moved to the left foot. Modifications were made for musicality--delete a sixteenth, or eighth, note here or there.

The end result: Back home, my right foot is playing a Roland pedal dialed in as a tabla, my left foot is on my kick drum's left-foot double pedal. Or vice versa: My left foot is playing a cowbell, my right foot is on the kick. The beats individually are not complex. Together they create a radical transformation and a whole new level of musicality for the drumset. Alan further suggests playing my hand rhythms with varying patterns (think: The New Breed).

In short, Schechner's DVD is a critical component for the evolution of drumming on the drumset. While many will focus on foot techniques as the next step in double-bass drumming (i.e., moving your feet around pedals assigned to different instruments), Alan presents a means for taking interdependence to the next level. For this, "Coordination and Groove" is a revolutionary, and mandatory, DVD for drummers serious about approaching playing with a truly new view.

(Review originally appeared on my Web site.)
 
NAME: Tiger Bill's Concepts of Tension Free Drumming, VOL I

STAR RATING: #####

WORDED RATING: Second only to hands-on instruction from Billy Gladstone, Joe Morello, Jojo Mayer...this is the 2nd best hand technique video I've seen to date....see below : )

TARGET AUDIENCE: Anyone desiring to learn Gladstone via Bill Meligari. "Building Monster Chops", originally found on his site is a text example of these techniques.

PUBLISHED BY: http://store.tigermix.com/tmtfdhtdvdvol1.html

DESCRIPTION: The "Space" theme, INTRO and choice of drum sounds from his Pintech kit are um, funny, but one can't deny the man has KILLER chops. I would have liked to hear more of his playing on a contemporary sounding kit. Tiger Bill goes into detail about tension caused by improper hand/wrist position, full/mid/low strokes, and transitions between. Very good instructor. I would have preferred a better overhead camera view (the one on the DVD was off center) but overall, this DVD (although a bit pricey) is excellent.

I hate electronic kits. it bothered my Thomas used it in his dvd and even in clinics.

Jojo is so good...
 
Pat Petrillo's Hands, Grooves, and Fills

NAME: Hands, Grooves, and Fills - by Pat Petrillo.
This features a DVD, book, and CD with play-along tracks.
STAR RATING: # # # # #
PRICE: $39.95
WORDED RATING:
For me this work has been priceless. I have been interested in, and dabbled in, drumming and percussion for a few years now, utilizing or referencing instructional works including those of Pete Lockett, Marco Minnemann, Marvin Dahlgren/Elliot Fine, Tommy Igoe, and Jim Chapin, but never really taking any of them all the way in so to speak, either because of daunting learning curves or the fact that an (over)emphasis on left-brain, analytical, technical musicianship is almost an oxymoron to me. That is to say, I played piano for years and years as a kid but became bored by the sight-reading, just playing what is on the page, dry and fun-less version I was taught, so I quit. Later I got into the baritone, (like a tuba but smaller) but again the same style of learning and playing bequeathed to me by public school education wore out its welcome and I quit again after years of study. So naturally as I have again acquiesced to the call of destiny (read: begun playing music again) I have avoided standardized technique or only touched lightly the real study of drums so as to maintain the activity as more of a meditation, an authentic expression of myself, than a regurgitation of the known, systematized, and ordered. Then...I saw that Pat Petrillo would be in my area here and there for lessons and classes, so I took the plunge and decided to take it to the next level. Now... I have been using Pat's DVD/book/CD in combination with some lessons for about four months and I am AMAZED on so many levels by his product. First of all, I found it accessible as a beginner in that the exercises get progressively more difficult but the learning curve is not too steep, which allowed me to jump right into basic rudiments and combos and grooves, and now I am already capable of rudimental solos over ostinato-feet, more complex and funky grooves, and fills. Pat has developed a "rudiment-tab system" which is sort of a short-hand way of writing out rudiments and combos, simplifying the process of learning and memorizing them. Second, and more importantly to me, is that I have felt no compromise of the enjoyment of the activity; actually now it is much more fun because I can relate much more easily to the videos on drummerworld, and to other musicians in a band scenario.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
All skill levels
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Limited
DESCRIPTION:
The primary areas of study are, as the title suggests, hand technique, grooves, and fills. Hand technique includes warm ups, the rudiments (regular notation and tab), and rudiment combos (tab). A brief primer on reading 16th note rhythms then precedes the grooves part. At first I found the grooves section of this product very similar to Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials, in which he breaks down many styles to their basic building blocks, but Pat seems to do that and add his own super funky twist to styles ranging from rock to funk, jazz, salsa, "Nawlins," Brazilian, r n b, and more, each with various permutations like jam band, neo soul, funk fusion, acid jazz, drum n bass, etc. The fills section has various contemporary and old school fill stickings in the book, and the video includes demonstrations of how to split it up around the kit at slower and faster tempos.
 
Hi,

am hoping to pick up American drummers achievement awards featuring Vinnie and Rick Marotta.

Anyone with a quickie review ?
 
Name: Ginger Baker Master Drum Technique
Rating: ####
Price: about €25
Target audience: intermediate to advanced drummers
Worded rating:
Ginger Baker explains his approach to using rudiments and african polyrithmics in a way that is very easy to understand. His explanation of african polyrithmics makes it all look easy - yet it isn't.

One thing that bugs me about the presentation is the way Ginger looks throughout the DVD. Years and years of smoking affected his voice, and made him to look more like Gollum than any man should do:

71etr11.jpg


Despite that, the DVD is inspiring, and makes you want to practise polyrithmics and rudiments which is always a good thing. There's also some performances included where he shows how his approach translates to a real musical situation. And if you miss a beat, there's also a slow motion recording of most of his exercises. So for the price, I see no reason not to buy it and learn from an excellent drummer with a very nice approach to drumming.
 
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I think it's a redo, with a little extra material.

Edit: yeah, it's a redo. He's playing ludwigs on the dvd, but he switched to DW quite some time ago.
 
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Yeah, Cool

That saves me from hunting down a VHS copy.

I think that was done in the late 80's maybe early 90's or so.

You can imagine what he looks like now.

Incidently in addition to his superior drumming let's not short change old Ginger.

I understand he is or was a member of the House of Commons where he lives! Not to shabby of a guy.

Reminds me of that Cream tune, "Politician".

Thanks for the heads up and info!
 
Hi there can anybody recommned dvd or video etc. on how to read drum notation for beginners and upwards
 
I'd look for a beginner's book instead. The information regarding drum notation will be easier to process if it's not in constant motion like a dvd. Any beginner's book will probably do.
 
NAME:
John Blackwell: Technique, Grooving and Showmanship

STAR RATING:
# # 1/2 out of 5 stars
WORDED RATING:
Great drummer, below average teacher
TARGET AUDIENCE:
All
PUBLISHED BY:
Hudson Music
DESCRIPTION:
Cons: I bought this dvd with a series of other dvds when I was in an intense drumming craze. After viewing it for the first hour I searched for some drying paint for some excitement. Then six months later I picked it up again. And I put it back down. It isn't that John Blackwell isn't a great drummer, as stated above. No, it seems that the main problem with this dvd was its lack of focus, script writing, and overall vision. John Blackwell speaks horribly slow with long pauses. Everything he says seems completely unrehearsed and that is the same feel I get when watching this dvd. When I said the target audience was "all" it was because I couldn't find which target audience would benefit from this dvd least. Every once in a great long while he will show you something amazing that will help with your drumming but the intervals between are long and insufferable. Most of what you learn is simply by copying what he is doing through what visuals you have witnessed. There are no explanations. To illuminate, some quotes from John Blackwell:
On how to create a solo:
"I used to plan my solos... but it never came out the way I wanted it to come out... don't plan the moment, live the moment."
On how to practice:
"I go in and try to discover new things. Sometimes they come out... I screw up and stumble into something new." PERIOD
This is mostly because, as John Blackwell has stated, he has been playing drums since the age of 2. I don't remember how I started walking at that age and it is apparent that he doesn't remember anything from that age either. I would not consider this an instructional dvd as there is no instructions. This dvd isn't going to help you learn to play drums the way a dvd by Steve Smith, Erskine, or even Wreckl would.
Pros: I have to give credit from John Blackwell's extensive knowledge of drumming influences throughout the years. And that he always gives credit where credit is due. He seems like a humble gentleman and every approachable person. He is not arrogant; he is very down-to-earth. He loves what he does and you can see it.

Overall:
I feel like this dvd will give you a close look into the personality of John Blackwell. It will make you a fan. I saw him on tv in some music show with Prince and was happy to recognize him. However, this isn't a good instructional dvd. On a different note, although the box says that the dvd is two complete disk, the second disks contents are listed as bonus material and is mostly live footage. I am probably going to keep my copy but never watch it again.
 
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