Last year I recorded a 21st Anniversary DVD with Pendragon. I really enjoyed playing this material and the DVD came out pretty well. You can find out more on the Pendragon website
Sunday, May 20, 2007
New Pendragon DVD
The Wishbone Ash tour has come to an end. We have a few festivals in August then another UK tour begins in October. You can check my gig dates here . If you can make it to any of the gigs please come and say hello.
Last year I recorded a 21st Anniversary DVD with Pendragon. I really enjoyed playing this material and the DVD came out pretty well. You can find out more on the Pendragon website
Last year I recorded a 21st Anniversary DVD with Pendragon. I really enjoyed playing this material and the DVD came out pretty well. You can find out more on the Pendragon website
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
On the road...
I'm halfway into a Wishbone Ash UK tour. I had a prior booking with Pendragon headlining RoSfest in Philadelphia at the end of April so I had to fly out there for 4 days for that gig. Arrived back in the UK at 7am Tuesday morning and rejoined Wishbone Ash for a gig that evening. Plenty of traveling!
RoSFest was great. The gig went down really well. I had a great drum tech who helped get the kit set up just right. The monitor sound left something to be desired, but that always seems to be the case. I'm looking into in ear options as I write this - hoping to use them for the remainder of this tour. I'll post the results...
I got a new pair of 13" Hybrid K Zildjian hats from Sam Ash in Philly. They sound great and will probably replace my loud as fcuk K/Zs for most gigs and sessions. I also got an 11" hybrid K splash - the closest they had to a 12" K. I had one of those about 7 years ago. I leant it to a support band and they let their percussionist use it as a hand splash. They gave it back to me in 2 pieces!
No fixed plans for the summer yet. There are a few festivals and sessions booked in but I'm hoping to relax for a lot of it, maybe travel a bit.
That's all for now....
RoSFest was great. The gig went down really well. I had a great drum tech who helped get the kit set up just right. The monitor sound left something to be desired, but that always seems to be the case. I'm looking into in ear options as I write this - hoping to use them for the remainder of this tour. I'll post the results...
I got a new pair of 13" Hybrid K Zildjian hats from Sam Ash in Philly. They sound great and will probably replace my loud as fcuk K/Zs for most gigs and sessions. I also got an 11" hybrid K splash - the closest they had to a 12" K. I had one of those about 7 years ago. I leant it to a support band and they let their percussionist use it as a hand splash. They gave it back to me in 2 pieces!
No fixed plans for the summer yet. There are a few festivals and sessions booked in but I'm hoping to relax for a lot of it, maybe travel a bit.
That's all for now....
Friday, April 06, 2007
An Eye Opening Experience
I was bored yesterday and decided to blindfold myself for a few hours to see what it would be like to be blind. The first thing I noticed was how big everything seemed when I couldn't see. I had to move very slowly and carefully to avoid banging into things. I found open doors to be particularly dangerous as it's possible to walk with both hands out in front of you and still get hit in the nose by the edge!
I did some piano practice. I'm trying to become more familiar with the keyboard and basic harmony theory. I found it very difficult to keep track of what I was playing without the usual visual cues. I feel like practising in this way will help to internalise the process.
So what has any of this got to do with drums? Well, I also managed to find my way into the drum room. The first thing I noticed was that things weren't exactly where I expected them to be. I often have trouble deciding where to position drums and cymbals. The problem is that I'm so used to adjusting myself to play whatever kit I'm behind that seeing where things are actually gets in teh way of knowing where I'd like them to be. While blindfolded I found it much easier to pay attention to how everything felt. The right seat height, the height of the snare drum, where I wanted the toms, it all seemed more obvious when I was paying attention to how things felt rather than looked.
I went to hit a tom. It was pretty much in the right place, but when I felt the end of the stick touching the head I realised I was very close to the right side of the drum. Hence I decided to move the tom to the right a few inches to compensate. Admittedly it's not the easiest task to adjust positions and angles while blindfolded, but I think it's better to keep the blindfold on than to peak. Perhaps you could get someone to help adjust your kit as you point where you'd like things to be.
I had a good blindfolded practice session then managed to navigate my way back downstairs. When I came to drum the next time I couldn't believe the angles I'd left my cymbals at - it looked very weird, but it played fine. Give it a try - you might find some new insights into your playing.
I did some piano practice. I'm trying to become more familiar with the keyboard and basic harmony theory. I found it very difficult to keep track of what I was playing without the usual visual cues. I feel like practising in this way will help to internalise the process.
So what has any of this got to do with drums? Well, I also managed to find my way into the drum room. The first thing I noticed was that things weren't exactly where I expected them to be. I often have trouble deciding where to position drums and cymbals. The problem is that I'm so used to adjusting myself to play whatever kit I'm behind that seeing where things are actually gets in teh way of knowing where I'd like them to be. While blindfolded I found it much easier to pay attention to how everything felt. The right seat height, the height of the snare drum, where I wanted the toms, it all seemed more obvious when I was paying attention to how things felt rather than looked.
I went to hit a tom. It was pretty much in the right place, but when I felt the end of the stick touching the head I realised I was very close to the right side of the drum. Hence I decided to move the tom to the right a few inches to compensate. Admittedly it's not the easiest task to adjust positions and angles while blindfolded, but I think it's better to keep the blindfold on than to peak. Perhaps you could get someone to help adjust your kit as you point where you'd like things to be.
I had a good blindfolded practice session then managed to navigate my way back downstairs. When I came to drum the next time I couldn't believe the angles I'd left my cymbals at - it looked very weird, but it played fine. Give it a try - you might find some new insights into your playing.
Custom Drum Tracks on Sky News
I was interviewed by Sky news the other day for an article on how music is created these days. It should be showing all day Saturday 7th April on Sky News and sometime on Channel 5. You can view the article here
Monday, March 26, 2007
New for 2007
At the start of this year I had no idea what I'd be doing this year. Functions always dry up after christmas and I didn't have a lot of Pendragon gigs in.
I ended up teaching quite a lot at ACM. I really enjoy the opportunity to pass on what I can to enthusiastic drummers. I've also enjoyed creating the online drumming lessons. More of those to come as soon as I have time.
The bigger news is that I've joined Wishbone Ash. I spent the last 2 weeks just outside Helsinki in Finland recording a new album with them. I didn't actually meet the singer and guitarist until they picked me up at the airport. Two days later we had our first gig in Moscow (a 13 hour train journey from Finland!). It was the second time I'd played the songs but it went very well.
The guys are all great musicians and we got on very well. I'm excited to see how the album develops - I was pleased with the drum parts I came up with for the songs.
I knew it was going to be a good week when the snare drum on the kit in the drum room was a Yamaha Vinnie signature model. It was like finding the Holy Grail. I'd only ever seen it on posters in drum shops and have been looking for one for years.
We have a month long tour coming up in April/May. Check out the dates here - www.drumsolo.co.uk/gigs - and come and say Hi if you make it down.
Later,
Joe
I ended up teaching quite a lot at ACM. I really enjoy the opportunity to pass on what I can to enthusiastic drummers. I've also enjoyed creating the online drumming lessons. More of those to come as soon as I have time.
The bigger news is that I've joined Wishbone Ash. I spent the last 2 weeks just outside Helsinki in Finland recording a new album with them. I didn't actually meet the singer and guitarist until they picked me up at the airport. Two days later we had our first gig in Moscow (a 13 hour train journey from Finland!). It was the second time I'd played the songs but it went very well.
The guys are all great musicians and we got on very well. I'm excited to see how the album develops - I was pleased with the drum parts I came up with for the songs.
I knew it was going to be a good week when the snare drum on the kit in the drum room was a Yamaha Vinnie signature model. It was like finding the Holy Grail. I'd only ever seen it on posters in drum shops and have been looking for one for years.
We have a month long tour coming up in April/May. Check out the dates here - www.drumsolo.co.uk/gigs - and come and say Hi if you make it down.
Later,
Joe
Inspiration
I haven't had chance lately to add any new lesson videos. I invested in a Mac about a month ago and it's brilliant, but I now have to learn to use different editing software. Anyway, I'm hoping to have something new up before I head off on tour.
In the meantime I'm adding a few posts about things that have inspired me on my 27 year journey. Of all the books I've read "Yes Man" by Danny Wallace has probably had the most impact. After reading of the adventures he had that followed him simply saying Yes more I decided to give it a go. I ended up joining new bands, meeting new people and travelling to new places all as a result of saying Yes more.
I've kind of given away the plot but I highly recommend the book anyway. It made me laugh out loud many times and was a truly inspirational true story. Get it HERE
In the meantime I'm adding a few posts about things that have inspired me on my 27 year journey. Of all the books I've read "Yes Man" by Danny Wallace has probably had the most impact. After reading of the adventures he had that followed him simply saying Yes more I decided to give it a go. I ended up joining new bands, meeting new people and travelling to new places all as a result of saying Yes more.
I've kind of given away the plot but I highly recommend the book anyway. It made me laugh out loud many times and was a truly inspirational true story. Get it HERE
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The album that made me want to be a drummer...
My dad used to play this when I was young. Where he worked there was a drum kit and I'd go in and try and play the 'Rhythm of the Heat'. I was probably 5 years old and I suspect my interpretation left a lot to be desired. I also didn't really like loud noises at the time.
It's still one of my top 10 albums. The African inspired percussion extravaganza at the outro of the first track is still awesome. Track 6 (Lay your hands on me) is still one of my favourite drumming outros. "I have the touch" is one of the coolest drum grooves on record. None of these are stereotypical drum grooves, but they are ace.
I highly recommend adding it to your collection. It's cheap as chips on Amazon (UK
,US
).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)