Category — Drum Recordings

Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner is featured on a new Hudson Music DVD release entitled “What Drives The Beat.” The DVD features over 3 hours of peformance and instructional footage from the two-time grammy nominated, multiple readers poll-winning drummer.

One segment titled “Double-Bass Crash Course” will be a highlight for many drummers.

“The step-by-step method for developing foot control, power, endurance and speed is explained and demonstrated in detail while foot cameras and split-screen shots augment the instructional material. 16th, Triplet, 32nd, Combo, Shuffle, Ruff and Blast Beat patterns are covered with all the examples and exercises included in an exclusive PDF eBook that can be printed and used for lessons and practice.”

Some other segments featured include…

Jason Bittner will preseumably be featured playing on one of his Tama Starclassic drum kits on this DVD, and it’s something well worth picking up if you’re a metal drummer.

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A lot of rock drummers probably aren’t that familiar with Omar Hakim. Being a drummer and a drumming fan, I knew his name but I really hadn’t really been exposed to his work.

Recently, I took the opportunity to sit down and listen to a sampling of recording’s he’s played on. This guy is a monster talent and can’t really be pinned down to one genre. His work with Weather Report was nothing short of amazing. Although his playing in Weather Report relied heavily on jazz techniques he managed to attract the attention of Sting and Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler as fans, which would lead to future work with both.

His playing on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” also stands out as being incredibly solid and continued to expose him to numerous other artists. In the 80’s when drum machines and drum programming just started to come into fashion, instead of feeling defeated Hakim went out and learned how to program drum machines and electronics, becoming extremely proficient. He was also one of the first drummers to heavily incorporate an electronic drum set roland built for him, and continues to do endorse Roland electronic drums to this day.

Omar Hakim’s page at Drummerworld.com also has a great qoute from the man himself…

“Sometimes, if people know you from rock, they think of you as a rock drummer and don’t expect you to play anything else. Or, if they know you in jazz, then they typecast you as a jazz drummer,” explains Hakim. “I was conscious of the fact that I didn’t want people to know me as a rock drummer or a jazz drummer, but as a total musician. So I always made sure I let people know that I was about music.”

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Last week when I posted about Neil Peart, I failed to mention the upcoming release of Rush’s new live DVD. The “Snakes & Arrows” DVD is set for release on November 25th. The whole package includes three discs, also available as a Blu-Ray, and features a lengthy live set by the band, filmed over two nights in October 2007 at the Netherlands’ Ahoy Rotterdam Arena during the tour for the “Snakes & Arrows” album.

Besides featuring a whole disc of bonus material the DVD has different camera angles and other goodies, most notably this…

“Cameras follow bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart closely, capturing not only their playing note for note, but also the intimacy they share on stage.”

This is a great opportunity to get yet another chance to check out Neil Peart’s playing up close. Yes, of course his playing has been analyzed to death, but then again maybe not enough cause I haven’t seen anyone play the way he does yet.

Also, while I’ve seen a lot of footage of him playing live, I haven’t seen much footage of him since he has started to drum roland, with that huge V-Drum kit behind him.

Tracklisting is as follows, follow the source link for footage of “Far Cry”…

“Snakes & Arrows Live” DVD track listing:

Disc 1:

01. Limelight
02. Digital Man
03. Entre Nous
04. Mission
05. Freewill
06. The Main Monkey Business
07. The Larger Bowl
08. Secret Touch
09. Circumstances
10. Between the Wheels
11. Dreamline

Extras:

01. What’s That Smell (DVD Content)
02. 2007 Tour Outtakes
03. What’s That Smell Outtakes
04. Far Cry (Alternate cut featuring rear screen footage)
05. The Way the Wind Blows (Alternate cut featuring rear screen footage)
06. Red Sector A from the R30 Tour

Disc 2:

01. Far Cry
02. Workin’ Them Angels
03. Armor and Sword
04. Spindrift
05. The Way the Wind Blows
06. Subdivisions
07. Natural Science
08. Witch Hunt
09. Malignant Narcissism - De Slagwerker
10. Hope
11. Distant Early Warning
12. The Spirit of Radio
13. Tom Sawyer
Encore:
14. One Little Victory
15. A Passage to Bangkok
16. YYZ

Disc 3:

Oh, Atlanta - The Authorized Bootlegs

01. Ghost of a Chance
02. Red Barchetta
03. The Trees
04. 2112/The Temples of Syrinx

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Pretty much every drummer worth their salt knows who Neil Peart is, the drummer of Rush has topped musician polls for over 2 decades now. I’ve been into Neil Peart’s drumming and Rush for a while now, but recently I picked up a vinyl copy of their classic “Moving Pictures” album and it stands out even more to me now.

I don’t know if it’s because I have a really nice turntable and speakers, but his drumming and drum sound is pretty much perfect on this album, at least to my ears. Now, maybe a lot of other drummers out there are thinking “duh” but I’m a younger guy and didn’t have the chance to get into the album when it was first released (as I was one year away from being born).

I’ve heard almost every Rush release, and while they all have something unique to offer, I’d consider their best work to be either “Moving Pictures” or “2112″. It’s a hard decision to make, but I’m going to go out on a limb and put my vote in for “Moving Pictures” just because of the strength and hooks so many of the songs possess. I did some digging around online and found a great picture of the band in the studio from this era (above). If anyone reading this knows, around what era did Neil Peart start using roland drums? I know he is a roland drums endorser and used Simmons early on.

Recently Brian “Head” Welch, formerly the guitarist of hugely successful metal band Korn spoke to Fox News (of all places) about leaving Korn and his latest album. The album is entitled “Save Me From Myself” and features none other than studio-great Josh Freese as well as bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, David Bowie).

Blabbermouth.com has a link to the Fox News interview with Head. And while his album is already out and has debuted on the Billboard Top 200, I still haven’t heard it. Even though I was never into Korn, I’m interested to hear it just for Josh Freese’s drumming. I admit that he does a lot of projects, but I’m also wanting to hear the interplay between him and Tony Levin. Also, Josh Freese has long been a DW Drums endorser and I’ve never been disappointed by the drum sounds he manages to get, of course he does have access to some of the best drum tech’s, mics and gear in the world.

I will do my best to check out the album and post my thoughts here.

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Modern Drummer has a new feature on their website called “Drum Gods” where they re-print older interviews and basically do a profile of the chosen drummer(s). The first installment is on Dave Grohl, they re-visit the first interview they ever conducted with him in 1992. In it, he offers plenty of insightful tips and knowledge on drumming and the way he approaches it.

Some choice excerpts are…

“The drums have to propel everything.” That’s an important element. Whether the drums stand out to people or not isn’t what’s really important. That it sounds like a big bomb going off is.” He also believed that louder is usually better, often hitting two toms or two cymbals at once and focusing his energy on powerful playing with less notes. However, he also understands how to use dynamics and does so very effectively.

Regarding “Bass Drum Technique”

Grohl’s bass drum technique is all about optimum transfer of power: “I don’t put my heel down when I play my kick drum, I kind of pounce on it with the ball of my foot. That way I can hit harder and put more weight into it. Also, by sitting very low—I sit as low as possible—I can put a lot more weight into it because I’m pushing forward.”

These are great tips but I thought the most profound excerpt was this…

Dave believes it’s very important for drummers to think like songwriters, “Composition and songwriting should be just as important to a drummer as they are to a singer,” he went on. “There are hooks in songwriting, those moments that catch you and stick in your brain. Drumming should be the same way.”

Overall a very insightful read. I’ve always been a huge fan of Dave Grohl as you can probably tell by this site, but I’ve never seen this interview before. Also, it doesn’t mention anything about the specifics of his kit at the time, but I know he was a Tama drums and Zildjian Cymbals endorsee and that his Nirvana-era kits were an Artstar Customs.

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One of the most important things to me when considering a place to live is the proximity of the practice space to the neighbors. That’s why I was stoked to find my current place of residence, a small house in Los Angeles that shares no walls with anyone else. I’ve been here for a year now, practicing almost everyday at a level where my ears are ringing even though I’m wearing my super-fancy Ear Love earplugs. Then the other day, a neighbor (who I’ve never met before) walks by and asks if we play music here. He explains that the music is just way too loud and that it’s all he can hear in his living room. I’m thinking this guy either just moved in or is incredibly patient, having waited a year to say anything about the noise factor. Either way I was happy that he was chill and not one of those freaky cat lady types.

So I decided we needed to mute the drums a bit so we can lower the volume for the rest of the instruments. I already had a Sound Off cymbal silencer laying around for the hi-hats, but I needed a way to mute the rest of the kit. So I started digging through the cabinets for old rags. I ended up stuffing a pillow and an old blanket in the bass. Then I stretched a couple of old t-shirts underneath each of the drum heads. The resonant heads are completely covered with fabric and the batter head has a strip going across the inside. And to finish off this super DIY muting project, I hung beer carriers to the crash and ride cymbals.

So Rolling Stone has a piece up about Rock Band 2, the sequel to the hugely successful Rock Band game. Of course, Rock Band upped the Guitar Hero ante by adding a full band setup with guitar, drums and a microphone.

Rock Band 2 adds more of the same as the first, with more downloadable content, more songs and new controllers. You can also play all the songs you downloaded from the first game.

The game is already out for Xbox 360 but the PS3 version and new instruments will be released on October 19th. The Wii release date is November 19th.

You’re only choice now is too decide if you want Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero: World Tour, which is also shaping up to be an excellent game. I really wonder for drummers, if they will ever add a double bass pedal setup to  one of these games. This would a great way to work on your double pedal skills, while having fun playing a game and not making too much noise in the house.

Most drummers know John Blackwell, you’ve either heard or seen him as Prince’s drummer or you’ve seen his instructional videos. Not only is he an amazing player, who combines the best aspects of rock, R&B, hip-hop and funk, but he is also an expert stick-twirler and showman.

“Hudson Music announces the latest addition to its Master Series of drum instruction DVDs — John Blackwell: Master Series.”

“The three-hour DVD is divided into two main sections. In the first section, Blackwell performs with an all-star band and then explains and demonstrates the drum parts. Not only does the master drummer discuss the way the song and groove evolved along with the specific techniques that are involved in the performance, he demonstrates the patterns at normal and slow speeds to provide students with a deeper, fuller understanding of the parts and their musical context.”

If you haven’t yet checked out Blackwell’s drumming I highly recommend doing so online. If you are impressed by what you see his DVD’s are a worthwhile purchase, or at the very least, early ideas for your Christmas list.

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Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” album hit stores Friday and a lot of buzz is still swirling around about it. I came across something I think a lot of drummers will be interested in.

Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, as well as Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, interviewed Metallica about their new album “Death Magnetic” and some of the songs were broadcast for the first time during the event. Luckily, it is on YouTube currently and features info about the band’s songwriting process and the general theme of the album.

Let it be known that Dave Grohl should seriously consider getting his own radio show. He is a pretty funny guy, as most people know, but he is pretty hilarious asking Metallica all kinds of questions. You can tell these guys have a mutual respect for one another and Dave Grohl even states that he has been a hardcore Metallica fan since 1984.