Open arms and percussive machine gun beats.

I'm always looking at new ways to integrate different feels against loops and patterns. Figure is a great app on iOS to create unique loops that you can tweak in real time, or import into your Daw for further tweaking and integration. The challenge in this excerpt was keeping my playing open handed, and hitting those machine gun technical DnB parts!

Here's a short mix of some holiday practice in my home studio. These are excerpts from some virtual drum lessons, often when a student had to step away, or just to illustrate some things you can do when you extend the basic techniques.

Moeller Motion Lesson

This video has several clips illustrating the Moeller motion around the drumset. The paradox, for me, comes into play with the contrast between the accented, percussive sound and the fluid arm movements creating the sound.

InterCollectiveMusicWeb

I posted this old practice track on Youtube a while back. It really took off and has over a million views. What has been inspiring is that other musicians around the world have downloaded it, added music and video effects to it, and put it back up. Here's one example...

Table Drum App

Found this app for the ipad/ipod called Table Drum. You map the internal sounds to external sounds and then have a blast. Check it out!

Spacing Out...

I've had some interesting gigs lately...fashion shows, off the grid food truck gig, and of course, a party for the St. Anthony's crowd with a space theme. Here's a vid of our trio improvising some star wars themes in a spacey jazz style...enjoy!

Ipad Drum App

My trombonist has a friend who created this great iPad drum app. It's different than others in that all drums are touch sensitive for dynamics. In addition, there are quite a few built in kits, and you can create your own. You can also record loops and export them in multiple ways. Check out the free version, then consider buying the full version; it's pretty awesome!

Elementary My Dear Clinic...

I recently presented a two part clinic for 4th and 5th graders on exploring drum textures and an overview of drum n bass roots. Here are the videos:

DnB at 174

Here's a clip improvising some drum and bass on a very small kit...16" bass, 12" snare, 13" hats, and I think just a 10" splash cymbal. I'm playing with a loop from my 202, which starts off a little loose, but the clip gets more interesting several minutes into it! Let me know what you think!
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Drum N Bass at 174 Bpm - Free videos are just a click away

Avoid Burnout

Over the years I've worked hard to keep playing while avoiding burnout. Here are some strategies that have worked for me:

1. Mix up your playing and practice: gigging, jam sessions, rehearsals with the band, and playing with different groups. For practicing, I suggest balancing music reading, rudiment/exercise practice, soloing, groove practice, independence, different styles, and playing along with music and drum machines.

2. Take breaks from time to time: a day off, or a short vacation. And don't worry about your progress when you're off...music is broader than just technique, and everything you experience out there will add to the music.

3. Try playing on different drumsets to mix things up. Also, work with drum machines, practice pads, hand drums and percussion, and electronics as part of your practice.

4. Make sure to spend time listening to music. All music. Any style you can get your hands on. Itunes radio is good for that. So is Pandora. So are cds and mp3s, and the radio, and friends collections. And don't forget about live music. Go out to shows and check out what other cats are doing. It's all part of practicing and adding to your arsenal.

5. Finally, figure out where you want to go with your music. From banging it out in your basement, to playing local shows with your band, to touring the continent or the world, to being a studio musician. Then, practice accordingly. You'll need to put in some serious, uninterrupted hours to be a studio cat, but practicing once or twice a week is fine for your own playing in the basement!

Most of all, have fun with what you're doing. If it's not fun, you may want to reassess where you're going with it. I like to keep music enjoyable and challenging, and constantly learn new things.
Hopefully, these suggestions will help keep you playing for many years to come!
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KJ Sawka's iPhone App

Here's a great iPhone app from KJ Sawka...

Videos of Studio Session

Here are a couple videos from our recent recording session. Not sure if these are the takes we are keeping, but they are the ones that made it to video tape.

Back to the studio...

My band Zoyres is going back into the studio for our 3rd cd on August 18th. We've got at least 5 original compositions and 2 or 3 traditional tunes we're hoping to record. Our clarinetist is leaving for DC, so we're going to document the current lineup for digital distribution.

Interestingly, on this recording we won't have any odd time playing. It's all in four. The challenge this time around has two components: creating a good time feel and navigating intricate forms, and still working against the residual pain from my broken elbow. I'm not able yet to put in my usual "tech time" practice schedule of a couple weeks of serious time with the drums and the tunes. As always, I'll run the tunes in my head and play as well as I can.
Here's a pic of the lineup at a radio station gig we did this last year.

Here is a clip of me recording a drum track with the V-Drums to a cello loop track by Zoe Keating. Her playing is amazing and very textural. This particular track was screaming for some driving drums to give it even more forward motion. Not an official recording, just something for fun. Here it is...

Hybrid Setup

Most of the time I talk about "Hybrid", I'm referring to the fuzing of multiple genres of music. My band Zoyres is a hybrid of Eastern European music, jazz, improv, and uptempo styles. My solo drum style is a hybrid of electronic and acoustic styles.
However, I'm using the term hybrid today to talk briefly about my current drum setup. In response to noise issues, until I get my studio fully set up, I brought in a few of my V-Drums into my acoustic setup. I'm keeping it simple right now: acoustic bass drum and snare, 3 hi hats, 2 cymbals, and a V-drum bass drum, snare and hi hat. It allows me to play with headphones when I need to be quiet, but also bring in many different sounds and effects for playing. For example, I like to play some with a gated snare effect, or be able to shift the pitch of the snare with my hi hat pedal. The V-drums are also connected to a Roland monitor system with a subwoofer so that I can hear everything together live in the room.
The V-Drums also make for quick and easy informal recording, as I don't have mics setup on my kit yet.
Here's a phone picture of my current setup:














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Fast and short...

Here's a short clip from a site I have up on Metacafe. This is just an excerpt that I had fun tweaking video effects on!
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Uptempo Drumming Excerpt - Amazing videos are here

Did someone say "Break a leg?"

A couple months ago I fractured my right elbow in a motorcycle accident. However, I continued to play and practice as much as I could. I played a couple gigs using my left arm and two feet, changing up my setup to a more left handed approach. As it healed up some, I transitioned to playing with brushes, and re-interpreted all of my band's music with brushes. I played my first gig last week with both arms and sticks, and it felt good. I'm back to practicing, rehearsing, and playing shows again, and things are improving quickly. 

Look for more updates this summer!