A 2nd Listen to that song!

OK, so these days we have soooo many ways that we can listen to music and listing them would just be an insult to anyone reading this post but we do have unbelievable sources for listening to music. Most just listen to a song, maybe play air guitar or airdrums (that's me), sing along to it(not me), dance. In general it strikes an emotion that makes you think of something or feels good to you at the time. I personally use it as a memory manager. Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy, every time I hear that song it brings me back to Glasgow Apollo, Scotland. It was my first concert and it was Thin Lizzy, WOW were they amazing and it was the Black Rose tour, what a night. I have many songs that remind me of specific things since my memory needs a jolt here and there so I use songs to jog my memory. Anyway a funny thing happened over the last little while in our band. We brought on a new bassplayer Paul, great playing and attitude. We also decided while Paul was learning all these new songs to throw in 16 more new songs just for fun that we had never played either. Part of this process though of learning the songs is that Dave, my brother and lead vocalist also has to sequence all the keyboard parts as well. We just played the Casino Niagara show last weekend and all the new material went over great, a few minor flubs here and there but more things that only we would notice. It's funny how quickly you will learn a song and then all of a sudden you somehow make it yours, some fills change, the guitarist might change the way he plays something which then affects the bassplayer which comes back to affecting the drummer. All minor little changes and not that there is anything wrong with that but try doing this as an experiment.

Take a song that you think you know inside out, backwards forwards, you learned this song 6 months ago and it sounds great as is. Go back and actually pick apart just the drum track and listen to the track for what it is. It is amazing what you will hear, these little subtle changes in something that you might have overlooked in learning it originally. Maybe when you had to learn the song you were rushed for time and just skimmed over it or the drums were buried and you just assumed what the drummer played but really didn't have time to pick apart what was maybe being played. Re-listening to that song a 2nd time, taking the time to actually pick it apart and learn it for what it is can change your entire feel of the song. You might even think that the original version felt or sounded better or "how could I have missed that really cool fill".

This is just something to think about because lately I went through some of our older songs and realized how much I had changed some of them and some were not for the better. Sometimes it really is just about giving the song a 2nd listen after you have learned and played it for a while. See what and how much has changed. If you are changing the song intentionally like the band "Disturbed" doing a cover of the Genesis song "Land of Confusion" and they without a doubt made it their own song, then that is fine but if you are trying to keep the song in it's original format and it changes, you just might never notice the changes.

This topic was purely an observation on something I realized about myself and listening to others around you. Nothing more nothing less and there is nothing wrong with being creative, after all that is what music is isn't it, expressing yourself. Stay tuned or go phlat ........

It's just a practicepad, right?

Ok, so I am in NY for work, have no drumkit but I do have my practicepad and my promark 747s, thank God I remembered to pack them. Sometimes this is the ultimate experience to have nothing but a pair of sticks and a piece of hard rubber to play on.
It's funny, you sit down at a drumkit and want to hear certain types of sounds, rimshots or on a digital kit it's all about changing all of your sounds and you can easily get distracted from what you might have set out to do . A practicepad ...... well it really has just one sound. Having only a practicepad at your disposal normally means that you are going to actually practice your rudiments, stick balance, types of grips and when to tighten and release your grip. All of the above are very important and on a drumkit it is easy to get pulled in another direction. Just try sitting on the floor with your iPod, and start going over some rudiments. It might sound boring but when you actually get back to your drumkit you will find out just how much easier it is to play faster, you might have a better grip or balance of the stick, better control of your rudiments and that is most often the times when you realise just how valuable the practicepad actually is. It also helps that it is really quiet to play whether you are at home or in a hotel room. I also do use this pad as my warmup before I play any gigs.
I guess I figured this would be a good topic to cover since I am apart from my kit and this is really under-rated as a very important part of your drum toolkit. The more you use the practicepad the better you get and the more you will want to use this tool. Stay tuned or go phlat ........

Playing the song or looking cool - Can you have both?

It has always stumped me to watch any drummer play live and see them spinning sticks and throwing them in the air. All that is missing is the triple back flip over his kit and they are golden, however what happened to the song? Showmanship is not what impresses me, it is how the drummer plays the song. I almost wonder if some of these drummers listen to the tune then figure out where to spin their sticks. Screw learning the tune properly, I just want to look cool. right?
The way I look at it and everyone has their own opinion but if you cannot play the song properly, why bother trying to add show to it. That just shows that you spent more time learning how to spin sticks in parts of the song than actually learning the damn song. I seen this clip from Thomas Lang who said it perfectly. If you are adding show to your playing, it has to be fun and when you throw a stick or spin it, it has to be in time. That is really important. That way your actual playing does not suffer and you can look really cool while playing and keeping time. Thomas Lang stick trix video. I will be starting to make some of my own vids soon to show you some of what I have been talking about.
Anyway sorry for the short post. I will post more stuff soon.
Stay tuned or go phlat ........