Oh and you asked how they differ from the Roland....well it's like day and night! The heads are less bouncy and I find I can travel around the kit much faster. Mind you I just got them yesterday and I've only played on them for a couple of hours last night, but I found I didn't have to make such an effort playing them, the sizes of toms are bigger so I have a bigger target to hit!!! LOL
The bass head is a custom head I had made in Germany and the drum builder put it on for me, I think it gives it a nice look. I will try and take better pics of the sticks for you so you can see what I mean about being notched out. They are also covered(the yellow you see) with some kind of rubber, I find it causes blisters on my fingers so that's why I wear gloves.
Hey Jessica,
Thanks for the comment on my new kit, I absolutely love it and it was well worth the wait! I had just put the kit together when I took these pics, so it wasn't completely set up and I have to tidy up the spagetti looking cables! LOL
As for using it as an acoustic kit the answer is yes and no! LOL If you take out the internals and put different heads on it I am pretty sure you can use it as an acoustic kit, but I am not sure how they would sound, although they are six ply birch shells.
The sticks are zildjian anti vibe sticks, they actually come like that, I love them but they are soft and I am finding with my new acoustic cymbals they are getting beat up. I buy them by the case off of ebay. I like them because they are notched out and I find I don't throw the sticks at the dogs as much!!!! LOL
Yes, I learned my latest drum cover by ear. I also watched a cover of it on YouTube to help me figure out a couple parts I wasn't sure on. Thanks for watching! :)
It's been a while since I've posted on here, but I don't remember this comment wall limiting my e-mails before (and I would know!!) I'll probably send more messages today via regular e-mail - get out your reading glasses. I'm in a talking mood!
Cindi
Back again - tonight is our first meeting about the blues jam. I sent one final message to remind everyone that tonight is not a jam, only a chance to meet up and have some input in what we want to do, but we have 21 "yes"s and 12 "maybe"s for people planning to show up. I'll faint if they all come. I suspect we'll have a few change their minds when they realize the jam is not tonight - some people can't read e-mails too well. After talking with Karl of Streetwise again I believe my part in organization will not have to be very involved. I think he just wanted someone to be a figurehead - ooo I feel like the Queen of England!
Jessica,
Snowed out of your gig - wow! Somehow when I've thought of gigs, snow has never come into the equation! And I see from Annette below that Illinois is threatening some of the same soon. There's a rumour of a little snow in Charlotte tomorrow but I think if it comes it'll be just little pfft pffts in the middle of dreary rain. Asheville should get some snow, but they're in the mountains so that's not surprising. We tend to get one, maybe two snows that you can see a year, but then again I probably already have my fill of snow from growning up outside Chicago. (computer acting up - won't leave me scroll down - back in a minute)
Hey Jessica, Good to hear from you!! I've just been so busy with kids, house and trying to get everything in before the snow hits. Actually gettin some flurries as I type but its mixed with rain (Whew! don't want any accumulation yet). Drummin has been good, still workin on Styxs' Mr. Roboto, I think its sounding pretty good. Had my drum lesson tonight and we just kinda went over a couple parts I wasn't sure about. My kids have heard the song so many times they sing along with it when we're driving in the van (cracks me up)!!!! Did a little checking on another drum teacher but not sure I want to switch yet. I figure once my teacher figures out what he wants to be when he grows up he'll probably quit teachin but I may be wrong. He told me he wants to get another band together (he is already in one) and play 80's music. I don't think he gave 80's music much thought until I came along. I even made him a cd and he says he plays it all the time. Went to a drum clinic in Champaign, Illinois and saw a guy named Akira Jimbo he was amazing, said he got a late start and starting drumming at the ripe old age of 18 Ha! Cracks me up when these people say they got a late start in their teens or 20's. Oh well, you know I'm havin a ball playin and I'm impressing my family and friends (they're easily impressed though). Better go its gettin late, went christmas shopping after my lesson so need to go see what damage was done while I was gone. Talk to ya soon, Annette Keep up the good drummin, you are doing great! I need to watch your latest videos when I get a chance.
Thanks for the props....I am no longer with WJ and am subbing with the other band in those videos. I like playing lot's of styles of music and continue to play with many musicians here in the DC area. Best wishes to you and your drumming and keep in touch!
At 10:19pm on November 22, 2009, Tracy Graham said…
Hi Jessica, Thanks for the comment, that is probably one of my fastest songs to play! Talk to ya again sometime, Tracy
At 10:53pm on November 19, 2009, Tracy Graham said…
Hey there Jessica, glad you enjoyed that video. The guy in it isn't my husband, he's a good friend of ours and he's the one with the you tube site. He sometimes plays his bongos along with me while I play guitar. I've played guitar for several years and do still enjoy it, but since I took up the drums my guitar playing has kinda been neglected and I was afraid that would happen, but I do still try to play at least a few times a week. But for right now I prefer my drums but guitar is right there behind! How's the drumming? With me not too bad, I've been learning a couple new songs and trying to come up with stuff to play along with that play along cd I got. Well, I'll let ya go have a good one, Tracy
Hi Jessica, Thanks for the friend invite! I've wondered what those hot rod sticks would be like, I almost ordered a pair from Musician's Friend, but I got a pair of Hornets instead, seems they have a good rebound! Well, I better get downstairs and drum, I usually like to play my drums right when I get home from work, great way to unwind from the workday, but today my husband and I raked and burned all our leaves when I got home so I'm anxious to get down there and play! Talk to ya later, Tracy
I have to stop looking for words of wisdom in drum workshops. The workshop was kind of neat watching him play, but most of the audience was young kids. I.e. - at question time he got questions like "what's your favorite song?" "What's your favorite rudiment?" It was actually kind of cute. But I think in the future I'm just going to concentrate on how someone physically plays and how I might take some of that for my own instead of waiting for him to say something inspiring.
Someone posted on Craig's List about starting a blues jam in Charlotte. So I signed on to their page. Apparently it just came into being today, because the 6 other people who have signed up did it today also. They have a place to jam at Streetwise Music, which will be good. So far I'm the only other drummer, but I'm sure that won't last for long. They will announce the first jam soon. It might be fun to get in on the beginning of it. Maybe then I'd be less nervous. We'll see. As with everything, I can always chicken out, but I hope that I won't. I'd like the experience of what you do - just jumping in and playing whatever they play. I'm sure that will be good for the learning curve - not planning things out ahead of time.
Just stopping to say hi before I dash off to Sam Ash. I found out just at the last minute that they're having Danny Seraphine (formerly of Chicago) do a workship tonight so I'm off to see if I can fall under some drumming dust of another pro. I'll let you know if I hear anything I can pass on.
Cindi
Jessica,
Well, another good thought bites the dust. John had told me about a program called Transkriber that he uses to figure out the bass line for songs. I checked it out at his house, but it doesn't do much for drums. It can slow it down by a third, but any further and the beats kind of split. That's really all that particular program could do for the drums - just slow them down a little. It's apparently good for bass though.
Pat tried to sing one of the songs as we played it tonight. Not so pretty. I think he could probably do a bit of back up, but lead singer is not his thing. I really admired that he gave it a shot though. I'm going to ask Angi if she would let us record her voice to the 3 songs we're working on that need a female vocalist. It's hard to could measures and know when to make changeovers in the music. It helps if you've got the words to work around. Don't know if she'll do it or not. We figured she could have the music in a headphone and we would record her singing so that would be the only thing on the cd and we could play the music around it. It's a few songs that she's either sung before or at least worked on at one time. Cross your fingers.
Some of our other songs are coming together nicely. I'm trying to make sure that I don't use drum notation the whole time and just use notes to get gist of the parts. I have notation to Red House (Hendrix) but when I used it today, Pat when a little overboard on the solo and I was thrown and treading water. Everybody still likes everybody else's playing so far so that's good.
Hope you're feeling better and getting some practice in. Will you have to play with that other guy since you didn't go to the last one at the coffee house or is he just not going to play with you all as previously planned?
Hi Jessica, How ya been these days? How's the drumming going? What have you been working on lately? I did order a drum dial and got it last week and it is pretty easy to use, I did find that after you go around the lugs once that sometimes you have go back and check them a few times, but what I really like about it is you know all the lugs are tuned the same! I tuned my snare and my toms and surprisingly they weren't off too much, but I haven't used it on my bass yet. I also got a cd called Turn it up and Lay it down that I have been working on, have you heard of it? There is just bass and guitar and you add the drum parts, it's fun, you can do your own thing! Well, take care and let me know how your drumming has been going lately. Tracy
Jessica,
We're halfway through the week (by about 10 minutes) Had my lesson last night and commented that the groove he gave me to Born Under a Bad Sign did not work for me. That I couldn't fit it into the music to make any sense. That's when he told me that he'd actually used a different version of the song. He said that version was too jazzy and improvised and you could make that beat work, but it was tricky to do. At least I know I'm not totally useless at it! I'll have to get on you tube and see what version he may have used and suggest that. I'm sure it must get frustrating for the experienced guitar guys, but ya know what? I'm still relatively new at this so they'll just have to do the new version or we drop this one for now. I guess the problem with trying to play these really cool songs is that they have really cool drummers with bags of experience and tricks they can do. Well, we will get there eventually (or closer, anyway).
I think I'm getting a second wind - a little more enthusiasm for the learning and practicing and less worry about what I still lack. "If you build it, they will come" or in this case - if you practice, the skills will come. Had a bad few days there where I was wondering if I shouldn't find another instrument - something more mellow and classical that could put out a melody.
Was downloading music from my computer to a flash drive (and I hope I haven't already told you this - I forget sometimes) putting a lot of the old band stuff on the flash drive so I could free up space. Came across one of the earlier impromptu pieces of music we did called "Greensleeves". I think I probably commented on it to you at the time. Johnny was playing with the song "Greensleeves" and was using the chords for it and we went off on a 5 minute piece that had nothing in common with the original. But listening to it again brought tears to my eyes (and it wasn't due to my drumming - which was pretty sub par on it back then!). You know, you can listen to music all day and say "I like this. I don't like that." But every so often you hear a piece that just holds you motionless it's so perfect. I remember feeling "inside the music" when we played it. I don't think he could ever play it again just like that - it was one of those free form in the moment creations. And I think that particular thing is what I miss about not being in that band. I don't think everyone has that genius he does with creating emotion and although I love playing even without that, and my new band is great, I don't think (I may be wrong) that any of them have that quality. It's not like that kind of stuff came up all the time, but now I will never be there when it happens again. And that makes me sad.
However, that was probably what made me want to find another instrument. But you know what? Chances are that I would not be a genius on another instrument. I think my part is being there to structure the music and add flavor and interest (eventually) and make it possible for the other musicians to showcase their talent. I'll take that. I mean, I'd love to be the musical genius myself, but if that's not in the cards, I just want to be there when it happens. Hopefully someone in the group will come up with that spark or someone we add to the group. Or I may just do my learning in this group before I can get into a situation like that again.
Wow - getting a little philosophical in the afternoon. I'm carpooling today and stuck in work for my lunch break.
Just a thought about Dan. Sometimes the picky, critical people are the ones who make us work harder at what we do to make it more perfect, so keep that in mind when you have to work with him. (not always, but sometimes)
Hey there Jessica, How are ya? Thanks for the kind words for Jasmine. I'm an animal lover too, always had dogs and cats growing up. lots of chihuahuas. Had three at one time, love them!! I love how they don't know their size, our chihuahuas chased big dogs down the alley when we lived in Chicago all the time, cracks me up thinking about it. My husband always yells at me when I swerve not to hit a squirrel or something, he says don't wreck trying to avoid a squirrel but I can't help it. Drummin has slacked up some but tryin to get some practice in, startin to get cold here so hope to get more practice in. You know it is neat to see the different music people pick out to play with. I remember when I told you I was learnin Wild Thing by Tone Loc and you were like you go girl, that cracked me up. Going to see a band at our bowling alley next Saturday, lookin forward to it, haven't seen a live band in a while. They're called Decade Late, I've heard them before and thought they were pretty good. I loved what cindi said about that guy using his floor tom to hold his ashtray and beer, that was hilarious, I can just picture that. Are you still playing at the coffee house or have you guys ventured out to other places yet? Better get off here, glad you wrote, I've been meaning to drop ya a line but like you have heard been kinda crazy here. Take Care Jessica, Annette
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Lisa
Thanks for the comment on my new kit, I absolutely love it and it was well worth the wait! I had just put the kit together when I took these pics, so it wasn't completely set up and I have to tidy up the spagetti looking cables! LOL
As for using it as an acoustic kit the answer is yes and no! LOL If you take out the internals and put different heads on it I am pretty sure you can use it as an acoustic kit, but I am not sure how they would sound, although they are six ply birch shells.
The sticks are zildjian anti vibe sticks, they actually come like that, I love them but they are soft and I am finding with my new acoustic cymbals they are getting beat up. I buy them by the case off of ebay. I like them because they are notched out and I find I don't throw the sticks at the dogs as much!!!! LOL
Cindi
Snowed out of your gig - wow! Somehow when I've thought of gigs, snow has never come into the equation! And I see from Annette below that Illinois is threatening some of the same soon. There's a rumour of a little snow in Charlotte tomorrow but I think if it comes it'll be just little pfft pffts in the middle of dreary rain. Asheville should get some snow, but they're in the mountains so that's not surprising. We tend to get one, maybe two snows that you can see a year, but then again I probably already have my fill of snow from growning up outside Chicago. (computer acting up - won't leave me scroll down - back in a minute)
Well,
Thanks for the props....I am no longer with WJ and am subbing with the other band in those videos. I like playing lot's of styles of music and continue to play with many musicians here in the DC area. Best wishes to you and your drumming and keep in touch!
I have to stop looking for words of wisdom in drum workshops. The workshop was kind of neat watching him play, but most of the audience was young kids. I.e. - at question time he got questions like "what's your favorite song?" "What's your favorite rudiment?" It was actually kind of cute. But I think in the future I'm just going to concentrate on how someone physically plays and how I might take some of that for my own instead of waiting for him to say something inspiring.
Someone posted on Craig's List about starting a blues jam in Charlotte. So I signed on to their page. Apparently it just came into being today, because the 6 other people who have signed up did it today also. They have a place to jam at Streetwise Music, which will be good. So far I'm the only other drummer, but I'm sure that won't last for long. They will announce the first jam soon. It might be fun to get in on the beginning of it. Maybe then I'd be less nervous. We'll see. As with everything, I can always chicken out, but I hope that I won't. I'd like the experience of what you do - just jumping in and playing whatever they play. I'm sure that will be good for the learning curve - not planning things out ahead of time.
Hope this week is good for you.
Cindi
Cindi
Well, another good thought bites the dust. John had told me about a program called Transkriber that he uses to figure out the bass line for songs. I checked it out at his house, but it doesn't do much for drums. It can slow it down by a third, but any further and the beats kind of split. That's really all that particular program could do for the drums - just slow them down a little. It's apparently good for bass though.
Pat tried to sing one of the songs as we played it tonight. Not so pretty. I think he could probably do a bit of back up, but lead singer is not his thing. I really admired that he gave it a shot though. I'm going to ask Angi if she would let us record her voice to the 3 songs we're working on that need a female vocalist. It's hard to could measures and know when to make changeovers in the music. It helps if you've got the words to work around. Don't know if she'll do it or not. We figured she could have the music in a headphone and we would record her singing so that would be the only thing on the cd and we could play the music around it. It's a few songs that she's either sung before or at least worked on at one time. Cross your fingers.
Some of our other songs are coming together nicely. I'm trying to make sure that I don't use drum notation the whole time and just use notes to get gist of the parts. I have notation to Red House (Hendrix) but when I used it today, Pat when a little overboard on the solo and I was thrown and treading water. Everybody still likes everybody else's playing so far so that's good.
Hope you're feeling better and getting some practice in. Will you have to play with that other guy since you didn't go to the last one at the coffee house or is he just not going to play with you all as previously planned?
Take care.
Hope you have a wonderful week.
Cindi H.
We're halfway through the week (by about 10 minutes) Had my lesson last night and commented that the groove he gave me to Born Under a Bad Sign did not work for me. That I couldn't fit it into the music to make any sense. That's when he told me that he'd actually used a different version of the song. He said that version was too jazzy and improvised and you could make that beat work, but it was tricky to do. At least I know I'm not totally useless at it! I'll have to get on you tube and see what version he may have used and suggest that. I'm sure it must get frustrating for the experienced guitar guys, but ya know what? I'm still relatively new at this so they'll just have to do the new version or we drop this one for now. I guess the problem with trying to play these really cool songs is that they have really cool drummers with bags of experience and tricks they can do. Well, we will get there eventually (or closer, anyway).
I think I'm getting a second wind - a little more enthusiasm for the learning and practicing and less worry about what I still lack. "If you build it, they will come" or in this case - if you practice, the skills will come. Had a bad few days there where I was wondering if I shouldn't find another instrument - something more mellow and classical that could put out a melody.
Was downloading music from my computer to a flash drive (and I hope I haven't already told you this - I forget sometimes) putting a lot of the old band stuff on the flash drive so I could free up space. Came across one of the earlier impromptu pieces of music we did called "Greensleeves". I think I probably commented on it to you at the time. Johnny was playing with the song "Greensleeves" and was using the chords for it and we went off on a 5 minute piece that had nothing in common with the original. But listening to it again brought tears to my eyes (and it wasn't due to my drumming - which was pretty sub par on it back then!). You know, you can listen to music all day and say "I like this. I don't like that." But every so often you hear a piece that just holds you motionless it's so perfect. I remember feeling "inside the music" when we played it. I don't think he could ever play it again just like that - it was one of those free form in the moment creations. And I think that particular thing is what I miss about not being in that band. I don't think everyone has that genius he does with creating emotion and although I love playing even without that, and my new band is great, I don't think (I may be wrong) that any of them have that quality. It's not like that kind of stuff came up all the time, but now I will never be there when it happens again. And that makes me sad.
However, that was probably what made me want to find another instrument. But you know what? Chances are that I would not be a genius on another instrument. I think my part is being there to structure the music and add flavor and interest (eventually) and make it possible for the other musicians to showcase their talent. I'll take that. I mean, I'd love to be the musical genius myself, but if that's not in the cards, I just want to be there when it happens. Hopefully someone in the group will come up with that spark or someone we add to the group. Or I may just do my learning in this group before I can get into a situation like that again.
Wow - getting a little philosophical in the afternoon. I'm carpooling today and stuck in work for my lunch break.
Just a thought about Dan. Sometimes the picky, critical people are the ones who make us work harder at what we do to make it more perfect, so keep that in mind when you have to work with him. (not always, but sometimes)
Keep drumming
Cindi
Tks for that, I feel great with your comment!
LOL
=D
Kisses,
Lou
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