What an inspiring night of dance and music. From mallets to drum kit, contemporary music to ragtime. Mallets and tom in the World Premiere of "Skyward" by Alysa Pires. We heard the music of Nico Muhly, Honstein, Dessner, and Lang.

In "Elite Syncopations" 40 minutes of Ragtime music, played at danceable tiempi instead of the usual frantic pace. 

I'm inspired. Off to hit the drum pads and my trusty xylophone. 

Concert attendance is one of the main ways I stay inspired as a musician and teacher. If your inspiration is lagging a little bit, buy a concert ticket and sit up close. It might be just the ticket. 

David

At aged 50 I took up the drums in a meaningful way. Back in high school I banged about in band class annoyingly and halfheartedly. The highlight of my high school drum career was playing bass drum in the pep band. BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Skip ahead...

I met Collin for our first drum class. He gets me going. I'm pumped. I thump out my old disco beat from 1977. Thirty seconds in I realize this is going to be more challenging than I thought. He was kind.

I believed that 35 years as a professional musician would make it easier. Nope. 

Twelve years later my quest for drumming mastery has taken me to New Orleans 2X, Louisville 5X, Poland 1X, Rome Italy 1X, and Toronto Canada. I've had the pleasure of studying with some of the most distinguished drum teachers available. Terry Clarke, Greg Hutchinson, Paul DeLong, Ali Jackson and many more who have encouraged me, inspired me, instructed me, criticized me and occasionally scolded me. It was thrilling.   

I now own too many drumsets, cymbals, snares drums, and drum books. I play in too many bands. There is no cure. 

If you would like some help starting your journey, call me. 

David

Yesterday pianist Jacqueline Leung and I played live online using Sonobus and Zoom. It worked very well. Sonobus has exceptionally low latency, Zoom gave us a visual, we hit record and presto success. 

What you need:

1. Sonobus installed. You will listen through this software
2. Zoom installed. You must mute the microphone, or all hell will break loose.
3. A set of good headphones to listen to, speakers will not work as they will feedback. 
4. Your computer wired to internet.
5. A small table to set the computer on. Be sure the computer is plugged in. nothing like going offline in the middle of a performance. 

You must be able to connect your computer through "the wire" no WIFI, too slow. 

Have fun, 

David
SonoBus
​#Junction percussion Teacher Toronto

Tomorrow is rock band rehearsal day. I'm on drum kit. Here is the process I follow to prepare, which you may find helpful.

1. I have a set list of the 10 tunes sent to me earlier.
2. I've made a play list of the tunes. I've listened enough times to have internalized the music in a general sense. 
3. I've written out the drum charts by ear and scored them.
4. I practice with to the tracks.
5. I've made a list of the tempos so that I can call them out tomorrow for the band. 
6. I studiously do my pad work with a metronome daily.
7. I will to bed early this evening. 
8. I've tuned the drums, they are ready to Rock! I'm packing a 4 piece Yamaha Club Custom set with 22'' bass drum and a set of Zildjian Custom A cymbals. 
9. I will stretch carefully today and tomorrow. Sixty-two year drummers need to warm-up carefully. 

​If I can help you get ready for your rock band practice, call me. 

​David

Boom wacka boom! After this damn pandemic is done, I'm looking forward to playing again in concert band. In anticipation, I'm getting ready. 

​David

Sign me up!

"I lit our kit with little lasers mounted underneath each drum with mic clamps. Looks amazing. And the lights bounce around when you play."
 
Awesome Dave!

A decade of playing the drums I've learned a thing or two about finding other musicians to play with. 

1st some prerequisites

1. Lose your shyness. The faint of heart never won the fair maiden.
   
2. Know your worth. If you're not quite sure where you sit in the drum pantheon, ask your teacher. They'll give you some honest assessment and a few ideas.
3. My ability to read music and follow a conductor from my activities as a pianist really helped me out.

Now let's go hunting.

1. I played for a year in private, in the practice studio before I ventured out into the world. 
   
2. First stop was the Burlington community concert band. This was a band that didn't require auditions, wink wink. I heard they needed another percussionist. I was prepared to play triangle. The night I arrived there was no drummer behind the drum set. So they ask me, "you play drums?" I said yes,  I sat in and sight read for the next two hours, they said you got the spot. Next week I was playing an outdoor concert bashing my way through Hawaii 50 TV theme.  I was terrified. But I made it through with my dignity more or less intact. I stayed for the next couple years. It was really really fun. I miss that bunch.
   
3. Up next I started a jazz band that met a few times a month in a community center in Oakville.  One of my adult jazz students played piano. The conductor of the Hamilton concert band played upright bass. My student, the pianist, was a guitar teacher, he invited one of his adults students to play guitar. We were a band. 
   
4. Along the way I joined the Hamilton concert band, which was another community band They did want to hear me before I joined. That was fun too. Then I moved to Toronto and started all over.

up next: Off to the big smoke

​David