To follow up yesterday’s post, here’s one of the best, most innovative ways to tune a snare drum. I know this is demonstrated on a drumset snare drum, but I wonder if you could apply this to a concert snare drum? Anyone want to try it out and let me know? Maybe I could a make a video. Let me know if you are interested.
If you are a drumset player, you must watch this video! The guys at Spectre Media Group show us what 14 snare drum heads sound like when they are put on the same snare drum with the exact same tuning. Even if you are a not a drumset player, this is really interesting to hear the difference snare drum heads. What’s your favorite snare drum head? Leave a comment and me know.
It has been a fun year and I appreciate everyone who has visited the site over the past year. Thank you for your continued support and here’s to more percussion education in the coming year. It would be great to hear from you. Please leave a comment below and say hi. Happy New Year! Here are the top 5 posts from 2015.
1) Jeff Porcaro plays Rosanna: One of my all time favorite drummers playing the classic groove to Rosanna. Even if you are not a drumset player, you will appreciate this amazing video.
2) Episode 026: Composing using the Rudiments: Over the past year, I have been writing some new snare drum pieces. I will be sharing these soon. I hope to see some of your pieces as well.
3) Why Do We Study Music?: A great justification of why we study music. Thank you TED Ed.
4) Vic Firth Marimba Literature Library: VicFirth.com is a destination website for a lot of percussion content. Go spend some time check out the site.
5) Fractalia by Owen Clayton Condon: Great piece by Owen Clayton Condon performer by the Third Coast Percussion Ensemble.
Every year, we are inundated with posts about the top “things” that happened in the past year. So I decided to post my 5 worst posts of the year in hopes you take some time to check these out. How did I decide what the worst posts were? Actually, I don’t think these are bad posts, but according to my site’s analytics, they were the worst performing posts. In the 1990s, NBC used to say “If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you.” So, I invite you to check them out and let me know what you think. Happy New Year and I look forward to a great 2016!
Episode 015: Double Stroke Rolls
Episode 013: The Ruff & Bounced Strokes
unBENt is the new solo for marimba and crotale by Chad Floyd. We have featured Chad’s music before on Percussion Education. This new piece is inspired by and dedicated to Ben Martin.
Written and performed by Chad Floyd on December 23, 2015. If you are interested in purchasing this piece, visit Chad’s website.
I hope everyone had a Happy Holidays. It was a crazy week in our house. My whole family caught a stomach virus and we were knocked out for 5 days prior to Christmas. (Reminder: Wash your hands a lot to avoid spreading germs). The worst is hopefully over and we can get back to celebrating and being with friends and family. Here are some reading materials for the end of the year.
Check out the podcast by Casey Cangelosi, Megan Arns, Laurel Black and Benjamin Charles. They do a weekly video interview with one special guest. It is definitely something to check out and binge watch.
Is your company the jerk at the party? by Zach Thomas
Here’s an Easy Way to Help Your Brain Learn Faster by Noa Kageyama, Ph. D.
I’m Marc Maron, and This Is How I Work by Andy Orin
I know, Star Wars is the talk of the web this week (and for that matter, the past 3 months). So, hopefully, this will be a welcome break from the Star Wars hype. Axel F, performed by Harold Faltermeyer, was the theme for the 1984 movie Beverly Hill Cops starring Eddie Murphy. (more…)
Jeff Porcaro was arguably one of the top professional drummers of the 80s and 90s and best known for his drumming with the band Toto. His iconic shuffle on Rosanna is one of his signature grooves. Here’s the audio of the drum track. I have also included a recording of the original tune. Classic! If you are interested in learning the groove, check out the numerous videos on YouTube.
Rosanna – Drums Only
Original Recording
Vic Firth has always been on the leading edge of percussion education content. Their website includes educational resources including rudiments, drumset grooves, DCI play alongs, and more. Recently, they released their Marimba Literature Library. The goal of the resource is to create high quality videos of the “top 100” marimba solos. There are currently 10 videos on the site. Thanks to the Vic Firth team for creating this incredible resource.
Where has the year gone? I can’t believe it is December and the holidays are upon us. As we get closer to the end of the year, I hope you can take sometime to reflect on the year. Think about your successes and failures. Or about your great concerts and not-so-good concerts. What were your favorite classes and new pieces you learned? All these things shape who you are and who you will become. Value these new friendships, experiences, and moments and learn what you can while you are still in school. Don’t take it for granted. I know you have heard this over and over again, but it is the truth. It is difficult to appreciate this when you are in school, but trust me, it only gets harder. Ok, I’ll get off my soap box. Check out my suggested readings and let me know if there are more articles I should add next week. (more…)
Skype Lessons with Dr. Gerhart