If you are looking for a drum catalogue, look no further. The Internet Drum Archive exists to provide a source of reference material for vintage and collectable drums and percussion throughout the world. The are other sources of historical percussion information on the internet (check out the Deagan Resource) but this is the most comprehensive collection of catalogues that I have ever seen. If you have any catalogues you want to contribute, please make sure to contact DrumArchive.com.
If you have other resources, please make sure to leave a comment below. Thanks to Tom Blomquist for sharing this resource with me.
Inside out Steelband Concert on April 21, 2015 in Austin, TX. With guest Artist Khan Cordice. Thanks to CJ Menge, Matt Ehlers and Amy Suggs for doing such a great job on my composition.
It has been three weeks since my last “Weekly Reads” post. It has been a busy three weeks of traveling and getting ready for PASIC and I apologize for not writing sooner. What have you been up to in the last three weeks? What are you practicing? Leave a comment below and let me know. Have a great Halloween and be safe! Here are some articles to check out. Enjoy. (more…)
Kettle Brew by Alex Shapiro and David Jarvis (2015)
From YouTube: It all started near midnight in a 2-star hotel lobby bar on the outskirts of recession-hit Reno, Nevada. David and Alex sipped their scotch from plastic cups because the locals had a penchant for stealing the barware. Surrounded by band musicians on the final night of a regional CBDNA conference in March 2012, their scheming about a new piece for timpani began at that table with the chipped brown Formica and cigarette burns, continued over emails that summer when Dave was in Oahu, and congealed into notes on the page when he stopped by San Juan Island, WA. on his return home, to work with Alex at her studio.
“How about an electroacoustic piece?”
“Wonderful, Alex.”
“Let’s add some other percussion for color.”
“Great, Dave.”
“Two words: funk timpani.”
“Oh, yeah, Alex!”
As Bald Eagles flew by the window, Alex inputted Dave’s hand-written timpani riffs as fast as he could pass them to her from the sofa while not spilling his beer. Once Dave went home to Pullman, WA, Alex got busy creating a prerecorded track unlike any other for kettledrums and percussion. When it was largely in place she emailed the audio track and score to Dave, who proceeded to add what seemed like thousands more percussion notes to the fast sections because, well, he knew he could play ’em.
KETTLE BREW represents the best aspects of composer and composer/performer collaboration, and proves what percussionists have always known: two heads can be even better than one.
If you are a fan of Temazcal by Javier Alvarez you will love this video. All of the musicians are killer, but make sure to check out the maracas player at 3:16. Thanks to Jonathan Ovalle for sharing this video on Facebook.
I had a fun week in Texas. I got to visit Lone Star Percussion (the place I bought my first set of crash cymbals), do some dealer trainings, attend two Friday night high school football games, and wrap it up at the Texas/TCU game. I hope you had a great week. Here are some of the things I have been reading on the plane. Enjoy! (more…)
I remember seeing Dennis Chambers play live at the 1990 Zildjian Days at USC. I was blown away by his feel and groove. Even after 25 years, he is still grooving! In this video, legendary drummer Dennis Chambers performs “Low Blow” by Leni Stern (1993) on a 4-piece Reference Pure Series kit in a Black Cherry finish.
Garage Drummer (2005) by James Campbell performed by Ryan M. Smith for the 2015 GA Governor’s Honors Program Faculty Recital, June 25th, Whitehead Auditorium, Valdosta State University.
