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Virgil Donati -  Stockholm 2007  A must see. Virgil is definitely one of the super drummers of our time. The levels that he has taken double bass drumming is absolutely amazing -  check out the double stroke rolls with his feet!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n--nDc_mb1Y ~~   Find us online via :  https://taplink.cc/brummet  ~~
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Racks and stands and Clamps – oh my!

Racks and stands and Clamps – oh my! Racks and stands – that vital part of a drum set or percussion rig that keeps it all together and in the right place but often gets neglected when it comes to maintaining and repairing. Threads will get stripped or tight when full of dusty road grime and it is easy to extend their life with simple, regular maintenance. Avoid over tightening of any wingnut or clamp and consider memory locks for the hardware taking considerable stress due to weight or heavy hitting. An future article will discuss memory locks in more detail.  My personal routine includes cleaning and oiling ANY threads with out fail when its time for a cleaning. The regularity will depend on how dirty your instrument gets. Also the roll/split pins that attach cymbal boom arms together will loosen over time and cause a wobble to the arm. Tap them out with a small punch and replace with sufficiently tight roll pins. When it comes to my rack I check and replace any damaged rubber gaskets

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Tuba Skinny   This Dixi-land New Orleans blues vibe band is so fascinating to watch.  Check out the sousaphone or marching tuba player, who kept the flow even though he was obviously blinded by the stage lights.  The amazing, and entertaining, washboard player with a twist -   a fry pan, coffee can and an old cymbal.  The trumpet player is absolutely fantastic, as is that clarinet player - what a character !  Each playing a talented array of sounds in a a syncopated fashion, yet coming together in this amazing end product.  https://youtu.be/861jOEqVr4Q ~~   Find us online via :  https://taplink.cc/brummet  ~~

Bass Drum Levelling

  Bass Drum Levelling Proper levelling of your drum kit’s bass drum can save your expensive investment from certain damage. When I first starting playing drums I had no idea there was a certain way to set up your bass drum to “level” it properly. I just clamped the kick pedal on and played away not knowing that I was potentially stressing the edge of the hoop and the drum itself by not having properly levelled the bass drum to the floor. When the pedal is clamped onto the back (batter) side of your bass drum it lifts the drum off the floor by around an inch or so. If the same isn’t done to the front of the bass drum it will not be level to the floor and in turn will cause the pedal itself to rise up at the heel end. It will not sit flat until you put weight on it and start playing (careful!) and this is when the dangerous torqueing of the drum and hoop takes place. Something to most definitely avoid. To properly level the bass drum my method is as follows: Once the drum is in place and

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Today we will be sharing a great resource for learning to play better drum solos produced by Keith Carlock. This is Dave's favourite video when he is trying to create a solo. Note at 8.33 minutes his ideas of switching from 6/8 to 12/8 to 3/4. Very special indeed.  https://youtu.be/FtWgZaZ8ElA ~~   Find us online via :  https://taplink.cc/brummet  ~~

Studio tips for percussion

  With the home studio being the most likely place where you are going to be recording your own projects and demos, here are some things I have learned to keep in mind when recording percussion. I developed a vital technique from studio work regarding recording shaker and tambourine tracks. Our first instinct is to stand in front of a microphone facing it (like a vocalist) and playing away as normal. Not such a good idea with what I call the swinging instruments like shakers and tambourines. When you face the mic head-on, any back swing of a shaker carries it further away from the microphone making it notably quieter then the forward swings, resulting in an un-natural feel.  Now if you take a step to the side of the mic swinging the instrument “across”  the path of the microphone you get a much more balanced, musical sound. Additionally,  you can visually determine if you are 4 or 12 inches away from the mic and consistently retain that distance. In the case of a tambourine you need to

Never Give Up On Your Dreams

 Never Give Up On Your Dreams * Lillian met Rosalind Winton online & invited her to drop in to share some of her experiences in producing her album, Another Direction . She invites you to visit her on Facebook as well ( facebook.com/rosalind.winton ). :) My name is Rosalind Winton and I’m a poet and song lyricist. I’ve been writing all my life.  In November 2023, my dream of writing lyrics for an album came true. It’s called ANOTHER DIRECTION. It took three years to complete and was a colossal task, but finally releasing it was an amazing feeling. I get asked a lot. “ What comes first, the lyric, or the music ?” My very short answer is “ both ”.  For the album, five of the twelve songs were ideas and melodies that my collaborator, A.J. Clarke gave me. I then wrote lyrics appropriate to the titles he gave me and fit them in to his melodies. Another six were lyrics I already had that A.J. put music to. One of them we wrote together at the same time. Some of the music and all the voc