Drum It With Brummet

Inner Dynamic Control One of the common questions my drum set students asks of me is: “ What can I do to be a better drummer ?” This is a big question to answer for sure because there are so many facets of being a “better” drummer.  The most important tool for becoming a better drummer is to hone your dynamics. Of course we all need to be able to play quiet or loud depending on what the song - or part of the song is requiring. As drummers we need to be aware of the different dynamics of each venue we play at (whether the room is loud and boomy, or tight and hushed). Drummers need to be aware of what I call “inner dynamics” that will be required for each of these different rooms.  For instance one of the venues my band Tantrum plays at regularly has a large, long, high ceiling with a good sized dance floor. There is a wonderful, natural resonance to the room and I can play pretty much unrestricted. I don’t mean loud and crazy, I just mean I don’t need to adjust, within my kit, ...

  Ballaké Sissoko and his playmates created a very special concert sharing world music in a beautiful and visually striking way. https://youtu.be/diA2MlFJggo    * 1 hour 20 minutes Check out the Kora player. notice the long strings... those ropes of hide braided for tuning.  The guitarist who joins about 20 min in adds this Kora-like playing to a unique guitar - note the double strings, and the wildly different strings, (per normal 6 strings)... making it a 12 string but obtaining different tones due to the sized strings.  ~~  Find us online via :  https://taplink.cc/brummet  ~~

  Western Canadian Music Alliance is an organization created by the Music Industry Associations (MIA’s) of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory. Its purpose is to promote and celebrate western Canadian music.  BreakOut West , the Western Canadian Music Awards , and the Western Canadian Music Industry Awards are the primary events, among their many projects.  Learn more @: https://breakoutwest.ca   ~~  Find us online via :  https://taplink.cc/brummet  ~~

Part 2 of 2:  If Drums Were Lost (con't from Dec 3rd):   For a time I was a very busy studio drummer in the Okanagan (BC, Canada) as well as playing with some of the top bands in the area at the time. I went through the trials of the road touring BC and Alberta (Canada) and definitely learned the “ paying your dues ” part of the business; there is an entire book to be written on that alone!  When my wife and I relocated to a smaller city there was not many openings for drummers. What few bands there were had some one already playing the drum kit. So I switched gears and played mostly auxiliary percussion (congas, bongos, timbales, etc) in bands. Also I was lured into a few local theatre productions, which incidentally, was a great way to hone my reading skills.  Now I have a perfect balance of playing in a weekend rock band, teaching both drum set privately and hand drums in groups. I also build and repair just about anything to do with drums and percussion and I hav...

Part 1 of 2:  If Drums Were Lost As  drum teacher I was asked recently by a student: "What would it be like if there were no drums?"  It took me a minute or two to come up with an answer that could possibly explain the loss of what I do for an income/hobby, and more importantly what it would mean to music. It is hard to imagine life with out the rhythm we hear in our popular music. No rock and roll, blues, funk, disco, reggae, jazz as we know it - as they all are rhythm based.  It is almost unthinkable what the world itself would be like if the drums were gone… First lets go back to an era where there was actually was an absence of drums in music. James Blades author of Percussive Instruments and Their History , wrote: “With the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire, percussive music was banned as “mischievous” and “licentious”; the drums and cymbals were particularly singled out as evidence of “the devil’s pomposity” .  As B.C. becomes A.D., drums were k...

When it comes to the nuts and bolts of a drum set and all the hardware that holds it in place, there is no substitute for good maintenance.  A poorly maintained kit will provide you many bad memories of scrambling to fix something either just before, or during an important performance you are playing in. Face it – any performance is important and it is good practice to not screw ANYTHING up, if possible.  When on stage you want everything to go smoothly so the audience remembers the music, the performance - not the time the drummer’s cowbell fell onto his snare mic during that delicate intro!   ~~  Find us online via :  https://taplink.cc/brummet  ~~

With the New Year approaching we have been discussing future plans for the Drum It With Brummet blog, and have come up with some fantastic projects - some of which Dave is proud to share with you below: What's To Come: Over the many years of teaching drums and percussion my students have asked many mechanical questions regarding this complicated instrument we play. As well as the playing aspect, there is so much to consider when you are out playing gigs on a regular basis. Whether it is a broken part or something gone missing, or worse -  stolen, there is always something you need to be prepared to fix in a pinch.  Having been in the music business for over 40 years, playing both live and studio gigs I happen to have gained quite a bit of trickery when it comes to on-the-spot fixes and customizing.  Part of my drum business, other than teaching, is repairing and customizing hardware as well as advising school bands and maintaining their instruments. I also manufactur...