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Here's a list of what I think are fantastic things, and
other stuff that has made this website possible, or enhanced
my musical experience.
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Here's a list of what I think are fantastic things, and
other stuff that has made this website possible, or enhanced
my musical experience. Mac
OS X: A
fantastic operating system that blends the
user-friendliness of the Mac OS with the
versatility of NeXTSTEP... at least that's how it
began. Now it stands as the most sophisticated OS
in the world. iLove this product. Claris Homepage
3.0: A WYSIWYG webpage designer for the Mac OS (not
X). It's ten years old, but it's still the most
easy-to-use visual webpage editor out there for the
price (free?). I used it to design the template for
this site; however, it does require launching
"Classic" to do anything, so I do most of my html
with the fantastic text editor BBEdit
Lite 6.1
from BareBones. Finale
2005: A
powerful piece of notation/playback software. To do
professional music notation, Finale and Sibelius
are the most versatile programs. From what I've
read, they're pretty much equal, but Finale is the
one that has done a lot of stuff to piss me off, so
I won't sing its praises; however, I have to give
it credit as the notation software that I
use. Double
Beat 2004:
Downloadable sheet music from TapSpace! This is a
great exercise for doublestrokes. Playing it
requires a fair amount of chops, endurance, and
concentration, but it's long and it's fun (that's
what she said). Play it along to different speeds
of music to really feel what sort of things you
have to do with the arms, fingers, and wrists to
get good doubles at various tempi. Fresh
Perspectives for the Modern
Drumline:
This book has a lot of classic SCV exercises (as
well as show music); granted, the versions here are
a bit older than what you see on YouTube and
VicFirth, but if the differences bother you, just
learn what to correct by looking at a video.
Thirteen, Stick Control, Flamus Nondragginus,
Cheezy Poofs, and Zappa Diddles are all great on so
many levels. Text accompanies each exercise to give
a brief history, a rationale, or specific
instructions for the piece. The
Blue Devil Book of
Drumming:
There's some nice stuff in here too. I haven't
tried to play through everything in here, but some
of the most beneficial exercises are Singles '96,
Triplet Partial, Aunt Grace, and Uno Mas. This book
appeals to the play-as-many-notes-as-you-can side
of me with exercises like "Thirteenth Hour,"
"Ditty," and "Shopping Spree '97." Those sorts of
things won't really make you better though, except
for how much rudiment repetition it takes to make
something like that sound good. Overall,
this book doesn't really push your mental chops,
but it's fun for the hands. Green
Beats: I
got this one from the TapSpace booth at WGI World
Championships and recently started cracking into
it. It contains exercises and musical excerpts from
the 2006 Cavaliers.
"Latin Lover (excerpt)" scratches the surface of
hand-to-hand independence, while "Schleights"
combines a lot of fundamentals into one handy
package. "Stick Control" is also quite a doozy,
considering it's just a legatos exercise. It's been
quite a trip learning this stuff. Parking
Lot Etudes... Psychogenic Discourse for the
Flam-drag Fighter
Pilot: Just
looking at the title, this book might seem
difficult, and it is. It's got the two cadences
"Electric Wheelchair" and "It's in 4" as well as
three 60-second warmups that'll fry your brain as
much as your hands: "Fat Mama Dancin'" "Poof!" and
"Martian Mambo." Not for the faint of
heart! The Remo Putty Pad:
A clever product... it's pretty much silly putty,
but it's enough silly putty to spread over a solid
surface and start hitting with sticks. Be warned!
If this stuff touches a VicFirth drumpad, it'll
stick to it the way it sticks to itself... not a
good day in band class.
"Matt, what are you doing?"
"My putty pad stuck to my regular pad, and I can't
get it off."
The
Scott Johnson Practice
Stick: The latest
advancement in practice-anywhere technology, for 10
- 15 bucks. These babies are nice and quiet, and
won't damage the surface you're playing on. On a
good day, I could sit in the back of the chemistry
lab and play on the floor without being
heard.