Change of Scenery

I have been using the same sticks for as long as I can remember. Vater Manhattan 7a. I liked the thinner shaft, maybe because my hands are relatively small.

Recently I have been getting together with another drummer who toured with a few performers back in the 70's, and although he gave up the throne and sticks for about 20 years, he still plays with smooth chops and a great feel. During our get-togethers I like to try to learn what I can from him, things like stick grip, patterns that I can work on and albums I should listen to. I take my own sticks, which have been the Vaters, but one day we swapped sticks. He immediately stated that my Vater's were heavy and he didn't like the balance. I found that his maple sticks were in fact lighter and responded differently than mine. I actually liked how they handled.
 BINGO! A revelation! The sticks I have been using for years weren't the best fit for me. With that poke-in-the-eye, I decided to hit a music store and buy a few different models to test drive.

Above are the four I picked out and at the next practice I tried and evaluated them all.

I started with the Zildjian Heavy 6A. They are laminated birch and have a short taper making them fairly heavy for their size. I found that my wrist and finger muscles tired quickly due to the weight, as I am not used to that, but I actually found that the follow through when hitting crash cymbals easier. It may have taken a little more effort to start the motion, but inertia carried the stick through the cymbal. That feeling of extra power caught my attention.

Next, the sexy palm sisters cupped the pair of Vic Firth American Classic eSticks. Magic! Although these sticks were designed for Electronic drumkits, I found the weight and response to be just right for me. They have a longer taper with a small barrel tip and are made of hickory. Rolls and paradiddles seemed to require less effort, rimshots had nice depth without the cochlea irritation I suffer from heavier sticks and there was still enough weight to make a cymbal crash fill the room.

Once my infatuation with the Vic Firth pair waned a bit, I picked up the pair of ProMark's 'The Natural' 5A sticks. I liked the rough, raw wood feel because they didn't have the slick touch of the varnished pairs, but they are a little shorter and did not have all of the strong aspects of the previous two pairs of sticks. Still, I enjoyed having them in my hands for a few songs, but I am just not sure why. They were a little lighter than the Zildjian but still heavier than the Vic Firth in the hand but the balance leaned toward the teardrop shaped tip. The ride cymbal is where they felt and sounded most pleasing. A firm but controlled touch on the bell provided a distinct sound on my Sabian Medium Heavy 20" ride.

Last up were the Regal Tip 5A drumsticks. These are thicker but not any heavier than the ProMark pair. For me, the diameter was a little too big and bulky, though the balance was nicely placed and rimshots sounded thick and deep. I felt a little awkward and fumbly playing the ride or hi-hats with a quick swing or shuffle pattern and therefore put them back in the stick holder.

Going back to the Vic Firth pair confirmed my earlier evaluation which is why I will be switching my allegiance to the American Classics. Now I'm off to the store to pickup a few more pairs because I'll be wearing these out regularly.

As I write this, the band sits at #40 on the Reverbnation Rock chart for All of Canada and I am proud albeit bewildered that we have so many great fans who enjoy our music. If you haven't already, go to http://reverbnation.com/shootthemoonband and play a tune. I think you'll like us.

Death Grip

I was told that when a canine has you in a death grip, you should stick your finger in its ass. The dog will immediately loosen its grip and submit. That's what I heard and I'm not sure if I believe it, but I don't ever want to find myself in a situation where I need to penetrate an anus to save my life.
This profound wisdom was bestowed upon me at the last band practice.

At this same jam session, while playing through one of our new original songs, I started to play the high-hat and foot trigger at the same time - with the same foot. The foot trigger was set to a tambourine sample and sounded good on the off beat during a reggae-style groove in the chorus. This was new for me, something I have never attempted or even had the idea of attempting before. I think it developed from some off-kit practicing I have been doing when I have some time to kill and not near a drumkit.  Earlier in the day I was filling the cow water tub and since it takes 15 or 20 minutes to top up, I sat down on a rock and worked on my foot technique. 

The exercises I use are from Steve Smith's Drumset Technique DVD in which he describes using three different motions to play the foot pedals.  Toe, foot and ankle. Start with the heel up off the pedal and push the ball of your foot down, then use your leg in an up/down motion and use your whole foot to play the pedal. Thirdly, place your heel on the pedal and push your toes down. Steve says to do six of each repetitively and become smooth in the transition from one to the other. For a better understanding I would suggest purchasing this if you haven't already.

And there I was sitting on the small boulder watching the water while both feet were doing 'toe, toe, toe; leg, leg, leg; ankle, ankle, ankle'. The rubber boots I was wearing provided some resistance and helped with ankle strength so I would highly recommend wearing them. That went on for about a minute when I noticed the Bull trying to nurse one of the cows - a no-no. So I grabbed a few small rocks an practiced my fastball. (Maybe I should have stuck a digit in his behind)

Playing the High-hat and foot trigger with one foot started by using my leg to come down on the hat with my toe and the trigger with my heel. But I couldn't keep sticking the high-hat because it was open half the time. As we continued to go through the song, I found I could play the trigger with my heel while keeping the high-hat closed with my toe. And with a little more practice I could open the high-hat for necessary effect and keep the heel hitting the trigger on the off beats with the guitar. This goes to show that practice helps and it doesn't have to be at the kit.

Band News:
Lance and Woody have been recording Podcast sessions and we will be making them available online in the near future. Watch for them at http://reverbnation.com/shootthemoonband.

Weekend Wisdom

 My neighbour was sitting on his back porch the other day when I visited. I sat down with him and he and I enjoyed the view over his beautiful flower gardens and old pasture fields beyond. I mentioned that I had started a bon-fire in my driveway - between the barn and the metal shelter. He leaned forward in his chair, looked at me and said that was just the greatest place to relax and have a fire at our farm. The fire pit was perfectly in the middle of our family of animal pens and homestead. I thought about that for only a few seconds and realized how accurate he was - give or take. 

 When sitting around the fire, the Barn is due south housing goats and sheep, east of that are the bucklings, ram lambs and ewe lambs that we have kept to date. The quonset is due north with stored bales of hay and our second and third year does. North-east is our house and to the north of that is the pen of our newest doelings. South-east are more doelings that we are weaning. Straight east you'll find the Irish Dexter cattle roaming our fields. So virtually centered in our group of animals is the little space we use to wind down and have some quiet time on weekends. Whenever we have a fire it seems there is always a stunning sunset with either the neighbours log house or the other neighbours barn (the party barn) in view. It's a settling feeling to know we are surrounded by family and friends. 

 Earlier that same day I had a similar enlightenment. I was finally together for lunch with my father. We are both plenty busy and have missed lunch dates for my birthday and Father's day. We had a good chat as we both had many stories to catch up on. I had sent a link to this blog the day before so we spent a few minutes discussing it which led to his latest venture (one that has been on the back burner for forty years). He is going through all of Stephen Leacock's work and making plays out of several of his favourites. As we bantered about the merits of each of our extra-curricular activities, my father ended that topic with a few words I took home: 'It's not what you say, it's how you say it'.

The Road Runners

Another slice of wisdom that surfaced last weekend was this: Don't forget your snare drum stand when you are playing a gig 100 miles away! My old friend Jeff (see Livin' and Giggin') was playing a show near me for the first time in a LONG time. Many of his friends and family are in my area and were very excited to find out we would have a chance to see him and his band play. On the day of the show, in the mid-afternoon I got a call from Jeff. He was in a bit of a panic because he forgot to pack his snare stand. Almost any other piece of hardware would not have been as critical to forget, but as luck would have it - THE SNARE STAND! 

 I am glad he called and was happy to help him out. My stand was handy and it only took 30 minutes or so to get it to him. I am sure he would do the same for me. Jeff and I found it amusing that he had written that blog just a couple of months ago. Maybe he should have read it before leaving the house.

Comfort Zone

"Life Starts at the end of your comfort zone." You might expect that phrase to come from a mountain climber or skydiver, but I recently read that line in a magazine for drummers and it struck me as an interesting philosophy. Maybe the line stood out for me because I have recently been tasked with playing a drum solo in the middle of one of our original tunes. I have not played a drum solo since the mid-nineties and certainly haven't put any thought into the concept lately.  I remember how it came about - it was during our weekly practice, I was just minding my own business, accompanying my bandmates, when Woody said: "Phil, you're putting a solo here!"  
When I regained consciousness, he hadn't changed his mind.  
We had a gig soon after and I had no time to prepare for an intimate moment with the crowd. I just threw in a few round-abouts on the toms and we kept it to 4 phrases. It just didn't seem right to me, but it was all I could muster and I was definitely out of my comfort zone. Over the course of the next few gigs I added a little more, but nothing that stated 'Drum Solo'. I still hadn't had a lot of time to think about the start, middle and end of it - or what I should do to make it a 'Drum Solo'. At our most recent show, Woody gave me 12 phrases to myself - unbeknownst to me - so I did my thing until I thought he was going to come back in, but... HE DIDN'T. After the show, my good friend Jeff (see previous post) said it looked like I ran out of ideas. When I watched the video later - that's exactly how it looked.  The only person to blame is myself. I was unprepared and the rest of the band was confident I would keep it going until they were ready to bring it back into the song.

Canada Day 2013 photo courtesy Stacey Bee

So now I am researching, pondering, and making notes of how I would like to express myself with a solo. I have watched Bill Bruford and Neil  Peart, read web articles about soloing and contemplated various patterns while driving to work. Omar Hakim likes to play in 6/8 time. Steve Smith and Dave Weckel, unbelievably fast with crazy changing time signatures. Maybe I'll try some 7 over 4 like Vinnie Colaiuta. That would certainly make me anxious and uncomfortable to play in front of a crowd, but I know how good it feels once I'm finished. One of the best feelings in life.

On the farm I occasionally find myself out of my comfort zone and in not-so-comfortable situations. Loading bulls on a trailer was a nerve-racking event the first few times, assisting births is NOT my cup of tea and hauling a load of hay down a steep hill always makes me grip the steering wheel extra tight. And although its not a life or death scenario to play a tricky drum part, I still feel anxious and get a  tingle from a little adrenaline release. 

All of those anxious moments have worked out well, making the experience something I can look back on, knowing I have become more comfortable with life. Even the situations that were closer to precarious have given me some humility and at the same time bravado.

I am looking forward to the band's debut EP release in the coming weeks, with the launch date and CD release party yet to be determined. Every song on it took me out of my comfort zone in various ways, while making me a better drummer. 
Stay in tune with our Facebook page for information on our upcoming Album.

Livin' and Giggin'

In this edition of Phil's Fills, I am publishing some good info and advice that a friend of mine wrote. Jeff Traplin has been playing and performing for about 30 years. I often poke him to get his opinion on specific hardware I am considering or techniques I am trying. It usually ends up with me banging my head laughing after Jeff says something insane. Here he has provided some insight not only into his life but how drummers in general like to be surrounded by hardware.

A couple of months ago I purchased the last drum kit I’ll ever buy…again.
My first was a late ‘60’s Raven 4-piece which my dad picked up for me in the early ‘80’s. I’m not a 100% sure, but there might be a shell or two in the folk’s garage still. No cymbals though. Shredded through those tin pans by the end of that summer. Currently I own three drumkits: The new one for studio recording, the live kit, and the Roland V’s for practice. There have been three others between the Raven’s and the new one I think…I’ll have to check the garage.
I think drummer’s lean more towards the collecting side of things as opposed to the hoarding side which our wives or girlfriends might want us to believe. Over the years, new products pop up which help us become a more comfortable player; a remote high-hat, a double kick pedal, cymbal stand extensions etc., and as these new products make their way into our garage or basement, other items get “moved down the bench…”
Gone are the second kick and the 30lb. boom stands. The old suitcase full of Latin percussion instruments has been replaced by an electronic drum module. Constant live gigging miraculously shrinks the size of a kit too. This is a combination of playing clubs with a small or no stage, and loading fatigue. What starts out as a 7 piece ends up as a 4 piece by the time the tour ends. But is that second kick and are those 30lb. booms really gone? It seems a makeshift drum store has materialized in the garage.
Getting rid of old drums is tough. Getting rid of the old hardware is tougher. I’ve rummaged through the pile over the years to see what I could use again; a clamp, maybe a boom arm, but what I found most useful was the wing nuts and cymbal felts. This was the beginning of what I like to call the drummers First Aid Kit. These are items which I’ve found to be a necessity to have close by when gigging, and yes, this list was partially built from learning the hard way.
Kick Pedal
Chances are if you’ve bought a new kick pedal, you still have your old one. Keep It.
At one of my first gigs in Toronto, my pedal strap snapped close to the end of the first set. We cut the set short, and since the crowd was compiled of mainly musicians, a drummer in the crowd had his pedal in his car and lent it to me for the remainder of the show. I switched to a chain after that, and a double kick since, but I’ve always brought the spare. It doesn’t take up much room in the car.
Snare Drum/Head/Muffling Rings
It seems I’ve amassed a small collection of snare drums in the garage too. A spare snare in the trunk comes in handy since these babies take such a beatin’. If you cannot afford a second snare, then I recommend keeping extra heads nearby. I do both, in case I forget the backup snare (it’s happened). I keep a skin jammed in my cymbal bag along with a pack of dampening rings for my lower toms. Rings tend to bend during set-up/tear-down sometimes, so I’ve added moon gel to my odds and ends bag…
Odds and Ends
As mentioned above, this comprises mostly of cymbal pads, wing nuts, lugs, and drum keys.
Unless they fly off and hit you in the face, which they do from time to time, we never realize we’ve lost a wing nut and/or felt pad until tear-down after the gig or the cymbal itself comes crashing down. Nothing like trying to find a frickin’ wing nut in a dark, cavernous dance club! A ziplock bag works for me for this stuff.
Drum keys for me are everywhere: on my car keys, in my cymbal bag, one in the hardware case, in my leather coat, one in my suit jacket that I wear to wedding gigs and one in my stick bag...
Ah Yes. The stick bag. Load ‘er up kids. Minimum 6 pair.
Spring cleaning is just around the corner, and I’ve noticed the neighbour’s kid across the street loading a kit into his basement. Maybe I’ll pop over and see if there’s anything he wants to buy…or sell.

Strength and Stamina

As I was rummaging through the Internet's drawers, looking for something to help me build speed and strength in my wrists and fingers when I am not near a drumkit. I did manage to find a couple of gems in the clutter of websites, but I also recalled that I used a couple of exercises that were developed out of necessity last year. The exercises used a 2 litre plastic pop bottle filled with water (and in our case powdered goat milk). Once a year for several weeks we bottle raise baby goats (for serious farm reasons, not because we think its fun or cute) and we need to make milk 4 times a day. Its that time of year again which is how I remembered the exercises.

Part of the reason for my quest was an inspiring blog I read when searching for info on Gil Sharone (Stolen Babies). http://drummingasart.tumblr.com/  describes Gil's work with great use of visually creative language and really increased my desire to improve everyday. This blog is a must-read for anyone. I can only hope to be written about on this blog (good or bad), but since the odds of living to 150 years is against me, I don't see it happening.

Gil Sharone himself is a great source of inspiration and material to use for practice. I have owned Wicked Beats  (his instructional DVD) for a few months and seem to watch it every couple of weeks. His hi-hat work with his right hand is truly outstanding and is a great foundation for many styles of music.

I know there's no practice like actually playing, but I find myself sitting in my car for hours at a time or at my desk, wasting good practice time. I keep a drumstick in the car and when stuck in traffic I bounce it on my leg or car seat. A couple more tricks I found in my searches include:
1. Practice rolls on a pillow-top matress or car seat. The less bounce the better, make your wrists do the work.
2. Hold stick near the tip and slap the body of the stick against your wrist using pinky, third and middle fingers.

The pop bottle exercise I developed goes like this:
Hold a 2 litre plastic pop bottle (full of water, not pop) in one hand sideways (palm up) shoulder high, and twist back and forth for 2 minutes. Take the same bottle in both hands stomach high and throw the wrists down like playing drums, then raise it and do it over for 5 minutes. The main purpose of the actions are to mix the powder into the water, so shake vigorously. I found that it improves strength AND endurance. Do this 4 times a day for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, wait one year and start over. Well, that's my regimen, you can set your own schedule.

Reverberation

Check it out! We now have a ReverbNation site setup with our debut single. http://www.reverbnation.com/shootthemoonband. We will be adding more audio and video over the next few weeks so keep an eye out or follow us on twitter or facebook for news.

Our Web site has been updated with video, audio and the twitter feed. Find it at http://www.shootthemoonband.com.

Our next show date is June 14th, 2013 at Orillia Fairgrounds (ODAS Park). We will be the opening act for the Relay for Life event, supporting Cancer research and survivors. As soon as opening ceremonies finish at 7:30pm, we'll be pumping out some crowd favourites. More event info can be found at http://relay.cancer.ca and on our web site.

Follow us on Twitter for regular updates and news - @shoothemoonband
http://twitter.com/shoothemoonband

Our facebook page is kept up to date and also has live shows and studio work posted. http://www.facebook.com/parkst.high.  Add us to your FB likes!

Benefit Show

Tool Shed sound check

As I take the picture above, ToolShed is running through sound check to an empty hall, getting their sounds and mix ready for the evening and a last practice of a few songs. A few hours later the community hall of Joyland Beach becomes the most popular place in the area as many generous friends and residents fill the chairs or stand on the hardwood to raise money for the girls of the Ramara Rockets soccer team's trip to Wales. 
Shoot the Moon! opened the night with our fine selection of cover tunes and original songs. The stage sound was great which makes it easier to play, the drumkit didn't move around or break and my streak of not poking myself in the eye with a drumstick extended through another great show. A big Shout Out goes to Tool Shed band and Mario for the use of their P.A. equipment.

A few minutes before show time

The previous couple of days included a lot of snow shoveling, walking through deep snow and other general farm chores that seem so much harder when there's a foot of snow.
 The last couple of days were tiring, but somewhat fun at the same time. I wonder sometimes if I am nuts. But the answer usually presents itself shortly after - like yesterday when I was backing down the snowy hill beside my sister's barn with a hay wagon (it took 45 friggin minutes to go 100 yards). On the night described above when, after working outside all day I packed the drums into the car, set them up, played and got home at 2AM. Tiring...  maybe. Fun... Had a BLAST!

Technique

It has been some time since I last posted here. Plenty has happened, good, bad and ugly. I finished recording the drum tracks to our originals and I am really stoked about the songs Woody wrote. I think people will quite enjoy listening to them. The name of the band changed - we are now calling ourselves 'Shoot the Moon' - and we are getting ready for our next show on February 9th at Joyland Beach Community Centre. We encourage everyone to show up and help the local girls soccer team travel to Wales for an International tournament. All proceeds from the show, silent auction and raffles will go towards the travel expenses. Get more info here: Rockin' for the Rockets.
On the farm, the hay shortage is causing concern. We are constantly looking for decent hay at a reasonable price. Unfortunately,  we are having to bring it in from distant sources, which is increasing the price significantly. We found a seller in Western Quebec (near Gatineau) who was selling reasonably priced hay, but transport costs could be prohibitive (6 hours away). The seller knew a trucker who was picking up a load in our area and would bring the hay at a reduced cost - Brilliant! After agreeing to the costs with the trucker we left it to him to arrange the loading of hay with the seller and scheduling the delivery with us. A few days later we learned the the flatbed was at the farm and loaded, however it was not tied down because the seller had pneumonia and had to rest for a day before he could strap it. The next day we received a call to say the tractor-trailer load had left the farm, but it was stuck on a hill about 1 km away. The temperature at night was about -30c, making it difficult for the operators to hook up tow trucks. The Trailer was left on the hill (blocking a neighbours driveway) for the night so they could get some rest and have a fresh start in the morning. The next morning, they found that the air-brake lines had frozen on the trailer, making it impossible to tow it up the hill again. The day after that, we heard that they finally managed to get the trailer off the hill, but damaged the truck pulling it in the process when one of the chains on the tires broke. 3 days after that, we are still waiting for the hay to arrive, but have been promised tomorrow however that is starting to look unlikely due to the freezing rain warning in effect.  We do need the hay, but not so desperately that we can't wait a few days, We just feel bad for the poor trucker who lost at least as much money as we are paying him in extracting the trailer and repairing the truck. 

Meanwhile, on the topic of drumming, I have been perusing the Internet searching the subject of drumming and came accross Jojo Mayer teaching stick and foot techniques. Two of the most popular stick control and speed concepts are named Moeller and Gladstone techniques. 
I have been using the Moeller sticking for a long time (but never knew it had a name). It uses arm motion and stick bounce in a kind of whipping motion to increase double and triplet speeds. Dave Weckl provides a great video to show the movement of the arm and stick here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFZfOLbnBwI.
The Gladstone technique works differently in that it is a drop and bounce, rather than the whipping motion that Moeller users. As it turns out, it is basically the motion and control I came up with in my previous post. Use the wrist to drop the stick onto the skin and then control the bounce with your fingers.  Using JoJo Mayers video I will be practicing the technique as much as possible. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUz7WH50AqQ.
What I am teaching my arm and fingers to do is to drop the stick with my wrist, then bounce the stick with my fingers. For speed I want to bounce the stick sequentially with my pinky first, then ring finger, then middle finger. That would end up being a four-stroke roll. When I started, I could do a four-stroke roll at about 95 bpm. In two weeks of practice and exercise I am up to 129bpm.
The exercises I found were to place my hands on a table and tap each finger four times in a row. Another is to hold the stick with my normal grip but the stick is vertical. I tap the bottom of the stick against the outside of my leg using my pinky, ring and middle fingers. It is building up strength and stamina in the fingers.