steevc 3Speak Podcast: Recent Episodes
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Listen and watch the latest videos from steevc. Hosted by 3Speak.tv. The free speech video platform on the HIVE blockchain.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/dcfzhuvx
I have now had my Bambu Lab A1 3D printer for over a week and have been printing off a few more things.
The Guitar Buddy is a fun little toy that shows how you can make models with moving parts all at once. I made an extra one for a friend and printing both together did not take much longer than it would to do one.
This Ocarina is an impressive bit of design as it is all curves and needs to play in tune. I give it a go in the video, but I am still learning. It is also impressive how it prints as there is a big overhang. The plastic sets very quickly and there is a 'brim' around the base to make it stay in place.
All my prints have come out very well so far and I am still on my first reel of filament. I give a preview of my next item that requires lots of separate parts. I am awaiting some screws to put that all together. I will do a separate post about this when it is all done. I can run the printer next to me as I am working as it is not too loud. I do not have anywhere else to put it for now.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/qjpbrehy
I have not done a drumming video in a while, so here is something that I worked on recently. Tool are a band known for being intense and also for complex music that often uses odd time signatures. I had not attempted their music before, but then Drumeo had some 'easy' lessons for this song Sober. It is in 4/4 time and that helps, but they have simpified it a lot from the original. Tool's drummer Danny Carey is widely acknowledged as one of the greats. He has recently been playing King Crimson tunes with Adrian Belew's Beat. Drumeo have a full transcription of the original drum part that is rated as advanced.
There are several different beats through the song and it took me a while to get the transitions right. The hardest part is the breakdown where you do not have a beat to follow. I could have used a click track, but that would have complicated putting the video together and so I just tried to judge it.
This is a fun song to play. Getting the timing exactly right when playing along to a drumless track is tricky as normally the drummer would be what the other players follow. I played it for my drum teacher at my last lesson. I am not sure what she made of it as she did not know Tool, but then she is from a classical background.
This is the original song and you will hear a lot more going on with the drums.
I recorded this on my Roland TD07 kit. I had the backing track and drum tab on my tablet and recorded the audio in Audacity on my Linux PC. The video is from my phone. I put them together in Kdenlive.
Rock on and beat it!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/fzlbazth
My jazz band with @daniellemurray on clarient, @purplesinger on keys and Bob (bringer of biscuits) on flute had another practice session at the weekend. As usual we were at London Road Studios, but we got upgraded to their big room. I did not realise it was in a separate building just along from where we usually play.
The drum kit there is the same as the one I have played before. It is bigger than what I have at home, but it is not hard to adapt to it. I just have to take my snare drum and cymbals along.
We played a load of tunes and I have included some snippets. The video was from my phone and those with just audio are from Bob's Zoom recorder. As I have been working on bossa nova beats we tried those on a few songs. It is hard to keep it up with a song and I struggled a bit. On the last song in the video I just played a simplified version without the foot work.
I also had a little sing on All Of Me. On that I just kept the rhythm going with my feet as I was holding the microphone.
We had a tea/coffee break half way through. The buildings opposite the studio were destroyed by a huge fire a few years ago and they made a dramatic background for some photos. I had a play at making an album cover. Not that we have plans to record one just yet.
These sessions are great fun and we should have a little gig next month where we can play to others. We have played together in various formations for a while now, so we know what we are capable of.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/izbqurhb
Last week I was playing some tunes with @daniellemurray and Bob (no Hive yet) in Hitchin. We had the option of playing there again this week, but with the heat and the competition from the Wimbledon final that was called off. Instead we headed over to Stony Stratford near Milton Keynes where they have a folk music jam session.
I am not sure if I have been there before, but it is a nice looking little town. They have a pair of old inns called The Cock and The Bull. These may be the origin of the phrase '[cock and bull story]' as this was a stop on a route north from London and travellers would tell the locals some fanciful tales. We were at The Bull Inn where people gathered with a wide assortment of instruments.
As with a lot of such sessions people take it in turns to play a tune and others can join in. It was obvious that they knew a lot of the same tunes and the standard of musicianship was very high. There was some lovely harmony singing plus we had some poems too. I joined in where I could, including on a rowdy version of Johnny B Goode.
I accompanied Danielle and Bob on some folk and jazz tunes. On my turn I played a couple of my own songs, so more people have heard my Ikea one now. For my last one I said it was a traditional song from the Midlands about welcoming in the summer months. It was actually Mister Blue Sky and seemed to go down well. They did seem open to other genres of music. Another guy played some Radiohead.
This was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. This is music that many of us might not hear often, but the tunes are part of our traditions and ought to be kept alive. I did think that the average age was fairly high and we need some younger people to play too. I have seen some of them at various other folk events, so there is hope.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/ulxeqdfd
Some of you may remember the jazz duo @swing47 I play in with @daniellemurray. We did some festivals, gigs and busking a few years back, but have been doing other projects lately. We could be playing at Balstock again this year, so are trying to get back into those tunes. We got a gig at The Angel's Share in Hitchin this weekend. We had a couple of hours to fill, so the set was in several parts.
First of all Danille and I played with her on clarinet and me on ukulele. We had not really rehearsed this, so worked through a few tunes I could manage. I did a bit of singing, with variable results. It was not a huge audience, but we love to play anyway. I have edited together some excerpts from the set. You get Fly Me To The Moon from that part.
Next it was Danielle on recorders with Bob on flute playing some traditional tunes. I joined in for some on cajon. We did have some issues as we used backing tracks that could be hard to hear. Askokan Farewell sounded nice with the big recorder. That got a few compliments.
We ended with me switching to guitar for some more jazzy tunes. Bob joined us on the last few ending with Minor Swing.
The day had been really wet, but it was a nice evening in the Arcade. Quite a few people wandered by and some seemed to appreciate the music. We have been asked to play next weekend as well, but it could be really hot so we will see if it is viable. We are doing this for fun and sweating buckets would not be.
That is my second gig in the last month and we have another planned for next month with the jazz band. This evening I almost forgot that I had a drum lesson, but I made it there and had a fun time working on various technique.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/uuikjcls
On Sunday my band @theriverkicks made our third third appearance at a little druid event in the woods of Hertfordshire. They just keep asking us back and we are happy to play. We were a bit reduced with just four of us this time. There was @daniellemurray on various wind instruments plus violin, @purplesinger on piano, Bob on flute and me on drums.
Our set is mainly old folk tunes and we had a few different ones this time that were new to me. Unfortunately we did not get to rehearse these and so it was a matter of figuring them out in the moment. We are all experienced enough to do that now.
I am sharing our rendition of Van Morrison's Moondance that we have played many times. I quite like a bit of swing and it lets me experiment a little with the rhythms. The ride cymbal can do a good gong impression at the end. Bob's singing has really come along with some tuition from our pianist who also runs a choir.
The venue is quite rustic with no mains power. We used a couple of battery units to run the mixer and PA. Even with a small audience you need some amplification, although not for the drums in this case. I cropped the audience out of the video for their privacy, but there were about 30 of them in all.
The set went pretty well apart from some flase starts and me messing up some lyrics. Last year it poured with rain, but it was quite nice this time. Afterwards the druids went off for their solstice ceremony whilst I headed home.
I am going to be playing some more gigs with these people in other configurations soon. One of those is with me on guitar, so I need to practice that too.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/ikvspwre
I have not posted a drumming video in a while, but I have been playing. I am currently doing a course on Drumeo by Nic Collins, whose dad Phil you may have heard of. Nic played on the last Genesis tour as Phil has some health problems. The course is on 'odd' time signatures. Most music you hear is in 4/4 (standard rock/pop) or 3/4 (jazz and some ballads), but you can have any number of beats in a bar or even change it through the song. This course starts off with 5/4. That feels odd as each bar goes on a little longer than you expect. Nic introduces it gently and builds up a more complex beat.
I wanted to record something of my progress, but getting that set up takes time. Luckily someone on the Drumeo community has extracted the backing track so I could use it for the video. I did make a few mistakes, but I do have a feel for this now. My jazz band have talked about doing Dave Brubeck's Take 5, so that is something to aspire to.
The course moves onto 7/8 this week. I do not find that too bad as you just miss off a beat, but when you could it you should not count the last beat as sev-en or you may find you actually did eight. Counting is really important in music generally to keep track of where you are and there are lots of different ways to do it .You can split more complex beats into smaller sections. Ultimately it is about feeling the beat and making it feel natural when you play. I have a way to go with that.
I have a gig coming up with the folk band this month at the druid festival that we have played for the last two years. I could also be playing in my jazz duo with @daniellemurray at a local free festival in September. There will be some open mic nights coming up too.
The other news is that I have made contact with a local drum teacher. I am meeting her this week to see what she can do for me.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/cyktabhh
I have played various instruments including guitar, drums and ukulele. I even played bassoon at school. I have owned a Peavey bass that I bought from @stav years ago, but I have never really learnt to play it. Although it looks like a guitar you will play it differently.
As part of my Musora subscription I have access to the various schools, but have mostly done the drums one. They are starting a bass one soon and offered an introductory course that ran over four weeks. Each lesson was about ten minutes and you would work on the same song three times trying different techniques.
The teacher was Moa Munoz who has played with various people, including Olivia Rodrigo. She did a good job of it, keeping up continual encouragement whilst playing.
I enjoyed the course and would like to continue learning this instrument. I do not consider myself more than a beginner for now, but these things take time. I want to record more of my own songs and it will be great to do more of the instruments myself.
There are some really good bass players on Hive so check them out. They inspire me.
Rock on.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/iooifzia
Yesterday our little jazz group got together again at London Road Studios in Baldock. It has been a while since we did this, but we meet up at some pub jam sessions. The studio time is when we can work a little deeper on some tunes.
The band is me on drums, @daniellemurray on clarinet, @purplesinger on piano and Bob (no Hive yet) on flute. Unfortunately our potential bass player has not been able to join in yet due to illness.
We have the room for 3 hours and these are just a few of the tunes we played. You will hear extracts of The Man I Love, Misty and Night & Day. I was playing a mix of brushes and sticks. I have not been playing much jazz drums lately as I work on some Drumeo courses and I am also doing a bass course. Luckily I seem to have retained some of the necessary skills, but I could do with more practice in this area if we ever get some gigs. For now it is just for fun and we play at some open mics with friends. There is the potential for some local festivals, but that may be in a different form. Danielle and I may even revive @swing47.
It was good fun and the time flew by. I've had a bad back recently, but that did not trouble me and my dodgy hand was okay too. Music is a cure! I was using the studio kit with my snare and cymbals. The new skin on the snare helped with the brushes.
I may post up some bass playing soon, but I am very much a beginner at that. I play because I enjoy it.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/xmpzabbv
I just finished another Lego kit that I treated myself to, thanks to some vouchers I was given. I have always been fascinated with space and I also love mechanisms, so this kit ticked some boxes. It is a basic orrery that shows how bodies move relative to each other. It is very much not to scale, but that would not be viable. I pulled some numbers out of my head during the video, but I suspect that the Sun would be huge in proportion to this Earth.
As I said, it seems fairly accurate in terms of how long it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth over a yearly cycle. There are a lot of gears in there and someone did the sums. The mechanism is very smooth and easy to turn.
Younger kids could build this, but might need some help as there are a lot of steps and you need to get things right at each stage. I had to double check some steps. As usual with these big kits there were a small parts left over, but there were none missing. You do have to affix a few stickers for the months and lunar phases.
It could be a nice educational aid. You can demonstrate how the tilt of the Earth causes the seasons.
A great gift for those flat-Earther Lego fans around the globe.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/htemfcki
I bought my second hand Tama Club Jam kit just over a year ago and it came with the original heads. These will wear out and so I was going to have to face changing them. The snare takes the hardest beating and it was really showing it with a lot of the original coating worn off.
I have changed plenty of guitar strings, but this was a new experience and so I did look for some tips. The Drumeo school had some videos on changing heads and also on tuning them. It was actually not too bad really. This is a cheap drum that only has six lugs holding the rim on. Better drums may have eight or ten to get more even tension. You need a drum key to do this job and it serves to adjust various parts of the kit. I have acquired several now and keep them scattered around. The drum itself was pretty clean with not much dust inside, so I just gave it all a wipe before fitting the new head. I went for one from Aquarian that seemed suitable for the jazz I have been playing with my friends. If I ever get another snare I could fit a different head more suited for rock.
The video suggested stretching the head by pressing down on it, but I did this quite gently as I do not know how much they can take. Once I had everything screwed on I tried tapping around the edge of the head and could hear slight differences in pitch. Adjusting the lugs evened this out.
The orange thing on the head is a gel that cuts down on unwanted ringing sounds. There are various alternatives to that. Drums are more complex than you may expect with lots of ways to vary the sound.
The demo is with sticks and brushes. The latter should work better now there is some coating for them to grip on. I am still learning about what sound I might want, so I may adjust things further. I welcome suggestions from any experienced drummers.
Audio is from my Yamaha EAD10 with a hint of kick drum triggered sample using the trigger I made.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/iiluukpv
I posted last month about my new Yamaha EAD10 drum recorder and mentioned that the built-in trigger was not working with my kit. I have seen that others have the same issue with various bass drums. One solution is to buy a separate trigger. These can cost abut £60. The EAD10 was fairly expensive, so I was not really wanting to spend much more right now. I had seen mention of DIY alternatives, so I opted to make my own.
I spent about £10 on the parts to make at least five sensors. I actually got ten of the piezo elements. I have done a fair bit of soldering, but this was a simple matter of connecting wires to a socket and it worked first time. I used some tape to fix the sensor to the drum head and have since used some velcro to secure the socket. I probably need to tweak the sensitivity as it may be a bit high.
The point of triggering samples from the bass drum is to get a variety of sounds that might require a more elaborate microphone setup. You can use triggers on the other drums too or use triggers independently to have more sounds. I just need to work out how to mount those.
I will say that the commercial triggers will be a lot more robust than mine, as they need to be if playing gigs. Mine are really only for use at home. If they break then it is no big deal.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/vdgjypjq
I posted the other day about some Lego plants I had built. I also had another kit to do that is sort of a plant. Anyone who has seen Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy know Groot with his limited vocabulary. This kit is of him in 'baby' form and still in his pot.
This is another kit where the parts come in paper bags, but there are some smaller plastic ones inside as they like to separate some of the parts. I assume this is just how they get them all together. The first bag does not look like much as this is the actual mechanism with some gear wheels driving a couple of rods that will attach to his body.
Bag two is for the plant pot to cover it all up.
Bag three is for his body and arms. There are a few stickers to apply. As with the bonsai kit there are a lot of dark parts that can be hard to see on my tray when picking them out. The vines are a nice touch. Some parts are quite fiddly and you need to pay attention to which way around things go. Not everything is totally symmetrical.
I enjoyed this one. The engineer in me likes a mechanism. This one is fairly simple, but effective. He may have been inspired by this.
There is a series of shorts featuring him.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/egvibimn
I have had my Tama drum kit for about a year now and have done some videos of it, but recording with a phone is not great. Ideally you should have lots of microphones to record each instrument and cymbal individually as well as capturing the general room sound. I was willing to compromise for a simpler setup.
I had seen lots of people using the Yamaha EAD10, including some top Youtubers. You just clamp the microphone/trigger unit to your bass drum and play. The idea of the trigger part is that it detects when you play the bass drum and it fires off a sample, but with my kit that is not working. Of course I looked online and found that lots of other people had the same issue. There does not seem to be a definitive reason, but it must be that the vibrations from the drum head are not reaching the rim. There could be part of the drum is damping that. Some people just bought a dedicated trigger that senses from the head, but I am not looking to spend that extra money just yet. I am looking at a possible DIY solution that will be pretty cheap and will report on that later.
Even without the trigger the recorded sound is pretty good. In the video I do an introduction before actually playing and I switched to the sound I was getting on my phone for part of that. I have to say it is pretty terrible whilst the EAD10 capture the drums well.
There are lots of settings to play with. You can do some really far-out effects if you want or keep it more natural. I could take the raw sound and process it on the PC too. This device was not cheap, but I think I will get a lot of use from it.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/sbmxagbw
Yesterday was a first session of the year for our little jazz group known as The Moonshots. We have @purplesinger on piano, @daniellemurray on clarinet and Bob on flute. We were missing bassist Paul again. We pay for a few hours in a local rehearsal studio so we can make some noise.
I do not have to take too much gear as most of the drum kit is supplied. I bring along my snare drum and cymbals. They have nicer Tama kit than I do at home. I may have to upgrade my bass pedal.
We played a few tunes for the first time, so it is all a matter of finding our way with them. I am very much a beginner at jazz drumming, so I keep it very simple. I do get to use the brushes and that is a mental exercise in itself. My feet got to do much the same thing all afternoon, so I did not have to think too much about them.
There were a few opportunities for me to solo on a few bars, but that needs some work.
We do this for fun, but may well do some more open mics with our other musician friends. Those are an opportunity for me to accompany more people on drums.
The songs I have included are:
- Baby won't you please come home
- Aggravatin' Papa
- I wish I could feel how it feels to be free
Some Brits will recognise the last one as the theme of the Film show with Barry Norman.
Rock and roll!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/mwbkwlqi
Some of you may have seen that I did another September song a while back. The actual month just ended and I was inspired to do this one. Of course Drumeo had the notation and a drumless backing track, so I gave it a go. I have only played it through a couple of times.
It always seems to be the way that I have some technical issues with recording these videos. This time I could not hear the drums through my speakers. It turned out that I had forgotten that I unplugged the cable recently. I recorded the audio on the PC and video with my phone, so I had to do the usual job of synchronising those. Then it turned out that the backing track had not been recorded, so I had to edit that in too. At least that let me adjust the balance.
So here is another performance from me. It is by no means polished, but it was fun.
As usual I was on my Roland TD-07 kit. Roland just launched a new top end kit, but that is way out of my price range. My next purchase may be some decent cymbals for my acoustic kit.
I may be trying a different style soon as my musician friends and I will be branching out. I know I can find lessons on Drumeo to help me along. We do not have any more gigs lined up yet, but we are always up for getting out to entertain.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/gnbdkfmb
The folky band I am in, @theriverkicks, have only played a few gigs and last weekend we returned to the venue of our first at Druid Fest. They must have liked us as they asked us to come back.
Druid Fest is a get-together of people who celebrate the autumn equinox and partake of various activities such as natural crafts and healing. They have a lovely venue in the woods of Hertfordshire. It is a good thing they have a covered area as the weather was not looking great. It was not too wet when we were setting up, but we had some downpours during the performance.
There is no mains electricity there. That is not an issue for my drums, but we do need some amplification for vocals and some of the instruments. There are some neat battery units that can supply 240V A/C to deal with that.
We were missing a couple of band members, but were joined by Jim, who is one of the druids, on flute. @daniellemurray played recorder and clarinet, @purplesinger was on piano, Bob on flute, Anne-Marie on guitar and Paul on bass.
It was a fairly small crowd, but we enjoyed playing them a load of tunes from across the centuries. There was some dancing. This is the only song I sang this time. I feel I did pretty well considering I have had a cold for the last few days. I was feeling a bit rough that morning, but after the gig I felt much better. Maybe music really does have healing properties.
We are open to playing other events and will see what comes up.
I am still looking into upgrading my drum kit. Better cymbals and drum skins may be next. I like the kit itself as it is so portable and easily fits in the back of our car. I need some proper cases to protect it rather than my improvised bags.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/dgtxuagi
After a fun afternoon with the Hivefest crowd getting rides in the Hive rally car I met up with @basilmarples for a wander and to get a delicious ice cream. As we enjoyed those we spotted 3speak main man @starkerz who suggested we get a coffee. Some of the guys here signed up a café called ABI to his @thedistriator platform that allows people to pay with crypto and get cashback. This is just so cool.
If you sign up businesses you could be earning from this too.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/frndfttd
Yesterday was finally the day that my band @theriverkicks played at Goatfest. This is a small festival in the village of Codicote that is not too far from where I live. It started at The Goat pub and has been running for fifteen years, but this was my first visit and we just went for the day although it was on all weekend with people camping.
They had four stages. We were on the Goat Stage in a small circus tent. The main stage was outside with plenty of room for a big crowd. Near that were a range of food wagons and some stalls selling various items. People like to dress up at festivals, so there were lots of interesting and strange outfits. Many people had flower headdresses, some of which lit up. One guy I noticed was wearing a Union Jack mini-dress that went nicely with his tattoos and bald head.
This was only our second gig and our first at a public event. It was all well organised and we just had to turn up at the tent about half an hour before our set. As soon as the previous band finished they moved their kit out and we could set up. I only needed to bring a snare drum and cymbals as they had the rest of the kit set up. This was my first time playing with microphones all over the kit and I had to attach one to the snare. The sound guy did a pretty good job in a short time as our band needs lots of microphones and instrument channels. We actually started right on time and played for 45 minutes. The time went quick and there were a couple of songs we did not have time for.
I had no idea what audience we would get as we have not built up a following yet. We brought along some friends though. People wandered in as we set up and more came as we were playing. I reckon there were 40-60 people there. Many were singing along with some of the songs and some were dancing. We have flutes and clarinet as well as the standard pop instruments of drums, guitar, bass and piano. The lineup is:
- Bob on flute and piccolo.
- @purplesinger on piano and vocals.
- @daniellemurray on clarinet and recorder.
- Myself on drums and vocals.
- Anne-Marie on guitar, flute and vocals. She flew in from Ireland for the gig.
- Paul on bass.
- Ray on guitar and vocals.
@anna-newkey would have been with us, but is recovering from a broken arm so would not be able to play guitar. She has been doing some other performing, so check her posts.
I sang one song and three of the others sang too. Our material is a mix of early folk tunes, traditional songs and a few more modern songs. You will get a flavour from the video thanks to my other half. She only took short clips, but there may be other video later from other people.
I do not have a photo of the crowd, but it did fill up a bit.
We do not get paid for the gig, but we got something for travel expenses and could make use of the backstage 'bar'. There were drinks and some snacks where we swapped verdicts on how it went before people left. The consensus was that it was a success. We were between a young rock band and a country band, so there was plenty of variety. We may offer something different.
My other half and I stayed on to check out the other music. Some of the acts we enjoyed were:
- Dreamwalks doing some nice acoustic songs.
- Two Headed Horse Band who mixed pop attitude with some traditional instruments.
- Germein Sisters from Australia who were very good. They have done some big tours.
- Tunde Baiyewu who hit it big as singer with The Lighthouse Family. He gave us the hits and went down well with the crowd.
- The South that features original members of The Beautiful South. They also did their hits along with some interesting covers.
- Keala Settle has performed in many Broadway musicals and was the bearded lady in The Greatest Showman movie. There were several people dressed as ringmasters in the crowd. She did some classic songs that showed off her amazing voice and finished with her hit from Showman.
There was lots more that we did not have time to see. I have to say that the sound from the main stage was pretty good. We were lucky with the weather as Friday was really windy and Saturday was wet.
I had to buy a shirt as our band is on it (down the bottom).
It was a really fun experience and I would happily play there again. Our only other pending gig for now is at a private event next month, but I think we are all up for doing more. We do this for the love of music.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/oikfwcft
You may know that one of the bands I am in is @theriverkicks who play a mix of traditional folk tunes and more modern music. This is where I get to play the drums and I am really enjoying it. We have a gig coming up in August, so we need some rehearsals to get us all together. The latest was at London Road Studios in Baldock. They have a series of sound-proof rooms where bands can play. One advantage over our previous venue is that a drum kit is already there. I just needed to bring cymbals, sticks and my snare drum. The room also has a PA system, but then we needed more channels than the mixing desk provides as we have a lot of singers. We just had to swap some cables around.
The gig is at Goatfest, which is not too far from us. You will find us listed on the Sunday. We will be playing on their smaller stage in a tent and we need to sort out what we need to take as we will not have much time to get set up. They may also supply the drums, so I could have it easy.
The video is of a song that I hope we will be playing. Fisherman's Blues by The Waterboys is a fun one for me as I can do lots of drum fills. I got some good feedback from the band on my playing and I think I have really improved through working with the band. It is quite different to playing along to videos at home.
The studios are on an industrial estate that had a big fire a while back. The wrecked buildings have yet to be cleared. I was not going to imitate @slobberchops and try to get in there. It is likely to be dirty and dangerous.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/wckbmnpi
I know I normally do drumming videos on a Monday, but I have to fit in what I can. For the last couple of weeks I have been working on another Drumeo course. This one is by El Estepario Siberiano. He has been lighting up the drumming world with his amazing videos. He can play more with one hand than most of can with two whilst playing multiple things with his feet. He does some neat stick tricks too.
The course is called 30 Day Independence and is about getting your limbs working in new ways. I have heard some say that it should be interdependence as they still have to coordinate. Given what he can play I was not sure what level the course would be, but he builds it up gradually and you find yourself doing new things. In this video I go through some of the levels of the rhythm from the first week. It starts with alternating the bass drum and high hat then adds more. It uses the floor tom, but I swap to the ride cymbal at the end for variety. He does emphasise moving the pattern around the kit.
I have been mostly playing this on my Roland electronic kit, but it is fun on the acoustic one too. They feel distinctly different.
The course has two more weeks to run and I will try to stick with it. I ought to be doing the student collaboration video too, but I just have not found time to work on it yet. I may have a look at the weekend.
We have a few drummers on Hive, so seek them out if you want to see how this stuff is really done. I still consider myself a beginner, but I feel I am making progress.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/sprxuqph
I have decided I need to play more songs on the drums as it cannot just be about exercises. This is one I have been wanting to do and I have had some attempts at it before. I am using the Drumeo backing track and notation as usual. They have an 'easy' version of Enter Sandman that I think is about my level, but it still has a few tricky bits. There are lots of hits off the main beat and variations through the song. It is a fairly long one too.
I am conscious that I made plenty of mistakes and got a bit out of time, but this is a log of where I was right now and I hope to improve with more practice. I need to work on certain parts, but this evening I have come home from work and just want to play.
Here is the original for reference. I know Lars is thought to have some faults as a drummer by some people, but he has so much more experience than I do and so can at least get through the songs.
Last week I worked on some Journey for the Drumeo collaboration, but did not get a full video done to submit. I have not seen what the May song will be yet, but I shall have a look when it is announced.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/vneolxsk
This is yet another drumming piece from a Drumeo student collaboration piece. I am just not sure I will get around to recording the whole song before the deadline that is in a couple of days.
The song is Don't Stop Believin' by Journey. It is unusual in a couple of ways. There is hardly any drumming in the first minute of the song and when it does start the technique is unusual. Most drummers cross their arms to play the high hat and snare as it just tends to work well. For this song you uncross them as the right hand has a lot of work to do around the kit.
You cannot really see it on the video, but you may hear that the bell of the ride cymbal gets lots of attention. Using that and playing 'open handed' are both new to me. I just recorded some of the patterns used. It gets more complex as the song goes on and I may not be totally up to full speed.
I have enjoyed the challenge of playing this anyway. Learning a new technique is always useful. I had some hopes of recording the drum part and even adding the guitar solo as that is not a particularly hard one, but I may have to do that some other time.
I have been doing various lessons on Drumeo lately. There was a 'workout' specifically for this song, but I have to slow it down a little. I also had another rehearsal with the band where I took the kit. I really need to work out what I need to get ready before our big gig. Better cymbals and drum skins are on my wish list.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/soqfwftz
I have missed a few of these, so it is time I did another entry for this wonderful competition that is bringing so many new people to Hive.
I have been on Hive for a long time. I did over 100 entries for the original Open MIc contest and won some prizes in that. It encouraged me to write more original songs. I do solo performances, but also play with @swing42 and @theriverkicks.
I found this in my songbook and it seems I wrote it a few years ago, but I had to adapt it a little and work out some chords to perform it now. You may notice that the song is mostly made up from the titles of other songs. See how many you can spot.
I am including a link to a Tweet as you need to publicise the contest over there too.
https://twitter.com/steevc/status/1777787485591867406
Lyrics:
Untitled
You know the times they are a changing
We need that bridge over troubled waters now
Mr Blue Sky has gone away
And it's not a perfect day
When our problems are the size of a cow
So let's dance and celebrate the good times
Sing hallelujah, twist and shout
We should go on a summer holiday
Don't want to see the tears of a clown
Is it the end of the world as we know it?
Two minutes to midnight been and gone
Bowie said we had five years
Someone sang of seven tears
Maybe we're just bad to the bone
So let's reach for the stars and party
Drink some whisky from the jar
We should let the good times roll
Cos I'm in love with my car
I know I said I don't like Mondays
And there's a total eclipse of my heart
But at least I'm still standing
Believe in a wonderful world
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/rcohusbh
Today is a holiday in the UK as it will be in many other places for Easter. I have been doing some work in the garden, but found a moment to play some drums. I really need to practice more as we have a big gig coming up in the summer. My band @theriverkicks has been accepted to play at GoatFest. I have not been to this festival, but we could have a big audience for our afternoon slot. Fellow Hivers @purplesinger, @anna-newkey and @daniellemurray are also in the band and we shall have to figure out what songs to play.
Broadway and movie star Keala Settle is headlining and people of a certain age will remember Showaddywaddy who had a few hits in the 70's with their retro rock and roll style.
The Riverkicks play a mix of traditional and more modern folk tunes. There are eight of us with multiple singers, including me, and I play the drums too. We have only played one small gig so far, so this is exciting. We will not get paid, but should get some free food. I am looking into camping for the weekend to enjoy the other acts. We need to find out how things work when it comes to setting up to play as they will need to set us up with microphones and I need to assemble my drum kit. I may look at upgrading it a little before then. It really needs new drum heads/skins.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/lxhieexr
At this time next week I should have just finished a materclass with Styx drummer Todd Sucherman in London. There should be about thirty of us spending three hours with Todd and I hope to learn a lot. This will be my first in-person drum kit lesson of any sort. I used to play African drums with a group of others years ago, but this is really a different instrument. Todd has done various lessons on Drumeo, including a course called Rock Drumming Masterclass that covers lots of topics. I thought I ought to do some more of that to be more prepared for what he will be teaching so that I can get the most from it.
In the lesson I just looked at he went over some basics about the course covers and provides a song to play over. He says to keep it simple. The piece is notated with lots of 'ghost' notes and high hat accents. I did not play every note there, but tried to keep the beat. I think I may have been very slightly off it, but that is something to keep working on. I also messed up a little at the end, but that is what happens during practive. This is definitely a practice video rather than a polished performance, but it is useful to track my progress.
I quite enjoyed this tune. I definitely feel that my playing has come along, but there is much more to learn and you can always be better. Todd does say that there are no fixed goals to reach in music. It is an art, not a sport. He also says there are no short-cuts.
The lesson also has some exercises on consistent single and double strokes that I will try.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/ibodzlcb
Happy Monday! I had a musical day yesterday as it was the first rehearsal of our jazz band in a long while. We have a gig coming up next month, so needed to work through the songs. Four of the six members are on Hive. I was playing guitar and ukulele as well as singing some songs. I have not played much guitar lately and so my fingers are out of shape. After that we had an open mic with our friends for the birthday of another Hiver (no longer active). That was a nice evening.
At the open mic I was chatting to a drummer I know. He said he will come over some time to give me some tips on the new acoustic kit. I may also try taking some lessons with him.
Today I am back on the drums. Drumeo have a jazz course that is supposed to take you through the basics. A lot of it is about swing rhythms that are usually played on the ride cymbal. I was playing my electronic kit today for noise reasons, but it has a jazz setting. The issue I had was with getting the high hat to soun .I was trying this on the acoustic kit at the weekend and there it tends to come out too loud. For now I am just trying to get the feel and timing.I feel I am getting somewhere.
This is the course instructor.
The next lesson is on brushes, which I do not have yet. Those would not work at all on the electronic kit. There are a few things on my shopping list. I think I will need to buy some cymbals soon. Those I have are very basic. A full set could cost more than I paid for the drums, but I keep checking for used options.
Rock on, man.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/yqxsdqlm
I have now been drumming for a couple of years. I started with a basic floppy mat thing with no dynamics, then got a Yamaha all in one box that is nice and portable. Next came my Roland TD-07 kit about a year ago. That is really great, but I had been feeling I needed some proper acoustic drums. These could have applications when playing with my band.
I had been looking on Facebook market for a while as there are loads of drums on there. I just did not want anything too big as I do not have space for it at home and it needs to be portable. A lot of the drum companies do compact kits with a small bass drum and I was looking for one of those. I spotted a Tama Club Jam kit that was not far from me. I held off for a while and assumed it would sell, but when I contacted the guy last week he said it was still available and so I went over there on Saturday. The seller is actually off at university and so I dealt with his parents, who seemed nice. They have a lovely thatched house. The drums were spread across the rug and I just checked them over to ensure nothing was broken before paying up and bringing them home.
This is a simple kit, but plenty of players have used something similar. Ringo got by with just a few drums and cymbals. The guy had added to the basic shell pack to make something playable. There is a budget Sabian ride cymbal (made in Canada) and some Paiste high hats (made in Germany). I assume he got those second hand as they are well worn and seem to be old models. The rest is made in China. It seems he only bought it in August, but it has obviously been played. It has the original heads, but I may upgrade those.
As you may expect these things are loud and I may not be able to play at home too often. We do not have close neighbours, but within the house it may drown out the TV. I am looking for options to reduce that noise. You can get special heads and cymbals that are quiet, but I have seen some special sticks that are supposed to reduce the volume a lot and I may get some. Those may also be useful for band practice as most of the other instruments are acoustic, although we have a small PA system.
I also need to learn to set these things up. I had to look up how to assemble a high hat and I have not really played one before. I did try tuning the drums a bit, but then one was very loose and so I had to do something. The snare has a real sizzle to it, but there are various ways to damp that. I used a cloth for now.
Then there is the 'opportunity' to buy more accessories. I think I need a crash cymbal for those big moments. The sky is the limit when it comes to these things, but I may get a cheap one for now. Then I could do with some bags if I am going to take them anywhere and perhaps a mat to set up on as some parts have spikes to stop them slipping. I feel the need for a cow bell.
This looks like is the start of a new journey in music.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/nmrizezs
Yes, it is Monday again, but for me that mean more drumming. On the Drumeo forum someone shared this video yesterday.
I am not sure I have seen this guy Tim Ferriss before, but he sets himself challenges of learning a skill in a short period. In this case he had to learn to play the drums well enough to perform with Foreigner at one of their shows. That is no easy task. Mind you, he had Police drummer Stewart Copeland to help coach him. The song he picked, Hot Blooded, is not an easy one. it has three distinct sections and the rhythms are not basic. He actually did quite well in the end and his video is worth a watch.
Of course I had to give this a try too. I have been playing for a while, but I am still getting to grips with drumming. I have only played this song a few times over yesterday evening and about an hour tonight. I think Tim used a simplified arrangement, but I based mine on the transcription that Drumeo provide. I did find it hard and I could not play it exactly. In fact I actually slowed the song down to 80% so I could keep up. The rapid bass notes on the chorus are hard to do, especially with a single pedal. Tim played them on the floor tom, which would be easier.
I did make it though the song, but it needs a lot more work. I was a little confused as my video recording only had the drums and not the backing track. I did not realise that the app was recording from the drum kit USB audio rather than the headphone output. I had to record the backing from my tablet in Audacity and then match the two tracks up in Kdenlive. It is near enough.
This is really just another log of my drumming progress rather than a polished performance, so I do not expect you to listen to it all.
I rearranged my study a little at the weekend. As I bought a new monitor recently I had a spare, so I have positioned that near the drum kit so I can more easily follow the videos and notation in the lessons. My computer can run three screens at once. I use my practice pad for the mouse so I can control things. I am tempted to swap the two smaller screens around as a widescreen would be better for videos.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/lspklnch
Yes it is that festive time again. Personally I think it should be limited to a week, but it goes on a lot longer. My gift to you is this cheesy tune by Michael Bublé. It was selected as the December Drumeo student collaboration. This was quite a challenging piece. Their transcription is a level 5 and I am more of a level 2 or 3 player so I simplified it a bit.
The song has a swing feel that I am still working on. What I really need to do is to learn the song and then play it with more feel rather than trying to read it as I play, but that will take longer. I do feel that I am a little more relaxed in my playing though.
I was using my earDRUMS earphones on this. I got them as part of the lifetime membership of Drumeo that I went for when it came time to renew. These are proper musician earphones that are designed for use when playing. I joined Drumeo about a year ago and have learned a lot already. They have enough material to last me for many years.
One of the instructors is Todd Sucherman who plays with the band Styx. I have signed up for a masterclass he is doing in London next year. That will be another new experience for me.
I hope to do lots more drumming in 2024 and we shall see what happens.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/drcowweh
Hey beatmakers!
Here I am with another work in progress on my drumming odyssey. This is yet another exercise from the Drumeo Method. This time it is about playing 16th note fills in a rock setting. I will freely admit that I need to practice the fills more and add some variety. During the tune it alternates between two different rhythms for the verse and chorus. The chorus one is tricky for me at the moment, but I am gradually getting the feel of it. This play though it still quite messy, but I do these videos as a log of my progress.
I should note that I used the backing track at 80% of normal speed as I could just not keep up otherwise. My hands do not move that fast. I may submit this video to the Drumeo experts to see what advice they give.
I really need to re-adjust my kit as I moved it to get at the corner of the room and it has shifted out of allignment. The drums are not really where I want them, so I need to take things off the frame and get it all properly level again. I just have not had time to do this as I was busy over the weekend.
My band could have a slot at a local festival next summer. That is exciting, but also makes me think I need some acoustic drums for gigs. It may be that the festival supply a kit, but there will be other times where I need my own. I am watching the second hand market, but I am after a particular thing. It needs to be portable and I do not really need a huge rock kit when the band is mostly acoustic. I just found the Compact Drums site that reviews some kits that may suit my needs. With drums you need it all to be sturdy as well as sounding good, so going for a cheap option may not work out, but there are so many being sold on Facebook Market and elsewhere. I may wait until after Christmas as it is possible people may have new drums and be looking to offload the old ones.
I just need to keep practicing to get the basics really solid. The band does not really require fancy drumming, but I want to have the option of throwing in some little touches to add variety.
Now beat it!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/mzyohryd
Hey beatniks!
I have had a fun week of drumming. It has mostly been continuing the Drumeo course on ghost notes and I just completed that this evening. The final lesson was playing a whole song with verse, chorus and middle eight, each with a variation of the rhythm at full speed. The lesson actually meant playing that three times and I was feeling it by the end. I had a short break and came back to do this video as a log of my progress.
I am only playing the song once, for anyone who actually watches the whole thing. I can feel I have made progress as I could not have played this before the course. I managed to keep up pretty well, but I may have drifted a little off the beat. When you do not have something like a metronome you have to feel where it sits in the music. I also have to sense where the changes come unless I manage to count the bars. I did okay on that too.
I had been wanting to improve my drumming setup for a while. I had a cheap drum 'throne' that came with my second hand kit. It was not too comfortable. I now have one with a well padded seat that is more stable. I also got a new mat that protects the wooden floor and stops the pedals from slipping.
Something else what changed recently is that I found a draught excluder that helps in reducing the sound leakage between my study and the living room. It is one with two foam rolls that sit either side of the door and it has some effect whilst maintaining domestic harmony.
I may look at learning some songs that are available on Drumeo. They have thousands of them that are all tabbed out and provide backing tracks without the drums. They use some of the current tools that can split out the instruments. An advanced version of this was used to produce the 'new' Beatles recording.
Now beat it!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/vkukkizh
This seems appropriate for the Halloween time of year, but I am talking about ghost notes. In drumming these are notes that may be played between the standard beats at a lower volume. The change the feel of the beat.
Drumeo have a '10 day ghost notes' course with the same teacher I mentioned last week. She does a ten minute workout that has variations on the technique. I have condensed this for my video. You start with a standard beat and then add in the ghost notes. I start with one and then add a second. I do not find this easy. I have to practice slowly and build up. The latest lesson was actually faster than I am playing here, but I struggled to keep up.
I have encountered ghost notes before. They cropped up in a Red Hot Chilli Peppers song I played a while back. I need to keep working on them to add variety to my playing.
I was battling technology to get this video done. My tablet was reluctant to play the backing track. This video might have been longer (if anyone would watch more), but the tablet decided to shut down. I decided that was enough for now.
I have been rearranging my kit a little. I have moved the high hat up and across a bit to reduce chances of my hands clashing. I also moved the cymbals so that the ride is not so high.
I have some updates to my drum rig on the way, but they are more in the way of furniture than anything that makes a noise. I am also considering going to a local drum teacher to get some direct feedback on my playing as well as to play some acoustic drums. I keep looking at the Facebook market for some drums that might suit me. There are plenty of kits for sale.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/jjgsqxiz
I have been getting on with some lessons on Drumeo lately. Previously I did a 30 day course by Domino Santantonio where you played along with her for 10 minutes each day as she added in more parts of the song each time.
There are now a couple of 10 day lessons by her and the first is on fills. These are the little fiddly bits you throw in, usually where a song moves between sections. In this case the fills are relatively simple, but keeping it up for 10 minutes is a bit of an endurance test. At the end they gave you the backing track for the song at full speed. You actually play it three times in ten minutes, but I just recorded one.
This was a first take. I can hear I drifted off the beat a little at times and I messed up a couple of the feeds, but I knew where the sections started and I ended at the right time. This is the sort of thing I need to practice more. It is all very well having lots of tricks, but if you cannot just play a beat in time with the music then you are failing as a drummer.
I am playing my Roladn TD-07 drums. I had the track playing on my tablet that connects to the drums via Bluetooth. Recording was with guvcview and editing in Kdenlive, both on Ubuntu Studio Linux. I have to tweak it a bit to get the sound in sync with the video.
You can see some of my guitar pick collection in the corner of the screen.
I welcome more drum content in the Drumming community. You can cross-post from other communities if you like, as long as it is relevant.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/wzlqfqpm
I have been making music of various kinds for many years and I find it makes me feel better. I saw this article today about the therapeutic benefits of music. I actually have a couple of the books it references.
I know people do various music therapies around things like yoga that may be more on the spiritual side, but I think that any kind of music can make you feel better if it lifts your mood and we each have our own tastes. I do think that actually playing music adds to the experience as you engage different parts of the brain as opposed to just listening. It is hard to be thinking of anything else when you are playing music. That is my kind of meditation. I have done a fair bit of accompanying other musicians and you need your full focus to track what they are doing as well as playing your part. Lately I have been drumming with our new band and I really have to concentrate on that. We have our first gig at the weekend. Stay tuned for a report on that. We have some other Hivers in the band who may post about it too.
I spend my day at work at a computer and tend not to have music on then. When I come home I want to just play. Today I found a backing track from the extensive library on Drumeo. It was called One-Bar Fills and that was ideal as it is an area I want to work on. You need to be able to switch between just keeping the beat and fun little elments to add interest. This is by no means a polished performance. You are just seeing me doing a little workout to try some ideas.
Life is all about getting a good balance. I have to work, but I have other activities to relax. I will watch TV, but I need other things that are less passive. Music fills that hole.
Rock on.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/wttxyslt
A few days ago @killerwot posted a video of him playing bass along to Sweet Dreams by The Eurythmics. I thought I would try adding some drums.
Drumeo had the drum tab. It is mostly very simple and some is just the kick drum playing 4/4 beats. The tricky part comes on the middle eight with some fast high hat. That should including opening and closing it, but I could barely keep up as it was. I will have to work more on that.
You may notice a glitch about 20s in. When I played his video on 3speak it kept buffering early on. In the end I just carried on and tried to edit out the gap in Kdenlive. My skills are not up to making that seamless.
I am playing my Roland TD-07 kit on the Synth Drum preset that seemed to fit the song. They may have used a drum machine originally, but that technology was in an early state then. I think they did use a Fairlight sampler which was the state of the art and cost about as much as a house. I remember when the song came out with the striking video.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/zarkljic
I am late with my Monday Drumday post as 3speak is having some issues. I try to save the post and nothing happens.
I was doing the Drumeo 30 Day Chops challenge last week, but this week it has just got beyond my skills. That is okay as I can always come back to it later. I could get back to their Method courses. The next lesson on that was metal drumming fills. The lesson video has six of those and they give patterns for another four. I downloaded the tab and had that up on screen whilst I played along to their backing track on my Roland TD-07 drums. I used a 'Metal' preset, of course.
I tried playing all the different fills, but had to give some a few goes to get closer to being right. I do not anticipate playing a lot of metal, but you can adapt fills to different styles. It increases your drumming vocabulary and keeps things interesting.
I have another video lined up that is for the latest Drumeo community collaboration. I will post that soon.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/fvmcyhjb
I missed doing a drumming video last week. I was doing a new course on Drumeo called 30 Day Chops. Chops seem difficult to define. I would think of it as general skills, but they are referring to little showing off bits where you play around the drum set. Each day during the week there is a ten minute video to play along with where the teacher, ZackGrooves goes through six different patterns. This is similar to another 30 day challenge that was just about basic grooves and this is much harder. I decided to try it anyway. It starts fairly easy on the Monday and gets harder. Last week it was based around paradiddles and I gave up on Thursday. This week is doubles. The video below is based on the paradiddle workout, but they do not make everything public to non-subscribers.
They supply the backing track with notation shown on screen. I used my tablet to play that whilst the PC recorded video. You may notice a different camera angle. I had another webcam that is mounted on top of my speaker. You may just see it in the static video image. I had to do slight tweaks in Kdenlive to get the audio in sync, as usual. I made a few mistakes when I let my concentration wander, but managed to get back to the groove.
I will try to keep playing along this week, but I also want to get back to the Method lessons and there is another community song to submit a video for. There is so much going on with Drumeo that I cannot keep up. If I ever retire I will have plenty to do. I have considered their lifetime membership offer.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/ietqevhv
Yesterday I had an informal recording sessions with some friends including @daniellemurray and @purplesinger. We got together to record some jazz tunes and other songs. I did some singing and guitar, but also took along my little Yamaha drums. Some of the tunes really need a swing rhythm, so I need to practice that.
Earlier this evening I was working on some heavy rock for a Drumeo collaboration, so this is a bit different. Drumeo had an appropriate backing track I could use. It sounds a bit like early Miles Davis.
I just played the basic rhythm with some variations of how I played the drum and cymbals. Jazz soloing is another level.
I hope to see more drummers on Hive soon, but I will keep doing these #drumday videos to motivate myself.
I am trying to upload this again as 3speak reporting a rendering issue. Unfortunately it does not give you the original text you typed in, so I had to do that again.
Rock on, man!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/fykktrbisw
I just installed the new @threespeak app on my Android phone. I have uploaded videos via the web, but this should make it easier.
I just came up with there idea for the #HiddenTalent tag where people can show off something they can do that may surprise others.
Back in my student days I played Ultimate, so I often had a Frisbee in my hand. I saw others twirling them on a finger and wanted to learn to do it too. It took a for of trial and error, but eventually I got it and all these years later I can still padiddle, as it is called.
Show us your secret skills!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/vzwcrqrc
As I have said before I am using the Drumeo online music school to aid in my drum learning. One of their features is a monthly collaboration where students all play the same song and someone edits them all together. In April it was We Are The Champions by Queen. Unfortunately I left it until the last minute and then had some computer issues, so I missed being part of it. When I recorded a video on the computer the sound and video would go out of sync and that is not simple to fix. This happened after I got the latest version of Ubuntu Linux and it must have changed some defaults.I eventually figured out that it was something to do with the sample rate the software expected being different to what the interface delivered. So I now have it all working again.
I wanted to record the song for my own enjoyment. I had the backing track from Drumeo playing on my tablet that connects to the Roland TD-07 drums over Bluetooth, with the mixed audio feed going to the PC.
This is a fun song to play. Most rock is in 4/4 time, but this is in 12/8, which means it is counted in sets of three. It has lots of bass drum and cymbal action with a few tricky fills. I simplified some of those.
I was lucky to see Queen live twice and they were amazing shows. Freddie was a great front man. We also attended the tribute concert at Wembley Stadium that celebrated his music and that of Queen in general.
Meanwhile I completed the 30 day double stroke challenge I mentioned previous. I saw a nice improvement in my ability to play fast that I hope will come in useful. I will press on with the Drumeo lessons that keep introducing new techniques and styles.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/lpcrsiwy
This has been a bit of a frustrating exercise. I just wanted to record a video, but the computer had other ideas. I use Ubuntu Studio (type of Linux) and have a program called guvcview that can record from a webcam. It is very configurable and I had it working nicely. At the weekend I installed the latest Ubuntu update that brings new versions of most of the applications. That ran smoothly and everything seemed fine until I tried to make my video.
I saw that Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol was available on Drumeo as a backing track and it was rated as easy. It actually only has drums on about half the song, but there is some variety in the patterns. These are pretty standard apart from one bar towards the end where it reverses the normal beats. I slightly messed that up on the recording and it took me a moment to get back into the groove.
I started off just recording as usual, but when I played it back I found that the audio was out of sync with the video. This is a problem I had before, but I thought I had solved it. It may be that something in the update messed it up again. I tried some other apps, but none was doing what I needed.
I had to resort to alternative methods. I cannot just record with my phone as that will mainly pick up the sound of me hitting the drums and those do not sound so good. I needed to capture the sound going into the PC. For that I used Audacity. Then it was a matter of combining the two and I used Kdenlive for that. By looking at the audio from the phone I can match it up to the better audio from Audacity .The result is not too bad, but I wasted some time.
I was using my new drumsticks. I thought I would try some with nylon tips for a change. They will not make much difference on my electronic kit, but they are lighter than the others I have due to being maple rather than hickory. There is also slightly less chance of them catching on the mesh drumheads.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/mzjfkdsa
WARNING! The drums come in a bit loud at the start, so mind your hearing.
I was looking for something to play along with from the vast selection on Drumeo. I looked at a couple of songs, but they need more preparation before I would feel happy doing a video. They also have some generic backing tracks and I picked one that is based on Lynyrd Skynyrd.
I used it as an exercise in using some of the fills I have been playing in a recent lesson. I was trying to get the fill into the eighth bar each time, so I was counting, but also trying to feel where that was.
There is an odd bit in the middle with just the bass where I lost my place a bit, but it was not too bad generally. I may just be slightly behind the beat. This is where is can be useful to have the optional metronome. Of course, in a band the drummer usually provides the beat, so playing drums over a backing track like this reverses that. With some songs the bass orguitar can give you something solid to follow.
Anyway, it was about time I did another recording and it is good practice for me. I have been playing with my band that includes some Hivers, but we only rehearse once each month.
I am continuing the double stroke challenge. I have improved my stamina and speed quite a bit. I will do some of that this evening too.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/hwmepoye
This may be my least interesting drumming video to most people. I am playing a 'rudiment' called the double stroke roll. You will see that guy can play them really quickly, but I am still developing my technique. Over on Drumeo they have various challenges based around these exercises. I previously did the single stroke roll over thirty days and saw real improvement both in speed and stamina. I am doing the same now with doubles, but this is only my third day. I started very gently and am gradually increasing the tempo. What you see is me doing one minute at 85bpm just after doing 4, 3 and 2 minute versions at different tempos. I can tell you that four minutes seems like a lifetime, but I already see an improvement from day one.
I made the video so I can check on my progress at some later date. I will try to do another when I complete the thirty days.
Drumming is very much a physical exercise and you need to train the appropriate muscles. I watched a lesson last night on bass drum technique where the teacher said he would play constant bass beats for long periods in his younger days. I know that sounds boring, but you can do it to music and vary the patterns.
I wanted to do the monthly collaboration too, but I am running out of time and have not worked on the song. I have had other things going on such as a concert on Saturday. I am out several nights this week too that will include an open mic at a local pub.
On top of that I am trying the Duolingo app again to try and learn French. I did it at school, but was never much good. I know a fair few words, but putting them together is the hard part. I hope a few minutes of that each day will improve it. I learnt German when I lived in Germany, so I know it is possible for me to learn another language.
Never stop learning and rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/mqjcofol
Time for another drum cover. This is another from the Drumeo library from Coldplay. This is rated as pretty simple and it mostly is apart from a few 'ghost' notes. It does have some variety as there are several different bass drum patterns through the song. This was only my second play-through of the song following the notation on my tablet.
I am playing my Roland TD-07KX kit on the LiveAcoustic preset. The tablet audio comes into that over Bluetooth and the audio output goes into my interface.
I wanted to try a different camera angle this time. My main webcam is not easy to move, so I set up my phone by my feet. I actually had a second webcam in front of me. I had two instances of the recording software running, but this other one did not save anything. I need to experiment with that, but did not have time today. I edited in Kdenlive, which I still have a lot to learn about. My priority is making music rather than messing around with the software, but I need to do both really to improve my videos.
Today is #Forkday for Hive celebrating three years since we became independent of toxic corporate control. I did a little power up to mark that achievement.
I need to rehearse some guitar and ukulele for a band gig at the weekend as well as recording a song I have been figuring out a fresh arrangement for.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/xwfgyezs
Happy monday! I am still trying to keep up fairly regular drumming videos as a log of my progress. On the Drumeo school they had this recent lesson where they showed five different levels of playing Californication by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I thought I could just about manage level three.
This rhythm has what are called 'ghost notes' and this is my first attempt at those. I think they should really be much quieter than I play them, but just getting the right beats in there was hard enough. It is pretty much the same all the way through with a few fills.
On Drumeo I see people doing some really fancy videos with multiple camera angles and I thought I should do this too. I have not played much with video editing, but previously I recorded each part separately. This time I needed to do them at the same time. I recorded one with guvcview from the PC and the other with my phone. I loaded both into Kdenlive for editing. Aligning the clips was actually quite easy as I could see where the beats were. Then I needed to refresh my memory on how to lay out the clips.
I made plenty of mistakes, but I got through the song. I enjoyed the challenge.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/jpmkjwdm
On the Drumeo school they do a monthly collaboration video where students film themselves playing a song. This month is was Lovely Day by Bill Withers.
I was dithering over joining in, but did send in a video at the last minute. On that I played a really simple version using the standard 'money beat', but it has been frustrating me that I could not get closer to the cool syncopated bass drum part. I have been trying to get it into my brain. I even 'air drum' it at work. One advantage of drumming is that you do not actually need an instrument to figure out how to play something.
This is still not the full version and I did slow the backing track down to 90%, but I am getting there. I did a couple of takes today and this was the better one even though I mess up in a few places. I definitely feel like I am making progress.
I have been slacking a bit on the Drumeo lessons lately, but am still playing most days. I have just had other things going on, but I will get back to it soon.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/frssbrxu
Happy Monday! It may mean the start of a work week, but for me it means some drumming.
I did not play much last week as I was away, but I took my sticks for some practice.
I just completed the 30 day single stroke roll challenge on Drumeo. I started at a maximum of 90bpm and got up to around 130. I am doing four strokes per beat, so that is 520 hits per minute. I know other drummers can play much faster, but I feel I made progress. I was at my limit, so I need to learn the techniques to reach a higher level.
I also had my first student review on Drumeo last week. I submitted my performance of Psycho Killer and instructor Brandon Toews gave me some tips. I knew I had to work on my timing and he picked up on that. I will take his advice. You can only see those videos if you join the site. If anyone is serious about learning an instrument I have some codes for you to get a free trial.
For today I just played through what is ranked as one of the easier songs to play on the school site. Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want To Have Fun has the same beat all the way though. That is a good test of your endurance. I did miss a few beats and my timing wandered a little, so that needs more work. It may seem boring to be playing the same thing over and over, but it is a mental and physical challenge that could help improve my technique and playing along to a song is fun.
This is of course on my new Roland kit. I am still exploring what that can do. This song just uses a couple of the drums, so I will look at finding something with more variety for future videos. I just want to try and get into a routine with playing songs.
Have a rocking week!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/eqdtweqc
I am still busy with the Drumeo courses. I mentioned last week that I was doing a 30 day challenge to improve my single stroke roll. I am two thirds of the way through and making good progress. I am still limited to about 125bpm with four hits per beat, but I can play a little slower for several minutes with no real issues. I do this on my practice pad and have some foam on the stick tips to keep the noise down a bit. I am sure there are elements of my technique that could be improved to get it faster as I know others can manage 160bpm or more.
I have not done quite so many of the lessons this week as I have been a little busy with other things.
One of those things is my new kit. I put it together one evening and have been experimenting with it since then. It does not take up too much room, but I may need to rearrange the room a little more.
I will be doing more recording of the drums of course, so I have been experimenting with how I can do that. The simplest way is to run an audio lead from the headphone output to my interface, via a mixer. Unlike some kits the Roland TD-07 does not have a dedicated recording output. It can send audio over USB though.
My first issue with a USB connection was not having a long enough cable, so I ordered a 5m one from ebay. Firstly I verified that it would pass MIDI data by running into Hydrogen drum software. Audio was more of a problem. I could see TD-07 listed using the ALSA, but not in the Ubuntu Studio volume controls or various recording apps.
The USB audio has two modes called GENERIC and VENDOR. You would think a generic mode would be more likely to work, but I had to change it from that default to VENDOR. Then it worked in Linux with no need to install extra drivers.
There was a further twist I wanted to achieve which was to be able to hear the drums through my speakers when connected over USB without having a recording application running. This involved using features of the PulseAudio sound server. You can load a 'loopback' module that lets one sound source connect to a destination. You have to do this via the command line as far as I can see, but then you can change the routing in the volume control screen. I found details of this here.
The command I used is something like:
pactl load-module module-loopback latency_msec=1 sink=3
Where sink=3 uses the device number of my audio interface.
This is all very geeky, but I wanted to get this information on the blockchain for future reference. Someone else may find it useful eventually.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/whyqeqkg
This is the 9395 pick-up truck kit that I originally built with my son about ten years ago. We never got around to building the other model it could do, but I recently got back into Lego and decided to give it a go.
The instructions for the alternative model were not included, but you can download them. There are three books with almost 200 pages in total. It will take several hours to build and I did it over a few days. It is not too difficult, although some of the diagrams are a little hard to make out. There are lots of similar parts and you need to make sure you use the right ones.
I like that there are lots of moving parts on this model. I would have loved it when I was a kid, but I can still appreciate it now. I do have a lot of respect for the designers. Once built it is quite robust, so you can play with it. I know there is a whole scene of Adult Fans of Lego (AFOLs). It could be an expensive hobby.
We have some other Lego around the house, so I may feature more of it soon.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/fmpkwvkf
Today I was attempting to play something like this guy is teaching. Some songs have a rhythm that sounds a bit like a steam train. He uses Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet as an example. I actually saw them live in about 1985 when they played at my university.
The basic rhythm is simple, but he uses some bass drum hits on off-beats that took me a while to wrap my brain around. I have to take it really slowly and get the coordination sorted out. I need to work more on varying the bass drum rather than just hitting the standard 1 and 3 beats. The drum set has a metronome that I can use when practicing to improve my timing .I have also been trying this metronome app that has lots of options for complex rhythms and varying your practice.
Another issue I had was getting my Yamaha DD-65 drum to make the right beats ring out. The pads have three levels of sensitivity, but it is really easy to over-hit and so they all end up sounding the same. I was playing around with the sensitivity settings to see if I could improve this with limited success. Fun as this box is I may have to upgrade as I try to do more complex and subtle techniques. Of course I would love a real acoustic kit, but that will be noisy and take up more space.
My current plan is to get some lessons next year. That may be a mix of online and in person as I would like the chance to play real drums and get the feel of those. I expect they will be a different experience.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/dfksmfoy
I have had a harmonica for many years. I bought a Hohner Blues Harp (in C) and tried to play it. I could get basic tunes from it and even learned to bend some notes, but I was more into guitar and so it mostly sat in a drawer. I have taken it to pub sessions and sometimes used it, if only to make train noises.
I have recently been influenced by @anna-newkey who quite often plays harmonica on songs she sings at pub sessions and open mics. You should check out her videos. In the band we are both in we do a song where we play the kazoo and I bought a harmonica rack for that, but had not actually used it. I just got a cheap one and it is more like operating a bear trap as the springs are so strong. This week I finally tried it with the harmonica. It was tough getting it in there.
I could have learnt a Bob Dylan song, but decided to write my own and it is about this experience. Just a short little ditty. Perhaps this will lead to further experiments.
It was actually not too hard to adapt to playing the two instruments at once. I am used to singing with guitar, so playing the chords is almost on automatic for me. I really just need to work out what to play on the harmonica. I kept it simple this time. You can play melodies or chords. Getting the chords to match the guitar can be the tricky part, but as all the notes are in the scale of C you cannot go far wrong if the song is in the same key.
The cover image was generated by DALL-E.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/mpvgxhwt
I have @dickturpin to thank for the inspiration for this video. He tweeted a video of a performance of AC/DC's Thunderstruck by hundreds of drummers.
https://twitter.com/dick_turpin/status/1589612430736384001
So I had to have a go at that. On Youtube you can find drumless versions of some songs and this one also includes the drum 'tab' that shows you what to play. I had that up on my tablet to follow along.
I do not know how many hundreds of hits on the high-hat this song has, but my right hand was struggling a bit. That hand has some nerve damage and so the muscles are a bit weak. I also struggled a bit with the timing on the first half of the song, but I managed to lock in for some of it. I will say that I slowed the video down to 0.75x so I could keep up. I would need more than the one practice I did to get up to speed. It was still fun. I hope I can look back on this in a year and be able to play it much better by then.
The song is unusual as the bass drum switches from being on beats 2 and 4 at the start to the standard 1 and 3 later on.
I am playing my Yamaha DD-65 drums. Some of the sounds are great, but the floor tom sounds a bit electronic for my tastes. Maybe I will get something better eventually, but this is okay to learn the basics and see if I want to keep drumming.
The cover image was generated with DALL-E.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/cqemxfcx
It has been a while since I did anything for #TeleTuesday. A while back I heard this song on the radio and I thought I could do something with it. I have not really done much with looping in songs, but I have seen so many people doing cool stuff, including a good friend of mine. I could hear this riff running through the song that could work as a loop.
I have had my Zoom G3X effects unit for years. It has a basic drum machine and you can do loops of up to 40s. The clever bit is that you can synchronise the loop to the drums by setting how many beats it should record for. This was only a couple of bars.
You will see me reaching down as I have to press a tiny button to start and stop the drums. Then I have to switch modes to the looper and make sure I hit the right buttons with my foot. I performed this at our local open mic, but had some issues as my big shoes were pressing the wrong buttons. I need to read the lyrics too as there are a lot of them.
This was a first take of the video and not too bad. I had a few timing issues, but I am fairly happy with it. I hope you enjoy it. I need to experiment more with this technology. I actually have three different loopers and one can do really long loops.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/lxvfebcg
I am conscious that I have not done a drumming video. I have not been working on many exercises or pieces lately, but I do have a play now and then. Doing posts about it ought to be an incentive.
I was not even planning to post today, but I was watching the percussion final of the BBC Young Musician competition and I got inspired. These are young people between about 15 and 18 who already have achieved levels of musicianship I may never match. The variety of musical styles was also impressive with jazz, classical, rock and some very 'out there' pieces.
Inspiration is a large part of the musical process. I can get inspiration for writing songs or to cover songs by others or just to pick up an instrument and play something. I may have picked up something about this rhythm from one of the pieces I heard, but I popped into my head and I had to try playing it, just to see if I could. It does help when you can play what your mind comes up with and it is not always the case.
So this is an improvisation around what I thought of that features a couple of hits on the floor tom each time around, although I did skip some for variety.
I am not seeing too many active drummers on Hive. Some who were posting videos have not been around lately, but I just saw that @andrewmusic has got himself an electronic kit.
I am still fairly new to drumming, but having fun with it.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/eamnsxxp
I am in a band called Swing 42 with fellow Hivers @danillemurray, @purple-singer and @anna-newkey. We have played a few gigs at pubs and other events and in the last week we had two gigs. The first was a return to a local swing dancing club who actually pay us! That was fun, but can be quite hard work as it is a lot of quick tunes. It was actually on the evening that the Queen died, but it went ahead anyway.
The second gig was at Balstock Festival. This is a free festival in lots of venues around the town of Baldock. I have played there before with @daniellemurray in our duo @swing47. Notice a theme with our band names? They are named after Django Reinhardt albums. We do not have video of the first gig, but we do for Balstock thanks to our percussionist Ray. Unfortunately flautist Bob did not quite get in the shot. The audio is a little distorted, but the mix is actually pretty good after the sound guy spent a while setting us up. We did not get out full time due to this, but we played as many songs as we could. The reason we are laughing between songs is because it really rained heavily, which was appropriate for Pennies From Heaven. The audience were under cover and seemed to enjoy it. We even had some dancers join us by the stage.
@anna-neykey and Ray also had solo sets at the festival. I saw quite a few people I knew playing there, but then it is mostly local bands and artists. I enjoyed some rock and funk bands I saw there and I caught bits of other sets as I wandered around. Lots of talent there. The festival is raising money for charity, so nobody gets paid. It is great to see so many people out enjoying themselves with all that live music.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/mtvnzhra
I have not done a #DrumDay video for a few weeks. With travel and COVID there has not been so much time for drumming, but I will get back into it.
Billie Jean by Michael Jackson is often given as a prime example of the standard rock beat. I found this backing track without drums or vocal to play along with.
Watching it back I see I am still pulling back my left hand between hits. I need to keep it over the drum to get better timing. I may have slipped off the beat a bit, but it is hard when you normally rely on the drummer to keep you in time. I was listening to the bass instead. I need to route my headphone cable better as it was getting in the way, but I need those to hear everything clearly. I did pull my kit around to be face on to the camera this time. It is all on a bit of carpet, so I can just pull that to move it. I need the carpet as the bass drum has spikes and I do not want those directly on my wooden floor. It also reduces the external noise a little. You can get proper drumming mats, but I just use an old rug that is folded over. The flowery mat you can see is the protect the floor from the wheels of my office chair. I do have a basic drum 'throne', but tend not to use it.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/bfvkcjng
I have not been making so much music lately as I caught the dreaded COVID last week and and am still suffering a bit with it. Today I am back to some drumming and trying to expand on what I tried previously with using alternating feet.
I was messing around with my Yamaha DD-65 drums and found a preset called China Kit. It has the advantage that the high hat pedal sound is louder than some of the regular kits so I (and you) can hear what I am doing as well as a great gong sound. I just improvised this to see what I could do.
The foot work is basically just like walking, which should be the most natural thing, but when your hands try to do something different it can go to pieces. I think I held it together fairly well, but I was losing it at the end.
One issue I would love to resolve is why some video files crash my Linux PC when I play them in VLC. These files have been generated by various applications. I have not found other references to this online, but then it is not an easy thing to search for.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/wmudxodx
Some years ago I started a pub music session in my home town of Arlesey. It has grown into a great set of musicians who I call friends. We put on open mic nights where people can do more of a performance once a month.
The latest sessions have been at The Angel's Share in Hitchin. This is a whisky bar that also serves great Indian food and is run by Harpreet who loves live music and hosts lots of acts. Our session is early evening on a Sunday and there is often someone else playing afterwards.
@todayslight has hosted a few of these and you can see him tweaking the sound. He has his own post of original songs he played that evening.
I was playing my trusty Benford Telecaster. This time I used Roland Cube 80x amplifier. I had not used it for ages, but I was doing some tunes with @daniellemurray that needed some heavy sounds for some 'clarinet doom'! I used a couple of different settings for my set with some added delay. I do make a few mistakes, but this is live music. You may notice I am using a thumb pick. This works for me as I have issues holding a normal pick due to muscle issues with that hand.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/rfqsjrwr
I have not done a drum video, or any video really in a while. I need to get back into it as it forces me to practice. I was looking for some basic drumming exercises that could improve my technique. It is very easy to just play things you can do already, so you need to get out of your comfort zone.
Drumeo have some great lessons and they make a load of them available for free. This is rated as something for beginners, but I am not playing it all yet. It is a series of patterns using alternating feet on the bass drum and high hat. This is not something I have done much and as I started this just now I was all over the place. Every time I played the high hat with my left foot I wanted to use my left hand when I should be using my right. With this kit the high hat is quite quiet and I cannot adjust the balance, so take my word that I am mostly getting it right now.
I just play the first two of five patterns. The third has paradiddle and the others have more hits to the beat, so I will need to work on those. On the site they have videos at different levels depending on how fast you can play. I did try this with the metronome on the drums at around 50bpm, but I turned that off for the video. It is quite hard to keep with it. That can actually be harder when playing slow as the gaps are long and hard to judge.
I was chatting the the guy who runs the open mic I played at on Thursday. He is a drummer and offered me a free trial lesson on real drums. I need to arrange that. I have not had a proper go on a real kit, so it will be interesting, and loud. If I think it is useful then I may pay for some lessons with him. I have considered subscribing to Drumeo, but having a teacher in the room can give you instant feedback.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/plvfuxca
It is a really nice Easter weekend in the UK. I have been fairly busy with jobs that need doing. I have done some repairs around our garden and then we were clearing a garden of another house today. Got very hot and dirty doing that. My dad made us lunch and I did some technical support for him.
The chickens are fine and laying well.
The Swing 42 gig last week was fun. You can see @daniellemurray, @purplesinger and @anna-newkey here as we were setting up. Unfortunately we did not get any video of the gig. We need to sort that out for next time, and they do want us back.
I hope you are enjoying your weekend.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/gluvrdbd
I have been doing more messing around on the drums lately, but needed to find something to actually learn for today. There are tons of drum lessons on Youtube and I found this one from Jeff Randall. I do not think I have done one of his before. He has a Patreon page where subscribers get access to extra material, but I just took the drum tab from the video.
Jeff teaches us a brief solo that uses a call and response pattern with the first half being the same each time and the responses getting steadily more complex. I found it tricky as it is not a straight 4/4 beat and the bass wanders a bit. I was getting fairly close by my final take, but I am probably playing it at less than half his full speed. I can keep working on it. I had the usual recording issues where either sound does not work or gets out of sync. I can work with my Linux setup, but can be frustrating.I did not do any fancy editing this time.
We had a contribution to the Drums community from @iyedrumz who shows us how to really play as he backs up his band. I can dream of playing so naturally. I know it takes years of practice.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/wvdcebxx
I have been a little lax in keeping up these videos on Monday #DrumDay, but I have been playing a bit anyway. This time I am working from a nice lesson from the Drumeo school. It covers various beats Dave Grohl has done in different bands. I have just gone for some of the simpler ones that I am familiar with. Others are too advanced for me right now.
So we have the chorus part of My Hero (Foo Fighers), the verse from In Bloom (Nirvana) and the chorus of Everlong (Foo Fighters). In Bloom is a fairly standard beat, but the others were more challenging. I am not playing them at full speed yet. Everlong is the hardest as it uses fast beats with both hands on the high hat with the bass and snare coming in at different times. I made a few mistakes, but this is my first evening of playing these and I hope to improve. This video will remind me how I started out.
I am playing my Yamaha DD-65 drums on which I have upgraded the foot pedals. You may not see my legs move much as I have been playing the bass drum with my heel down.
This week I actually did some editing of my video! This was mainly so I could take the best performance of each beat, but I have been wanting to do more video work. I was partly inspired by this post by @ds-tech who looks to be very proficient with the kdenlive editor that is freely available on Linux. I am just using some basic features to trim my clips, but I thought I may as well add some captions. I had to tweak the rendering a bit as the first version crash the VLC player (and my whole Linux system!) and 3speak did not like it either.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/neszsiab
Out in the garden on a lovely day, but thinking about what others are going through right now.
I cleaned out the chickens and also did more clearing up from the storm damage last weekend. We got off lightly really and it could have been much worse.
The cat was enjoying the sun and got up on the shed roof after I finished filming.
I am still getting over a bout of 'man flu'. I have done COVID tests and they come up negative. It has meant I am missing some open mic sessions, but check out how @todayslight got on there.
Peace.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/cdspruyj
As the UK has been suffering from a few storms lately I was inspired to play the song Stormy Weather, which is one I have played with my band Swing 42 as well as in other contexts. It did take me a while to learn all the chords, but I do like being able to play it without the sheet music. I still made a few mistakes this time. After singing it I decide to just play it through again.
I am playing my Benford Guitars custom Telecaster through a Zoom G3X effects/amps box.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/lxkbjihv
I have been playing my drums some more over the first week, but I only attempted this Coldplay song today. I was looking at what was available on the Drumless channel and found this one, amongst the hundreds available. I am not a huge Coldplay fan, but I think their first album is good.
This time I did not try to play to the scrolling dots in the video as it did not seem quite right. I had some tab that went with this video from Stephen Taylor that seemed better, so I used that.
As I have only played this through a couple of times I was not going to get it spot on, but I think I did okay. The pattern on the chorus is a bit tricky and my bass drum was missing some beats. It is one I can keep working on. I want to build up a repertoire of a few songs I can play through.
Sorry about the audio quality on some of this. Something was distorting. I had the drums and my phone (playing the backing track) running through a mixer to record this. Someone mentioned they could not see my feet doing anything in a previous video, so I moved everything back so the camera could see more. I have been playing the bass drum without raising my heel, so my legs are prety static.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/rnrxptnr
For #Drumday this week I have a song I recorded last week for the @radioliquorice show that our local music community put together.
I opted to cover the song Flume by Bon Iver. This is the first time I have used my newish Yamaha DD-65 drums in a song. Recording was done in Ardour on Linux (Ubuntu Studio).
I started by recording the guitar part with my Taylor accoustic. I did not record to a click, so the timing may vary a bit. Then I added the vocals with some backing vocals on the choruses. I also played my Tanglewood ukulele. Finally I played the drums. I went for a very simple pattern as I was more concerned with just getting through the song and just took a couple of takes. I will admit I did a little edit to get the final cymbal to line up with the last chord.
I used some compressor, EQ and reverb to polish the sound a bit. I really need to learn more about how to use those more effectively. I then used FFMPEG to make a video from the audio file. The whole recording process only took about an hour.
As I upload this the image I used in the video is not showing in the 3speak preview, but I will add it as a thumbnail anyway. It was just a screenshot of Ardour.
This has given me confidence to do more recording. I could try using MIDI drums to have more control. The only real issue with this is that the DD-65 does not transmit use of the high-hat pedal. I have tried it with Ardour and need to look more into it. It ought to be possible to split the drums into individual tracks so they can be treated separately. I could do this via Hydrogen.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/tmrtupid
Some of you may have been following my journey in learning to play the drums. Today I attempt a song that I had tried bits of before. I found a Youtube channel with lots of 'drumless' songs and it includes this ZZ Top classic.
The video use a scrolling drum tab like the Guitar Hero games. I have never played any of those, so responding to that was part of the challenge. I also had to feel for where the beats fell in the song and I did lose my place at times. You will see me pause at times. I only played it through a few times, so my performance is that that great. If I was playing a game it would not be a hgh score for sure.
This was really just an exercise to see how I would perform and do not expect it to be all that entertaining. I just like to record my progress and maybe people will have suggestions.
You may notice something on the ends of my drum sticks. I had some comments from my other half about the noise. Even with headphones the sound of drumsticks on hard rubber pads is quite loud. I saw that you can buy rubber tips, but I improvised some with packing foam. It does deaden the sound a bit. At least I do not live in an appartment. If you have people downstairs then you need more extensive measures to deal with the noise. People build isolated platforms for their drumkits.
I also had issues with Youtube on the tablet leaving the pause button on screen. I found some tips saying that clearing the cache could fix that and it worked.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/wzvnqgio
This week I have been working on a piece composed by @giampaolo19 a while back. The text and video are in Italian, but I gather it is based on the style of Bruce Springsteen. It is challenging as the bass beat moves around a lot whilst the high-hat and snare keep to the same pattern throughout. I have found it quite hard, but I can sometimes play it right all the way through, even if it is not particularly quick. What I managed to video was not my best performance, but I may not do better today. Some hits may not have registered on the audio, but I think I played just about all of them in the right places.
I am reading the drum notation, which is similar to normal music notation. Each note position indicates a particular drum or cymbal. I know some people have some fear of music notation, but it is an effective way to transfer information and not that hard to learn.
I will work on something else this week and will look at more of Giampaolo's posts for ideas.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/yyxejxog
Last week on #DrumDay I talked about the Yamaha DD-65 electronic drumkit I picked up. I was frustrated by the hi-hat and bass drum controls and so have found replacements on ebay. It is a much more satisfying experience now.
I have been hunting around for posts that would be good in the Drums community. I found @giampaolo19 from Italy who is a professional drummer. @orestistrips is from Greece and I think drumming is more of hobby for him, but he's good.
I did not prepare my actual drumming for this video too well, so I did mess up a bit, but I hope it shows the benefits of this kit. I think it should pretty good through decent speakers. I still need to experiment with the MIDI interface as I could use that to drive a software drumkit on the PC with better samples. Maybe I will do that for next week. I will try to learn some new techniques by then too.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/tythnraq
I had a New Drum Day last week when I picked up this used Yamaha DD65 as an upgrade over the drum pad I had been using up to now. It is a big upgrade, as I explain in the video.
This is an old model. The newer DD75 just has more of everything, but the physical drum is much the same. I am looking to upgrade the pedals as those supplied are not great. It will still be cheaper than buying the unit new.
I had it plugged into my audio interface and that sounds better through my big speakers than the built-in ones. Those are fine for practicing.
It can run off batteries, but it needs a load of large cells that could be expensive. It is made to fit on a snare stand and it conveniently came with one. That is fairly sturdy. You will see the drum stool I also got in the video.
Look forward to lots more drumming videos from me. I did finally tweak my settings for recording video on the PC so that the sound is in sync. That really matters when you can see me hitting the drums.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/mzykqsfx
I have written before about the issues I have with my right hand due to some nerve problems that cropped up a few years back. It is not painful at all, but it means I can struggle to hold a pick for long. So I have been trying some exercises to get some strength back.
First is the D'Addario hand exerciser that should help with grip strength. You can work each finger individually and it has variable springs. They have changed the design a bit since I got mine.
It seems there are various types of finger exercise bands out there. I think mine came from ebay. They work different muscles.
I bought my Powerball gyroscope long before I had this issue as a fun little exercise device, but had not used it much recently. I need to take it easy with my weak hand, but it works various muscles in the hand and arm.
I am generally fit otherwise from all the running I do. It is just a bit frustrating that this hand struggles, but the body can go wrong in many ways and it could be worse. At least I can still play guitar.
Rock on.
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/hvcueujl
I have watched quite a few videos on drumming doubles where you are hitting twice in a row with the same stick. It is not as simple as you might suppose as there are various techniques to build speed. I am seeing some definite improvements and my weak right hand seems to be coping.
For a change I was using a metronome. I have GTick in Ubuntu Studio. There are phone apps, but I am recording the videos on my phone as I have audio sync issues when I record from the PC.
I am still considering enrolling on a course, but then I think that might push me into buying a decent drumkit, so it could work out expensive. I would probably have to get an electronic kit to maintain domestic harmony. I am keen to make some progress with my music this year.
I had some whisky for Christmas and it seemed a shame to throw away the box. It is just right for storing drumsticks.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/gopgsnnm
Firstly note that my phone ran out of space so the video cut a little short, but I did not have much else to say. I am not an expert on drumming, but I am sharing my learning experience.
This week I have been looking at double stroke rolls, which are a commonly used drumming technique and one of the standard 'rudiments'.
I had assumed you just hit the drum twice, but it is more subtle than that. You need to use technique to get speed and endurance.
My namesake Stephen Clark emphasises using the bounce of the stick to do some of the work. He sells a course all about hand technique that he obviously wants you to buy. I get his daily emails with extra videos, but am not sure I will buy the course.
This guy talks about using the wrist and then the fingers.
Then this one uses the 'Moeller' method that gets multiple hits using flowing motion.
I think it may actually be some combination of these that is actually used. I have issues with my right hand due to muscle loss and I have hopes I can build some strength through drumming, but it is going to take some persistence to see what works for me. Most of these teachers say this is something you really have to work on for a while.
I am quite analytical about things, so I find this all interesting, but I also want to have fun. I expect some players just pick these things up instinctively, but having it explained can provide shortcuts.
I will be interested in what the experienced drummers think.
Rock on!
https://3speak.tv/watch?v=steevc/vsdsqoms
I am trying to keep up my #drumming practice and may start a course in the new year to try and move forward. For today I found another backing track on Youtube. This is a slow blues in 6/8 time, which makes a change from 4/4.
I have only recently got my left foot doing anything when I play, so I incorporated some high-hat action in this. I am playing pretty much straight on the beat without too much rhythmic variation. That is enough to be coping with for now. I just tried to use the other drums and cymbals to add variety.
I am gaining a lot of respect for drummers. Keeping the rhythm even through one song is hard.
My generic drum pad was going through my big monitor speakers to get a better sound than the built-in ones manage. There is a big difference.
I was filming this on my phone and it cut out before the end of the backing track. I thought it had failed to record, but was glad it got something. Five minutes is more than anyone wants to hear of me drumming anyway.
Here is the backing track I used:
I have also been playing some djembe with my swing band. Not a traditional instrument for that, but it makes a nice sound.
It would be good to see some other contributions to the drumming community.
Rock on!