March 12, 2006

Hello, Hello, Hello!

I was giving My student Iain a LesSoN the other afternoon>>>He was trying to master a 16th Note Hi-Hat Part in a CoOL Off~Beat GroOVe & He asked Me why I have the distance between My Hi-Hat Cymbals & My Snare Drum set the way that it is>>>

My Answer was this…….with comfortable distances between the Drums & Cymbals on My Drum~Sets it gives Me more ROOM to Move around Freely, enabling Me to set up a Smooth FLOW in My Playing & encorages Me to utilise the effects of GRAVITY on My DRUM~STICKS to the fullest!!! >>> Let Me explain this to Everyone in a little More Detail >>>

I’ve found that an ALARMINGLY Large amount of Drummers have No idea how to set up their Drum~Kit so that it is Comfortable to move around on & maintains LOW STRESS & LOW IMPACT on The Muscles in the Body, Particularly the BACK, NECK, SHOULDERS & KNEES.>>>

In 1981 My Drum Teacher Dave Clifford took Me & a small goup of His Favourite Students at Raynes Park High in South London to See THE INCREDIBLE BUDDY RICH & His Big Band Playing at The Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank >>> This AMAZING Experience CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER!! >>> Buddy Rich was then & still is Now,Years after His Death, One of the ALL~TIME GREAT MASTERS of Drums, bringing to the Instrument Swing, Funk, Flair, Humour, Power & FEEL,FEEL, FEEL, FEEL, FEEL!!!>>>>

As an excitable, Over~Enthusiastic Teen~Ager He & His Brilliant Band COMPLETELY BLEW ME AWAY!!!! >>> I Vividly remember getting SO EXCITED that I couldn’t stop Laughing out loud & thoroughly Annoying the other kids in Our little group!!!

In the Interval I walked down to the edge of the stage to look at the MASTER’S Kit & what still fascinates Me to this Day is how FAR AWAY Drums & Cymbals were from Him & His Drum Throne!! >>> He had SO MUCH SPACE!! >>> His China Cymbal for example was a FULL ARMS REACH Away from Him & NO Cymbal or Drum was set too High~ NOTHING was above His Shoulder Hight & NOTHING was Uncomfortable for Him to Reach or Play >>>

I Realised then & there Why He Seemed to have such a GREAT Time & Enjoy Himself SO MUCH when He Played…..BECAUSE HE WAS REALLY COMFORTABLE!!
His Feet, Hands, Arms, Legs & Back were under NO STRESS from His Kit Set~Up….though looking back His Heart obviously WAS from His GRUELING Performance! >>>

So Many Drummers (& Percussionists for that matter) Set their Kits Up to make them Look Cool, Rather than to make them Great to Play>>> This is a BIG MISTAKE!!! >>>>>

So what was that about Gravity I hear You ask! >>>> Well, a Drum Stick FALLS & if We give Ourselves Plently of Room as I have discussed, We can Use this Phenomenon of Physics to Our Great Advantage! >>>>>

Without much Unnecessary Effort We can ALL Play with MORE POWER & SKILL by Controlling & Guiding the “Fall” of Our Sticks thereby “streamlining” the amount of Energy We have to Use to Play Our Instrument >>>

Basically it all adds up to making the Action of Playing Drums or Percussion EASIER & MORE COMFY!!!!! ERGONOMICS!!! >>>
It makes SO MUCH SENSE!!! >>> So why not try Re~Positioning Your Kit TODAY!!!

ENJOY Drumming, ENJOY Music, ENJOY LIFE,

Big Funk & PeaCe to the Planet,

Let the LIGHT Shine,

***<<< Si the DF >>>***

December 10, 2005

Hi All You Drummmers & Percussionist out there,

It’s Mr.Funk here with some More Ideas>>> While I was TeaChing Yesterday, I had some thouGhts about Playing along to CDs oN Drum~Set or Congas & BonGoes>>>

It is MUCH Harder than it at first Seems!>>>

Let’s take the eXample of oNe of My Teenage Students trying to Play along to a Recent “Green Day” Single >>>
Tre Cool the Drummer in this Band has obviously put ALOT of Time & Energy into Designing & Creating His Part for this Particular Track >>> A LOT of ThouGht & Pain~staking Rehearsal Time will definately have gone into Creating this Detailed & Frankly Very Intelligent Piece of Drumming>>>

In a Big International Band such as this, Signed to a Major Label, oNe of the ProCesses New Material has to go throuGh BEFORE aN Album is Recorded is “ROUTINEING”>>>

This is a form of INTENSE Rehearsal of the Song’s FORM & ARRANGEMENT done by the Band (often with the help of their Record Producer) to “Iron Out” any problems in the Track, to OPTIMISE the Commercial Potential of any Track “Short~Listed” for the New CD>>>This can run to MANY DAYS of VERY HARD WORK for the Band in Question ( I know because I’ve been that Soldier & it’s a FULL~ON, Sweaty & EXHAUSTING experience!!!)>>>

As a result, the GLOSSY TRACK that Flows effortlessly out of Your Hi~Fi or MP3 Player has had MANY, MANY Hours of HARD GRAFT spent on it BEFORE it reaches Your EAGER Hands!>>>>

Therefore, when trying to Play like Your HERO, be AWARE of this fact & DON’T be too hard on Yourself if it takes You a While to get it >>>

The MOST IMPORTANT factor to Capture is the FEEL of the Piece >> Get the thing GROOVING & FLOWING, IN TIME before Worrying about EVERY Ghost Note & Fill!!>>> Believe Me, it Probably took the Drummer Him or Herself quite a while to get the Take EXACTLY how they wanted it!>>>

CDs are also, in the case of Most Modern Music, METRONOMICLY IN TIME & therefore VERY UNFORGIVING!!!
Try not to be Dis~Heartened by this!!>>> It doesn’t necessarily mean Your Playing isn’t good if You can’t play the Piece from Beginning to End >>> It just Means You’re trying to Play along with something which has been Fine~Tuned & Perfected for a LONG TIME!!!!!>>>

We are ALL so used to Hearing PERFECTED Music, that I think it’s hard sometimes to put Our own Skill as a Player into Perspective>>>

DO NOT be DISCOURAGED!!!>>> The thing to hold on to is Your LOVE of the Music & That WONDERFUL, EXCITING Feeling it gives You!!!>>> NEVER loose siGht of that!!!>>>

In Music, as far as I’m concerned, ENTHUSIASM IS EVERYTHING!!!>>> Keep hold of that & Music will ALWAYS stay FRESH & INSPIRING for You!!!>>>

PeAcE & BIG LoVe to the World of Drums for Now,

***< <<<< SiMoN the Daddy Funk >>>>>***

December 8, 2005

Hey, Hey, Drum~People!

Today was the DAY that Drummers-Paradise LoOKed THIS SEXY!!! >>>
@ 8.06pm UK Time oN Wednesday 7th December 2005 I Fired~Up My Mac & Saw This Super~Cool Site~Build!!!

It’s beeN aN Exciting & Frustrating TiMe to bring it to this point & THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!!!
MORE CoOL BLOGS, MORE Images, MORE MP3, MORE Links, MORE Drum~FUNK & MORE of ME & MY THOUGHTS!!!!!!! >>>

LoOK OUT WORLD, it’s just gonna get B I G G E R ! ! ! ! ! >>>

Thanks to XcellenceIT in deepest Europe for ALL their HARD WORK, Great Plug~Ins & Great Visuals>>> We got there in the end! >>>

AMANDA the Incredible PantherKitten @pantherkitten.com for Her FaNtAsTiC PHOTOGRAPHS, un~ending Belief & Support & SeXy~LoVe~ViBeS!!!

& the Brilliant & Astounding “JaSoN” for showing Me the Way with such GENEROSITY & PATIENCE >>> WEB~GENIUS!! You ARE Mr.COOL!!! >>>

Keep oN CoMiNg BaCk DruMMiNg PeOpLe >>> It’s PHAT & REAL DRUM BLOGS ONLY, RIGHT HERE ! ! !

PeAcE & Big, SeXy GroOVES to the Planet,

***< <<<< SiMoN the Daddy Funk >>>>>***