My Drumming

[Drumdoc69]

I finally got up the nerve to post my playing! "Cissy Strut"!!!!!! This is such a cool forum & I appreciate you guys. All critiques welcome (I got thick skin)
This is a link for the solo only (1.5 minutes) http://s46.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3...C1ONK0C3TKW38Z
This link is for the full version (13 min) http://s32.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2...Y2W3P19WXGKFPZ

enjoy
CA

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 30, 2005 10:28 PM: Message edited by: Drumdoc69 ]</font>

[XNavyDrummer]

Nice job Chris! Good pocket and chops. Great doubles on the kick. The only thing I'd add (especially for a song with a lot of solos including a drum solo)is a "break-down" where you slam a flam on one to signal the band to get real soft and let the soloist shine while playing really soft behind him and then build it up again.

Regarding the doubles on the kick, you can get a lot of mileage off of them by playing with even more hand and feet combinations. In addition to the RLBB and RLRLBB combos you can do similar things but with 8th and 16th note triplets and then going between the straight and triplet combinations and then playing around with dynamics. You can also so the odd groupings RLRBB or RLRLRBB for that kind of outside feel. (Check out Steve's post on the groups of 9.) Also try adding cymbals and hihat with your hands instead of only toms and snare when doing these combinations.

Thanks for posting this. Oh yeah and your kit sounded great. What gear (drums sizes, head types etc.) were you using?

[Drumdoc69]

Andy, I really appreciate the advice. This is exactly why I posted it. I feel like my playing has gotten stale over the years and it's great to have constructive criticism so that I know what to practice. I felt like I was doing the RLBB thing WAY too much. As for the kit, it's an older set of Ludwig Rockers. It's the 'house' drumset. The only reason I use it is because I don't have to set up anything. Just show up w/ my sticks. That's great when you constantly set up drums as much as we do! 20" kick, 10" mounted, 14" floor. All coated Ambassadors. The snare is my 14" Pearl Sensitone bronze shell. Thanks again, Andy.
CA

[cjbdrm]

Hey Chris,

Nice job! Thanks for sharing...

The first thing I hear is your emphasis on your downstroke...kind of like you're digging into everything- which is cool, but I would go for more of a 'floaty', 'dancing on top of the drums' type of feeling to smooth out your sound. By 'sound' I mean your tone, or touch. To do this, concentrate more on the upstroke- the 'space between the notes' as they say. A lot of this will occur naturally as you improve your time. I hear fluctuations in your time/tempo( which is natural for everyone to a degree, especially in a live setting), but the tempo sped up noticably during the 2nd part of the bass solo, and most of your fills speed up, too. All this can be improved on easily: play along to a metronome and learn how much space you need 'between the notes'. Just free form solo, playing all your stuff, and you'll pick up on what I'm saying. Another thing I hear, like Andy, is a dependency on the RLFF and RLRLFF bass drum heavy licks...you might want to try leaving these out altogether during a practice session to force yourself to come up with some new or different soloing ideas.

And as far as soloing, try to keep the melody of the tune and the form in your head. If you're doing it right, your solo should sound like you're playing the melody and accomponying yourself at the sme time...then you can give the band a dirty look when they come in early or late... [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img]

By the way, your bass player is great. I would respect any input or advice he ever offers you...also make sure you can hear him on the gig and in practice...I would use him as your time reference because his groove AND subdivisions are rock solid.

I wasn't too crazy about the guitarist's comping- I would tell the guitarist to switch to a 'cleaner' sound when comping...distorted rhythm guitar just doesn't sound right to me for funk...but that's the control freak in me speaking...

Hey man- nice job. Good luck and thanks again for sharing.

-Chris