A Weckl story...

[tgw_mobile]

A Weckl story...

I just read some old posts on here about Vinnie's performance on the BRMC tape.

I though I'd share a quick story about Dave Weckl regarding that stuff....

About 1.5 yrs after that concert was taped I went to a Weckl clinic in North London at a persussion shop. He played a fantastic solo and shortly after demonstrated his Left hand / right foot roll on his first tom / BD.

He said that he had practiced this *alot* to get it. That simple comment really inspired me to work at the craft. I was about twenty at the time and certainly saw guys like Dave as being simply on another plain... but I realised from that clinic that one of the keys to their greatness (another topic discussed on HOD at imes) is simple determination, consistent practice and discipline.

Weckl worked very hard to attain his goals.

A simple insight, but one I treasure to this day.

Take care,

Tim.

[JoesMechanic]

Thats not true!! Weckl cheated!! He's actually Buddy re-incarnated!!! [img]wink.gif[/img]

Man.... I can totally relate. Ever since I heard Dave on the Bill Conners record years ago, me and a buddy thought DUHHHHHHH!!! Who the F is this!!?? He plays like Gadd, he swings like buddy, he's got all those cool BD/Tom licks. What planet did this dude come from??

Until I really got to know Dave and found out how much he practiced as a kid and throughout his career, I thought..... man!! You've got to be insane to want to sit behind the drums that much of you life!! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Did you see the article that Pocketplayer linked to from one of his recents posts of Steve Vai and "How to make a drummer crazy"?? "Made Tos Panos ill from playing so much, so long, and so hard"?? Just crazy man.

Well... I guess if you want it bad enough, there it is. Takes a special person to commit that much time and effort to get to that level.

Just amazing and superhuman.

[Suspiria]

Nice post Tom!
It is very true, I certainly often forget how much dedication and discipline is required to even come close to someone like Dave Weckl. Sure, his playing sounds amazing now, but I would bet any amount of money that it wasn't an easy goal to reach. In a way, the best of the best really are super-human in the way that they just NEVER give up and keep working on weaknesses and refining their strengths.

[PocketPlayer]

...and then there's Virgil, a guy Dave looks at and goes, "What the ...!"

[Suspiria]

Originally posted by PocketPlayer:
...and then there's Virgil, a guy Dave looks at and goes, "What the ...!"

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Wow. Did he really say that? Must be awkward having Dave come up to you: "Hey man, how'd you play that?"

[img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Rhythmatist]

I was at a DW clinic some time ago and someone posed a double pedal question to him. His reply was, "I'm relatively new at this. If you really want to hear some tripped out double kick check out Virgil, he's the real master of that."

[JoesMechanic]

yeah... Dave's pretty honest and up front about drumming stuff.

Once.... when hanging at Daves house, we were talking about the NAMM show (had just recently past). This was a few years ago. Somehow got on the topic of Vinnie. He says, "I just sat there behind the plexiglass and watched this guy just go on, and on, and on, and on. I just turned away and said what an animal".

I guess Vince does have that "killer" in him [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[got_a_matchgrip]

I saw Dave for the first time w the CCEB in '85 [trio]. He was amazing as always [& still is no doubt].

Then again for the 1st time in a clinic setting in the early 90s. THAT one scared the he** outta me. I still have the tape of that perf somewhere, him grooving & soloing impromptu over pre-recorded grooves/trax/sequences. Just ridiculously SICK playing, phrasing, & timing. I DO MEAN SICK. AAMOF, it was directly after Jeff P's passing.

He indeed said "can you imagine how much Virgil had to practice to get that good?" [img]eek.gif[/img] ;cp

We all already know about Vinnie, of course. Evidently, at Dave's level, he knows it too... ;c)

We all know it. Those guys are just da** SCARY. You are witnessing YEARS of consistent, intense practice, playing, performance, & labor-of-love commitment from an early age, to get to that level.

The best of the BEST. End of #$%&! story.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ April 16, 2005 05:11 PM: Message edited by: got_a_matchgrip? ]</font>

[Suspiria]

Originally posted by got_a_matchgrip?:
We all know it. Those guys are just da** SCARY. You are witnessing YEARS of consistent, intense practice, playing, performance, & labor-of-love commitment from an early age, to get to that level.

The best of the BEST. End of #$%&! story.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That's very true. There's so many drummers and they represent the elite. Sure they are great for inspiration, but is wanting to play just like them a realistic goal - surely not.

[PocketPlayer]

I saw Dave for the first time w the CCEB in '85 [trio]. He was amazing as always [& still is no doubt].

Then again for the 1st time in a clinic setting in the early 90s...it was directly after Jeff P's passing.

Geez FUSEY, exact same time frame for me. I set up the CCEB in college and hung out with this guy named Dave Weckl...1985. I was at Jeff's funeral and that night saw Dave in clinic...same college in So Cal. Weird!

It was at the clinic after Jeff Funeral where I asked him about practice. I openeed up about my mind drifting and the issue of focus. He looked at my like he couldn't relate. He basically said I just did it.

This issue between head & heart is very interesting to me. I believe the heart pumps the head. It first starts with desire, then goes to committment. Maybe some simply have more desire than others. This issue of desire has a risk factor few are willing to grasp. It is a risk to say, "I will not go to the party or have a girlfriend that required a lot of time or..." for practice by yourself. Each person has to dig deep down to answer this question. The bottom line for me is one word...FAITH. It really takes a stong faith to make such a committment. How one defines faith is up to them here.