Under the microscope

**FuseU1** · June 19th, 2003, 01:24 AM

oh yeah, btw... i like the other players on there, too [see Boz's post]; but, IMHO, it's YOUR playing that makes that tune, Wil/Omni [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] ... hope your vocalist is killer [img]wink.gif[/img] ...
...& doesn't step on YOUR FILLS [img]tongue.gif[/img] ;=) :=D lol

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 19, 2003 11:58 AM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

**Omnidrums** · June 19th, 2003, 02:09 AM

Yeah man, those singers...always stepping all over the music with their "melodies" and such.

Actually the melody line changes the whole song so you have a choice of following the vocals alone or hooking on to the rhythmic chaos in the background. Very stange...I can't wait for you guys to hear it, you will probably be confused at first.

**palmerlouie** · June 19th, 2003, 11:12 AM

so...omnidrums.....please tell us about berklee. good? bad?....worth it?

**Omnidrums** · June 22nd, 2003, 02:30 AM

Berklee...

Berklee for the most part is smelly bog of disgusting and filthy musicians, most of whom are the teachers, who don't know art from the memorization of scales, contrived grooves and cliche licks. The really dumb thing about the place is that you actually have to shell out money to have your art subject to be squashed by the opinions of their worthless staff...

No, I'm not bitter at Berklee as it brought me some great things and it was one of the most fun times of my life. First off I met Chris (Omni's bassist), one of very very few "true" musicians that I came across during my time spent there.

Second, I made a bunch of amazing people there, some of whom I still remain friends with. The crowd there is very laid back and open to all types of people, which was quite a different jump from high school.

Third, I studied with Mike Mangini through my entire Berklee career. Mike has such a talent for making the impossible seem simple, allowing anyone of any skill level to learn whatever they want in a short amount of time. His teachings have truely allowed me to play anything I desire almost automatically (it would be fully automatic if I practiced more...) and any artistic thought I may have now comes out effortlessly. At the very least if I wanted to play 5's in 13/8 time with my left hand then play a 7/8 ostinato with my feet and improv with my right hand I now know exactly what I would need to do to achieve my goal. There is no mystery on how to learn "stuff" anymore which is very encouraging but also very frustrating since I don't have enough time on the drums to be able to explore the boundaries...plus I don't really have the mental discipline to learn something as crazy and stupid as the reference above. He can also help your foot/hand speed/dexterity by giving you excercises that are extremely challenging but work better than anything else I've tried before. You can pretty much get anything out of him that you want as he pretty much knows how to teach it all "technically". Art, on the other hand is something very personal and in my opinion it is something that one has to discover themself.

As far as going to Berklee, it is a tough choice for me to recommend. I know people that are 100% confortable with Berklee and truly belong there. I know people that have left in 2 weeks because they hated it so much. Me? I went for 1 1/2 years and enjoyed most of it but I got everything I wanted to get out of it my first year. I got to play a show at the Berklee Performance Center as a first semester student, jammed with countless people, joined and left a pop rock band, and really worked my ass off. My third semester was stange...nobody was ever wanting to make an effort and I wasted most of my time there and meanwhile Omni was waiting for me in Seattle. If I had stayed at Berklee I may have succeeded but I doubt it would have been "right". Omni is what I've always wanted to do my whole life and I feel extremely lucky to have found it so young.

In short, Berklee is a place where you don't get attention unless you are a senior or fully sponsored and those people usually just have "chops"... thats about it. If you are interested in "chops" it's great! Otherwise Berklee is a great place for connections. You will always find a diamond in the rough if you look hard enough through the swamp of the cookie cutter teachers and students who worship them. You will most likely "right yourself", go back to your roots and discover what you want to get out of your music. You either support the crap that comes out of Berklee or completely regurgitate it and do your own thing. Also, teachers like Mangini make your time worthwhile but save yourself that extrea 25,000 dollars and get private lessons for 45 an hour!

If you decide to go keep an open mind but realize that Berklee is not the music industry and no matter how high you make it there it means absolutely nothing. You learn in classroom/daycare form how to do music the Berklee way...or you could just find your dream band and go out into the real world and do it yourself. It took me 1 1/2 years to make that desicion.

-Will

http://www.omni-music.com

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 21, 2003 11:31 PM: Message edited by: Omnidrums ]</font>