And more on Open Hand playing from Dom.

[buga]

Picking up on a recent topic about Dom's clinic, I checked the VicFirth site and they added 2 Lessons on the topic=

Dom's Cyber Lessons

Man I really need to get those books Mangini has written, I've read so much on "open playing" in the last few months and the set-up he uses which was quite common in the 70's fusion probably does a good job to ergonomically balance your body especially your left side. I think that most drummers are to one-sided; if they're right handed they're extremely right handed. I've gotten even more obsessed with playing everything left-hand lead as well, to the point where it's getting stupid. I feel like it has really helped my own playing, there's just a freedom that comes with it. And what I've discovered is that by playing left-hand lead stuff suddenly the whole drum set has opened up. All of the sudden, while staying in the pocket with the hi-hat, which is half the pocket anyway, I have a freedom to move around the drums in a way that I never had before. I think you need to become as ambidextrous as you possibly can. [img]cool.gif[/img]

Antonio Sanchez told me awhile ago that one of the most efficient ways to adquire this "balance" is to use your left hand in your normal day life, I actually laughed seeing that's such a simple reply that anyone could have come up with, but then I thought about it and he's correct. When u write on a piece of paper u do it with your right hand, I usuall hold things with my right hand, throw things my my right hand, and in kit application if i'm playing 8th notes on my hat and dropping 2 & 4 on the snare, naturally my RIGHT HAND is gonna get a work out while my left hand isn't!

I've been going through Gary Chester's book "Technique Patterns" which is great for getting control of accentented and unnacented notes in your phrasing ala Vinnie Colaiuta. I've also used several exercises from "It's Your Move" by Famularo, who last I heard was also writting a book on developing "The Weak Side", Dom as many others have shifted to *open playing*(Carter Beauford and John Blackwell for example. For videos I use Adler's "Hand Technique" video AW as Weckl's "How To Develop Technique", great resources!

I was quite fascinated by Carter's performance on his "Under the Table and Drumming" Video, the section on "open playing" was great and he explains the Cobham influence that led to experimenting with that style and the application for all those cool syncopated hi-hat and triplets he does on DMB tunes(even his roll strokes are influenced by Billy!)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 03, 2003 09:35 PM: Message edited by: Bozzio ]</font>

[peter c]

If you want to talk "open",
I can talk about it.

I have been doing it for 1.5
to 2 years now, at Billy's
suggestion. He was right.
You have nothing to lose
and everything to gain.

If you have any questions,
I'd be glad to share.

The best thing about Mangini's
approach is the mental emphasis,
in my opinion.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 03, 2003 10:12 PM: Message edited by: peter c ]</font>

[buga]

About the actual technique, well not really I DO understand it quite well.

About the book, the secound one in particular does it have exercises especifically design for that style of playing and balancing your body(in terms of your brain thinking "both ways" rather than doing the mechanical thing i'm doing with Magadini's Polyrhythm Book?, or do u know any books/videos dedicated to the technique with different patterns and permuatations from which to practice(Billy's Drum By Design perhaps? Carter Beauford's has a section of his Under The Table and Drumming DVD decicated to "open hand" and Chester's has a couple of tips for balancing both hands).

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 03, 2003 10:24 PM: Message edited by: Bozzio ]</font>

[peter c]

In my opinion, the most
important issue is the
one of decision. One has
to make a decision to go
in this direction for a
purpose, with a goal in
mind. It may be that you
want the motion and facil-
ity of a Mangini or some-
one like Billy Cobham.

After this, it's turning
everything around.

Remember what it was like
when we learned right-
handed. We were younger
and it was ALL new. This
time around, it will be
different. Your brain is
going to make associations
with what feels right. This
was not the case when you
were younger.

All my samples are done
open and I am as right-
handed as most of you. My
left-hand, however, has
been making quantum leaps.

The same is true for my
left kick, as I have rec-
ently adopted double-kicking.

This is all available for
ANY drummer who wants it.
That's really the only
criteria.

Exercises that are the
some of the best are:

For starters, single-stroke
rolls, with left-handed, 1/4-
note accents AND the RIGHT
kick are really good and do
it to a metronomic setting.

THE SLOWER, THE BETTER.

You can bring up your left-
hand to the cymbal for those
accents, crashing.

Start very SS-LL-OO-WW-LL-YY.

As slow as you have to go to
get it right the first time,
is as slow as you should go.
This is so that you will suc-
ceed and the more you suc-
ceed, the more you will go!!!

There's more but there is
always a genesis.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 03, 2003 10:32 PM: Message edited by: peter c ]</font>