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Sweat is not a good "hair firmer" [altho it's a great retort from Thomas]...try Aqua Net, or Pantene pump-spray...at least that's what i hear from a girl who's half-sister's aunt's cousin's dog frequents the RRockitt forums... [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 08, 2004 02:30 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>
Thanks for the review guys...
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Agree 100%... It left me dry when I saw him in Toronto a while back. His backbeat was killin though. He was not communicating musically in his solos and that "to me" is real significant. Just like what happens after a Roller Coaster ride... Adrenaline rush... [img]eek.gif[/img] It only lasts for a short while then.... what...Quote:
Last, he did not have enough air or space in his solos, everything was a fast flurry or jumble of notes that flew by at 100mph... if only Thomas had a bit more musicality, he would be the ultimate drummer.
I am not doubting Thomas can be musical if he wants to, and playing pop rock won't convince me of that either. But he sure does not choose to display that aspect in his clinic and I think he should, for the sake of the young lesser-learned drummers.
Uncle Dazz [img]wink.gif[/img] has said it so many times on this forum... Making music with the drums... That's what will help pay the bills in the long run... For Music sake!!! Addressing that issue would definitely bring more overall credibility to those pyrotechnical drummers. But unfortunately, they seldom do...
Big difference when I saw Vinnie in clinic in 1998... Well he was performing alongside Waldman on piano and Carpenter on bass... That's another story... Did he bring his chops?? BIG TIME!! Did he make music while using them?? YOU BETCHA!!!
Forgot to mention that Santana's percussionists, Raul Rekow and Karl Perazzo, performed prior to Lang taking the stage that evening I attended in Toronto. They ended the clinic jamming together, so that gave Thomas the opportunity to display his Latin vocabulary. So again I hear people say that Thomas can be musical in various contexts, that's fine as I am open minded, but he sure does not have Latin down the way he should as a musician of that caliber. And that's okay too, never too late to get workin in a given style... Spending a Week End taking lessons with Alex Acuna would be beneficial to him and all of us for that matter... [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Beat Hit, I was wondering about his latin/jazz abilities and I was going to ask him but didn't want to sound like a smart-ass. He definatly seems like he is all about the (Prog)Rock and Fusion. What the hell is with that Michael Jackson backing track!? I wonder if Thomas has his permission to use that!?
matricks, we will for sure meet up, trade 4's, drink beers, play grunge like the good 'ol days, whatever it is you guys do in Seattle when I come down again! [img]tongue.gif[/img]
You need don't a flannel shirt to enter the city limits anymore, BUT they DO make you pledge allegiance Dave Grohl and Nirvana. I am a resident of Seattle so i don't have to take the oath... All Canadians do, however.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sound like a smart-ass... I think NOT! You just wanna hear how he interprets jazz and/or latin, nothing wrong in asking that. It all depends as to why you're asking... To put him on the spot or to just simply hear how he makes it sound in his own individuality. One is to offend the other is to learn from.Quote:
I was wondering about his latin/jazz abilities and I was going to ask him but didn't want to sound like a smart-ass.
I see nothing wrong asking Virgil the same question in a clinic. That's what Clinics are all about. Again, it all depends where you're coming from and how you're asking it.
Me I'd ask: "I'd be curious to hear you play with only the basics. IE: one bass-drum pedal, one hi-hat and snare, no toms nor other cymbals. Just to hear/see what you'll come up with."
I am somehow confident that I wouldn't be disappointed. [img]wink.gif[/img]
Towards the end of his 'older' clinics, like the MDF 97 vid, he [VD] used to have just a kick & sn [& maybe HH?] out front & to the side, back facing the audience, so he could show what he can do...mostly dbl kick ostinato stuff, but burnin' nevertheless...I'd like to see him w just 2/3 cym, 2 toms [or none], HH, single kick, & sn also...I'm sure he wouldnt dissappoint w just that, AW. [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 10, 2004 02:00 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>
Funny you guys mention the small kit thing, cause I went to a huge drum fest a few years back with Chambers, Bozzio, Portnoy, Simon Phillips and Tom Brechlein (spelling?)... at the end they all same out for a grand finally and played simultaniously... then things got wacky as they started playing "musical chairs" and switching kits one by one! EVERYONE was in anticipation of Bozzio to get down to Tom's little Yamaha kit (very basic setup), and when he finally did, you could hear the audience chuckle and even bozzio himself started laughing, cause he was so bewildered, believe it or not! It was hilarious to see Chambers on Portnoy's kit... same thing! It was quite a fiasco, I wish I had pictures of that one!
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Going to Lang's clinic here in Toronto on Wednesday...should be stellar...after watching his DVD, I'm really looking forward to seeing him live.
Just because someone had great technique and some "common sense" exercises doesn't mean they can play. And just because someone can throw in the kitchen sink while playing jazz ride pattern or playing 'killer' brushes doesn't mean they swing.
Thomas Lang may be the most unmusical drummer out of the drummers who get press that I've ever seen. The exercises in his video are boring and simulate running on a treadmill. You can teach a monkey to do that. Alan Dawson had better exercises using the same patterns but applying them to music compisitions and jazz standards.
If you want to learn how to play with bad taste and no feel what so ever check out the first song on the DVD. You'd never hear a pro session drummer like Vinnie, or Russ Miller play like that. YUCK....
Also, SWING?? Who ever said Lang can SWING meant if you tied a wrope around him and hung him from a tree. First of all what IS swinging? Do you even know? The language of swing is a deep tradition and hardly anyone that is mentioned on this board has it. Have respect for the guys that make that command that music today like Tain, Victor Lewis, Lewis Nash, Smitty Smith, Bill Stewart, and more. If you think these guys who make a living from blowing bullshit chops in front of ejaculating drum hobby-ists at clinics are creative, check out some of the above names, MAKING MUSIC, over a FORM! knowing the harmonic changes and relating to them in solo. Do you even know what that is?
Vinnie does...that's why he creams over Tain Watts. Not because of the chops.....
Okay I'm calm now. HAHA.... But really folks, sometimes I come in here, and I feel like music is just going over everyone's head. An innovative idea on the drums like " playing an open hi hat solo with two hats one being a remote hat"( from Lang's DVD) means nothing unless you apply it to song and form. And for those DRUMMERS who aren't musicians, by open I mean FORM wise. The solos played on that DVD are pointless and have no meaning. There's no canvas. Just free open hand anf foot patterns. That's not music.
I hope we start talking about more music and less drum athletics. And my opinion on Lang's groove is it feels as stiff as a board. Playing to click directly on it doesn't make a pocket. Playing around it and meeting on the downbeat does. Like..hmmm..Vinnie, Jeff Porcaro, Shawn Pelton, Jim Keltner. Ummm You know guys...MUSICIANS!