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It looks like I am going to
get a chance to go out and
him play, finally.
I'll let you know all about
as soon as I can.
Later on...
Shoot! [img]eek.gif[/img]
This is not where I thought
it was - not quite my neck
of the woods. Let's see if
I can work this out...
[img]cool.gif[/img]
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 29, 2004 04:37 PM: Message edited by: peter c ]</font>
Hopefully you can make it Peter....Thomas is a great teacher and exceptionally nice guy, and I imagine he'll give a great clinic.
I have to miss the FL date thanks to a Disney rehearsal...
[img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]
Roy,
I am sorry to say that I could not
make it. I thought it would be a
lot further north than it was. With
the new baby and the logistics, it
just did not work out.
[img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]
I know that he has a lot to offer
technically and I'll just have to
be satisfied with video until the
next time he is in town.
I'm sure the The Drum Pad could
host it in a better location, next
time. Ay, Brad???
[img]cool.gif[/img]
I saw it in Pittsburgh last week. This guy sounds way better live then on his DVD I think.
He had some of the most insane foot work I've ever seen. He had a pedal with a jungle snare on it and was doing doubles (in 16ths)bewtween it and 2 side snares w/ his left had and soloing with his right hand. It sounded so sweet. Some of his concepts really make you think too. He was talking about how their is no way to tune a 2 headed drum to a note, only pitches. His tuning method was REALLY simple. He cared more on the feel then sound. It's the best clinic I've been to so far!!
Kurt, what else did he say? Can you elaborate on his tuning method?
Thanks.
I got to see Thomas in clinic in Kansas City last night, and I have to say I was very impressed. He seems to have his stuff together and was very humble, humorous and informative. He showed us some exercises to gain some of the flexability that he has while using all 4 limbs, while going through different groupings of singles to groups of sevens. That dude plays HARD...harder than Kenny Aronoff! He bent one of his 14" chinas all to Hell and then popped one of his X-hat cymbals inside out. I guess it's a good thing he has an endorsement! Very cool fellow and was great with the kids in the audience. One kid asked him what kind of shoes he wears (which I think are the Puma thin soled ones that auto racers use-I know, I'm a geek to actually have looked this up), and he said they were the red kind. [img]tongue.gif[/img] He then asked the kid if he wants to touch them!
I also bought his cd "Mediator" and have enjoyed what I've listened to so far. It's got some stuff that might fall into the "dance" music category, but there are some cool fills in those songs as well.
He really was an eye opener as to what can be done on the drum set. I just hope that one of these days Virgil will make it out to KC. One can only hope!
Rock out, Folks!
Mike
I may be making things up, but I think I remember Thomas Lang saying he tunes his drums until they feel good, ignoring the actual pitch. If it wasn't Lang, then I don't know who else would have said it... it sounds kind of Lang-ish -- his philosophy regarding drums tends to be "do whatever works best for you".
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 07, 2004 05:52 PM: Message edited by: Manos ]</font>
Has Lang got a web site....wondering about his schedule
Thomas Lang on the web
http://www.sticktrix.com/
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I always got the impression Lang was a "No, thats not correct technique, do as I say" kind of guy...Quote:
Originally posted by Manos:
his philosophy regarding drums tends to be "do whatever works best for you"
Oh, well, maybe he is.. I've only seen him the one time.
Not sure whether Lang is that way or not, but clearly some approaches (to technique develpment) work well and others don't. I also wouldn't be surprised or dismayed to find they had strong opinions about such things. Obviously, they've tried a variety of approaches before finding something that worked consistently.
For that reason I'm more inclined to look to people like Lang, Virgil, Marco, Mangini or anyone who has achieved a lot of results with their methodology than someone who hasn't. The same goes for hand development. I'll take the opinion of Ken Mazur, Jim Kilpatrick, Rick Beckham, Harvey Dawson in heartbeat over most drumset players misguided ideas about rudiments and hand development.
Opinionated or not, these guys have the "gravitas" - how's that for a CNN word! - and can walk the walk. When it comes to sheer musicality, I'm not sure that can be taught. In some cases it clearly cannot. But I listen to people like Erskine, Carl Allen, Porcaro, Gadd, Billy Ward, Jim Black, TLC, Tain, and many others for guidance there.
Brad
I saw Lang in Chicago and I have the minidisc of the show will try to post it once I dump it down to mp3 format.
That'll be great. I'd love to hear it!
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Your Right.Quote:
Originally posted by Manos:
I may be making things up, but I think I remember Thomas Lang saying he tunes his drums until they feel good, ignoring the actual pitch."
<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ July 07, 2004 05:52 PM: Message edited by: Manos ]</font></font>
Sorry for the delay I just now got my internet again.
He Has the batter heads pretty loose so they feel good to him then tunes to the bottom head. It;s crazy how much can change w/ one turn of a lug on the bottom head.
He also broke a 14" china to while he played. They gave it away. I won a pair of his sig. sticks and my dad won the DVD which I snagged [img]tongue.gif[/img]
I think he was better live then on the dvd.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yeah, he busted one up pretty good at the clinic I attended!Quote:
He also broke a 14" china to while he played. They gave it away.
Far be it from me to say anything negative about a guy with stellar technq & clean speed. I am in some awe of Lang's accomplishments, as I feel most if not all of us continually work on technq, & also phrasing, musicality, & time & pocket.
But it seems like breaking a cymbal at every clinc [?-don't know if it's EVERY] is a little ridiculous, as most pro's I know have worked their playing to a level where you DON'T break a cymbal. Maybe it's just for show, or maybe he did indeed break it in a "burst of enery & passion," as this does happen every once in a while, & as he does have a great enough grasp on serious technq that works for him. But when you are endorsed, I guess it's no sweat [?] [img]wink.gif[/img]
Well....He dosen't really "break" the THIN china but bends it over the the clinc. If you watch his DVD youll see sometimes when he bends the 14" china.