Rich’s Drum Roll
A Christmas Miracle (a little late)
After spending eons trying to get the sympathetic snare drum buzz problem under control, I had an epiphany. Since I am not a fan of using duct tape on the drum heads in a crisis (what a mess) and no amount of Moon Gel and tuning variations were working to help. I…
Diril Cymbals Coming To Clark’s Music Center
My buddy Clark Kirkwood, owner of Clark’s Music Center in Jacksonville, Florida gave me a heads up on a new line of cymbals that he will be carrying in March of this year – Diril Cymbals. Ibrahim Diril who has been working in the cymbal making industry…
Winter Frost
Ahhh… winter is upon us in North East Florida finally, a time for change and apparently some gloomy weather. Just this January we actually saw some foliage color that we normally would see in November or December. Either way time keeps on marching…
Subdivisions Hommage
Here is a mix my buddy Brett did of our collaborative tribute to RUSH and 40 years of greatness (minus vocals as we both can’t hit that range, nor can I sing at all ha). It is always fun to play music from my roots and I love that the quality is getting a lot…
Get A Grip Man
One of the aspects of drumming that actually drives me crazy is a slick and slippery drumstick. The extra force it takes to grip the stick with more firmness actually leads to fatigue in my playing. It has always been an issue for me even back to my marching band…
Drumstick Back Pressure, Is That A Thing?
Well to me it is, not sure if it truly exists. Recently while practicing with Anders Qvicker’s new project I was noticing that my arms started to feel light and my tom fills were missing some punch. Years ago when I slowed down playing I switched from my tried…
Anders’ Return
I am very excited to post that my buddy Anders Qvicker in Sweden has picked up his guitar again and is starting to record new material. I thoroughly enjoyed playing to his originals in the past and he has proffered up a new song for me to work up some acoustic drum…
Enter Audix
After struggling with the MXL Drum Cubes placement and spill from other instruments I decided to make a change. The cubes sound great and would work better for me if I were using them in a lower tom count like a trap set. I prefer to have all of my toms individually…
Subdivided
Here is a snippet from my drum track for our RUSH Subdivisions tribute song with my buddies Brett and Joe I recorded last weekend. I hope to have a mix soon to share with everyone. I really enjoy creating my own drum parts for new music but answered the call to do…
Caught In The Snare
So after some diligent head replacing, tuning and retuning of the snare I still have a dreaded resonant snare buzz. I really wouldn’t think much of it since it is a natural phenomenon but it is really loud and long and messing with the mix, more than I like when…
What A Difference Engineering Makes
After getting some excellent feedback and friendly advice from an engineer on KOMPOZ regarding my first collaboration submission I have shifted my bass, snare and tom mics around to reduce spill from the other percussive elements. They say the drum set is the most…
Animated Subdivisions, A Homage To Rush
As I have begun my new adventure into home studio recording an offer was proffered by my old friends Brett and Joe to do something together and in tribute and respect to our favorite group RUSH and 40 years of awesomeness. In years past we offered up YYZ and La Villa…
Time Is The Fire In Which We Burn!
Alex Lifeson reveals drummer’s chronic tendonitis contributed to “final tour” decision – and considers possibility of writing soundtracks with Geddy Lee I am sorry to hear this but not completely surprised. Drumming repetition can wreak havoc on a body especially over…
Kompoz Drum Track Accepted
I am excited to post that my first drum offering to the world of Kompoz has been accepted by the artist. The individual tracks are uploaded in raw WAV form to be mixed. The track is in Prog-Rock/Art Rock genre and the perfect one for me to get my feet wet on Kompoz….
Remember To Keep A Level Head
Oh my goodness. After trying to continually solve the resonant snare drum buzz carrying over from my 10 inch tom I decided to take a closer look at the bottom of the snare drum to see what might be assisting this phenomenon. What I immediately noticed was not good……
The More You Know… About Drumming
I found a great series on ModernDrummer.com when I stumbled across an article on the history of drumsticks and how the number/letter naming convention started. I had forgotten what the letters on the sticks actually stood for over the years and it was a great…
Current Project Teaser Track
I slotted in another song to record the drum tracks and played along to it the first time last weekend. It is pretty cool, somewhat intricate and will take a bit of practice to get it creatively where I want the drumming. I have time to work on it at my leisure and…
Clark’s Music Center In The Spotlight
I would like to share an awesome article below this post from msretailer.com on my good friends the Kirkwoods and the music store they operate, Clark’s Music Center in Jacksonville, Florida. They have come along away since the adventure of resurrecting Discount…
Home Recording Studio Door Seal Upgrade
Ok, after all of the Green Glue and sheet rock improvements to the studio I identified a pretty weak spot in the armor where sound was escaping… the entry door to the studio. We could hear a significant volume increase on the external side of the room with the…
The “Quagmire” Of Recording An Acoustic Drumset
Well my adventure of a couple of months prep of my home drum recording studio has stretched into several months. The studio is soundproofed the best we could do and afford. The kit is back up and equipment installed and mics are set to record. I am getting a decent…