I was just skimming through the threads and the one thing I realized is that outside of Mike, none of us has really been talking about our drumming progress. Are there any specific things you guys have been working on? What are some of your goals to achieve behind the kit? Let's talk drums again.

Here is a very simple but effective hand independent exercise i've been working on. It's a five stroke roll that is played across the kit. The first two notes are 16ths and the last three are 8th notes:

[1-2 3 4 5] [1-2 3 4 5] [1-2 3 4 5].... Etc. Starting on the snare drum and going to each tom to the floor tom and the reverse direction.

What's cool about this is with each drum your hands alternate. So if you start with you right hand on the snare, when you get to the next drum, you'll be starting with your left. The idea is to gradually increase the tempo to build a combination fluidity and speed with added independence. Try it with a metronome...

Ok, guys, what's in your wallet?

Don.

I have been playing left-hand traditional
(leading), on high-hat and ride cymbal
and have found tremendous progress,
over the last couple of months.

I am also playing double-kick, ALL the
time, now. I will see if I can post a
couple of the routines. I also take my
right foot off the pedals and only use
my left-foot (Virg's advice) and it is
really, really helpful).

I can't remember but I did lay into
a snare and that felt like therapy.

lol

In the near future, I will be doing
a duet, with the great Tom Hipskind,
here in Chicago, at his studio. We
may videotape it. We love each
other's playing and it ought to
be real fun. I just need to find
the time for it. I will let you know.

AND...

Ted Reed's Syncopation is lying
on my tom.

Wow! I hope some acoustic playing happens for you real soon, Pete. When it does, I think you will rediscover a wonderful world long forgotten...

Granted, there are so many routes to take when approaching the kit in a practice session that they can't be numbered. Yet a few months ago I focused on ethnic grooves utilizing standard rudiments. One such is the double paradiddle broken up between hand/feet applications around the kit: RLRLRR LRLRLL. When executed at slow to moderate tempos, the musical ear will hear what surfaces around the kit yield the best sonic results, rather than just playing the pattern on the snare (or other one (1) surface) alone. Essentially the framework is within a 12/8 meter (or 6/ and very similar to the tempo of Boomer's Conundrum as I recorded some years ago. When executed at increased tempos, the possiblities and applications are endless.

http://www.johnsussewell.com/ConundrumWithSuss.mp3

The above performance does NOT highlight what I'm speaking of here except that the same permutations of the rudiment are evident. Then I was interested in making music while incorporating the double paradiddle. Yet for me, this time around I am focusing on left hand and foot lead without a double kick application (namely, utilizing the HH for the high frequency colors whether struck outrightly or suggested with the HH pedal). Quite an exercise with definite musical applications if and when given the opportunity to express it. I hope I'm being clear.

... essentially, I was looking for the various sounds this particular rudiment would yield, while keeping in mind that time signature overlaps (polyrythms) between 3 and 4 are possible also. In fact they are pretty evident once the mechanics are down.

I've just been trying to regain some chops and take my single stroke roll farther as it's pretty dismal. To do this I've gone back to using my Gato drum, gifted to me over 20 years ago by the inventor himself. Instead of the long lost and broken thin mallets with superball tips which came with the drum, I use a pair of old oak Pro-Mark Cobham model sticks with some rubber tips added from some old hardware . . . so they're much heavier than my normal stick and I think that helps with a musical workout under the stars . . .

Here's someone doing a nice job on a Gato drum:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=22256228

Hi Don,
As for me..I'm just trying to play the thickest groove I can these days...really emphasizing on the feel. Everything else is just icing after that.I really don't care about the licks at this time- If the groove is solid and swinging, that's really it for me- ( Steve Jordan, Keltner, Levon Helm, etc...)
D.L.

Thanks, guys,

It's great to read what you are up to behind your kits.

Hey, D. L., in the end, it's all about the groove!...