I really couldn’t deny this after it was the first in a thread of requests.
quick overview…
Mostly do orchestral work but has played in chamber music groups, percussion ensembles, jazz combos, rock bands, and given solo recitals, played in African drum and dance as well as Latin/Brazilian ensembles accompanies dance classes etc…
ask away,
Do you love or dread drum solos?
What drummers have influences your personal style the most?
Who do you think the best drummers are today?
Playing, dread…Its not about showing off or playing fast, its about serving a bigger musical picture…
Some drum solos i can listen too and really enjoy, a lot of buddy rich’s solos are just out of this world…i can sit and watch them over and over and fall in love with the musicality and technique, max roach is the same way, art blakey, elvin jones, jo jones, etc… all those guys were great.
Theres a new breed of drummer and solo comming about now, guys that have insane speed chops, but are about as musical as a shoe. so they go around and give drum clinics and don’t ever make any significant music contributions …this style of solo I cannot stand.
When did you start playing and how did you get started? (School band, private tutoring, other?)
What would you suggest to a 32 year old who took maybe three drum lessons and then dropped it a couple of years ago, but who still has a drum set in the house and loves the idea of being a proficient drummer? Not to ever play in a band, necessarily, but would just enjoy the idea of being good when messing around with the set.
Hypothetically speaking, of course. 
Where do you live when your girlfriend breaks up with you? 
Drummers that have influenced my style the most…
Drumset wise, Steve Gadd, John Bonham, Joey Kramer, Elvin Jones
I played along to these guys a lot when I was younger
Gadd helped me understand what playing for a song is all about, not to mention his grooves took along time to really sort out…which was fun
John Bonham just kicked the ass of led zeppelin and really showed me how to light a fire under a band.
Aerosmith was the first rock band i really liked and i still love them, I always enjoyed playing to their recordings and feel that Kramer has a fantastic fusion of rock and funk in his playing. Which in turn i have taken into my own playing.
Elvin Jones was the first jazz drummer i seriously tried to transcribe, which taught me it doesn’t need to “Lang spang a lang”. all the time in jazz and that you can really open it up and get the soloists going places. When that hapens you create really beautiful moments
Orchesterally I would have to say my Three main teachers, Don Wherry, Who passed in 2001, (former Toronto Symphony Percussionist, new music/improv guru, founder of the Sound Symposium
Rob Power, My most important teacher, who really opened all sorts of doors and ideas for me. I will be indebted to this guy for life. He currently teachers at Memorial University in Newfoundland,
and John Wyre who passed last year. (Former member of NEXUS, Toronto Symphony, Boston Symphony etc) John really gave me avlot of confidence in my playing a really taught me about listening and orchestral playing.
In addition to those three, I use the Philadelphia Orchestra Percussion Section and Cleveland Orchestra Percussion as guides in making choices when it comes to playing the orchesteral rep/Timpani. (players like Alan Abel, Micky Bookspan, Fred Hinger, Cloyd Duff, and Tom Freer)
The best drummers right now, hmm,
Alot of the old greats are still alive, but ill avoid naming many of them…Steve Gadd, Stewart Copeland,Roy Haynes etc
number one has to be ?uestlove of the roots and everthing else cool in the world
I really like Billy Martin, of MMW fame
Princes new drummer…John Blackmore
Cindy Blackman with Lenny Kravitz
Greg Ritchie is a younger Jazz guy happening right now who is really really amazing.
Curtis Andrews and Brad Kilpatrick, from Newfoundland are two more people who i find really amazing on the kit…
Moved from IMHO to MPSIMS.
There are pictures of me with drums from as young as two years old, but Iook piano lessons long before percussion.
I wanted to start playing in Elementary school band but i was stuck with Euphonium…The bag of a teacher wouldn’t let me switch ether…
I got my first drummer set at age 10. Never took lessons untill I was 16 (huge regret)
Throught lessons I got turned on to the percussionist side of things and really worked at that. had to re learn how to read etc.
Did a Bmus in Percussion Performance at Memorial University of Newfoundland…
Sit down with some of your favorite music, assuming the music has a beat that is easy to hear/not too difficult to play. put the music in the headphones and just play to it on the kit, do it every day. Even if you have trouble playing the beat one the cd, come up with something that works and that makes you feel like part of the song. If you know the basic rock beat, you can play, and have fun with a lot of music.
Your moms
Do you like Terry Bozzio?
Kind of a random question, How much would you estimate his set to be worth?
http://www.magnacarta.net/images/publicity/bozzio/TerryBozziosDrums300.jpg
His playing with Frank Zappa was really really beautiful…evertything after that im not a huge huge fan of. he has monster chops and is really trying to carve a niche for himself which I guess I can respect
Price of his drums…your really looking at 30 or 40 grand. Im actually low balling that a lot too…
:eek:
Someone is actually capable of utilizing all of that?
He plays a lot of melodic lines on the drums, trying to get it out of its rhythm section only position…its not great, but he can def play it. I would rather see terry on a 5 piece kit with just a couple of cymbals personally 
Keyboard player (and fellow jazz lover) coming in here …
If you were to play with a jazz piano trio, what is the minimal kit you’d be happy with?
Also, what’s your opinion of good electronic kits, in terms of how they play physically compared to “real” drums?
Here’s a question:
What do call someone who hangs around musicians?
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A drummer !!
Just kidding. of course
I played in a quintet for a year wth just hi hat snare drum and one cymbal, id do the same for the trio.
I think electronic drums right now can sound just as good as a kit, id love a set for my new apt.
If I may…
Sound-wise electronic drums are quite excellent for practice and performing situations where not a lot of nuance is required. Pads these days have zones and velocity sensitivity so you can, for instance, on the ride cymbal pad play a ride cymbal sound and move up to the bell area and play a bell sound. the downside is that’s it - a ride sound and a bell sound. You can’t really coax any other sounds out of it like you can a real cymbal. Same with the snare drum and others. They also come in a variety of materials from rubber to fabric to regular plastic heads.
My Roland kit has a mesh head snare and rubber everything else. I have it configured like my acoustic kit. The mesh heads are more forgiving than the rubber but so far I haven’t suffered from any tendonitis type maladies which I’m fairly susceptible to at my age (45).
I bought an electronic kit because I had two little girls, couldn’t play the acoustics, and wasn’t playing enough. The electronics were a godsend. Another aspect is that the modules, besides coming with lots of different sounds, including “the tom sound I’ve always wanted”, have extras like clicks, sequencers and loops of various styles you can play to. And of course you can mix in whatever music you want to play along with so it’s like you’re right there in the studio or wherever and you can play a concert in your head. It’s a blast.
So, IMO, they’ve come a long way and have their uses especially keeping up with the physical/coordination aspects of playing but there’s still nothing like an acoustic kit to bring out everything you’re capable of.
