Drummer's Weekly Groovecast – Details, episodes & analysis

Phil and Jon are back in a newly revamped studio B with a topic suggested by a member of our listening audience. This week we discuss the pros and cons of playing with recordings versus playing with live musicians. The request was sent to us in regard to the tribute band show that we did several weeks ago. Our listener, Tony, recently became involved with a Steely Dan tribute act. He’s spent copious amounts of time working with the original recordings however he’s discovering that he has to make numerous adjustments when playing the exact same songs with live musicians. We discuss Tony’s situation and then debate some of the positives and negatives of playing with recordings. Some of the benefits we outline are: ear training, learning typical song forms, learning grooves, ‘playing’ with the professionals, de facto transcription, learning good time/feel, and the pleasure of playing with good music. We then discuss possible detriments such as: being led thus not stating assertive time, possibly learning bad feel/tempos, not listening to yourself, setting up your band mates to fail, and trying to measure up to studio fidelity perfection. We also give some tips to combat these issues along with some ideas for practicing with drummer-less tracks. We finish out the show with a brand-new segment of the DWG Garage. Jon has not one, but two, great tips for dealing with problematic, vintage Ludwig drums. Join us each week for brand new shows. We can be found on iTunes, Google Play Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and anywhere you access your favorite music and shows. If you are an Apple subscriber, the next time you are in iTunes please take a moment to leave us a 5-star review. We’d greatly appreciate it. Lastly, go by our website at www.drummersweeklygroovecast.com There you can listen to all of our shows, visit our social media, and contact us via email.

In the field of drumming we all have heroes. Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, John Bonham, Vinnie Colaiuta, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Gadd and the list goes on and on. However, we often overlook the unsung heroes of drumming, the teachers. In the past few years, I’ve realized just how important and influential great teachers can be. The ability to clearly and concisely articulate ideas, techniques, and concepts is not an easy task. When you factor in that this must be done in a classroom setting as well as in private lessons, where teaching styles must be customized from student to student, then you understand that great teachers should hold a high position on our hero list. This week we welcome one of the great teachers in our discipline’s history, Dr. Michael Udow. Mike was head of percussion at the University of Michigan for thirty years as well as a respected clinician and author of the new book, Percussion Pedagogy (Oxford University Press). He was gracious enough to join us from his home in Colorado for a candid interview about his career, the art of education, and a description of, Percussion Pedagogy. We discuss his early interest in music, his personal path in higher education (culminating in the first DMA in percussion at the University of Illinois), his literature preferences, teaching techniques, state of the university, and much more. There’s something here for every teacher, student, and performer. You can visit Michael at his website: www.michaeludow.com You can explore Michael’s new book, Percussion Pedagogy, by clicking this link: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/percussion-pedagogy-9780190902940?lang=en&cc=us Join us each week for brand new shows. We can be found on iTunes, Google Play Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and anywhere you access your favorite music and shows. If you are an Apple subscriber, the next time you are in iTunes please take a moment to leave us a 5-star review. We’d greatly appreciate it. Lastly, go by our website at www.drummersweeklygroovecast.com There you can listen to all of our shows, visit our social media, and contact us via email.

As we come to the end of the third season, we take some time to discuss the news of the day and the many events that have happened over the course of recent episodes. We discuss https://possiblechops.com/ref/8/ created by friends of the show, Dave Hooper, Gary Novak, and Dave Johnstone. We also humbly discuss the honor of being included by a popular online blogger in their list of top drumming podcasts. Also, the show will observe its three-year anniversary in July. Even though we’ll celebrate during our off-season please stay subscribed. From time to time we’ll give updates on the upcoming season as well as possibly publish a special ‘off-season’ episode. With that in mind, please stay in touch with the show. We appreciate the support and welcome all ideas for future episodes and interviews. As our long-time listeners will attest, we respond to all email and many times use your suggestions for future episodes. For this episode we take on the topic of being imperfect in a digitally perfect music scene. Recently a video went viral illustrating what John Bonham might sound like if he were recording today. The author of the video takes extant Bonham tracks and ‘corrects’ them through digital quantization. We discuss this video and then talk about our favorite, imperfect drummers. We talk about different drummers, their tracks, and how some are unintentionally imperfect while others are intentional. We discuss what make these imperfections perfect along with the various methods they may intentionally employ that make their playing imperfect. Please visit our website at: www.drummersweeklygroovecast.com There you can listen to our shows, interact with social media, email us, view our videos and more. If you are an Apple platform user please take a moment to review us the next time you are in iTunes. A 5-star rating would be greatly appreciated. During our publishing season new shows are posted every Monday and can be found on iTunes, Google Play Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and everywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts. Subscribe today!

If you intend on making a living playing music for live audiences it's a virtual certainty that you'll be spending some time traveling. As we've discussed in prior episodes flexibility and a positive attitude will take you a long way. However if you combine that with common 'road' sense you can make the best out of any bad situation. In this show we pass along first hand information that can help you navigate and prevent potentially embarrassing situations. We discuss travel do's and don'ts for: airports, vans, cars, buses, hotels, and dealing with copious amounts of down time. We finish the show with each of us discussing a great underrated drum track. Don't forget to enter our contest! In conjunction with monkdrums.com we're giving away two prizes during our one year anniversary. Our grand prize winner receives an original 10" Monk Drum. Our second place winner receives a set of Monk Drums bongos. To register simply visit the Drummer's Weekly Groovecast page inside of Itunes. Leave a written review (so that we can see your name) and you're eligible to win! We'll be drawing the winners on Facebook Live during the week of our 52nd episode. Stay tuned for exact date and time! Subscribe today! New shows are available every Monday. You can find us on Itunes, Google Play Podcasts, Stitcher, and all of your favorite podcast apps!

This week we draw up a play from the pedagogical handbook. There are drum grooves that are exclusive to many songs. If you don't perform that 'signature groove' authentically then the music is just not right! In this episode we give you a baker's dozen of these aforementioned songs. Get out your notebook and see how many of these you already know. If you're not familiar with this list now's the time to do some drumming anthropology. Part two of your assignment involves interacting with the show. If you feel there are other songs that fit the definitive groove criteria send us an email at: drummersweeklygroovecast @gmail.com and we'll put together a part two of the show. Join us every Monday for a brand new episode. We're available on Itunes, Google Play Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and all of your favorite podcast apps. Subscribe today! Lastly, don't forget to register to win free drums! To commemorate our one year anniversary we are partnering with Monk Drums (www.monkdrums.com) to give away two great prizes! First prize will be an original 10" Monk Drum. Second prize will be a set of Monk Drums bongos. To win all you need to do is go to Itunes and leave us a short, written review and you'll be entered to win! We'll be drawing the winners on Facebook Live during the week of our 52nd episode. Stay tuned for exact date and time!

Rampant thoughts and misnomers abound when it comes to performing in churches. In this episode our guest, Mike O'Brien, crushes preconceived notions and tells it like it is regarding the musician's role in today's church. Mike is a professional worship leader, producer, guitarist, and worship team coach. He details what is expected from drummers that he hires and likewise tells us what we should ask for and how to ask for it when approached by worship leaders. He also compares and contrasts the secular world of gigging to the church world of serving. There's so much in this one episode that if you've ever wondered what it was like inside the world of church musicianship then you need to hear the straight truth from someone at the highest level of the craft. Finally we are conducting a brand new giveaway! In honor of our one year anniversary we will be drawing two lucky winners on Facebook Live! First prize is a 10" original Monk Drum from the Monk Drum company. Second prize is a set of Monk Drum bongos. Please go to monkdrums.com for pictures, videos, sound samples, and further information. To register for the contest simply go into Itunes and leave a written review on the Drummer's Weekly Groovecast show page. We publish new shows every Monday so please subscribe today! We're available on Itunes, Google Play Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and all of your favorite podcast apps!

This week we start the show with our first major beef. The guys address recent articles found in the online newspapers, The Guardian and The Conversation. We talk about the new proliferation of romanticized illiteracy in music education and the possible agendas behind them. We then discuss the importance of drumming ergonomics and the health benefits reaped from them. We give you practical ideas and tips to help improve your load in, set up, tear down, and performance efficiency. We finish up the show with a segment on must have gear. Join us every Monday for a brand new show. We're available on Itunes, Google Play Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and all of your favorite podcast apps. Subscribe today!

Matt Bettis owner/operator of Bettiscymbals.com sits down with us for an exclusive interview. Matt tells us how he traveled throughout his youth which directly influenced his "Nomad" period of cymbal making and ultimately landed him in the remote mountain region of central Idaho. We discuss his love of drumming, his music education, and how that led to modifying and making cymbals. In 2009 Matt became a full time cymbal maker and has not looked back. We talk about his creative process along with the actual crafting process from the first hammer blow all the way to shipping. Join us every Monday for a brand new show. We're available on Itunes, Google Play Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and all your favorite podcast apps. Subscribe today!

The phone rings. It's that contractor that you've been hoping would call. Once again his gig requires good reading skills along with proficiency of many musical styles. Incidentally you need a few instruments (to authentically perform those styles) that you don't have. What happens next? This show is about taking steps to ensure that you'll never have to turn down work. We help you understand why it's important to be stylistically diverse, instrumentally (equipment) diverse, conceptually diverse, and flexible in your musical tastes and personal demeanor. In our final segment the guys both pick an underrated drummer. Join us every Monday for a brand new show. We're available on Itunes, Google Play Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and all of your favorite podcast apps. Subscribe today!

Well, some of these may not be instant but they certainly do work! This week we take another look at very common problems that good old experience trumps every single time. We discuss creative resolutions regarding issues with setting up, tearing down, storing gear, loading gear, fixing snare drum issues, getting better hi hat sounds, and learning tuning techniques that microphones like but may differ from what our ears perceive. We also take a few minutes to talk about the great Steve Ferrone and his recent stop in Atlanta. For our final show segment both guys pick a great, underrated drum track. Join us every Monday for a brand new show. We're available on Itunes, Google Play Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, and all your favorite podcast apps. Subscribe today!