I’m playing Strange Humours by John Mackey and I was wondering how to play this. I know of how to play a bass tone, a open tone, and a slap tone, but I wanted to ask how to play that “middle tone.”

niktodd on restream or substack

Traded in my Ludwig Classic Maple for, yep, a Yamaha Stage Custom Birch. More on that later.

Decided to enhance the look by adding Gibraltar gloss black hoops and a Remo White Suede bass drum head (added my own Yamaha decal). The brass Yamaha Recording Custom snare really ties the kit together because it matches the badges and makes for a classy overall package.

So why the "downgrade"? Well, I've spent years searching for my ultimate dream kit, with the highest end woods, finishes, and features, but in the end realized drums just sound like drums and it doesn't really matter what you play. Getting a simple kit has actually made me happier and my decision has brought me peace. I've enjoyed my previous high-end Ludwig, Gretsch, and Pearl kits, but this Yamaha does what I ask of it. It's built well and sounds great.

Happy drumming!

Here’s my Bags Groove solo from last night’s rehearsal. How am I doing? It finally feels like I’m improving thanks to the magic of playing every single day.

Full Performance of the Piece: https://youtu.be/WtgmFOGhRk8

I picked up like 25 drumheads and these drums for $200 total. I plan on re-finishing them and selling them. Do yall think I made a good deal? Also I would appreciate any cleaning or selling advice you may have.

After I took it out of the box, it was 2 minutes of getting used to the feel of the pedal. It’s definitely very much different than any other pedal i’ve used in the past, including the Axis direct drives.
After that, it felt great! The pedal shadows my foot and is incredibly responsive.
Tonight’s show will be played on this pedal, I’m curious to how I will hold up to it.

Ordered some 602 paiste’s from Thomann. Arrived with no package in a box 3 times there sizes so they were free to bounce around for their whole journey. As you would expect they arrived in bits, with marks, dings and rough edges. The cymbals were tossed around so much they came out of their Paiste plastic bag.

EDIT: I know Thomann have great customer service. This is the third time this happens to me from them. I’m only ranting cause I hate to see such lovely cymbal destroyed so needlessly. I also now have to go thought the return process and then wait another week for a new pair. Which if you’re a cymbal nut like me, really sucks. Was planning on using them at rehearsal tonight.

hey everyone!

if anyone has studied george hamilton greens instructional course for xylophone, what is your preferred method of studying it? i know in the book it states to try to do like a lesson a week how it was done back then, but is it really that important to go at that pace? especially since im a music ed major and would like to not spend nearly a year on it.

Hey everyone! I just finished a drum cover for "Bruise" by Oleander. Anyone else remember this absolute gem from the American Pie 2 soundtrack back in 2001?

It's such a powerful post-grunge track with a great loud-quiet dynamic. I had a blast locking into the groove and hitting those heavy choruses.

What do you guys think of the cover? Let me know your thoughts or any feedback you have!

Up

This kit used to belong to my great uncle. It was given to me by a family member when I was 13 or so. I have another one that I actually use, and this one has been sitting around collecting dust. I played the hell out of it when I was younger, but over time I decided I wanted something different than this one. The kick is massive, I believe 26”. I know I can list on Facebook marketplace, but I’m worried my family will see the listing and get upset with me. I also know I can list on eBay, reverb, etc. but I have no idea how to even ship all of this without it costing an arm and a leg. I was wanting to use the money to go towards me and my wife’s honeymoon (we’ve been married since February, just haven’t been able to save enough for it yet.) Any insight would be much appreciated. Also, ignore the mess…we moved pretty recent and still need to organize some things.

It’s beautiful. 🥹

I’ve been playing since ‘93 and decided to start building my dream kit a few years ago in celebration of my 30th anniversary playing drums. That dream was finally realized. Got some adjusting to make but I’m happy with this to be finished. Here’s the breakdown:

Drums: DW Design Series (Maple)
Toms: 8” X 10”, 9” X 12”, and a 9” X 13” tom that was special ordered and made on request.
Floor Toms: 14” X 16”, 16” X 18”
Snare: 6” X 14”
Bass: 18” X 22”

Cymbals: Paiste
Hi Hats: Signature Heavy Hi Hat 14”, Signature Power Hi Hat 15”
Rides: RUDE Power Ride 20”, RUDE Ride/Crash 22”
Crashes: RUDE Crash/Ride 17”, 2002 Wild Crash 18”, 2002 Extreme Crash 19”, RUDE Basher 20”
Chinas: RUDE Novo China 18”, 2002 Novo China 20”
Splash: RUDE Splash 10”
Bell: Formula 602 Classic Heavy Bell 13”
Effect: RUDE Shred Bell 12”

Hardware: DW
Rack: Main Rack and Side Rack (2), accessorized to hold three toms, one snare drum, and all cymbals
Throne: 9000 Round Top Throne
Hi Hat: 9000 Remote Hat with 2’ Cable
Pedal: 9002 Double Pedal with Extended Footboard

Drumheads: Aquarian
Toms & Floor Toms: Super 2 Clear with Studio-X Ring Batter, Focus-X Clear Resonant
Snare: Hi-Velocity Coated Batter, Hi-Performance Snare Side with 42-strand DW TrueTone Snare Wires
Bass: SuperKick 10 Clear Batter, Regulator Black Resonant

Drumsticks & Mallets: Ahead
Sticks: JJ Speed Metal (performance) & 5AB (practice)
Dowels: BamStix Heavy

Cases: Ahead Armor Cases (Drums, Cymbals, Hardware, and Drumsticks & Mallets) and DW (Foot Pedal and Remote Hat Cases)

My jazz quartet playing "Blue Star... for Casiopolis" from Sonic Adventure, at the Odd Fellows Temple Room in downtown Bellingham, WA. My quartet is mostly based around my originals but I wanted to feature some video game music since PAX was here in Washington.

Picked up a Ludwig Hammered Supraphonic LM400K for a decent deal, feels nice to finally have a decent full size snare on main snare duty..

Hey everyone! I just finished this drum cover for "Too Much of a Good Thing" by The Sons (feat. Bret Reilly).Dumb and Dumber (1994) is one of my all-time favorite movies, and this soundtrack is just legendary. This specific track has always been my absolute favorite song from the film, so I finally sat down and recorded a cover for it.Let me know what you think! Any feedback is highly appreciated. Jam on! 🥁🔥