Larry Lawless
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Oomm papa oomm papa mau mau
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« Reply #20 on: March 19, 2008, 09:44 AM » |
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"I am the slime from the video, oozing across your living room floor...." Any know where that came from???
Frank Zappa |
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Blessed are they who have nothing to say and cannot be persuaded to say it.
- James Russell Lowell
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skinbeatergreg
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I LOVE the drummer cafe!
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« Reply #21 on: March 19, 2008, 12:59 PM » |
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Oh and has everybody seen the spitzerface emoticon? You use it when you HAVE to apologize for something, even though you know that apologizing will do you absolutely no good and you'll still be just as hosed....
}:-[
lol! Looks just like him! |
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"I can think of a lot better things to do with my hands than to cut them up on the rim of a drum."--Buddy Rich
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kohei
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« Reply #22 on: March 19, 2008, 02:11 PM » |
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I can't find the link now! Somebody sent me an e-mail, now it's gone....
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If thine enemy offend thee, give his child a drum.
"It takes pretty great drummer to be better than no drummer at all." - Chet Baker
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New York Frank
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« Reply #23 on: March 19, 2008, 04:07 PM » |
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...must...have...spitzerface...emoticon
Could not find it yesterday. Somebody please post a link.
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The secret to my tone is - always plenty of fresh Fruit Of The Loom underwear on hand
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eardrum
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It's not too late to get better!
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« Reply #24 on: March 19, 2008, 09:11 PM » |
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Frank Zappa
Ding, Ding, Ding.. The oversized stuffed bear goes to Mr. Lawless. I don't remember how old I was when I first heard that line but I'll never forget. Everytime someone mentions TV as a negative influence, I have to bring it up. |
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Larry Lawless
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Oomm papa oomm papa mau mau
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« Reply #25 on: March 19, 2008, 11:57 PM » |
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Ding, Ding, Ding.. The oversized stuffed bear goes to Mr. Lawless. I don't remember how old I was when I first heard that line but I'll never forget. Everytime someone mentions TV as a negative influence, I have to bring it up.
Definitely from an earlier life for me. I'll be by to pick up my stuffed bear with my zircon encrusted tweezers. |
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Blessed are they who have nothing to say and cannot be persuaded to say it.
- James Russell Lowell
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TMe
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I am evil Homer, I am evil Homer..!
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« Reply #26 on: March 20, 2008, 01:43 PM » |
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I practice something mechanical during commercials, with the sound muted. Right now I'm practicing Moeller triplets with my left hand when a commercial comes one.
And if there's a good soundtrack I'll tap along with that. Try watching "Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels" or "Snatch" that way. I guess that's the drumming equivalent of doodling, though, it's not really "practicing".
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"Some people say I ain't so super groovy. Why don't I leave the music alone?" Black Uhuru
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kohei
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« Reply #27 on: March 20, 2008, 01:57 PM » |
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What is it about this culture that we can't stand to focus on one thing? Music on in the background everywhere you go, TV in the background (even in freaking cabs up here , fer crying out loud). It's like everybody is deathly afraid of what might happen if there's a single moment of silence.
Anyway, there was a pretty interesting article some time back in the Times about runners who train with music. And how that had a subconscious effect on their performance, that they were not paying attention to their bodies signals about what reserves were left, where there was stress etc. and instead pacing themselves based on the tempoes and phrasing of the music to which they were listening.
I think any musician can benefit from the practice of mindfulness.Instead of mindlessness.
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If thine enemy offend thee, give his child a drum.
"It takes pretty great drummer to be better than no drummer at all." - Chet Baker
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Peppe
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« Reply #28 on: March 20, 2008, 03:34 PM » |
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I practice on a pad in front of the TV too, but I don't try to learn anything new - and I only practice simple, basic things. It helps my playing without a doubt, but it certainly isn't a substitute for practicing on drums or pads, giving it your full attention.
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"Are you funky?" Sly Stone's first words to Andy Newmark
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TMe
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I am evil Homer, I am evil Homer..!
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« Reply #29 on: March 24, 2008, 02:36 PM » |
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What is it about this culture that we can't stand to focus on one thing? Twiddling with drumsticks while watching TV? That's just fine with me. Doing a few exercises during commercials? That's just good time management. Having a TV on while I'm practing drums? Forget it. TV isn't something I try to focus on. Drumming is. |
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"Some people say I ain't so super groovy. Why don't I leave the music alone?" Black Uhuru
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New York Frank
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« Reply #30 on: March 24, 2008, 02:53 PM » |
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IMHO, some of you have taken the discussion way too seriously. There are Many kinds of practices, and frankly, many kinds of players. Not all of us are working out to become the next highly sought studio musician or call-for-tour player. Many of us are at a much lower level of intensity. And frankly, I don't know what some of you do during your Day jobs, but mine happens to be, at times, very Intense and draining. That means sometimes the best thing at the end of the day is some veg'ing in front of the TV. It's not a sin.  And, if while doing that, I can work my muscles a bit and keep my skills at least breaking even, and maybe even slightly increasing over time, then I have no guilt about playing and watching TV at the same time. So there. |
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The secret to my tone is - always plenty of fresh Fruit Of The Loom underwear on hand
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kohei
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« Reply #31 on: March 25, 2008, 12:54 PM » |
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IMHO, some of you have taken the discussion way too seriously. There are Many kinds of practices, and frankly, many kinds of players. Not all of us are working out to become the next highly sought studio musician or call-for-tour player. Many of us are at a much lower level of intensity. And frankly, I don't know what some of you do during your Day jobs, but mine happens to be, at times, very Intense and draining. That means sometimes the best thing at the end of the day is some veg'ing in front of the TV. It's not a sin. And, if while doing that, I can work my muscles a bit and keep my skills at least breaking even, and maybe even slightly increasing over time, then I have no guilt about playing and watching TV at the same time. So there. And there's a wide range of ball player between the sandlot and Yankee stadium. It's generally only a problem when somebody wants Yankee stadium results but only wants to put in sandlot effort... |
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If thine enemy offend thee, give his child a drum.
"It takes pretty great drummer to be better than no drummer at all." - Chet Baker
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Nuclear
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"I bought it tuned"
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« Reply #32 on: March 25, 2008, 11:27 PM » |
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I don't think anyone is advocating replacing their focused practice time with a session in front of the tube.
I will respectfully disagree with the notion that exercising with your practice pad while you do something as mindless as watching T.V. would be in any way detrimental to your playing. We successfully split our attention during every activity we do. Should we ban listening to the radio while driving? Singing while taking a shower? Reading Faulkner on the throne? I think the human mind is quite capable of exercising accurate paradiddles and absorbing the complex character development of "Flavor of Love" at the same time.
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If you ain't the lead dog in the pack, the scenery never changes.
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kohei
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« Reply #33 on: March 26, 2008, 12:49 PM » |
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OK
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If thine enemy offend thee, give his child a drum.
"It takes pretty great drummer to be better than no drummer at all." - Chet Baker
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Antman
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Purple!
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« Reply #34 on: March 26, 2008, 08:03 PM » |
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Well, say you're doing something on the practice pad while you're watching tv. But because you're slightly distracted, you're doing it slightly wrong in whatever way. Congrats, you just practiced and engrained into your mind, doing it wrong!
This is part of the reason experienced drummers always say to practice things at a speed that you can actually pull it off without making a mistake. Because you can very easily wind up practicing your mistakes.
Logically to me this would still apply to things we already "know how to do", ie, a paradiddle, but if you're not paying attention, you mightn't notice yourself playing it slightly off time, or with uneven dynamics, etc.
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wHeeeee!
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SteveR
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« Reply #35 on: March 27, 2008, 02:59 PM » |
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I do 'endurance' exercises on my practice pad while watching TV (mostly Rocket games) all the time. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Most of these 'exercises' are rudiments that I've been playing for 30+ years, so I don't think I'm going to learn them wrong. |
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This is my signature.
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boomka
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« Reply #36 on: March 28, 2008, 04:40 PM » |
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I think any musician can benefit from the practice of mindfulness.Instead of mindlessness. This is very important. Sure, one can work muscles out to gain a certain "tone" without attention. And it might even be true that you can do accurate paradiddles while watching the tube. BUT, is the goal just "accurate paradiddles" or even "accurate paradiddles while watching the tube"? Or is it something more, involving the creation and maintenance of a sort of attention which is of a completely different order than that which we usually give to everyday activities. If we learn to cultivate and pay the right sort of attention, we can increase our ability to learn, the speed at which we learn AND the ability to use what is learned at a later time. An analogy: in the study of mnemonics, it's been shown that the more senses one can connect to the item trying to be remembered, the more likely the recall of the item will happen quickly and thoroughly. It seems that more neuropathways/synapses we use to experience an event/thing, the more likely it is that we can bring that thing back up later. I believe the something similar applies to learning to play music. The more we put IN, the more we can get out. It pays to pay attention... |
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In lumine lucem
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phantompong
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Z
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« Reply #37 on: April 05, 2008, 03:43 AM » |
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David Mamet, if you read his books on acting/theatre/film theory, has this idea I like very much: Concentration is like water, it will find its own level. Your attention naturally flows to the most interesting thing around you. "A man with toothache cannot fall in love." - Sigmund Freud
As a student of theatre and film, that just blew my mind. Now, when I notice I have a hard time focusing on something, I just let go and deal with what is capturing my attention before moving on to what I was trying to do before. It works better because you don't have to split your energies, and I'm not the best multitasker.
If you're trying to get something perfect on the practice pad in front of the TV, that's not going to work, because you now have two things that to you are of equal importance. If you have to catch this episode of Lost or Grey's Anatomy or American Idol, well, I'd put the practice pad away and make up for it some other time, you won't be paying attention to your hands anyway. On the other hand, if it's something tedious, rote and requires a lot of repetition - like building up strength, as Bart has mentioned, I don't see why not. It's going to be boring anyway.
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Drummers are subject to the physical laws of nature. One of them states that if you drop a wing nut, it will roll under the bass drum. - Roy Burns.
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TMe
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I am evil Homer, I am evil Homer..!
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« Reply #38 on: April 23, 2008, 11:17 AM » |
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I think any musician can benefit from the practice of mindfulness. Instead of mindlessness. I wonder. I'm always criticized for being too mindful, for overthinking. When I'm watching TV I like to do something over and over again, about a million times, at a relaxed tempo, precisely because I want it to be mindless or automatic. |
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"Some people say I ain't so super groovy. Why don't I leave the music alone?" Black Uhuru
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kohei
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« Reply #39 on: April 23, 2008, 02:37 PM » |
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I wonder. I'm always criticized for being too mindful, for overthinking. Mindfulness and overthinking are two different things. Maybe think aware or unaware. |
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If thine enemy offend thee, give his child a drum.
"It takes pretty great drummer to be better than no drummer at all." - Chet Baker
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