Hi guys,

If you have the time, please check out these songs I recorded and feel free to give me some feedback about my playing. I have seen other topics like this and the professional players here have given valuable tips to many people here and that's kind of what I'm after here. Especially Mr. Elliot's and Mr. Whitten's comment's have always been interesting to read. So, tell me what you think. Good or bad. Don't have to be too polite.

Thank you.

Pop/Rock
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/wkiIXdkVrYQ" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/wkiIXdkVrYQ</a>

Blues
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/58cK9be8D3A" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/58cK9be8D3A</a>

R&B
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/a3yMpuxo2Ng" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/a3yMpuxo2Ng</a>

i dunno know much, but i know good when i hear it. very good stuff. in fact, the whole band is nicely solid.

Rock solid and tasteful. Well done!

Thanks for the comments. I recorded these songs for a school application. I played them pretty much note for note for that reason. I know I didn't have to but I wanted to play it safe. Also I was "the producer" in the session because I was paying it from my own pocket. I chose these guys because I knew that they're going to nail the songs in the short amount of time that we had. It was basically a two or three takes per song.


All instruments are played live in the studio. The singer and the acoustic guitar are in different booths. No processing exept a quick mix and some mastering. All done in one day because money was an issue and it's only a demo. No backing tracks. I'm playing to a click in the first song but I'm the only one listening to it. That is one of the reasons why it's not quite grooving. I should have let go of the click and just go with the band. The other two songs are recorded without a click.

Those are way way better than a demo/school application in my opinion. A solid band, good sound and very solid, groove oriented playing. I enjoyed them!

OK, I've got lots of comments.

You've got a great drum sound, you're approach to a balanced performance sound is cool and professional, you're time is studio-quality. But this is an audition and you've chosen songs that are (a) not technically challenging, (b) played note-for-note like the original and (c) seem almost calculated to appeal to LA studio musicians. You've probably been well taught to choose good taste over chops, but you also have to bear in mind you're competing with guys who are breaking out the Weckl tracks and what have you. It is a competition. Technical ability counts for more in this scenario than it would in a professional situation, as good or as bad as that may be. If I were an admissions officer looking at this tape, I'd probably be asking myself if you've shown me your facility and ability to benefit. If you're just wanting to be a go-to pop drummer ... you're there. I'm not certain what more LAMA could do for you beyond introducing you to lots of other great musicians.

I will say this: If I'm an admissions officer and just watched 40 awful attempts at Weckl, your submission is likely to be a breath of fresh air. At least here is someone making music with other musicians. In seminary, it's what we called "majoring in the majors," which is another way of saying you drove home the primary purpose of being a musician. There's much to be said for giving an A+ performance on the primary stuff. In the professional world, let's call that 98 percent of the job.

What you're counting on with these recordings is they're seen as clever and tasteful and hoping that trumps audacious ability. You may also have audacious ability, you just haven't shown it to me here. If I'm just looking at this overall performance with the mind of a critical judge, I would like to see you give me 60 seconds of a solo or some other performance piece that shows me you're not going to be overwhelmed by, say, a course on Brazilian and Afro-Cuban percussion with Ralph Humphrey, or a master class with Joe Porcaro.

That's just my opinion based on what you said you were attempting to do here. If I were a producer in Helskinki, I'd be getting your name and number for future reference. Frankly, this is a better clip file than an audition.

I don't say this often, but I think you are on a good track to success if this is what you want to do. I say that whether you get to LAMA or not. If you do go, make sure you spend as much time with non-drummers as possible. The guys who spend every waking moment in the woodshed are the ones who end up cursing their school because they often end up with few worthwhile contacts once they're out of school. I say this not just to students going to music school. Part of the college experience is going to getting to know people not like you. Part of the LAMA/MIT/Berklee/whatever experience is meeting people who will be doing the hiring/firing in the future.

We're rooting for you!