Topic: What are you currently working on?

[drumsonly2002]

Double kick fills, endurance and heel up/down techniques. Also the first solo in the book Modern Rudimental solo's for the Jazz Drummer.  Working with metranome at various tempo's. Trying to get into stretching before practicing, something I think is greatly over looked. Reading as much as possible about drums and watching a lot of DVD's. The heavy lifting in effort is the feet work outs, and snare work.

[smoggrocks]

sadly--not a stinkin' thing!

haven't been into it. but this past weekend, i started getting that urge to rock out, so i suspect i'll be jumpin' in the throne soon enough. when the weather gets colder, i tend to practice more. you have more limited hang options, so it gives you lots of opps to jam.

i need to hit some shows, too. that's always a good motivator.

[Todd Knapp]

sadly--not a stinkin' thing!

Seconded... In my case it's a combination of settling into the UK (nowhere to practice, yet), filling out immigration forms, redecorating my mother-in-law's house, getting married and having my family here from Canada... All of this = no drum time.

But, the wedding's over, the decoration done and the folks go home on Wednesday. I hope to get some time on a pad Wednesday afternoon. I can't wait.

[Louis Russell]

sadly--not a stinkin' thing!

Yep, welcome to my world.  Not much since November.  I hope that will change in a couple of weeks but as the doc said "we will see."

[Mark Counts]

Yep, welcome to my world.  Not much since November.  I hope that will change in a couple of weeks but as the doc said "we will see."

Wow Louis,
I thought you were close about the first part of September? Sorry to hear that the doc is still making you hold off. Hopefully all this healing time will pay off?  Still praying for you man.
                                    Nutty

[Chris]

I am a pretty religious practiceaholic so apart from drumming as "work" (gigs, learning songs for gigs, arrangement, pupil practice materials blah blah etc. etc.) my practice has been mostly spent developing chops and solo ideas. Recent favourites have been phrasing six-note licks as 32nd notes with occasional 16th note phrases thrown in for good measure. For example, I might play a certain 6-note lick four times then fill the last quarter with four 16ths. Or I might play two 16th notes, two reps of the 6-note phrase, two more 16ths and two more 6-note reps. And so on. Mixing up different 6-note phrases and voicing them in interesting ways has also been a lot of fun.

Also, lots of licks and ideas incorporating bass drum doubles. Stuff like RLRRLL RLKK phrased in all sorts of rhythmic groupings.

Er... what else? The obligatory groove/time study, the cornerstone of any drummer's practice. Jazz stuff. Latin stuff. Pad stuff, focusing mainly on rudiments and endurance exercises. Great thing about the pad is you can pretty much do it whenever you like, for example during the endless waiting before a gig.

Tomorrow I'll probably look at some interesting grooves I "borrowed" from a fellow drummer as well. Good times - I've still got the bug.

[Hank Gagnon]

i seem to be locked in on double strokes. i do try to expand on it. it has done wonders with playing on the set. single strokes and doubles.  1 or 2 hours each day.

[Bart Elliott]

Yesterday I spent an hour on Doumbek, going over the basics as well as expanding and embellishing several grooves that I'm playing with an artist I'm currently working with.

Also spent an hour on Congas yesterday. Did some warm-ups, working on the basics, then developing several Afro-Cuban grooves around the set of three Congas. I'm going to start working with a Latin-Jazz group here in town, sometimes playing Congas, sometimes playing drumkit, sometimes a hybrid of the two.

Today ... I think I'm going to work with brushes as well as focusing on my jazz drumming.

Hey, this practicing thing is kind of fun ... and rewarding ... I think I might try doing it a bit more often. 

[Todd Knapp]

Working on tuning, learning to build a small business (i.e. teaching, gigging, teching, etc.) and trying to be on the internet less, doing things that further my music/career goals more. 

On that note...

[Christopher]

Ive been working on the Igoe Groove Essentials stuff lately. Digging on the Latin and World stuff.

Now, this big Irish Gringo can Merengue like a mad man!   

[GimmeABeat!!]

I had arthroscopic surgery on my hip last week, so I'm concentrating on just hand technique for at least a couple of weeks. I'm working on my Moeller strokes, finger technique, single and double stroke rolls and some exercises from the "Stick Control" book. I've been watching the excellent JoJo Mayer "Secret Weapons For The Modern Drummer" DVD and doing some of his exercises, too. Lots to keep me busy while I convalesce.

[Mark Counts]

Hope you heal quickly GimmetheBeat,
In a thread about 4 months ago, I was talking about a band that I went to jam with.
It was not supposed to be an audition.  The lead singer was very good.  The whole band was really good. I was really enjoying the session until he sang some Stevie Ray and it was flat and I told him about it.  I have been singing lead vocals on Stevie stuff for over 12 years with another group I play with. Anyway, it took the wind out of his sail.  In the Thread Chrisso kinda didn't care for the way I handled it and now that I look back, I should have kept my mouth shut probably.  I now know that they have been playing together for over 15 years and have been without a decent drummer for almost 2 years. Their old drummer got Cracked out and they couldn't deal with him anymore.  Anyway, I guess they liked my drumming enough to look past my comment and I got invited back to jam with them two weeks ago.  We are on session number 3 and a brand new giant song list for me to learn.  I have been cramming.  We have already got a wedding to play this Saturday and a Halloween Party to play on the 27th. It is refreashing to be learning new material.  Lot's of Creed, Three Doors Down, STP, Alice and Chains, etc. and some older but great classic Rock like Molly Hatchet, Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Poison, Black Crows.
The other thing is that they didn't pick easy ones either.  Some of them are odd Meter songs. So this is what I am currently working on. The only thing I can say now about the way the first jam session went.  Now they know how I am and we seem to be working well together.  The lead vocalist has already started talking to me about doing the singing on a few songs that I am good at. After we get these two gigs out of the way, we will concentrate on booking the local clubs and anything else that pays .   
                     Nutty

[gnarkill]

Personally my hands satisfy me.. speed technique.. and control... its my feet i am bothered by.. i have good control.. over triplets, quad movement, and just steady beats (double) but its the speed development that is killing me.. my band keeps getting faster and faster and i find on some of our new stuff i am kinda struggling to keep up!!! honestly any suggestions from any of you guys would be MUCHO appreciated I NEED SPEED seeing how im a death metal drummer lol.. what is the secret of all these guys who's feet sound like a freakin machine gun?

[dzionix]

hello i'm working actually at gospel stuff. you know, fills grooves, crossovers, fast and power singles with hands, and fast doubles (32nd) with single bass. i've been inspired by gospelchops.com Jeremy Haynes eric moore, skeeter, lil smith, and one of my favorite Billy Kilson. when i'm working to it, it gives me speed, power, coordination, original ideas... sometimes i use them when i play with a bigband...

[DoubleC]

Working on tuning, learning to build a small business (i.e. teaching, gigging, teching, etc.) and trying to be on the internet less, doing things that further my music/career goals more. 

On that note...

I'm in the same boat Boomka.  I got laid off in August from Wachovia Bank. I did get a 6-month severance package.  So I'm trying to pursue music full time (teaching, gigging, teching, etc.) too. 

I've been working on a practice routine (technique, reading, styles & soloing) suggested by Steve Houghton on the Vic Firth site in combination with some suggestions from Bart.

The hard part?  So many things I need to get better at....here's my list:
-Stick Twirling
-Cascara Patterns
-Odd Times
-Chaffee Series book (ie: tap strokes, stickings, etc.)
-6/8, 3/4 grooves
-Unison Exercises
-Swiss Triplets
-Quarter Note Grooves
-Brushes (Clayton Cameron Book)
-Jazz Exercises (Alan Dawson book, Syncopation)
-Double Bass
-Music (play along stuff, "Lay It Down" tracks)
-Displacement/Permutations (Gavin Harrison book)
-Tommy Igoe book
-Ostinatos
-Clave (El Negro book)
-Future Sounds (David Garibaldi book)
-Pat Petrillo's book

I target the areas that relate to my gigs and teaching.  Then, I set aside some time for the styles that I don't get to play.......like the latin and jazz stuff.  It's tough because there's only so much time in the day. 

I'm having a blast though.  It brings me back to my teenage days when that's all I did was practice. 

[David Newman]

I'm still very much in brush mode, and my practice has been paying off quite well. Just in the last few weeks my brush playing has taken a big leap forward in sound and control, and I got a great complement on it last night from a local jazz singer who wants to do some gigs.

I'm also working on learning a whole three hour set of originals for a new band that has a gig coming up, and I bought that Tommy Igoe book for something to play along with as well based on the word of mouth on this site. It is a ton of fun!

[Mark Counts]

Working on "The Commandments of R&B Drumming" by ZORO.
Not so much for the Blues stuff because that is all I played for awhile.  More for the Motown flavor.
Been playing With Marvin Gaye, EWF, James Brown, Commadors, Stevie Wonder type stuff. Also, like  Nuclear, I've been working with some brushes and I have found that I can almost practice them after my kids go to bed . Atleast so far, no one has complained.
               Nutty

[Louis Russell]

Been playing With Marvin Gaye, EWF, James Brown, Commadors, Stevie Wonder type stuff. Also, like  Nuclear,

"Whats Going On" Nutty  "I Feel Good"  Like a "Brick House"  and "For Once In My Life" I am "Getting Through" but for now Im "Outta Here"  bound for "Paradise"

Sorry, sometimes I cannot resist putting song titles together. 

[Mark Counts]

"Whats Going On" Nutty  "I Feel Good"  Like a "Brick House"  and "For Once In My Life" I am "Getting Through" but for now Im "Outta Here"  bound for "Paradise"

Sorry, sometimes I cannot resist putting song titles together. 

Yea Louis,
You got a bunch of them that I am working on.  "Whats Going On", "I Feel Good", "Sex Machine", "Brick House", "Mercy Me", "Superstition", "Higher Ground", "Shining Star", "I wish", "Sir Duke", "Chameleon",Maybe "Sexual Healing", Maybe "Super Bad", Maybe "Get up off of that thing", and we have done a few that I have never heard.  Some songs to get them moving.  Once you get them moving, they will dance to anything. We have also funked up "Show Down" by ELO, "Love the one your with", Steven Stills, "After Midnight", Clapton. I actually got to watch Omar Hakim perform "Chameleon" at PASIC.  It was a great drum lesson for one of them I am working on.
I am really having a bunch of fun with these.  Even a Rod Stewert song or two ain't so bad.
Reading some of your posts about song lists, I would say you have done a whole Bunch of these?
                              Nutty

[Louis Russell]

Once you get them moving, they will dance to anything.

That has been my experience also.  Sometimes the hard part is finding what will get them moving.