Black River Music Word

Sorry it has been a while since I’ve posted (boy time flies!) but I do have a couple of things I am really excited about and need to share with you…INNOVATIVE PERCUSSION & JOSH DUKES!!!!!!!!!!!! INNOVATIVE PERCUSSION A number of years ago I began a search for the BEST drum sticks.  I tried scores of sticks by most of the companies we all know.  To be honest, there were many good sticks, but when I found the right stick there was no denying it.  INNOVATIVE PERCUSSION had an incredible feel and I just fell in love with them.  They have many great models and I’ve probably tried all of them.  The Bret Kuhn, Mike McIntosh, Jim Cassella, Jim Campbell and FS 2 all felt incredible and I’d recommend anybody trying them.  For me I have a few sticks I use on a regular basis and I’ll share them with you.  For playing the music of Moeller and Sturtze as well as my work with the Regulators I like the Paul Rennick sticks (FS-PR).  When I’m playing solos or drumming with the Civil War Troopers I find that the Tim Fairbanks sticks really work for me (AS-TF).  For concert playing and working with young beginning drummers, I love the Lalo Davila sticks (IP-LD).  And for drumset playing (which I don’t do a ton of!) I love the Bob Breithaupt’s! Many of these sticks are available through www.blackrivermusicplus.com and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM TO ANYBODY WHO IS SERIOUS ABOUT DRUMMING!!!!!!!!!!  Also check out their website at www.innovativepercussion.com for more about their great products and some of the talented people who endorse their great sticks. JOSH DUKES  Through the years I’ve been around many great drummers, both as a teacher and performer.  In the early 1990’s a teenager named Josh Dukes walked in the doors of the Kent Elementary School where I was teaching the Young Colonials fife & drum corps.  He was a friend of Tom Fantini, a bass drummer in the corps.  It didn’t take long for me to see that Josh was serious and motivated as Tom had shown him a lot about bass drumming.  Over the next few months he became a great member of the bass line…but it didn’t stop there.    Josh began working on snare drum and in no time at all he became an anchor in the drum line, along side Therese Rock.  A year later when Mark Reilly joined the corps they became a force to be reckoned with and there was no denying their passion for drumming.  I can honestly say it was one of the most talented groups of drummers I ever taught.  The following year I left the corps to pursue my master’s degree and we never had the opportunity to reach our goals together.   Fortunately Therese took over the line and the next year they won the Northeastern Championship…the highest award in the world of fife & drum!  What does all of this have to do with Josh?  In time he auditioned for and won a spot in The Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps.  I couldn’t have been more proud of him…until now!  This month Josh Dukes who is not only a world class rudimental drummer but a master of Irish folk music released his first CD titled “The Long Trip Home.”  It is a collection of traditional music featuring Josh and some of the top musicians from the DC/Baltimore area.  Of course as soon as I found out it was released I purchased it, and all I can say is WOW!  I’ve listened to it a few times now but can’t tell you the titles of many tracks.  I’ll try to give you specifics in the future, but I will say there is a set which he mentioned was the first jig he learned and the tune for his lovely wife “Judy Ann.”  Off the top of my head these were two of my favorites.  Go to www.joshuadukes.com for more information.  If you haven’t figured it out yet THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE RECORDING AND EVERYBODY NEEDS TO ADD IT TO THEIR COLLECTION!!!!!  FYI-there is no rudimental drumming but there is some awesome bodhran playing.  I’m proud of you Josh…keep coming with the great music!  That’s all for now, but we’ll talk at y’all down the road!  In the spirit,                                                                                                           Dominick Cuccia                                                             www.dreadeddrummer.com                                                               dominick@dreadeddrummer.com

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I’ve recently subscribed to Google’s GoogleAlerts for news and blog posts with the keywords: drums, drumming, drummers, etc. Within the article and news releases for drum related video game, brake drums and barrels I find some relevant, well written items. This article was salient for me for two reasons. Beth’s feelings about the sound of contemporary drum and bugle corps or marching band drum line and familiarity I immediately felt regarding the author.

My concern is with what is now being accepted as what a snare drum should sound like. (Beth goes beyond the snare drum in her discussion.) The modern high-tension, floating head snare drum is barely a snare drum at all. Drop of the snares on one and the difference is little. The snares are so thick, the heads are also thick as well as extremely tight that what is heard when played is so high, the snares matter little. Beyond this, the sound of impact projects straight up off the head, deafening the performer and giving little sound to the listener. (I once while waiting for the step off of a firemen’s convention parade I came up behind a drum line I occasionally marched with at the time and could barely hear them. This line had about 10 snare drummers playing 13" high-tension snare drums! Many times playing solo with my little fife and drum corps, I had comments that I can be heard a half-mile away).

This probably means nothing to many. But as I said above, I am concerned that generations of drummer will think that a marching snare drum should sound like a ping-pong ball hitting a paddle.

 There is so much I can say about the corruption of the art of rudimental drumming since the introduction of these over torqued beasts. What was the beautiful discipline of motion involving arms, wrists (and some fingers) has become a showy display of finger diddling. This new evolution (or devolution) is fast, impressive and some times even creative. But I don’t think it’s rudimental drumming.

The second thing jumping up at me when reading the blog article was that Beth is the person that had sent me a few months ago two novel leg-rests!

So much for my venting, please read Beth’s thoughts I’ve quoted below:

drumming thoughts

So I’ve been at it for about eight months now, practicing in earnest since late January. Between finding free exercises on the internet, trying out different drum sticks and practice pads and cobbling together a marching snare drum from assorted used parts, I’ve developed not only a passable roll but some opinions about the state of drum corps and marching percussion these days. In no particular order:

1. Today’s marching snare drums are tuned too high. The resonance has gone out of them, and so has the depth. There are differences between a drum line of 1980 and 1990, between 1990 and today. Back in 1990, the first high-tension snares had trickled down to some high school drum lines. The heads were very high tension but there was still some depth to the tone quality, some "bottom" to the crack of the rim shot. Today’s drum line have almost none of that left, as drums have been redesigned to be totally high-end, all treble and nothing else. Drum parts have evolved too; lots of buzz rolls, one-handed buzzes and other things that don’t reflect traditional rudiments in the same way. I would say there’s lots of finesse and precision in today’s drum parts, but not as much "beef", not as much rudimental focus. After comparing and contrasting the different approaches, I can say I have no desire to play a modern super-high tension drum. I LIKE my older drum with its beefier sound and slightly slower response. I have to work a little harder to get a clean roll but really, that’s okay.

2. As marching snares went higher in tension and pitch, so did the rest of the drum line. Tenors got smaller, tighter and higher. So did tonal bass drums (on further reflection this may not be a bad thing, especially if you have to carry one. Bass drums in 1978 were HUGE, and well beyond my physical size and ability to carry at age 15!). The whole sound of a modern drum line is pitched noticeably higher than its predecessor of ten years ago, which is pitched higher than ITS predecessor of ten years earlier still. Not sure I’m crazy about this trend. While it certain makes some drum parts easier to hear above the range of the middle brasses, it takes some depth and muscle out of the overall sound of a corps or marching band.

3. Three-valve Bb brass are marching band instruments: trumpets, french horns, baritones, euphoniums and over-the-shoulder tubas. But they’re most definitely NOT bugles. And while Bb band brasses offer diatonic possibilities like never before, they don’t *sound* like bugles. (Any decent brass player will tell you that in most cases that third valve is mostly for alternate fingerings in fast passages, and not absolutely necessary to enjoy a full diatonic range on the instrument.) Just as long as we’re clear.

4. The introduction of electronics and microphones and all the rest into drum corps for the 2009 season makes me really sad. It’s not drum corps anymore, and I’m not scared of sounding like a dinosaur. Drum corps has been an acoustic art form for nearly 80 years. Introducing electronics is simply more evidence that the "muscle" has gone out of the sound.

5. Personal faves, sticks and pads: (a) I’ve been liking the Corps Master series from Vic Firth, especially the MS-1. I think that I’m gravitating towards matched grip more and more, and this shorter, beefy stick feels balanced and nice to play. I’m still looking for the "perfect" stick. (b) I settled on the basic Vic Firth two-sided practice pad, in a 13" size that fits neatly on top of a snare drum for quiet at-home practice. The two sides offer two different surfaces to practice on for different purposes and it’s nice to switch back and forth when I want to clean a roll or really work on pulling strokes out of the head more.

I begin rehearsals with Pacific Crest Wind Symphony (PCWS) in two weeks. Meanwhile, I’ve also found the Spartans Alumni listserv, which I was encouraged to join last spring at the Sellwood drum reuinion. I finally did, receiving a friendly welcome and finding a couple of people I marched with in 1978. Heavens, that seems SO long ago now. Because it was. Sweetie’s been a good sport about it all, giving me time and space in the house when I need to practice on more than a practice pad. I am playing drums again and it feels really good. "

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