Wake up!

Three Camps, played by yours truly at Brutopia's Sunday Night Open Mic. This is an American Civil War era reveille, but somehow I don't think that 1800's military drummers had high-powered free-floating kevlar-headed marching snare drums in mind when they wrote it :)

Enjoy!

o7

Musical activity = Gaming loll

Hello there! I'm alive, and very much so. I'm just spread a little thin these days but it's all good. I may not be as crazy-busy as I was in September/October but life is still flying at break-neck speed as the Rockline drumline still has a few gigs coming up, my own personal music project is starting to take form, the fat guy in red is warming up his transdimentional reindeer drive sled, and I'm trying to keep up with my favorite games in the middle of all this. Phew! That said over the past couple weeks I did have a few occasions to log onto EVE Online but nothing of note happened apart from some chats with some Montreal buddies and with the EVE Radio channel; I take this opportunity to salute the return of YouTuber/Vblogger Mintchip who recently felt the call of New Eden, you know, the "Hotel California Syndrome" :)

Exactly one month after our fund-raiser Metal bash, the Rockline went back to the rehearsal studio in preparation of a drumline clinic we gave in Québec city last Saturday. There was a convention for musical educators and with drumlines and marching bands making a slow comeback there was a lot of interest in our "product"; I don't want to brag too much but we are the hottest drumline in the province of Québec by far, even though there are only 5 or 6. So the plan was to present and explain the inner workings of a drumline by going back to the basics. Each section (snares, multi-tenors, basses and cymbals) was given attention. We then followed up with a simple 8-8-16 warm-up (alternating each hand) as an ensemble but trying to mimick a group of youngsters who had basically never played drums. This was extremely cacophonic but fun and even hilarious at the end when one of the snare players kept playing after our presenter told us to stop! We made it up to our small crowd by doing the same exercise but with the precision expected of a DCI drumline. Ah, much better :)

But of course we didn't travel 300 kilometers just to show a few exercises. Interspersed with various examples and explanations we played three of the tunes from the Wishmaster concert: "Dark Chest of Wonders" which we hadn't played since the show (this was a last minute addition by presenter Jeff Goulet, who is also the arranger of this tune... it's fairly easy anyway), "Storytime", and of course our apotheosis, the "Arabesque" drum feature. Even though we only had a small "crowd" of 30-40 people - maybe 50 because convention goers were coming in and out - the reaction was awesome each time we played, and greater as each tune increases in difficulty; where "Dark Chest" doesn't need a lot of practice and feels more like a warm-up, "Storytime" has a few tricky parts, and "Arabesque" is not only a challenge to play correctly, but a lot of movement is involved (see the video here) and collisions must be avoided at all cost. And this is before the "octopus" effect. Yes, arranger Michel Pilon knew he was dealing with a bunch of DCI vets and in what was presented as a battle between Wishmaster's drummer and the drumline, he wanted to make sure that we won!

And now that this is done, what's in the future for the Rockline? Well, resting on its laurels isn't in the plans. Next sunday we will participate in the shooting of a videoclip for only a simple part of eight bars but it's mostly for a visual effect. But as simple as this is the video shooting will allow me to finally realise a great big dream of mine: because the video part calls for it and because I've proven I can play some decent traditional grip rudiments, I will be introduced to the snare line. And on top of it we will be carrying the things! I don't care if it's only a temporary promotion for only eight bars, this will be a very powerful moment for me. The fact that it will be shot on video is great bonus. To say "I cannot wait" is a ridiculous understatement! So needless to say I've been hammering those double stroke Fives and Flam Accents like mad ever since last Tuesday when Jacques asked me "can you play me a Five?" before the rehearsal started. I confidently answered "singles or doubles?", perfectly executed hand-to-hand doubles, and then starting only from the right hand using traditional grip. The funny part is that one of the massively talented tenor players declined the invitation to play the snare line because she lacked the grip skills. Well, for this video she can have my bass drum :))

Hello snare... I haz a date with you or one of your bros >:)

On this note, fly hard and play tight!

o7

"Arabesque", by Wishmaster's Alexis Serré and The Rockline

Yeah. We rock. >:)

A Night To Remember!

Wishmaster, The Rockline and the Diplomates horn line

After seven months of regular practice, and pretty hardcore at that in the last month, The Wishmaster OES 2012 event may now be a thing of the past, but the memories from this most awesome day will remain forever. Even though we had to work hard the entire day from 8AM up until show time, it was great to do so in the comfort given to rock stars. And as we had planned, the effect of having the marriage of Drum Corps and Metal was absolutely devastating. From the opening punches of Scaretale to the gigantic finale of Ghost Love Score, everything was dead-on with the precision of an atom clock. And the power... ZOMG the power! Having my already ridiculously powerful bass drum miked and hearing it assaulting the venue's walls was a truly awesome feeling. I would definitely do this again! It put a serious time constraint on my schedule but with results like this I'd be stupid not to do it again.

And hey, I can say I've realized one of my dreams: I am now part of a top-flight drumline that played the equivalent of FOUR Drum Corps shows in one evening. And wait till you see the drum feature! I'm waiting for a good video of it to come out, and I'm sure it will, to post it here. The house had already been brought down by the two opening bands, Opened Fist (tribute to System Of A Down) and Alcoholica (tribute to Metallica) so what we did was blow the remains of the house clear across Ste-Catherine street :))

And now I can go back to a somewhat regular schedule. The Rockline will be taking a well-deserved break and we'll see where it goes after. I've heard that we may skip 2013 for the big event because Wishmaster is also going on hiatus after a 25+ show summer tour, guitarist Tony Batal becoming a dad to a little girl, and drummer Alexis Serré's girlfriend expecting a baby soon™. But I'm keeping my eyes and ears open. In any case if there's a gig for the Rockline (without necessarily 45 minutes of drumline parts to learn), director & instructor Jacques Charbonneau has my number and he knows he can count on me on the bass line.

In the word that has become the Rockline slogan, it was totally SDEMMEY !!!

o7

I'm on bass #4 this time, stretching my neck to see the drum major!

The crowd, with EVE MTL pilots Ilinane and Cartboard Box up front and center :)

Meet La Drumline Rockline! Yours truly is on the far left.

Edit for Facebook users: Here's links to all of Quebec Metal's photos...

The lighter: Opened Fist

The dynamite: Alcoholica

The explosion: Wishmaster


Edit #2: Concert review !!!

The last straight

You may have noticed I skipped the Friday video post. Sorry about that but as the meme says, shit just got real. The fruit of the drumline's labor is in sight with only seven days to go before showtime and until the final punch is hit next Saturday night that's where all my energy will be focused.

And on Sunday afternoon whenever my body decides to wake up, I will have to sacrifice a few ships to The PvP gods.

Flying safe sucks ass; just don't do it.

o7

A picture is worth a thousand words

This was my weekend!

Crunch time

One thing is absolutely certain, my vacation is over. In the three days since my return to business-as-usual I've gotten up earlier than ever because I had to help out my ex with our boys who crashed at my place on Monday night after their karate session, taken my drumkit apart in preparation of an eventual band project (I has one), gotten on top of my work (one good thing of taking three weeks vacation, people have no choice to cover for you and when you come back it's not so bad; I've had worse returns after only one week), and practiced drums with the drumline. And this is far from over because we are now just over three weeks before The Big Show.

We've now gone from one rehearsal every two weeks to every week, with two weekend events planned on top of it. The last and obvious one is the general rehearsal for the show with all the participants basically to setup the stage positions and a quick run-through, but the most important one will be happening this weekend is what we lovingly call the Death Camp. Two days of nothing but cleaning and refining the six tunes the drumline will be playing on, including a totally kick-ass drum feature. It was supposed to be written simple to be learned quickly, but Michel Pilon, who's been a drumline head instructor at the highest level of the sport, and knowing he was dealing with a bunch of DCI vets (me excluded), couldn't help but throw a few curve balls. He also helped Wishmaster's drummer to build his drum solo so it fits seamlessly in what will become a true drumgasm!

With all the drumming, studying and rehearsing I have to do, all games are going on the back burner. Of course, when one has been a gamer for as long as I have, "One does not simply stop gaming" as the meme goes. I will still log onto EVE for skill flipping and maybe some quick romps through space. I will probably shoot stuff and/or explore places in various other games I play because you can only look at little black dots while listening to a click track for a certain amount of time. The Wishmaster OES 2012 event will be happening on October 20th, and I will be taking a few days off work right after so I can cool down and game like I haven't gamed in a long time.

Let's make this show awesome :)

o7

Weekend of Drums & EVE Alliance Tournament X

Wishmaster and The Rockline

What a crazy summer I'm having! Putting aside some gaming to get better at drums is starting to pay off not only in terms of drumming and musical skills but also in terms of new experiences. Last weekend was a big one for the Rockline drumline as we had our first public appearances since the official foundation of the group. On Saturday we went to a Drum Corps revival event in Sherbrooke Qc; the activity is far from what it used to be in the 80's, but it does seem to be slowly creeping out of the darkness it fell into in the late 90's and early 2000's. I personally don't think it will again reach the heights attained in the mid-80's, but at least it's fun to know that Drum Corps is getting some exposure again and new generations of players and performers are being groomed.

That said, the Rockline was performing the last number of the evening before a traditional Drum Corps retreat, playing two tunes with the band Wishmaster ("Scaretale" and "Romanticide") with whom we'll be playing with at the big fund-raiser Metal show in October. Our almost brand-new drums had been the talk of the day as we got small groups of spectators at rehearsal, when half the group was busy in the senior corps Les Diplomates du Quebec. My bass drum especially was a head-turner by its size and its deep boom. I can safely say I play THE largest marching bass drum in the entire province :) We also had our timpani player with us for the first time and he did a great job even though he had never played with us before. And the performance itself? Mind-blowing is the only word I can think of. If you listen to "Scaretale" you know it starts with as series of punches after a soft intro, right? Well those punches were echoing in the valley below the stadium like cannon shots! The older and more traditional-minded people in the crowd weren't too sure but could do nothing but notice the quality of our drumline. Those who like Metal literally freaked out! I can now safely say that Drum Corps Metal not only works but is a total percussive orgasm :))

After the retreat all the participating corps and any Drum Corps veteran who was interested was invited to get on the field for a 200+ player mass band rendition of "Can't Take my Eyes Off Of You". The mass band had praticed it during the afternoon at the same time we were practicing our stuff, but that didn't stop about half our drumline from participating, with me and my monster bass officially nicknamed "The Beast" representing the bass line. I had to grab some bass drum players from other corps and ask "WTF do we play?"... boom click boom-boom, click boom-boom... wow, that's hard! and of course at the right spots people were improvising left and right so I didn't disappoint! All in all a great night, if a bit insanely hot as a heat wave is currently hitting the South of the province.

On Sunday we had another public appearance in the form of a parade in my hometown's Percussion Festival, in Longueuil Qc. This was my first ever parade, and I have to say it was a slightly painful one. As you see in the Rockline picture, I usually play with the bass drum mounted on a stand (yes, this is me at far right with "the Beast"), but for a parade I have to carry that thing. And I did. Ow my back! Well, I didn't suffer too much and I ain't dead, but I do still have a few aches even two days after the event. It was a lot of fun, nobody played perfect but everyone was in a festive mood. I do admit that the last two street corners were the longest and very hard and I wanted to stop but I made it. I even found the energy to take part in an impromptu jam session with a bunch of percussion groups that closed the parade. Kids big and small got to play on our drums, total mayhem. A perfect finish for my drum weekend!

The Retreat; Rockline is in the foreground, in our "Black-out" uniforms; I'm the second in line from the front

EVE Online Alliance Tournament X

I knew that this weekend wouldn't be an easy one so I took a couple days off this week, and I needed the break, especially yesterday where my back was hurting. So I took the time to catch up on this little game that got me into blogging called EVE Online. With Alliance Tournament X in full swing I got to watch Day 5 and Day 6, and I have to admit it's making start to miss the game! A few things have changed since last I played and a whole of  modules I have no clue about have appeared (Ancilliary Shield Boosters?). I do plan to get back in the game in mid/late September but with so many changes I will have some adjusting to do. Hell I don't even know if the fits I know still work! And the Vaga... the poor poor Vaga that has been circumcised by mad vikings... :*( Oh well, I guess I'll fly the Cynabal more. I also have a crazy Fleet Stabber fit I want to try!

But back to the tournament I was happy to see that the alliance I want to join (Purple Alliance, Red vs Blue) is doing so well, and in the same bracket as Rote Kapelle (hi Cerui and Ripard!) and Pandemic Legion (hi Mintchip!). And that last RK vs PL match... with the Bhaalgorn flagship and FOUR Malice assault frigs... Holy Shit !!! Gratz to Rote Kapelle on that win, and gratz to Pandemic Legion for the size of those testicles XD It'll be kinda hard for me to catch the end of the tourney live as I will have my boys with me and do plan to go outside and do some stuff, but I do plan to hit YouTube later next week and catch all the action. Now that I've made my peace with ISK making (meaning I won't try much) I'm actually anxious to come back to EVE and do what I love to do most, blow some shit up!

Fly balls to the wall !!! (actual aviation term)

o7

Mine. My own. My precioussssss :)

Got boom?

Sorry about my lack of postage, but this "little" orange toy has been keeping me quite busy. Here it is on it's first official rehearsal night on June 26th. Our drumline is slowly getting tighter and tighter, and this weekend will mark the first gigs, with a Drum Corps revival event in Sherbrooke Qc on Saturday, and the Percussion Festival in my hometown of Longueuil Qc on Sunday, where we will actually parade so I'll get to wear this baby :)

Again, sorry about the lack of updates; expect a wall-o-text post at some point!

Fly loud!

o7

The unexpected promotion

Talk about a surprise! I never even imagined the phone call I received yesterday just over an hour after posting my last blog update. I had posted on my drumline's Facebook page my desire to start learning the tenor parts mostly out of curiosity even while realizing the massive hurdle this represented. But apparently Jacques, my instructor and the drumline's director, had other plans in mind. A second member was starting to skip rehearsals for personal reasons and Jacques needed to know what was up. It turned out that this guy, bass drum #5 player, would be getting busier and would be stuck missing more rehearsals and that his future in the drumline was iffy. Jacques asked him if he was alright with having me replace him on bass drum #5, and a few minutes after the positive answer I received The Phone Call.

It must've have sounded pretty weird to any by-standers as we immediately started looking at the bass drum parts and started speaking in the "tap-tagadap, tap-tagadap" universal language of drummers! So in the span of two hours I went from bracing myself for the ultimate drum learning challenge to a slightly lesser challenge but still oh so rewarding. Of course now being two months into the schedule I have some catching up to do. The next time we all meet the drumline will be learning its fourth tune, and this one will be brand new for everyone because it's off Nightwish's newest album "Imaginaerum" which wasn't out last year. But not wanting to lose any time and still giddy from the fresh news I got on my practice pad as soon as I got home from work; good thing I had previously printed every drumline section's parts! As I had posted before in video format the first tune I had to learn was "Dark Chest of Wonders", and re-learned it I did. In one short evening I was able to memorize pretty much all of it; not bad for my first night as a bass drum player :)

What was even more amazing though was the torrent of congrats and support e-mails I received from my drumline mates and also from the outside. As I'm writing these words I literally feel like a million bucks and although I will practice a lot on my own, I simply cannot wait for May 29th, which will be my first drumline rehearsal on my new "instrument"... yeah we're still waiting for our drums. But at least I know I will be playing the biggest one :))

Fly loud

o7

Friday's Electric (sorta) Dessert - SCV Drumline Edition

OK, this is me geeking the fuck out. This video is NOT for everyone, for sure. But it is an example of what all drumlines aspire to be. They may not be the "official" best drumline (the honor went to The Cadets) but SCV will always be #1 in my heart :)

Enjoy!

o7

The weird spring

As abruptly as it started, spring sure is on the weird side up here in Montreal. While on the 21st of March I was chillin' on a patio having a beer in shorts and T-shirt at 10PM, a few days later Mother Nature was back to freezing our barren and snowless landscape on a few occasions. It was wasn't until this week that we finally got some weather ressembling spring (summer even) but even then it didn't last long and after some blasting 40mph winds we're back to the freezing point. Well, at least it's better than last year where spring brought us rain, flooding, more rain, more flooding, more rain... you get the picture. So while my bike may be ready for some good rides, riding weather is iffy at best. I will have to literally harden the fuck up soon, bite the bullet and start using my bike more in the very near future. If I'm to travel hundreds of clicks I'm sure the weather will not be perfect all the time!

In the meantime what have I been up to lately? Well, with the drumline project well under way I've been getting my rudimental chops to levels I hadn't thought of attaining this quick. I guess practice does make perfect and now that I have more tools to practice with I spend much of my free time banging away on one of my practice pads, studying video tutorials and music scores, and listening to the seven Nightwish tunes that the drumline will play on at the October 20th show. One of my latest achievements in drumming is finally nailing down a classic snare exercise that's been around since the American civil war called "Three Camps", when drums and fifes were used as communication methods. It is a reveille, a wake-up call if you will, that's basically a triplet roll exercise which isn't too hard but I had never gotten around to actually playing it, even though I have heard it hundreds of times because of the drum corps background. I nailed it at slow speeds first to make sure I understood correctly what the sticks are supposed to do, and now I'm working on getting the speed up while staying as clean as possible. And of course to give myself a bit more challenge I play it both in matched grip and traditional grip. It fits on a single jpeg image so here's how it looks:

Accented notes are singles, the rest are doubles.

Also, my drumline instructor is giving me tips before the practices start and he's encouraged me to keep playing along the rudimental excercises he throws at the rest of the drumline. For now this is easy to do as we don't have instruments yet, but when we get 'em I'll have to keep to my practice pad and feel more than hear what my sticks are doing, unless someone doesn't show up and I can borrow a snare for the warm-up. Man would this make my day or what! :)

Now with all the drum stuff that's going on my gaming time has pretty much hit rock bottom, but I still keep an interest in a few games. The most prominent for me these days is Fallout 3. I love it so much that I'm really getting into the whole post-apocalyptic fiction genre, survivalism, Cold War history and all that jazz. I guess it puts me in the mood to get into survival mode as I prepare to travel the vast expanses of my province by bike. I've taken a big break from Skyrim not because I don't like it anymore, but because my computer doesn't like it anymore. I may have modded it a bit too much for my weakening box. I know it's getting short on memory and the video card is showing it's 4 years of age. I really need to think about upgrading if I want to play any newer games, like say Mechwarrior Online when it comes out! I do play a bit of Quake Live and Mech4Mercs once in a while but pretty much all my attention is on Fallout these days.

And this blog being this blog, how can I not mention this cybernetic drug called EVE Online. Before you ask, no I'm not resubbing just yet. Even though fun things are on the horizon like the Burn Jita event, Hulkageddon V, the Inferno expansion and DUST514 (I'm still wondering what the Montreal area code is doing in a game title XD), and even after I watched my own buddies and corpmates having a ball in Low-sec, I do not yet hear the call to undock Rifters, Thrashers, Taranii, Vagabonds or Absolutions. The busy summer I have ahead of me doesn't help, and there's still the slight problem of me hating the most important part of EVE with a passion, ISK making. I was watching Dr EyjoG's economic presentation at FanFest and somewhere in it he even pointed it out: in order to lose ships in PvP, you have to do your chores and make ISK to buy ships. "You have to do your chores..." I was screaming at my screen at this point; THIS IS WHY I UNSUBBED DOC !!! I don't play video games to do chores. Period. But on the flip side having a space dogfight in New Eden is a truly unique experience. *sigh* Well, if I want to help my real life buddies in a better way than just watching and giving the odd advice I will just have to bite the bullet and make ISK. I guess I can become a cheap ship specialist because losing T2 and Faction goodies is hard for a non-economically enclined player like me. Bah... we'll see what the future holds. One thing is absolutely certain, nothing will happen before the October show. By then we should also start hearing about the 2012-2013 winter expansion and see what that brings. And to anyone who would really want me to tackle, scout, or even FC, you can activate my account and I'll gladly do it for you :))

Fly, flam, ride... all that good shit!

o7

PS: To famous/infamous PvPer Garmon who is even now asking for real-world money for The PvP classes... just what the flying fuck dude?! I've already thanked you for giving me my first PvP death and teaching me this important lesson in a n00b's career. But with this sort of shenanigans I will just have to issue you a challenge if/when I come back. No worries, I will mail you. How about 1v1 Ruptures? You did kill me with a Ruppy that first time :)

Friday's Electric Lunch Hour - Moar Drum Luv Edition

Nothing to say here. Just remember to pick up your jaw off the floor after you've watched it!

o7

Wishmaster practice #1

After two weeks of anticipation and practicing on my own as time permitted (which wasn't as much as I wanted), we finally got the drumline together for the first official practice of the Wishmaster 2012 fundraiser show. We played on practice pads, cross-sticks for the cymbals  and the snare line on 2" x 8" wooden beams but do not let the lack of actual instruments deceive you; despite doing this for fun (and the kids of course) and having no intention of becoming a competition drumline, the Wishmaster line-up is boss!

I was welcomed very positively in the gang with one of my cymbal line mates telling me "What the hell are you doing on cymbals?!". I did mention my unknown status and the lack of space on either the snare or bass lines. Even though I'm not the same caliber of this snare line (again, we are STACKED), I did prove that I wasn't exactly a slouch when it came to sticking; I was the only cymbal player able to play the entire snare line warm-up. Without wanting to boast too much, it's already clear that I will be the pillar of the cymbal line. I even put an exclamation point on this as the practice came to an end; one of the snare girls played one last lick at full power on our table, and I replied by replicating her lick note for note much to her surprise, after which she told me "Hey! That's my job!". I was a great moment that loudly said "welcome to the family" :)

But the drumline practice wasn't the only great thing yesterday. These days Montreal is having a quite unnatural heat wave and for the first time ever I was able to ride my bike in shorts and a T-shirt on the first day of spring! We aren't just destroying temperature records up here, we are writing a new book! Temps are supposed to be coming back closer to normal as the weekend approaches but still, I never would have believed that I would be able to ride my bike so early and so comfortably, except maybe for my ass that needs the early season hardening XD

So all in all yesterday was a totally awesome day, and I can't wait for the next practice. This will get more and more awesome after each practice, I can only imagine what it will be like when we have instruments to play on. By the way, if you know anybody who works at a marching drum company, tell 'em that me and my 20-ish buddies will be more than glad to show off their equipment :)

Flam hard

o7

Multiple front action

As you may have noticed, I have officialized the turning of the final page in my EVE book with a slight blog redesign. With a speaker cover background and now Terry Bozzio's awesome monster kit, I think it's fair to say that my blog is taking a musical turn. I may still touch on EVE subjects once in a blue moon but it will be strictly with an outsider's point of view; just like one of my friends, I prefer hearing and talking about EVE than actually playing it. I've already been posting music videos every week for the past 2 years so this will go on, but here and there I may throw in some additional performances, and as before I'll concentrate on live music, unless it's a really well made video or the tune has a special significance.

I may be gone from EVE and may also be very busy with drumline immersion, but in no way does that stop me from being the same gamer nerd I always was. I've taken a short break from the fantasy world of Skyrim to take a stroll in the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout 3. It's not that I got tired of Skyrim, but Fallout is just as good (I call it Skyrim's older brother) and being a 4-year old game it plays a lot better on my 4-year old machine! My progress in-game has slowed down since the drumline thing started but it's great to have games I can jump in and out of. My boys have also strongly re-ignited my taste for Quake Live, especially that now I can act as a coach. The day the boys each have a machine to play on will be interesting to say the least! And in the light of the up-coming Mechwarrior Online me and a bunch of Virtual World veterans are planning some mech action in Mech4Mercs. This should also be interesting!

So how goes the drumline stuff? So far I've received the sheet music for the three tunes from last year's set, "Dark Chest of Wonders" being the first tune we will tackle at the first drumline rehearsal. The cymbal part is fairly simple but as I don't know Nightwish music that well (it's alright but I'm not the biggest fan) I have my work cut out for me. And from one look at the snare part, my director was right: I'm not quite ready for this even if it's relatively simpler than normal snare parts. I'm not backing down from the challenge though, but because I want to concentrate on my cymbal part I'm mostly working on the 40 regular rudiments. To help me "get" the drum corps snare parts better I also acquired something called "128 Hybrid Rudiments"; this is the stuff that DCI gods like Jeff Queen, Corey Brohard and Dr John Wooton come up with. Yeah, each and every one is challenging, and each and every one has a funky name like "Shirley Murphy", "cheese paradiddle" and "diddle-egg-five". Yeah, fun! If you want to know what I'm talking about you can find the pdf document here.

And the closing subject, mountain bikes! Spring has decided to arrive a few days early in Montreal so there's a good chance that I'll pump up my tires tonight and go for my first ride in 2012. Oh it won't be anywhere far yet. I also need to take my bike to the bike shop have it tuned up from A to Z; there's a lot that I could do myself but a bike shop has tools I don't have, room to work on the bike, and technical experience. The shop near my place is used to dealing with 10k+$ race demons so I know my bike will be well taken care of. Of course my big travel plans may be shifted a bit because they may conflict with the drumline's crunch time, but I still intend to go. We'll see if there are modifications to make to my itinerary, but who knows, if the drumline practice goes well during the summer I don't see a problem of me skipping a weekend and coming back after the huge ride. I intended on bringing a pair of drum sticks anyway :)

So there you go. So long EVE and hello Real Life !!!

o7

Drumline update #2

So yesterday evening I had a lengthy chat with the drumline's director after I requested last year's sheet music for both the snare line and the bass line. His initial reaction was to tell me "I'm sorry Ben, both of these lines are full and then some. Plus I don't really know your drumming experience since you haven't gone the drum corps way. Do you know ruffs? Flams? Hybrid rudiments?". I took all of this in stride because I knew the quality of this drumline, and I knew what I was getting myself into.

Let's see. This drumline is jam-packed with DCI vets and instructors. And not only is the entire line-up from last year returning, we are five new guys coming in. One has his job cut out for him as he is the timpani player; he has to write his own parts and stuff. Another is already marching snares in Quebec's senior corps, so he easily gets that spot. The third is a guy who was marching snares when I was a kid and he was already OMGWTF awesome, and he never stopped drumming. He'll get a multi-tenor spot and I know he's up for that challenge. The forth guy is actually a bass guitar player but he's a long time friend of Wishmaster's leader who happens to be the drumline director's son. He'll be on the bass line. And then there's me.

So to break down the drumline by section: 9 snares, 5 basses, 4 multi-tenors, 1 timpani, and various cymbals. This right there is a full-sized competition drumline, with only the pit crew missing. So because of my unknown status I will be on the cymbal line, but knowing what I can do on drums I will be a damn solid cymbal player. You see, playing on a drumline isn't about the individual but the sum of all parts. A good example of this is the Santa Clara Vanguard cymbal line, who not only perform all kinds of crazy visuals (look up "SCV viper" on YouTube) but also play stuff that would challenge the best orchestra percussionists. Modern cymbal playing isn't about crashing every other quarter note in 4/4.

But even though I won't be on the snare line itself, I simply cannot pass on an opportunity like this. I will STILL get the snare parts and practice them for two reasons: 1- just in case, and 2- just because. I will also have a look at ALL the other parts; I do have to concentrate on getting my own part perfect but I welcome this challenge with open arms. One thing is certain, I will have an awesome amount of fun. I mean, how often does one drummer get to hang out with 20-25 other drummers, some of which have vast experience? I see nothing but good coming out of this :)

Flam hard

o7

Wishmaster Drumline update

I'm in! :)

And not only that; I will get my try-out on the snare line. The parts should be relatively easy because Wishmaster does have a regular drummer, but let's not forget that this drumline has some pretty impressive people on it, with instructors and DCI vets. Plus, where last year's returning players will have four tunes to learn (three are kept from last year's set list), I will have seven. But I welcome the challenge. The point of this drumline is not to be on a DCI competitive level, but to have an unbelievable amount of fun while raising money for Opération Enfant Soleil, Québec's main foundation for children's disease help.

Last year the drumline was sponsored by a local music store for its instruments but they're looking for a new sponsor this year. This means that the first few rehearsals will happen on practice pads. Slightly less exciting but it means then when the drums do arrive we should have quick results. Be assured that when I'll get to play on a new toy, I'll post pictures :)

Rehearsals will start on March 20th, and the show will be on October 20th. There will be two opening acts and where last year Wishmaster employed an orchestra, this year we're going with a full drum corps hornline. Drum Corps Metal? Oh yes, and it will be GLORIOUS !!!

Flam hard

o7

Drum Line !!!

It's no secret that I'm into drums. I'm a self-proclaimed drum geek and nothing makes me happier than talking about drumming, working on my sticking, checking out drum gear, and meeting people in and around the world of drumming. Last October I wrote a blog post about reconnecting with a few drum corps friends, my first drum instructor, and also meeting some new friends in the process. The event was a percussion meet held to attract music teachers from both regular and specialized schools to the fine art of percussion, and to do so two bands were on hand to explain their respective instruments and various techniques. The first band was a Brazilian style "bateria", which gave the meet quite a festive start. This is my old instructor's band by the way. And the second was a full-scale drum line consisting of seven snares (plus two spares...), three multi-tenors, five bass drums and three cymbals. Marry this drum line to a Nightwish cover band and an orchestra and you've got Wishmaster. And shit-tons of power!

Soon after the meet there was rumors that the drum line experience was going to be repeated; the full Wishmaster show was held for a local children's foundation and it had great success. And so it was that I kept in touch with these new friends and I made it known that if there was to be another edition, I wanted to be in on it. As I had mentioned last fall, I started practicing my rudiments a lot steadier in case something happened. And some time last week it did. The drum line's leader sent me an invitation for this year's edition first drum line meeting! So ever since that invitation I've raised my practice time from 1 hour a day to 2-3 hours. I know I can make the drum line as a cymbal or bass drum, but what I'm really shooting for is the snare line; I don't think I can make the quads as that takes some serious skills! My motivation: if one of my old time drum corps friends can make the bass drum line after 30 years without holding a pair of sticks, I can make the snare line. I realise that it's a huge step and it will involve an awesome amount of work, but I know I can do it. But honestly, I will not be disappointed if I don't get a snare spot; hell I'd just be happy being a roadie and changing drum heads and hauling stuff. But tomorrow night as I formally meet the drum line I fully intend to give everything I've got to give and maybe, just maybe, I will get to kick-start my drum line career after my own 30 year hiatus.

On a related subject, the bar where we've been holding the Montreal EVE Meets sometimes has some Audience Participation nights where people show off their singing skills, guitar chops and whatnot. Take a wild guess what I'd like to do :) I've found some snare solos to practice, most notably from my two favorite drum corps, namely Santa Clara Vanguard and Phantom Regiment. Needless to say a lot of work will be spent nailing the solos on the practice pad before I attempt 'em at full volume on a snare drum in front of an audience. But yeah, I'm getting weary of telling people I play drums... now I want to show 'em!

Fly loud

o7

Friday's Electric Lunch Hour - Snare Drum Edition

In the spirit of the invitation I received for Tuesday's Wishmaster drumline meeting, here is snare drum master Jeff Queen explaining and performing his "Tribute" drum solo. Yeah, I wish I could be a tenth that good!

Enjoy!

o7

Friday's Electric Lunch Hour - 2012/01/20

Late lunch hour that is :) I haven't posted some drum corps stuff in a bit so here's an earful. Good luck keeping up with the strokes :))

o7