Congratulations to Michael Craig on passing his Grade 6 Rockschool Drum Exam with Distinction. Michael has been coming to lessons with me for around 3 years and is an excellent all-round musician with a bright future ahead of him. Onwards and Upwards.
‘The Drummer’.
- A touching independent film short featuring New York Jazz drummer Dave Ratajczak. The Drummer in question has been waiting a long time for his moment to shine and against all odds does so with gusto, becoming reborn in the process! Many musicians will recognise the highs and lows, as well as the little victories, featured in the films story line.
(Source: vimeo.com)
#DrumHistory
The late, great Louis Belson showing us how it’s done, back in 1957. What lovely playing with phenomenal technique and ‘chops’! Louis was the first drummer to use a double bass drum-kit and wrote the rhythm / sight-reading book Modern Reading Text in 4/4.
Mark Richardson Drum Tuition:
As if you didn’t know already know I do drum tuition! Here’s my little banner, I’d be honoured if you could share it amongst your friends and on social networking sites, because working on six degrees of separation everyone knows someone that would like drum tuition.
Here’s the ad:
Enjoy Drumming - ‘Mark Richardson Drum Tuition’ is a source of expert drum tuition within North East England. Rock-out to the basic fundamentals or master the advanced playing of professionals.
For more info:
www.MarkRichardsonDrums.com / MarkRichardsonDrums@Gmail.com
I’m also on:
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/MarkRichardsonDrums
-Twitter: @MRichardsonDrum for ‘Drumming Inspiration Tweets’
-Tumblr: http://markrichardsondrums.tumblr.com/
Thanks
Mark
‘Gewa Music’ 530 Model ‘Concert Mallet-Series’ Timpany Beaters.
I recently visited Wez at Drum Shop UK who introduced me to a line of soft timpany beater from ‘Gewa Music’, specifically the ‘Concert, Mallet-Series’ ‘530’ model, developed in cooperation with Arnold F. Riedhammer of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The beaters consist of a small size 30mm soft felt beater head with a bamboo handle that altogether totals 15” in length.
Their first test was playing suspended cymbal rolls on a recording session for ‘Athletes in Paris’ where from a players perspective I was pleased with the results. They spoke quickly, producing a massive shimmering swell of sound in no time at all and were still nimble enough to allow control for more dexterous playing. The results were similar when playing rolls and more intricate patterns on the school Timpani drums as well as at my home drum studio, playing tom-tom grooves a la ‘Lady Eleanor’ (Lindisfarne). Throughout all of this fun, the 530 model were pleasurable to use providing a well balanced feel, soft attack, with a very full and warm tone. Exactly as you’d need and expect from such a mallet.
The sound, feel and build are of a real professional quality which gives me the confidence to whip them out of the stick bag on any occasion where a different tonal colour is required. They’re easy for any drummer or percussionist to utilise, providing that trademark soft beater attack to transform an instruments sound, opening up your playing to all different kinds of playing possibilities. At £25 a pair I’d recommend any drummer / percussionist keep the ‘Gewa Music’ ‘Concert Mallet-Series’ Timpany Beaters 530 in their stick bag at the ready.
Mark ‘Mooch’ Richardson
Hello and welcome to the debut blog for Mark Richardson Drums, from me… Mark Richardson. I can mostly be found playing drums, percussion and teaching them which is what I’ll be mostly posting blogs about. When I say “I’ll be mostly posting blogs about”, the “about” bit usually means LEARNING to play drums, which will feature content created by myself and from some of the GREAT resources already online like:
http://www.vicfirth.com/education
http://thedrumninja.com/drum-transcriptions
Take a look around, it’s well worth it!
See you soon.
Mark
‘Where The Sea Starts’ at Future Fest 2010, Newcastle 02 Academy. Alongside The Little Comets and The Futureheads. The most odd time signatures I’ve ever played on stage in one night.
