Soft Drum Exchange :: Feedback

[plainsman]

hi fellow softies,

i guess should post this while last meetup's events still fresh on our mind.

Like to ask you guys on what you liked, what you felt was good, and which things can be better.

for example, was the double drum segment good?

also, what other things would you like to see e.g. rudiment demo, jamming with other musician demo etc.


the committee is looking into this and always welcome feedback on how to make it better all the time :mrgreen:

please fire away!!!!

 

[killerbee]

I left at around 2-ish, so didn't get to stay throughout the event.

Personally, I love the double drum thing! It's very cool to see drummers "trading" like that.

I also like that Alfe puts in much effort to invite more senior/professional drummers who come and share their drumming. Can really learn a lot from them! It's almost like a mini clinic. Very beneficial!

 

[snowflier]

yes, the drum trading makes things fun to watch. and fun for the drummers trading, plus good practice, learning to keep timing and to play with another drummer.

but as caijunlong mentioned in another thread, time here becomes an issue. whereas we used to have to keep asking people to go up and share, now there are many people raring to go up to play against each other. and sometimes when we are all enjoying ourselves, we forget to take note of how much time has passed.

so i tink we nid to make sure each drummer or pair of drummers keep to a time limit. they can go subsequent rounds preferably after every one has had a turn, so that nobody makes a wasted trip down, especially if they have prepared something to show. or actually we can try and note who is coming later or going off earlier and allow them to present once they arrive, in case they miss out on sharing later. if they prefer not to share, that's another story. i propose having a guestbook for pple to sign in and state the approximate time they're leaving so the drum comm can take note. it will also serve as a record, good to refer to down the road as we grow :mrgreen:

but on the whole, yeah!! yeah to 2 kits and yeah to all the fab veterans that came down to share despite their busy schedules and to all others who also took time off to partake in this gathering!!! looking forward to the next one, yo!!

 

[plainsman]

great feedback so far. keep 'em coming. i'm just cranking my thinking hat along too.



1. double drum segment

some of the committee members i spoke to informally felt that while the double drum was a good addition, we must streamline and manage it.

the downside of it is that, its more distracting, than having just one drumset and everybody will have to pay attention once a person sits down to play or demonstrate.

snow chan, the time limit is goood idea. its like rap battle, 3 mins, slug it out.

my 2cent to suggestion box is perhaps we can explore first 3-4 hours with solo drumset, then have a somewhat "pre-arranged" double drum segment with a few pairs of drummers agreeing to play together beforehand.





2. theme

i have mixed feelings about this, what about you guys?

cos although the theme was defined as 'GROOVE', there weren't many people who prepared for it.

i know we're still new to this and developing it, but i notice general lack of participation in local audience. maybe its our culture (hehe) i find even in local drum clinics, the local audience is often at a loss for questions to ask.

personally, i get into a state of mind where i know this clinician is going to be in the same room only for the next 2 hours. once i listen and digest, i will shape and formulate some questions i would want to ask.

if we can change this, it would be an incredible thing, because we're talking about culture here, which is developed over long time (ie. decades, centuries) i know i had to go through it myself, learning to be 'buey pai seh' to play, being more hungry over 'must act reserved' where i'm asking the clinician a really meaningful question which takes into account both the clinician's expertise and my roadblock in drum progress.

either we need to bring back a 'GROOVE II' to close it on a good note, or we'll have to abandon the theme idea for now.

your take on this, guys? :mrgreen:

 

[snowflier]

perhaps you or whoever else is hosting could emphasize after every 2-3 demos that questions are very welcome. plus maybe at the beginning when we start, emphasize that as well, so that whoever demos will also be prepared that there may be questions asked of him/her later. perhaps now we're all just being a bit polite, watch and clap, watch and clap, like watching a show. now that you've pointed this out, i'm sure the rest of the comm will consciously make an effort to start the ball rolling with questions.

with regards to the theme, i'm not sure if everyone was prepared for that or if they even knew there was a theme...maybe next exchange, we should insert the theme into the thread title also, so pple wun miss it. maybe also the distraction of the 2 sets...jus made a lot of pple 4get their "homework"..haha!

i think can try Groove again, but maybe not the next exchange, the one after...so that pple who DID show for the last one, can do something new for the next rather than focus on Groove again.

 

[soft]

One suggestion is to have notes to bring home. Some blank drums manuscript so that we can write down what was being demostrated.

Learning via watching, listening and writing down.

Another is to have a metronome. I find that quite a few keep going off time.

* everyone should wear ear plugs to protect themselves.

 

[killerbee]

Haha, I agree with James regarding the ear plugs part. I notice snow and gambatak bring their own ear plugs too!

Next time I will bring my own ear plugs man! Coz it can get deafening loud sometimes!

 

[plainsman]

james suggestions are really good. we shall incorporate it right away.

1. will post up gentle reminders to bring ear plugs as much as possible\


2. regardless of meetup theme, there must be emphasis on metronome. to highlight this, we shall have a metronome hooked up to an amp for certain stretches of the segment, or just place it right beside drumset for drummer to press right before starting demonstration.


3. prepare notes. if not possible, write them out on the whiteboard. paper can get messy, so in future hopefully we can work towards providing soft copies of notes on a consolidated thread (it has been created but usage rate is quite low...)



keep em coming!!!

 

[DullTheater]

but still its no an obligations to wear earplugs huh.. hehe heheh ehehe

ok, about the double drums thingy.... youre ryte about keeping the time slots for each individual pair of drummers..
and maybe may i add, 1 person go once, for the sake of being fair to others who wanted to sit on the throne and play and show.....

they are few times which i saw ppl keep on going on the throne to jam, thus giving others no chance.....
well, unless of coz the person wanna share something which he suddenly remembers ah, if not, i'll say NO WAY to ppl who wanna play again and again and again......
that's just terrible..

one more thing, let me ask you guys,
wats the main thing about having 2 sets of drums?
till now i haf no clear idea about that..
coz all i can come out wif is having drum battles
apart from that, nuthing, zilch, zero.....

and wat about after those drum battles?
wat about them?
wat are we suppose to show?

during those playing, i notice ppl are watching 2 ppl playing together
and after that?
keep quiet, no qnz asked.......
then the next pair go up again, and battle again...
and goes on and goes on....

so wats the purpose?
isit just to go up there and jam wif another person
i believe, this is only a small part of the reason why we haf 2 sets..
imagine having 3 sets, hahahahaha
not to be cruel, but 3 sets making different sounds, wif no qnz to come at the end of it....
looks like i wont be staying long....

metronome...
ok... good idea, seriously..
but honestly, how many ppl play wif metronome on at home?
if alot of ppl say yes, dats good,
then a metronome is definitely something needed
BUT
in the case of 2 ppl jamming out together, i think metronome is a redundant thing there
coz both will just play to each other timing....
if you wanna use metronome, its for the practice of one person on the throne,
or even 2 person... but not for the usage of drum battles...

like james said, a few keep on going off timing...
its obviously things like that wud happen, coz theyre not use to playing wif another drummer
honestly, how many time u see 2 or 3 or more ppl having drum battle wif metronome
for me, i wud say none, well, maybe to others got ah.. but its a rare thing..
if you guys still wanna try metronome, den dont waste money
i come from a school concert band, and safely i can say, every band got their own metronome somewhere, and in the Ulu Pandan symphony band, i saw some lying around..
altho not the new high tech electronic one, but the conventional one where the needle sway from side to side..
honestly, that's a much better metronome than the electronices ones...
make use of those then.. before we embark to buy more expensive stuffs .....
take it as experimental stage....

theme wise,
great thing to haf it every month
provided everyone sticks wif it......

instead of having groove, groove II.....
why dont we make genre themed
say, next is about latin, so we concentrate more about latin grooves
then rock, pop, swing, jazz
hey, altho not everyone play those, but still its good chance for someone else to learn...
like this way,
ppl go to see thomas lang, will kennedy, derek roddy, jimmy lee.....
are those ppl who go to see derek roddy play rock always.... nope
are those ppl who go to see thomas lang play his genre always.... nope
but why ppl go? coz they wanna learn something new.... unless if they say they go just to ogle at the drummer ah.. hahahahahha

sorri if i sound cruel or wat, but thats wat i feel..
and yeah, feel free to flame me back, coz if the reasoning is good, i wont hesitate to say sori publicly...

 

[melvin]

first of all, kudos to e committee for a well-planned meet up. as a first timer, i would have to say that i felt very much at home, with RD and everyone else always trying to make e newbies feel more involved in the session.

the best part of the whole meet up for me, would be watching drummers play against each other and everyone learning everyone. however i believe that before the drummer goes up and play together, they must first agree on the kinda groove they wanna play, i.e. swing, shuffle, rock, dbl pedal madness haha. so at least it wont sound so messy. and i agree with dulltheater that we should have kinda like a qna section after each drum battle, such that the drummer can explain why he does something, or even how to do certain stuff during the solo so that everyone can improve that way.

ALSO, GET MORE PRO DRUMMERS SO EVERYONE CAN BENEFIT FROM THEM HAHA!! have to thank them for the free advice given on the theme, grooves!

 

[sidmontu]

was my first time last saturday and i quite liked the "drum battle" thing. it's interesting to watch and i won't say it's impossible to learn from two people jamming unless it's some insane groove/fill in

qna session after drum battle, i don't know if it'll work. most of the stuff the drummers do doing the drum battle has to be improvisational, no? i personally won't remember what i did exactly if someone were to ask me to explain some fill in i did i think qna sessions are more fitted to the learning sessions like we had for grooves last week, at least the demonstrator has a plan and can repeat the same thing slowly to show ppl how it works.

maybe cut down a bit on the drum battle parts and a little more of the lessons. i loved the info jerry shared with us the other day!

 

[reuben]

Good job everyone... seeing the regulars there always really supports the comm all the time... I have been there since the first meetup and this is the first time we have two drumsets and a drum battle thing going on...

I would say though its fun and all but this time it was really a little too draggy. maybe time limiting each drum battle would help. however, i still prefer having just one drumset and having everyone share something, even the new guys.

looking for the next meetup and many thanks to ahpek and jerry for taking time off to come... hope to see you guys in subsequent meetups

 

[plainsman]

great feedback so far, .... full frontal !!!! :mrgreen:

nazrey... your feedback is honest, sincere and i think everyone here appreciates it. if not, i appreciate it man.



with any kind of events, there's always going to be some things we can improve on.

right now, we're still trying to find the perfect BALANCE, between keeping xchange informal and formal

informal = fun, spontaneous but messy
formal = organised, productive, but stiff

speaking strictly for myself, i did what i thought best, and i know it can still be better, but where my shortcomings are, i seek yours and the others understanding and feedback. please do not hesitate to continue to bring up any suggestions you feel necessary moving forward.



both chun leng and reuben have spoken to me informally about cutting the double drum segment too.

hence, the general suggestion (to be confirmed after meeting to discuss 8th soft xchange) is to have only ONE drumset for duration of xchange.



for pro drummers, rest assured myself and eric has not been lazy in continually seeking them out to drop by.

although tama has agreed to come some time ago, him being very in-demand both locally and overseas has led to him not being able to come last 2 xchanges. we'll keep trying and hopefully he'll be at the 8th.

we have extended invitation to jimmy previously and we're always hoping that he'll also drop by sometime in the future. we will post up any updates on this.



i have also particularly tried to reach out to both lasalle and MDC drummers. it will take a little bit more patience and time, will keep you guys posted.

if you guys know any MDC and lasalle drummer, please put in a good word for us and invite them, and PM myself or eric.

I hope that our group will be representative of the entire spectrum of sg drummers in future, so softies can benefit maximum =)



cheers and more feedback come!!!!!

 

[DullTheater]

the thing about 2 drumsets....

there's no need to cut down one and use only 1 for the entire segment...
we can set up 2 of them.. but haf limitations..

not always haf drum battles... like someone say, drum battles are impromptu thingy
so hard for ppl to learn from there, unless they got really powerfull memory to memorise everything ah....
qna after every drum battles, now having mix review....
its hard to haf qna after drum battles.... ta dah.... my sentiments exactly...
so wats the use of having them....
just the fun of having 2 players playing to each other songs
drum battles can still be done in the meetup, but try to do it to the minimal....
not everytime....

most of the time, one drum (mapex) will be used for normal teachings... the other can be used say like, if the person asking the qns to the teacher (the person who's showing the grovve thingy or watevr watevr watever leh) wanna try out wat he just learn...

u wanna haf something formal and informal...
i say, honestly its hard, but not impossible....

as you know, locals are very conservative ppl, so there'll be less ppl who will just go around asking ppl if they are new to the scene...
to this ppl , i would say, pls dont be shy to ask...
you myte never know that you are not the only one who doesnt know the stuff that you dont know....
just speak out your thoughts....
when your qns is answered, not only you gain.. the whole community will gain as well

those who been to meetup since beginning are getting comfortable wif each other,
heck we even joke like no-one's business, regardless of race, language or religion ( hahaha, think national anthem!)
in other words we are getting informal....
newcomers will be abit scared2, but never mind, if you come to the meetups regularly, you will get more comfortable and so become more informal....

we can try to do a formal meetup, being organised and all, but can still stick to being informal, like fun, and spontaneous.... but provided we keep to the agenda of the meetup...

 

[plainsman]

ok ... roger... i can see you've put enough thought to this, and i think it works.

will suggest it to the committee, but bro you'll be credited with it. i know you may or may not be concerned about this, we're building a culture where we give credit to the person where its due. thanks!


lets have 2 drumset then, but only one (mapex) will be used usually. if student wants to try can come up and sit on 2nd one.


and i echo this sentiment too, to all: please don't be shy to ask questions or come up to play!!!!


keep it coming!!

 

[DullTheater]

no prob dude...
wat are fellow drummers for
you want opinions, i gif you opinions... no need to hide....

 

[Frummer]

i have a suggestion...

since there is a list of drummers going for coming meetups, why not we pair up ( choose your own partner )?

for example...me n dulltheater jam "dream theater - prophets of war" mayb with an ipod plugged to a speaker... but instead of just palying like that, we spice it up abit...like arranging who plays which parts of the song...and when to paly together...

...this way...not only is there music...but there is a challenge in coordination and showmanship...

 

[DullTheater]

hahaha...
u wanna play DT stuffs huh?
hey, reubs also play DT stuffs...

not forgetting jesperz, newbie, he's in a band playing DT stuffs...

wah.. so many Mike Portnoy...

power

 

[reuben]

waha...

anyway.. thanks Naz for the comments man

anyway Frummer brought up something really interesting man... You know we have always been playing with just the drumset alone... We have amps there so why not make use of it.

I will bring a cable which can connect to either the amp to the normal 3/4 inch or a small jack for mp3 and discman... like that if you wanna demo with a loop or music.. or if you wanna ask questions bout a certain song, certain groove, certain types of counting... its much easier when everyone can hear it..

 

[Frummer]

yeap...its good if we can learn to play along smth...and put it in the context of a band situation as much as possible.

reuben...
..."like i love you baby...yeah yeah YEAH yeah..."

dang sounds gay