[Donna]

This was done at my 'rebut' as singing drummer (18 months ago) - played it safe that night.

YouTube Video ->Original Video

[Donna]

Another one w/ Mischke -- a studio thing (amusing little ad), we both did vocals (him onscreen).

Nov 2009 -- btw, the guy who engineered/mixed is a drummer...he had the tiniest, cutest kit, I loved it.

YouTube Video ->Original Video

[Matt Shank]

Both are excellent.

[Poco Askew]

Really excellent!
Wow - sing and play at the same time. Time for me to hang up my sticks.
I'd like to slap the camera guy in the first video.

[0xRAIN]

I agree with Poco, singing and playing is impressive. I can do back ups ok, but if I ever had to sing much more than that, it would end badly.

[Donna]

Poco Askew, on Aug 21 2010, 07:36 AM, said:

I'd like to slap the camera guy in the first video.

LOL! Ah - but he's my crazily talented friend, nothing doing I know what you mean,
however the more I watched the more I admire his camera work. Serious! It's anti-sooper
dooper glitz, a real plus in my book. I think the video began much different than how it
ended...cause the song did and that was captured, God bless him for that!

It was a CRAZY gig because Mischke (MISH-kee) is a naughty little boy that needed constant
watching. And a genius brilliant boy. I love this vid because it was largely unrehearsed. I don't
why I halved the time early on, and Lord knows why Mischke began running around, but it was
perfect. He put me on the spot, too - I'd never sung that.
___________

Guys, thanks a lot for your ear and the feedback ~

[Donna]

First music video proper, Fall '09. A big deal, first substantial thing realized w/ the writing and not-drumming.

YouTube Video ->Original Video

[Matt Shank]

Excellent. Beautiful voice.

[Poco Askew]

Wonderful voice.
I liked the song. I would also love to hear a version with a different arrangement. Please don't take this the wrong way but I kept waiting for the drums and bass line to come in. It felt like a long intro to a song that never quite happened. Have you done a version of the song like that?
You've got amazing talent. I hope we get to see lots more of your stuff. Thanks!

[Donna]

Wow - thank you both.

Poco - ESP! I was going to post that I've multiple versions of Out To Storm. Long
story to getting these realized (ie respectable recording - my biggest obstacle). Thank
you for the feedback! I wanto do it live w/ the guys, but right now we're into building
"predictable" songs.

THE version I've been trying (& failing) to record indeed has drums - POP baby
into that chorus, it's great, then drums from there on. I def. need a little help
from my friends, it's impossible to do on a 4-track w/ me playing everything
(including organ & strings - but I cheated). I've literally been getting back into
the loop w/ musician friends the past 2 years (besides playing/practicing/writing)
after the longest drumming break ever (12 years I reckon they were stowed away)
...and every musician friend I know or work with has a day job, a family, or both.

Wish me well this week - hopefully I'll be recording and we get something respectable
(with drums, which I've been so itching to play in the studio).

(PS - Poco, same cameraman as in the first vid! )

This post has been edited by Donna: 22 August 2010 - 07:56 PM

[realscotch]

Donna, on Aug 22 2010, 03:23 PM, said:

First music video proper, Fall '09. A big deal, first substantial thing realized w/ the writing and not-drumming.

YouTube Video ->Original Video

Your singing is quite impressive.

[Donna]

Realscotch, thank you.

(By the way - does your user name refer to a drum march title or liquor or ??

[realscotch]

Donna, on Aug 23 2010, 07:08 PM, said:

Realscotch, thank you.

(By the way - does your user name refer to a drum march title or liquor or ??

It's a long and boring story. So lets just say a combination of the 2.

I probably should have called myself realbeer as I'm not really much of a scotch drinker. (the cheap stuff tastes like iodine and you have to have at least Pinch to get a decent taste).

Anyway, your singing is really nice.





RJ

[BuzZoo]

Geez Donna, you are an impressive musician. Thanks for sharing.

This post has been edited by BuzZoo: 24 August 2010 - 03:39 AM

[Donna]

(BuzZoo - thank you...I'd not responded because I thought the flow of the topic better left w/ you as headliner )

Edit -- I didn't wanto muck up the FDL house w/ too much copy, but the blog excerpt below doesn't sound right w/ only its drumming conclusion out of context, so I'm posting it in full.
__________

This forum has come at a good time for me -- a trusted friend had recommended it -- old drumming friend who ran sound for a cover band I was in long ago, and subsequently moved to Maui (sp) and has for quite some time owned George Benson's former studio. (I know! Ya can't make this stuff up).

Anyway - last week was my vacation, and I spent it prepping for the studio and heavily delving into the forums.
It really helped me being here a LOT that week, get my mind back into drum mode. The following is about this good studio experience. The "drumming conclusions" blog it comes from is pretty new.

This recent experience provided a huge lesson for me - which I already knew but somehow got deeper this time.

As always, the musicians I've been keeping company with whether cyber or real have a hand in the work. Merci!
____________________


Vital (studio) Lessons

Recently I've learned some of the most important lessons ever in my musical life.


Music Vacation
About 7 days ago what began as an impromptu conversation and wish for me maybe laying
down a drum track for friends' material turned into a plan for one of my songs being recorded.
I wasn't entirely sure until mid-week beforehand that it would actually go down, but I began the
prep early in the week anyway. Another big chunk - guitar, drums and vocals.

This is an account mainly about a successful studio prep for drums.

The studio I speak of is owned by Phyllis and Stefan Johnson; some time ago I'd written
about Phyllis, a former bandmate, who in the intervening years has become an accomplished
songwriter (in addition to already having been an accomplished musician and vocalist).

Phyllis Johnson Music

The song we'll call Dylan's Dream - as the lyric was based on a dream my son had. It is so
new that Thorny Swale (the band I'm in) had only played it a few times. As I've been doing
rhythm guitar on all my originals in rehearsal & live, I'd not given thought to drums.

As it happened, my children were away for the week, so I was free for immediate prepping.
I did not know my own song on drums, did not know what I "really" wanted - the particular
beat nor fills nor builds.


Slowing the Tempo for Studio Prep
The tempo of Dylan's Dream is between metronome settings (I'm not digital folks) so I opted for the
slower of the settings - and soon realized this was key to all of my drum prep. It coincided so
beautifully with the bulk of my practicing this summer, as the desire to leave no stone unturned in
broadening the understanding of how to swing, had me halving my speed on a regular basis.

Halving (or going down a third of the speed) in my opinion has done wonders. Part of it is purely
practical: I dislike changing metronome speeds and I have so many children and duties that it's
calming for anything to stay at the same tempo for a prolonged period. I just...halve the speed,
do the figures in triplets, double the speed, whatever is possible using the same setting.

Prepping the song in the slower tempo was agonizing, but I hung in there and did my best. The
result was that I was nailing (in understanding, then execution) the various song parts.


How and What I Prepped
In this order I discovered (and/or "wrote" but not via notation), in roughly two practice sessions:

* Perfect Tempo
* Main Beat
* Basic Outline (swells, builds and overall feel)
* Feel of the fills and figuring out what specifically could get me there (eg double stroke snare rolls, slowed drumset rolls using kick drum)

The next two practice sessions I concentrated on:

* Creating the Fills
* Executing the Fills
* Transitions from Main Beat to Fills and back out to Main
* Musically Playing Song Sections
* All the Above at Agonizingly Slow Tempo (via metronome mic'd through the amp)

As many others do, I played in the air - the song was in my head (or it wasn't because the slowed
tempo invariably placed a Zepplin-like riff in my head I could not get rid of). I was getting anxious
because firstly I recalled how long it can take to learn a song -- by a good drummer with their
nuances. But I was writing this song! I needed more time, but didn't have it, as by the 4th practice
session the road trip to Phyllis and her studio was a for sure thing.

The Final Preparation
The last two practice sessions:

* Recording via the 4-Track
* Listening to result then repeat recording
* Even if recording solid, do again -- being able to "do it again" is important
* Bpm up to original tempo via 4-Track
* Continue Learning/Remembering Song/Fills



The drum prep went hand in hand with guitar, though they were separate. The bulk
of time and focus was drums. The last session was a short one, I took it easy and
spent most of the day relaxing or sleeping. By this time, and maybe because of
the focused drum practicing I've been doing all summer which seems to carry
over favorably to guitar and vox, I realized this was the most complete, focused
prep I'd probably ever done...and somehow I knew exactly how and what to prep.
I also realized I'd fallen short of this in the past (eg w/ Dan who I've been working
with). But mostly I felt grateful for the knowledge of my abilities and the ability to
create and execute a plan which worked.

The day of the session I did not play at all, and only sung for about 20 minutes, about 2 hours prior to the recording.

The Result
Maybe we got lucky - it was a reunion, after all, of 2 very-like minded musicians, it
was out in the country (blessed change) and in their good-vibed home, with their
son and the whole family atmosphere. I played Phyllis' kit and had an issue with
the kick pedal tension...but after the 2nd take and I wanted to try again, Stefan
was listening and made a comment, but it was the way he was listening, that made
me listen to him, and take it to heart. I'm not sure what decided things...I did
find out then that each part of the kit took up a separate track, and there was a
question of whether or not the space might be needed...yet then Phyllis listened
and confirmed. It was not perfect, but "you're a human being!" It should not be
THAT perfect that something's thrown out if 2 notes are a smidgen off with an
otherwise great-feeling take.

The more we listened to it, the more we liked it. Sadly, each fill I wanted was not
realized - but what I did instead did work, and all the general things were included.

But what really rammed things home for me was what Phyllis said: that out
of all the drummers they've worked with, none had done what I had...that when I
outlined to her the prep I was doing, she was so happy that a drummer would prepare
via a click. And that a drummer followed through, in the transitions to fills and out again, in
time, and especially that a drummer played the song. That a drummer would also
practice a song, because previous drummers were convinced it wasn't necessary
to learn material beforehand, and would instead listen a few times at the session.

Phyllis further said that she had had to go back and re-do drums (and she is not a
drummer) because at least she could play in the pocket (and she can - and did,
I heard some of the recordings that night). "These are excellent drummers I'm
talking about - excellent! Great live...but the studio?"

There was nothing flowery about her praise, it was matter of fact and one peer
to another. I knew I'd done right in prep, but couldn't have imagined how
grateful the engineers/fellow musicians would be, the excitement with which
they would now approach the work, and the trust they now placed in me.

Conclusion
Metronome me & Slow me...

Drum Maris

This post has been edited by Donna: 30 August 2010 - 05:01 PM

[Donna]

It got too late to drum on the kit last night, which inspired ... er the link on the next post!

This post has been edited by Donna: 03 September 2010 - 04:09 PM

[Matt Shank]

Donna, on Sep 3 2010, 08:01 PM, said:

It got too late to drum on the kit last night, which inspired this.

I wasn't able to get it using the link you provided. I was able to get it using this link:

http://forums.songstuff.com/blog/76/entry-...elf-evaluation/

[Donna]

Thanks Matt!

[Donna]

Lefty's are Special / Sitting in with The Swamp Kings Tonight

[Ray65]

WOW!