World Cup Kick Off Concert

I'm pretty sure that more of you who watched it last night will agree that the World Cup Kick Off Concert was fantastic, and i can not think of a better way to start what is possibly the biggest competition in the world. Those of you who watched the whole program will have seen the FIFA president say "football is not only a game, football is connecting people" which I think is very true. This can be said about all sports of course, everybody loves to get involved with sport, whether its football, athletics, cricket, tennis the list is endless, and they all bring people together. But the world cup is something different altogether. The world cup brings everyone together, every country wants to be involved, people travel for thousands of miles to support their country and the atmosphere around a world cup is like nothing else. And that was so clear in the concert last night, with the people of Africa celebrating the world cup finally coming their way, the pride and excitement was clear to see on everyones face. I also loved the variety of acts that the concert had, and the incredible musicianship that every act showed. Everybody put on an excellent performance, and I'll say something else, it was really refreshing to watch a show where all the acts actually had backing bands, who were really playing. The amount of hard work and rehearsal that everyone had put in was obvious and made for a great performance from everyone.

Atmosphere

I have already mentioned about how the World Cup in itself brings with it an incredible atmosphere. But in all the gigs, concerts and festivals I have watched and been to in my life, I have never seen so many people jumping and dancing so jubilantly. Africa really know how to celebrate like nobody else is the world. The vibe that I got from, unfortunately, watching on my sofa at home, is that this is one of the most exciting things to happen if Africa's history. Now I now that Africa has a huge history, and many incredible things have happened there over hundreds of years, but last night, I don't think that any of that was on anyone's mind. All that anyone was thinking about was that people were coming to their country, from all over the world, to watch the greatest players in the world compete for the biggest trophy in football. And that was the feeling that was driving everybody last night.

Performance

Every act was amazing, but the top performers for me were Angelique Kidjo, Shakira, Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and K'Naan. Its easy to say that everyone put on a great performance, because they really did. And i find it almost impossible to chose my favourite acts from the night because they all stood out in their own way. So I'm going to highlight a few of the acts which I really liked. Angelique Kidjo really stuck out to me, I've not listened to her before, but she has a really amazing voice, powerful and deep. The music that she plays makes it very hard not to smile, its up tempo, with plenty of percussion high in the mix which always puts a fun vibe on the sound and gets everyone moving. The backing band, particularly the brass in hers and John Legend's cover of "Move On Up", which was a highlight for me. I also was surprised and myself when I found that I was really enjoying the Black Eyed Peas set, a group which I haven't warmed to before. I found myself getting into their music as they were playing, I think this was mostly down to the fact that it was a real live performance with really musicians playing, not just them singing to a backing track. They really had a way of building the atmosphere all around the stadium and did very well.

There were also plenty of more traditional, African pop acts who I thought were excellent, none of which I have herd of before which made me feel very ignorant but acts which I really liked. The rhythm sections for these groups were just incredible, and the focus, for me, was more on the congas and percussing players than it was on the kit players because they really were incredible.

Another one of my top acts from the night was Juanes, a latin American player who is second in record sales to Shakira. I really liked this guy, his music had a really nice layed back feel and the band were really tight. This is the kind of music I would love to spend my life playing. You can clearly see that his band are his regular band, and have put in alot of time and effort into their performance. And to do that for a living would be my dream come true!

The whole thing was also very well organised and the stage crew were great. The sound was perfect, you could hear exactly what everyone was doing and the mix was perfect. Of course, this could just be because I was watching it on telly, the sound at the concert might not have been so good, but I like to think that it was! The on stage sound must have been good to as every band was very tight and therefore, could hear them selfs and each other properly.

Conclusion

For me, this was everything that a major concert should be. Real players, putting on a great performances, and the whole show had so much diversity and variety. They had acts that come from traditional african roots right through to major pop and rock starts and everyone got an incredible welcome. It was clear that everybody enjoyed performing and that the amazing atmosphere was felt by everyone in the stadium. And that is how every concert should be.

Drumming techniques- Singles

Those of you that have been reading my blog will have been getting used to me posting band reviews, and not really talking very much about drumming! well I am going to continue to write band reviews, but i feel i should also write about some of the things that I have learnt whilst playing drums, not to appoint myself as some kind of drummer guru! But maybe to share some points on playing that some people of a similar standard of playing may find helpful. Most of this is stuff that I have been taught by drum teachers before so it probably won't be new to anyone! I am going to try to make a "Drumming Techniques" post about once a week, and comments from drummers of all abilities are welcome, whether you find what I write helpful or maybe you'd like to correct me on something you don't quite agree with. Feedback is always gratefully received!.

Singles

So this week I'm going to start by looking at singles, mainly in fills. Singles are great to play around with because the movement is very natural (RLRL). I've had a lot of fun, and a lot of free time, messing around with singles and experimenting with quavers, semi quavers and sextuplets.

The first excise is really basic, but very nice in fills. A 4/4 bar of semi quavers. This exercise is good for practicing consistence and timing. Its a good idea to practice this in front of a mirror so that you can watch your hands and make sure that the sticks are hitting the drum from an equal hight to get a really nice consistent sound.



Around the Kit

This next exercise is more like a written fill. All that I have done is taken the semi quaver exercise above and moved the sticking around the kit. I've put the notes in a order that I know sounds good as an example, but you can do this is any order you like and put accents anywhere you like and it will sound good. This particular sequence has the beat accented by the snare drum witch works nicely. The best thing to do is to keep going around the kit with these semi-quavers in any order that you like and find some sequences that sound good for you.



I have also been trying out some mixes between semi quavers and quavers and found some sounds that worked well. To start I tried playing four quavers followed by eight semi-quavers on the snare drum, which is something worth practicing to a click track to improve accuracy with your strokes. I then I tested this technique around the kit. Here is some notation of a sequence that worked really well for me, and the basic snare exercise.





Lastly, I've also made some great sounding fills using semi-quavers and sextuplets. These two rudiments work really nice together, again, probably not news to most experienced drummers but it is something that is loads of fun to experiment with. Because of the notation program i use, I had to write the '6' in myself so it doesn't look that neat but its readable! the exercise starts with 8 semi quavers, before a set of sextuplets on beat 3 and then just a crotchet hit on beat 4. So here is the exercise just on the snare drum.



This is the exercise around the kit in a sequence that I actually thought of in the shower! Having tried it out on the kit i found that it sounds good, it gives the fill that quick, but tight feel, especially with the last accent being on the snare drum. It is important to get the RLRL sticking right on this exercise, and to start by practicing it slowly to get it tight before slowly increasing the tempo. This is another exercise that is really good to practice to a click track. If this fill is messing it will sound awful, but with practice and accuracy it sounds really good.



So go and have fun with these sequences! This is the first time I have ever written anything like this, so any feedback would be great. I'm always looking to improve my writing.

Inme- A lot has Changed over the years

The UK based band Inme, lead by front man Dave McPherson, have been a band that i have listened to again and again over the last 6 years or so. Having said that, I've have only today realized that I am a little bit behind the time as, with out me noticing, they have released a new album and they appear to have gone from a 3 piece act to a 4 piece and then back again to 3 piece in the time that i haven't been paying attention! Most people reading this will be thinking that this is old news, as their latest album "Herald Moth" was released in September 2009 and I'm sure that the line up changes was no secret to anyone that has been following the band. The band also has a significance to me personally, as they were the first major band i went to see live. I saw them when i was 14/15 in Oxford at, what was then known as, The Zodiac. So I am not going to talk loads about the new album as I have only heard a few tracks off of it, instead I am going to talk about the 3 albums that I do have (Overgrown Eden, White Butterfly, Daydream Anonymous) and how their sound has changed across those three albums.

The Sound- Overgrown Eden

Inme are quite a diverse rock rock band, and they certainly have a sound that is very distinguishable as Inme. But even between albums you can hear how the band are still trying to change and evolve their sound to greater horizons. Overgrown Eden was Inme's first album, and my personal favourite. I have always loved the dirty, unpolished sound that is used in the tracks on this album. After releasing this album, Inme were labeled by some as 'emo', and they might well have a reasonable case when you listen closely to McPherson's lyrics, particularly in tracks such as "Wounds" and "Her Mask" where lyrics like "i am bleeding eternally for you" probably didn't go down well with the critics. But i think that the music far and away makes up for any dramatic lyrics. The riffs in this album are so hard hitting that it would be hard to argue with them. Listening to "Mosaic" the high tempo riff coupled with the dirty and raw distorted guitar give the track a very violent and aggressive feel, which is a sound that is uncommon in most emo songs. It could just be me, but i think that it some of the tracks there could be an element of sexuality in the lyrics, certainly the name "Inme" suggests it. I won't quote, but listening to the lyrics of "Natural" and "Underdose" you could argue that there is a strong element of sexuality in there. But i suppose that is open to interpretation! In my opinion this album is excellent and very different from anything else that was coming out at the time. It is well worth listening to.

White Butterfly

If I'm honest, the first time i listened to this album I was disappointed. This album has more of a pop-rock feel to it. I think that maybe the band were trying to go in a more commercial direction, I'm not too sure, but when I first listened to it I really missed the raw sound that Overgrown Eden had. However, as I listen to the album again, and get used to the sound. I find myself liking it for what it is, and not comparing it to what they have released before. It is still easily definable as Inme, McPherson's voice is almost unmistakable, but the sound, and the riffs have a very different feel. This is not necessarily a bad thing as many bands with try to change their sound between albums, either to avoid becoming repetitive or because the record company wants to take the band in a new direction. The guitar has a cleaner, edgier sound to it, which works really well in tracks like "7 Weeks" which opens with the main guitar riff. The guitar sound works well in this track because it is sharp and fast, which immediately sets an energetic feel to the track. This album also has a few tracks on it that a slightly more commercial. The best example of this would be the single "So You Know" which has a very pop-rocky and commercial sounding chorus. I actually really like the drum sound for this song, it sounds like it was recording to a click so its very tight and drum have a really nice, controlled rock sound to them which works really well on the track and across the album. There are also much more use of vocal harmonies in this album which is a really nice touch, again very pop-rocky, but noe the less it sounds realy good. So listening to it in context, it could easily be said that this album is an improvement on the first, I personally still prefer Overgrown Eden, but thats just my personal taste. White Garden is a great second album so if you are a fan of the band it is worth getting.

Daydream Anonymous

I can remember buying this album a few years ago when it first came out, and being very quickly hooked on it. Again, like the first to albums, "Daydream Anonymous" is easily recognizable as Inme, but having its own qualities and personality. The very first thing I remember thinking when I first listened to this album is that it is a very polished album. Unlike "Overgrown Eden", every not on the guitar is clear and cutting so that the listener can hear exactly what is going on. Tracks like "In Loving Memory" and "Myths and Photographs" both have really nice guitar riffs that use complicated fingering patterns so it is really important that the guitar is clear so that the listener can appreciate the track. I really like this album because, to me, it sounds exactly how modern rock bands should like. There are some really good guitar riffs which build up to some nice chorus's which have been well layered to give the track a heavy, rock feeling chorus. It is clear that a lot of work has gone into the writing, recording and production of this album. The guitar sounds, bass sounds and drum sounds have all been carefully recorded and then polished to perfection making a really nice sounding rock album. I think that even if you were not a fan of the band, you could still respect the craftsmanship and effort that has gone in to making this album. It is well worth listening to.

Herald Moth

I am not going to write much about this album, as i have not yet brought it and only herd a few track off of it. The impression I get is that the band are trying to go in a different direction again. From what I have herd it sounds like a really good album and well worth buying, its next on my list of things to do! When i do get around to buying it, ill post a proper review of it and try to do it full justice!

Thank you all for reading, if you are already a fan of the band and agree/disagree with anything I'm saying, or wish to correct me, then please leave a comment. If you haven't listening to the group before then I would recommend buying any of these albums. I am going to leave you with a relatively recent single of theirs, "I Won't Let Go".

Cheers

Yamaha DTXplorer

I thought i would take a break from writing about bands, and briefly write about a product for a change. I am aware that most of you reading this will be wondering why i am writing about the DTXplorer as it is, as electronic kits go, cheap and unsophisticated. And you are right to think that. Most of the electronic kits that have been released even in the last 10 years are more advanced, so why review this old and out dated model? Well its mostly because... thats the one that i have! But there is more to be said about the Xplorer that you would first imagine. Im going to be honest, the reason i bought it was because a friend of mine had one, i decided to have a shop around and quickly discovered that the Xplorer was going to be the best i could afford. But it turned out to be a much better investment that i thought.



Set Up

To start, lets look at the set up of the Kit. It is basic at best, a small computer attached to one of the arms that controls the mix, sounds and has all the inputs for the triggers, five identical pads to represent the snare, toms and hi-hats. There is nothing very much out of the ordinary there except that the pad for the hi-hats is the same shape as the other bands, most of the new kits have different designs for the hi-hat pads to make it more distinguishable from the other pads, and to give it s more realistic feel. However, this does not really matter in terms of practicalities, its just a nice feature to have. The kit only comes with two cymbal pads, (Ride and Crash). The cymbal pads are as basic as the rest of the kit, hard and triangular, but they do the job. Also included is the bass drum pad (with a stand and kick pedal) and a hi-hats pedal. The kick pad is great for using a single pedal, but struggles when i double kick pedal is attached, i doubt that is was designed for double kick use but i practice with it anyway!. The hi-hat pedal has a very light feel, it doesn't feel like a really hi-hat pedal as there is little resistance or control of how you want to the hats to sound. Its pretty much just open or close, with a small about of give in-between. The whole kit is held together by what is essentially, light, plastic scaffolding. Alot of what I've said there does sound very negative. But it isnt, the kit is what you pay for. This is not an expensive kit, so by not paying much you get a basic package, but it does do the job required!

Sound

Now I think that we should address the triggered sounds that come with this kit. The computer comes with 32 different pre-programed kits, as well as space to set your own kit sounds up (something witch i haven't got around to messing around with yet). Alot of these are just for fun and are not really practical, but the sounds for the acoustic drum kits are actually pretty good. It is obviously that the sounds for these were recorded from a real drum kit in a studio, although these are not the kind of sounds I look for when going to play a gig, but for practicing this is exactly what you need. The sounds on this kit give you a realistic idea of what your playing would sound like on an acoustic kit with out reaching the volumes of an acoustic kit. This is something that is very useful, as any drummer will tell you, because as much as everyone loves playing on a real kit, it can become difficult to hear yourself, and to fine tune your playing so that everything is tight and accurate. The DTXplorer allows you to do this.

Feel

For most drummers, including myself, this is the most important thing when looking at an electronic drum kit. It just isn't the same unless you feel like you're playing a real kit. Unfortunately, you are not playing a real kit when one the Xplorer, and it is very noticeable that you aren't. The bands are firm, and offer some bounce but not loads, the cymbal bands hardly move when you hit them and certainly don't give you the satisfying feeling of smashing a live crash cymbal, and the hi-hat pedal squeaks!

But despite all this, The Xplorer was a brilliant buy. It is great for practice, using my explorer and can practice to click tracks, and use the groove check to see that I'm in time, and sort it out if im not. It takes up little space and folds down so even in my small uni room there is plenty of space for it. I can play at anytime (with in reason) because the pads are not too loud and I can plug my headphones in. The clear and controlled sounds that the triggers give allows me to clearly hear my playing so that i can tighten up my hands and feet and lock in with the groove and click track. The aux-in means that I can plag my ipod/laptop in and set the mix so that I can play along to tracks and hear myself and the track.

Budget

Most drummers reading this will argue that most electric kits can do all this and much more. Most new electronic kits do have mesh heads on now witch give a much more authentic feel, i know, ive tried them. But what i will argue to that is that they are expensive, and that the Xplorer is considerably cheaper. I guess it all depends on what you want out of it. I myself have a lovely acoustic kit that i saved up for which, to me anyway, sounds beautiful and fantastic. I uses it for recordings, gigs and rehearsal. So for me, spading loads of money on a really fancy, real feel kit with all the bells and whistles on it sounds like a waste of money. But that is not the same for everyone and it depends on you're situation and what it is you want out of the kit, it may well not just be for practice.

Bottom line

I have been playing drums for a few years now. And i need something to practice on for hours during the day, and in my house, at home and in my room at uni. My acoustic kit is only available when convenient for everyone else. So the Xplorer serves its purpose for practice only, and it is great for that. However if you need an electric kit for a band, gigs or recording then look else where.