Tag Archive - drum lessons

11 Ways to Achieve Your Personal Drumming Goals in 2012

December 30, 2011 in Drum Tips, Drummer resources, Drums, General Updates with 31 Comments

I recently had a chance to talk with Ed Francis aka “The Drummer on the Round Rock” to ask him to share some of his drumming wisdom with the community here at Makedrums. Ed shared some really incredible insights on attaining your goals as a drummer, but don’t be fooled! These tips can help you achieve goals in all areas of your life – not just drumming!

MD: Could you share specific examples – some “drum nuggets” of wisdom – that you have held on to, and have seen as instrumental in helping you achieve your personal drumming goals?

Francis: Humility is always a good place to start. When I first began playing [the drums] I knew that I didn’t know it all and I wanted to learn as much as I could about drumming. And I continue to remind myself of that way of thinking – that I still don’t know it all. Continue Reading....

Makedrums.com Top Posts of 2011 (according to Google Analytics)

December 27, 2011 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drum Tips, Drummer resources, Drums, Drums History, How to Tune Drums, Product Review, Reader's Drum Pictures with 1 Comment

It’s been amazing year for Makedrums.com and I wanted to recap some of the most visited blog posts and pages of the site for the year 2011. If you are brand new to the site, this is a great place to start! Enjoy, and please join in the conversations and leave some feedback in the comments area! HERE’S to an even better 2012!

Makedrums.com Top Posts of 2011 (according to Google Analytics)

  1. The Cobus Method Review – How to Play Drums Like Cobus | How to Make Custom Drums
  2. My Favorite Custom Drum Builders | How to Make Custom Drums
  3. How to make Custom Drums | How to Make Custom Drums
  4. Drum Building – Pros and Cons of Tube Lugs | How to Make Custom Drums
  5. How to Wrap a Drum Shell Part 1 | How to Make Custom Drums
  6. Drum Building FAQ – How much time and money will I need to invest? | How to Make Custom Drums
  7. Drum Building Tools for the Beginning Drum Builder | How to Make Custom Drums
  8. Ryan’s 1st Custom Snare Drum Build | How to Make Custom Drums
  9. How to Make an Inlay Jig for your Router Table and Cut/Install Perfect Inlay on your Custom Drum Set! | How to Make Custom Drums
  10. Reader’s Drum Pictures | How to Make Custom Drums
  11. 33 Drummer and Drum Related Gift Ideas For the Drummer In Your Life | How to Make Custom Drums
  12. 4 Tools That Make Building Custom Drums Easy | How to Make Custom Drums
  13. Drum Building Tools | How to Make Custom Drums
  14. 8 Custom Drum Companies That You Should Know About | How to Make Custom Drums
  15. Drum Building Tools for the Advanced Drum Builder | How to Make Custom Drums
  16. Drum Building 101 – Don’t Let Your Drums Slip Out of Tune | How to Make Custom Drums
  17. That’s one very large custom floor tom… | How to Make Custom Drums
  18. My Drum Head Recipe – The Best Drum Heads for Bringing The Funk | How to Make Custom Drums
  19. 7 Custom Drum Companies That You Should Know About | How to Make Custom Drums
  20. Drum Building 101 – How to Prevent Your Drums From Slipping Out of Tune | How to Make Custom Drums

What would you like to see more of on the site in 2012? (Click here to leave a comment)

Mike Michalkow’s Drumming System Review – How to Play the Drums

December 20, 2011 in Drummer resources, Product Review with 8 Comments

Mike Michalkow’s Drumming System Review

Disclosure: Since I spent a LOT of time reviewing Mike Michalkow’s Drumming System, I would appreciate your support in buying lessons through a link on this page. You won’t pay a cent more, but I’ll receive a commission for my time writing this in-depth review, which helps fund this website (and my drum building obsession!). Thanks!

If I wasn't holding the DVD's I would give this 2 thumbs up!

Check out my experience in a Video Blog:


Overview:

  • 20 DVDS
  • 15 Play Along CDS
  • 5 Work Books
  • This system is the culmination of 21 months of research and planning by Mike and the Railroad Media.
  • Their goal “Create a truly revolutionary system that will teach absolutely anybody how to master the drums. Use cutting-edge technology to simplify the process into step-by-step lessons that make learning fun and easy. The content should be comprehensive, but flexible enough that the student can pick and choose exactly what they want to learn at any time.”

My Notes on The Mike Michalkow’s Drumming System: DVD 1 Continue Reading....

David Milwain on The Importance of Reading Music for Drummers

September 7, 2011 in Drum Tips, Drummer resources with 2 Comments

The Importance of Reading Music for Drummers

Rhythm and drumming has been a part of society dating back thousands of years. Something so primitive and natural is simply engrained in our being. We, the individual, need nothing but to harness the rhythm and express it.

When learning a new instrument, be it guitar, piano, drums or any other, the student has the option of learning to read the notation or playing solely by ear. Although learning by ear may be easiest or quickest for a beginner, I am a strong believer that learning to read the notation leads to a more holistic understanding of the instrument. Some music teachers focus solely on the basics of how to play; in my lessons I focus not only on the basics of drumming, but I also place emphasis on sight reading drum set and rhythmic notation along with proper counting and steady breathing techniques to make the student a more well-rounded drummer.

Continue Reading....

How to Prevent Your Drums From Slipping Out of Tune

February 19, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Resources, Drum Building Tutorials, Drummer resources, Drums, General Updates with 4 Comments

lug detuningDo you have problems with your tension rods detuning themselves as you play a gig? I know that I dealt with this for a very long time myself. I would sometimes find myself trying to tune my snare drum back up after a couple of songs because usually the lug nearest to where I hit my rim shots ends up detuning and dropping the drum’s overall  pitch.

This just made me frustrated…until I found out about  Loctite Thread Locker Blue.

loctite thread locker blueLoctite has been great for me for the last couple of years that I’ve used it on my kits. I apply just a small amount to each tension rod on all of my drums. You have to be careful because this stuff can get messy.loctite tension rod

I have also started to put it on all of my hardware screws and lugs screws that attach the hardware and lugs to the shell.  One mistake you definitely don’t want to make though is getting the permanent Loctite thread locker. There are multiple ratings of adhesive-ness (is that even a word?) and you have to make sure you get THREAD LOCKER BLUE REMOVABLE. Continue Reading....