drumcast.tv

Episodes

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  Hi-hats and resonant heads

  11/14/2011

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  Duration: 8:4

  Geno from North Carolina asks about getting the hi-hat up to par, and David from California asks about changing resonant drumheads.

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  Drumming Through Sheer Determination

  1/27/2011

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  Duration: 5:27

  Tim from Cincinnati asks a question about overcoming the lack of flexibility in his wrist, and Darren talks about Dan Caro, an amazing drummer who can provide inspiration to overcome any number of obstacles.

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  Basic Rock Fills (with transcription)

  1/11/2011

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  Duration: 9:49

  Joe asks about basic drum fills, and Darren goes over a few fills he transcribed.

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  Fill without messing everything up

  12/23/2010

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  Duration: 12:35

  Terry from Pennsylvania asks about rimshots and Lewis from New Jersey asks about improvising. The song "Free" was written by Lee Saeger and Darren Matthes.

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  Electronic Drums and Confusing Your Brain

  3/24/2010

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  Duration: 7:26

  Darren talks about his Roland HD-1 electronic drum kit and mapping acoustic drum samples to an electronic kit (for more info, visit www.drumcast.tv/midi). He also responds to questions about electronic drum accessories and independence from Lake in Michigan.

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  Recording a Demo

  1/8/2010

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  Duration: 21:47

  Darren walks through the process of recording a demo song for his band, Free On Bond.

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  Crash On Either Side

  10/27/2009

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  Duration: 8:14

  Darren explains how to use paradiddles to crash on either side of the kit using either hand, and James from Baltimore asks about the drum groove from the Mary J. Blige song "The Love I Never Had." iTunes link: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=324199&id=324219&s=143441

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  Speeding Up Your Feet

  5/21/2009

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  Duration: 13:42

  Nick from Florida asks how he can improve his double bass drum speed. Loren from California asks about tuning the drums with the rest of the band in mind.

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  Double Bass Drum Control

  2/19/2009

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  Duration: 14:33

  Darren responds to questions about foot control from Ray in Ohio, basement sound, drum care and headphones from Dan in Michigan and making the left hand stronger.

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  Basic Drum Care and Upkeep

  1/5/2009

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  Duration: 16:12

  Zack from Minnesota asks about basic drum care. Drew from Sioux Falls asks about where to find a cheap drum kit and Steven from Tennessee asks about improving double bass drum speed and avoiding denting drum heads.

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  Sambas

  11/14/2008

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  Duration: 11:50

  Scott from Florida asks about sambas, Hayden from Ohio asks about snare buzz and Darren challenges you to take a sticking quiz.

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  Drum Rug

  7/22/2008

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  Duration: 13:3

  Louis from New Jersey asks about playing a 16th-note pattern on the hi-hat, and Marvin from Germany asks about triplets and drum rugs.

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  Increasing Independence

  6/13/2008

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  Duration: 9:49

  Abel from San Antonio asks about increasing hand and foot independence. Also, the unirunner Drum Lessons 2006 Collection is now available. For more info, visit www.drumcast.tv/2006.

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  The DrumDial: Does it work?

  5/6/2008

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  Duration: 24:44

  Mike from Tampa asks about double bass drumming, drum tuning and using the DrumDial. Darren goes into excruciating detail explaining and demonstrating the DrumDial and ends up not having enough time to respond to any other voicemails. Plus, Andreas Öjebrandt from Sweden jams for us on his camera phone.

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  Consistency in Motion

  4/21/2008

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  Duration: 14:25

  Mark in Canada asks about how to play rimshots and six stroke rolls consistently and how the Spirit plays into drumming. Steve from Ohio asks about getting a good sound from acoustic drums in church.

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  The Weaker Hand

  1/31/2008

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  Duration: 9:59

  Darren responds to a question from Jason in Charlotte, North Carolina, about how to make your weaker hand stronger, and he plays "Bonzai Cadence." Download the sheet music for Bonzai Cadence for free at drumcast.tv.

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  Ghost Notes

  1/7/2008

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  Duration: 7:50

  Darren responds to a question about ghost notes from Drew in Michigan.

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  Selecting a Drum Kit

  11/29/2007

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  Duration: 21:31

  Things to keep in mind when you're ready to buy drums, drumless tracks from minusdrums.com, more about Jojo Mayer and a Steve Jordan drumstick giveaway.

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  Slipping Sticks

  11/1/2007

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  Duration: 12:49

  How to keep your drum sticks from slipping, choosing the right stick and what are all those cymbals for?

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  Making Old Drum Licks New Again

  10/18/2007

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  Duration: 8:4

  Shifting, adding and subtracting accents is a simple way to make old drum licks sound new and exciting. Also, a review of Jojo Mayer's Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer DVD set.

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  Landing on Your Feet After Fills

  10/11/2007

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  Duration: 6:8

  Playing along with a drumless track with spaces for drum fills can test your ability to maintain a steady tempo through fills and transition back into the groove. The song from this podcast, Canyon Jump, can be downloaded at drumcast.tv/drumlesstracks. It has one, two and four-bar spaces for fills.

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  Drumless Track (Stompbox)

  9/13/2007

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  Duration: 11:5

  Darren plays along to an original drumless track he recorded and discusses, throughout the tune, various techniques he uses on the kit, including a simple figure that sounds cool when sped up, holding back on the downbeat, single stroke rolls and playing eighth notes with the foot on the hi-hat. The song that he plays along with can be downloaded at drumcast.tv/drumlesstracks.

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  Triple Strokes on a Single Pedal

  8/30/2007

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  Duration: 8:10

  Playing triple strokes on a single kick drum pedal at the end of quads and sextuplets, Ned Smith (www.nedzeppelin.com) shares topics of drumming controversy and a Vic Firth poster giveaway.

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  Paradiddle Tom Fill

  8/9/2007

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  Duration: 12:37

  A paradiddle tom fill, the Groove Guide reverse metronome, resources for music to play along with, how to hit a China cymbal, Jojo Mayer's Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer and Steve Jordan drum sticks.

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  Keeping it Steady

  7/26/2007

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  Duration: 9:0

  Playing at a steady tempo, finding tunes without drums to play along with and an exercise in varying accents in a sixteenth-note pattern.

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  Playing Along with Recordings

  7/19/2007

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  Duration: 9:55

  Hayley from Australia asks about playing along with pre-recorded songs.

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  The Drummer's Cookbook

  3/22/2007

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  Duration: 11:0

  Darren demonstrates his approach to learning beats from the popular Mel Bay book "The Drummer's Cookbook" by John Pickering. It's an excellent resource for developing independence and the ability to come up new grooves and fills on the fly.

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  Polyrhythms

  3/8/2007

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  Duration: 11:3

  Exploring polyrhythms can change the way you think about drumming, from both a musical and a mathematic perspective. Also, more about reading drum music, in response to e-mails from Kevin in Malaysia and Chris in Australia.

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  Reading Drum Music

  2/22/2007

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  Duration: 13:11

  An e-mail from Oli in the UK about reading drum music inspires a discussion about quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes and how they are used to notate drum beats.

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  How to Solo

  2/15/2007

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  Duration: 12:59

  There are a few guidelines that might enhance an average drum solo.

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  Splitting Up Sextuplets

  2/8/2007

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  Duration: 10:39

  You can take familiar rhythmic figures like sextuplets and split them up in new ways to create unique and fresh drum licks.

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  Shuffles

  2/1/2007

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  Duration: 5:32

  They can be notated in various ways, but most shuffle grooves are based on a triplet feel.

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  Lessons or No Lessons

  1/24/2007

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  Duration: 17:26

  Darren responds to Nick's question about whether or not he should take lessons, Samuel's question about playing drums with piano and David's question about drum tuning.

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  Building on the Basics

  1/18/2007

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  Duration: 9:54

  You can break drum rudiments down into a few key elements. This can help you to build them back up into your own unique style of playing. Darren also mentions the Amazing Slow Downer again and his experience with learnlicks.com.

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  Triplets Between the Hands and Kick Drum

  1/11/2007

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  Duration: 12:2

  Use the hands with the kick drum to create some interesting triplet combinations. Also, Darren replies to e-mails about flams, drags, accents, grip and well-being from Sam, Tony and Mark.

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  Learn Your Favorite Drum Licks

  1/4/2007

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  Duration: 6:58

  Darren talks about learning your favorite drum licks using the intro to Led Zeppelin's "Rock n' Roll" as an example. Visit www.drumcast.tv/asd to try the Amazing Slow Downer, software that allows you to slow down music without changing the pitch.