New Recording: Solomon Hoffman - Esa Einai

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Solomon Hoffman is a brilliant musician, composer, arranger, artistic director, {insert literally any music-related activity here) who I have had the pleasure of working with for several years now.

In April, Solomon sent me a guide track of just vocals, piano, and guitar so I could record some percussion. To hear his vision fully realized yesterday for the first time -- now with SIXTY outstanding musicians -- was an incredible experience. My mind was blown. I am proud be one of the musicians on this track and proud to be his friend.

Percussion-wise, I played some cajon, concert bass drum, cymbal, and shaker for this one. I tracked each instrument separately and recorded them all from my apartment. If you like what you hear and are in need of some percussion tracks for your recording project, please be in touch.

Drumming at Pride

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Reclaiming Pride 🏳️‍🌈

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Happy Pride, ya’ll! While things around here have been unusual to say the least, it was nice to get out and do a little bit of celebrating, protesting, and drumming at yesterday’s “Reclaim Pride” event here in NYC. I played with a solid crew of drummers with Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir. It was a hot one and my hands were pure goo after playing street beats for three hours straight. Worth it!

Long Live The Miller Machine!

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The Miller Machine is one of the most important percussion inventions of the last 50 years! Are you even playing a musical if you don't have one (or three, like I use in my setup for The Grinch)?

Stay tuned for the full videos from me and all of these amazing percussionists that I am honored to share the screen with. Thanks so much for having me, Billy Miller and Jeremy Yaddaw!

Percussion Playthrough: As (Stevie Wonder)

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as ladies.jpg

Happy birthday to one of the GOATS, Stevie Wonder! Last week. Alison Shearer dropped a video of an arrangement of the song “As” featuring myself on percussion and 13 other amazing women (peep the vid here).

I put together this little percussion playthrough of the part I wrote for the song. It features LOTS of tambourine, shakers, mark tree, suspended cymbal, and triangle for good measure. I hope you enjoy! Sorry for the vert vid, but it was part of the assignment!

New Video: Protons and Electrons

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

The video for Trumpet Wom's first single off of her upcoming album, Evolution, is now up on Youtube! Protons and Electrons was a blast to record, though the drums were actually recorded last. Very unusual and certainly had it’s challenges! I think it turned out great, though, and I’m obsessed with this video!

Drum set up: Quarantine Edition

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Do to New York state regulations, I’m not permitted to use my shared rehearsal space. I actually chose to stop going there a few days prior to the government directive because, frankly, it felt like a risk no matter how cautious I or my colleagues were.

I have NEVER practiced drum set in the apartment I’ve been living in (coming up for two years). I had some mesh heads I bought for my set up in my last apartment (Pearl Sound Off) so I threw them on my Yamaha kit. I had to pick up a head for my 20” BD (Remo Silentstroke) and grabbed another Pearl for a 12” tom.

Previously I had only used mutes for my cymbals, and let me tell ya — they’re god awful. Not only is the sound atrocious, but they feel absolutely miserable. After doing a little bit of research I ordered a 13/14/18 Zildjian L80 cymbal pack from Steve Weiss. I am blown away! The feel is great and they sound is pretty good considering. I especially love the open hats. I often play in small spaces around the city so I may try them out on a gig in the future, whenever that may be. The only thing I’m not crazy about is you hear a significant amount of stick contact. I’m not sure if nylon tips would make it better or worse but I’m going to do some troubleshooting here in the coming days.