I didn't plan on being here but here I am

In the wake of the shutdown, I lost all of my singer-songwriter gigs through at least July, and likely farther out than that. Since trying to hustle for those coffeehouse and synagogue gigs on the other side of the shutdown feels tasteless and wrong to me, I am taking a break from that space to focus on making some money in there present, in whatever limited way I can.

That has meant taking in bicycles for repairs, which has actually been nice.

And, a little to my surprise, it has meant taking on a few drum students periodically.
I've been working with a Honk! drummer from Austin one-on-one, for 30-minute lessons focusing on technique and rudiments.
And today I confirmed an online workshop for a Honk! band drum line based in Seattle, this will also focus on technique through warmups, a couple of DIY grooves the drum line can build however they like, and an approach to ensemble playing that focuses on groove and ensemble unity.

 So here I am, teaching marching drumming online, which honestly I never thought I'd be invited to do at this point in my life. In the current atmosphere I am grateful for the work, and for the opportunity to be of use musically.

I still have openings for a couple more beginner adult students. Hit me up on Facebook if you're interested.

the monstercorps thing

A couple of years ago, the rudimental show drummer SDJ Malik posted a video on how to make a shell-less drum from the top assembly of a free-floating marching snare drum.

To be clear, he wasn't calling this a practice pad -- likely because it's simply too loud for that -- he was calling it a personal snare drum. His video shows how to construct one of these without snares. For what it is, it's effective -- and quite loud, even without a shell.
I recently acquired the top assembly of a marching snare as part of a swap, and wanted to give it a try.

I liked the feel, but found the lack of snares meant a lack of dynamic possibilities.
I wondered how one might attach snares to such a thing. Adding snares might diffuse some of the overtones and allow for playing at slightly softer volumes.

And then I remembered Remo's Rhythm Lid kit -- a kit that lets you convert a five-gallon plastic bucket into a functional, fun-to-play drum.
The snare unit is sold separately, so I bought one. I removed the top rim and head from my setup, installed the snare unit by simply laying it over the edge of the bottom rim (which would have been the edge of the plastic bucket as in the video); reinstalled the head and top rim, tuned it up and voila! I had a strange but funky thing, not quite a practice pad and not quite a drum, but something in between.
Bending the metal snare holder slightly allowed me to adjust the sound of the snares to make them respond more crisply and with less buzz. (Remo encourages this in their instructions for use with the plastic bucket.)

Below: The installed snare unit from the underside.






























After I installed and adjusted the snare unit, I set it on a stand and played. It made a huge difference, both in the overall sound quality and in my ability to play with more dynamic nuance. Adding snares meant I no longer had to overplay to get optimal sound.

While this currently has a dedicated Kevlar head installed, swapping in a standard coated head might allow me to experiment with brushes, rutes and other sounds. I'm not ready to make that change yet -- I'm having too much fun with this as it is -- but at some point down the road I''ll consider it.
Meanwhile I'm having a lot of fun with what I've come to call my MonsterCorps Unit.

I may even experiment with a way to mount this on a carrier. Stay tuned.