Big Drum Thump

[Press Release]

Lick Library, one of the world’s leading suppliers of tuition DVDs, has just released a series of Drum Legend DVDs encompassing arguably the greatest and most influential drummers the world has seen. From Chad Smith and Taylor Hawkins to Dave Grohl, John Bonham, and Stewart Copeland, the series brings you up close to the legends and explains in an easy-to-follow format how to play their most famous tracks.

The DVDs explain in detail essential drum rhythms, grooves, and techniques and those must-know fills and patterns. Each song is broken down into bite sized parts, covering beat by beat what you need to know to play like these legends. The series covers the greatest and most often requested tracks to learn. From Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” to The Police’s “Roxanne” these are definitive video guides complete with backing tracks to play along to.

The John Bonham DVD really gives you the inside track on the dynamic grooves of arguably the greatest rock drummer of all time. Accessible to drummers of all levels of ability, this DVD is packed full of ideas for fills, improvising, and grooves and covers five classic tracks including “When The Levee Breaks,” “Good Times Bad Times,” “Black Dog” and “Fool In The Rain.”

Lick Library has perfected a unique format to help drummers really play like their heroes. Imagine a one-to-one lesson focusing on Chad Smith, the powerhouse behind the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, where you can study over and over again his intense funk grooves on “Give It Away” or “Californication.” Watch up a close our top drum teacher explain and demonstrate Stewart Copeland’s unique style on tracks such as “So Lonely,” “Walking On The Moon,” “Message In A Bottle” and “Can’t Stand Losing You.”

The Dave Grohl DVD focuses on the influential, multi-talented musician, songwriter, and drummer, covering tracks from Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, and Foo Fighters. The DVD will help you get a real understanding of the musicality in Dave’s playing as well as his sense of power. Finally the Taylor Hawkins DVD covers five killer Foo Fighters tracks and like the other DVDs analyzes the songs and gives an insight into his playing.

All the DVDs are presented by Pete Riley, who has worked with artists as diverse as Republica, Motorhead, and more recently Keith Emerson of ELP fame. He is a regular contributor to Rhythm magazine and author of three bestselling drum tuition books.

The DVDs are available to purchase through www.licklibrary.com along with over 20,000 other tuition products.

Another oblique assault on Dom Famularo comes by way of the FielDrum, an acoustic drum that includes a series of magnets that directs a drummer’s stick into performing a correct pattern. Essentially you just have to hold the damn drumstick and the magnets do the rest.

…Maybe that’s how Jojo Mayer can do this.

Hudson Music has posted another clip from Tommy Igoe’s latest video, Groove Essentials 2.0. Click here to see the affable Igoe rock up a shuffle.

[Press Release]

London’s Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) is delighted to announce, in partnership with Mapex, Paiste, and Drummer magazine, the launch of its 2009 drum scholarship program.

The lucky winner will receive a free place, worth £5,250 [around $10,500], on the Institute’s renowned Higher Diploma course starting in October 2009, while the runner-up will receive a £2,600 [$5,200] award for study on the same program. In addition to this fabulous prize, the winner will also be a contributor to Drummer magazine, the UK’s loudest drum magazine, for a year! Applications are invited from students both from the UK and internationally.

The Higher Diploma is a specialist one-year full-time course, developed by the Institute to train and develop students of guitar, bass, drums, and vocals for a career in the music industry. It was the first full-time course of its kind ever developed in the UK and achieving a place on the course continues to be an aspirational goal for young musicians. Institute alumni can be found throughout today’s music industry, working with artists of the caliber of Babyshambles, Lemar, Radiohead, Eric Clapton, Keane, and KT Tunstall.

This drum scholarship is part of the annual program of Institute scholarship awards and represents a fantastic opportunity for deserving students to access world class training and tuition at one of the world’s leading schools of contemporary music. Closing date for entries is Friday, March 6, 2009, and there is always great demand, so any interested drummers should apply now by downloading the application form at www.icmp.co.uk. Remember, if you don’t apply, you definitely can’t win!

[Press Release]

MUSICIANS INSTITUTE INSTRUCTOR – SESSION DRUMMER – EDUCATOR – RELEASES iGROOVE PLAY-ALONG AND GROOVE STUDIES FOR DRUMMERS – EXPAND YOUR GROOVE VOCABULARY AND BECOME A GROOVE MASTER!

November 12, 2008: Hollywood, CA: Musicians Institute Instructor and Session Drummer Charlie “The Basher” Waymire has released two new series of groove studies—iGroove101 and iGroove Series Music Minus Drums and Groove Studies.

The iGroove Play-Along and Groove Studies go far beyond traditional play-along books by providing the student with 5 tempos of each chart including versions with and without the click track to give you maximum groove practice. Each section of each song is dissected giving you a “Section Loop” to practice each of the grooves at all 5 tempos. Together, all of this will help to expand your comfort zone so you’ll be comfortable playing these grooves no matter what the tempo.

Each lesson includes an in-depth groove study featuring the basic grooves for each section of the chart as well as many variations for each groove. This will not only help to grow your groove vocabulary, but it will also help you to become a more musical drummer. With the help of the iGroove series, you’ll be able to find the perfect groove no matter what situation your in.

Included with each lesson:

• 25 Music Minus Drums Play-Along Tracks
• Chart for Song (PDF)
• In-Depth Groove Lesson (PDF)
• Chart Reading Lesson to teach you how to read charts (PDF)
• Digital Download—No Shipping, No Waiting
• Each Lesson is only $4.95!

The iGroove101 and iGroove Series are more than just a play-along: it’s a Private Lesson! Plus, there is an extensive resource on BasherTV featuring reading tutorial videos and breakdowns of each of the iGroove101 grooves with scrolling video notation. You won’t find a more complete play-along series!

View the iGroove Trailer at www.thebasher.com/bashertv.html or on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poTTLeVwY2Q

Available at www.TheBasher.com

Charlie Waymire is a faculty member at the Percussion Institute of Technology at Musicians Institute in Hollywood. He is endorsed by Pearl Drums, Paiste Cymbals, Trueline Drumsticks, MXL Microphones, and Factory Metal Percussion. Charlie has toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe, performing a variety of musical styles such as funk, fusion, pop, and rock. Charlie owns and operates his own studio and records and composes music for commercials, television productions, and has performed on the CBS late night program Jimmy Kimmel Live and the Fox television series Malcolm in the Middle.

Aw yeah, Hudson Music is about to unleash a Jason Bittner DVD, What Drives the Beat. It’ll clock in at three hours and feature Bittner demonstrating enough concepts to fill a six-hour DVD:

• The basic beats and fills of metal drumming
• Applying rudiments
• Hand and foot technique
• Developing both feet evenly
• Two-handed ride patterns
• How to “metalfy” jazz, funk, shuffles, slow blues, and world beats
• Soloing

Check the link above for a sneak peek.