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The Videos page is in 3 sections.
1. The Technique Videos (Lots of chat and playing)
2. The Drums Solos (Just my ugly mug, playing away!)
***NEW*** 3. The DVD Demos A selection of some clips from my upcoming DVD, which will be available for sale through this website. Download some demo clips here, but please note they are lower quality.***NEW***
The story so far . . .
I recorded the first set of videos about 4 and a half years ago. Using a basic setup, with no thought about proper mixing, and no real thought about what I was doing, I started recording some videos of some ideas I really wanted to share with other drummers. So having spent three separate Monday afternoons recording, I ended up with a few usable ideas and here they are, for you to download and, I hope, find of some use.
Now, these videos are tuition style videos but they are not up to the standard of the DCI/Hudson Music type productions we're all used to. But they do cover and clearly explain some interesting techniques and uses for them. It's always been a belief of mine that learning some "chops" is not the same as having technique, even though they are thought of as being the same thing. There have been many times when I've heard drummers, in all kinds of musical situations, making the classic mistake of playing drum-fills that have nothing to do with the music, because they are straight out of the text book. So I always emphasise a great deal of listening along side a lot of different rudimentary practice, so there is a musical vision/depth. The hope is that one listens and understands where a player is making a musical contribution with the facility to express him/herself. Technique should be a means to an end. The "Chop" you learn should not simply be the end of that inventive process. It is actually totally the opposite. If one simply lifts a load of patterns/riffs out of a book, then there is simply no inventive process going on. One has become good at playing a pattern. I'm not saying learning patterns is not a good thing, It is just essential that it has a musical background or insight.
So if you are interested in anything here, drop me a line to info@_REMOVE_davewalsh.net Please delete the _REMOVE_ from the address.
Also, please sign the guestbook
Techniques
In this section I'll be talking about some things I've been working on over the years and there are some videos to download to show practical examples of this. If you have any ideas or advice or questions, please email me at info@_REMOVE_davewalsh.net
My approach is from something I discovered at the age of sixteen. I later found out about Joe Morello's approach and also Jim Chapin's video. Anyway, this was, for me, a discovery by chance. I was practicing an exercise that was inspired by watching Johnny Griffin's drummer on the T.V. It just started happening one day while I was working on that accent exercise. I did this kind of whipping motion with the stick to start it bouncing again and it did a very nice sounding repeat of the three taps I'd just played. I then started just sitting there playing it along with records when I'd stopped doing my "normal" practice. I did view it as a "non-essential" technique and actually gave up on it for nearly ten years until fairly recently. I got back into it again because I wanted to get better in Samba feels at playing the same thing with both hands and it has quite a groovy feel about it when putting groups of three together in a 16th note feel. I also use it sometimes in solos, between the tom and ride playing the first beat on the ride and the second and third on the tom while the left hand plays all three on the snare. It's just a fun thing to build to if the time and place are right. Most people watching have no idea what it is I'm trying to do but enjoy the energy. Anyway, check out the video showing you how I play it and some exercises.
16th notes (semiquavers) with one hand
I wanted to play some Hi-Hat patterns in grooves and Bossa/Samba stuff with one hand and keep the left hand on the snare. It's also a very good exercise for keeping the wrist/finger co-ordination together. So I started practicing this exercise with both hands. I've managed to get "further" with my right hand as I haven't quite got my hands/fingers around it with traditional grip yet and I don't play a great deal with match so my left hand with that grip isn't as good.
The Double Stoke Roll & Accent Exercises
&
These videos deal with some ways of making your double stroke roll more powerful&also some uses for double stroke ideas and paradiddle. Basically I was doing an alternate take of the first video, but I kinda got distracted and started to expand on other ideas that i was going to mention in another vdeo, so there's a little bit (not much really) of replication in them. But it's still worth downloading both.
Here are some solo features I recorded demonstrating the techniques/ideas I've talked about in the videos above under the "Techniques" heading. These are not preconceived/constructed solos. They are me, just playing, in a practice room, mistakes and all. (!!There are many!!) Sorry about the sound quality on some of them. I just recorded the drums to a stereo mix and mixed it on to the vids.
Solo 1 Some nice ideas
Solo 2 One of my faves
Solo 3 Lots of left hand and some busts of speed
"Beyond The Basics"
Some of these Videos contain similar content as the older ones above but they are also incomplete. They are just here as demos for my new DVD, "Beyond The Basics". There is also likely to be some slightly different ideas in them as well. I'm always pretty loose with my script and my ideas usually evolve.
The One Handed Sixteenth note Idea
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If you have any comments about this page or any ideas about the things I've talked about in the Videos, then please sign the guestbook
or send me an email to dave*remove*@davewalsh.net.
I love swapping ideas. This was the whole point of making these videos and creating this page.
I wish you well in your drumming life. Share the knowledge and keep the art alive.