My Week In Drums #1
/So, here's my first post! First and foremost, welcome to my new website. At this stage it's a bit of a work in progress, so I'm sure there will be some changes while I hone it in - plus there are some other things that I'd definitely like to add along the way - some more media content etc. As it is, the bulk of the website is there to offer a bit of information about the various drumming services I offer - performance, tuition, tech work etc - but this blog, which I've rather fetchingly titled "Ed's Drum Diaries" is something I've been thinking about doing for a little while...
My plan is to use this to give a bit of honest insight into my life as a working drummer, as well as somewhere to share my thoughts on music I'm listening to, gear I'm using and what I'm practicing and working on in my own playing etc. It's safe to say that this is probably a place for the drum nerds out there (like me)! In this, my first post, I wanted to reflect on my last week, to set the scene of what I tend to get up to!
I usually do 3x days a week of teaching (which I thouroughly enjoy!), but that's about the only regular work which is (almost!) guaranteed to be there, week-in, week-out. The rest of my week it's up to me to fill with other work - usually playing. Last week wasn't the busiest week work-wise, so it proved a good opportunity to get some things done - like making a website - so I can now check that one off the to-do list! One of my other free days last week was used to travel up to Essex for a lesson with Andrew Small, who I've been seeing for two years now - that in itself could be another post to write about!
Last week I also got together with a new, original artist who is working towards releasing his first single (then album to follow). We got together on Tuesday night (along with a guitarist and bassist) to play through some of the material and see how it worked with a band. Watch this space for more updates on that project!
Saturday I was gigging locally (hooray, no silly long drives!) with a function band I play with fairly regularly. This particular band is a tightly organised one, with every song charted out in full and the order of the setlist is pretty much set in stone (bar the occasional tweak). According to my metronome setlist, there are 58 songs - but there's definitely a couple more I can think of that aren't on the click. So lets say at least 60 songs! It's very much a sight reading gig in that sense, as even though they're well known songs, each one has a specific intro/ending arranged. For me, the challenge with this gig isn't the playing, but trying to make it look like I'm not reading every note, and instead delivering some kind of a performance to the audience (despite my awkward drum face!). No audience that's up for having a good time is going to be inspired by a band staring into their pad! So that's the challenge that I try to set myself with this gig, and other similar ones - to make it look like I'm not reading everything, and instead, appear to be having a good time! [Disclaimer - I am usually having a genuinely good time - it just doesn't look like it if I've got my head in my music stand with my drum face on!]
So there's a bit of a summary of my last week, and my first post on here. I hope someone out there finds it of interest! Watch this space for more of this kind of thing... Catch you soon!