Monthly Roundup #7 - September '18

As expected, September has been a busier month again after a nice, quiet Summer! Schools were back with the teaching side of things, and playing-wise there was a nice variety too - jazz gigs, a nice theatre gig, a week away playing some dates “up North”, and the added fun of a kit trade while we were up there! Here’s what I’ve been up to throughout September…

As mentioned, the bulk of the teaching started back up in schools etc, and over the Summer holidays I retired my old TD-6 to make way for a new TD-11. The TD-6 had served me very well indeed for a number of years, but I saw the TD-11 come up at a price I couldn’t refuse and had to act! My old TD-6 went to a young student of mine, so it was lovely to get him set with his first drum kit - he seemed pretty chuffed with it!

The new TD-11 on it’s first day at school!

The first gig of September was once again with the jazz singer I play with here and there. It was the dream gig, really - playing with a great bunch of guys, playing great music, we were fed great pizza, and all done by 21:00 and just a few minutes from home - what’s not to like about that?!

Italian restaurant jazz gig.

The next gig of the month was at a local theatre playing a great selection of tunes with a husband & wife duo who I work with fairly often, so it was lovely to be a part of this show with them! There was a great selection of tunes, along with some medleys which a couple of the band members had arranged for the gig, and the audience were really up for it! All in all, it was a really nice evening.

Got the big kit out for the theatre gig - must say, it sounded sweeeeeet!

The following week I was away with Pete James and the gang for a short run of Spring Harvest dates “Up North”, in Newcastle, Glasgow and Harrogate. It was good fun to get a few days playing done, but most of the week was spent being driven around in the van (nice one, Pete!). It was the first time I’d gigged the TM-2 setup too, so it was a good opportunity to road-test that. I (and the rest of the band!) was really pleased with it actually - it’s a nice and simple, but effective way to add a variety of sounds into the acoustic setup while keeping it pretty compact and straight forwards to play. In this setting, I mostly used it for some electronic 808 sounds, but of course the possibilities are endless! Also, you’ll notice the chimes in the photo - the jury’s still out on whether or not they’re cool in a worship setting or “a bit too Disney”… The band was divided on that!!

The Spring Harvest tour setup - note the Roland TM-2 setup!

While I was away, I also managed to fit in a cheeky drum kit trade with a guy from Leeds who was very kindly able to meet me at the venue in Harrogate. Remember my Gretsch Renown which I had in 8, 10, 12, 14, 20? Well, I had ended up using that kit more and more for things like pop or theatre work, where the drums needed to be very clean sounding with relatively short sustain and not too much character etc, and with the music I tended to be playing on it the thought crossed my mind that it would better suit me to have a 16” floor tom and 22” bass drum. As luck would have it, this chap in Leeds happened to have the opposite problem - he had the kit with a 16 and 22, but preferred the idea of having a 20! And so, we managed to do a bit of a trade in which everyone was a winner - he got his 20 (and that kit did have lovely USA Custom badges!), and I’ve ended up with a Renown in 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 22 - which should much more suit the stuff I ended up playing on that kit. Of course, it’ll be VERY unlikely that I actually play all 5 toms at once, but hey, it never hurts to have plenty of options!

The Renown with it’s new configuration. This was before I had a chance to put some fresh heads on it and get it all properly set up, but you get the idea!

Having got back from the Spring Harvest tour dates on the Saturday, I was then straight back into action with a local gig on Sunday playing at a nearby pub’s “food and drink festival”, which was good fun! That was with a function band I play with doing a mixture of jazz, funk, blues, and even the odd reggae number! It was a nice, relaxed Sunday afternoon vibe, helped by a few decent beers being on the menu!

Set for the food and drink festival

One thing I’ve been starting to do more recently is capturing video recordings of my gigs, with the intention of looking back on them to see what’s working well, and what could do with some work. So far, it’s been a really good experience on the whole and I intend to keep it up as best I can - I’ve been recording some of my practice sessions too to look back on with the same intentions. The camera I’ve been using is a Zoom Q2n, which has done the job perfectly - it’s simple and compact, and has surprisingly good audio recording while producing a decent enough video for my purposes. I’ve used it just as an audio only recorder too a couple of times at rehearsals etc, and it’s been a really helpful way to capture the full rehearsal to then work alongside later on on my own. I’d highly recommend it!

The Zoom Q2n, which has become a valuable part of my playing setup

On the Friday night the next week I had the immense pleasure of going to catch the one and only Carter McLean in clinic in the Portsmouth area. What a treat! Hearing him play in person was a real inspiration - he’s got a wonderful balance going on of amazing touch and chops at his disposal, but choosing to play some of the grooviest stuff you’ve every heard, while dropping just the right amount of heat. To top it all off, from our brief spot of meet & greet, I’m pleased to report he was a really nice guy too!

Meeting Carter McLean - what a treat!

The last bit of playing in September was when I was back on duty playing at my church. It’s always a pleasure to be back on home turf, even if it does mean getting there for 7:00…!

Back on the church setup

So there you have it, that’s a round up of what my September has looked like. As always, I hope someone out there has enjoyed reading about my drummy comings and goings, and I hope it can provide an interesting insight into this wonderful line of work I get the pleasure of doing day in, day out! Catch you soon and all the best, Ed.