Monthly Roundup #11 - January '19

I suppose I’ll be a month behind by the time anyone’s reading this, but happy new year! After having a lovely bit of time off over Christmas and the new year, it’s been nice to get back into the swing of things. There was of course the usual teaching (with which I started at a new school), a couple of nice gigs, and some other things looming on the horizon for February which required some preparation.

One thing that’s been really nice since the new year is that I made some changes to my teaching schedule, effectively now doing 4x short days a week rather than 3x long ones. The result is that I’ve now got quite a bit more time available to get some regular practice done (and that’s never a bad thing!), so I’ve enjoyed spending more time working on things since making those changes.

A typical view from my practice space!

The first gig of the year was a few days away with Pete James and the guys playing at a conference up near Derby - “Fresh Streams”. I had quite a careful think about what sort of setup I wanted to use for this one, as it was a relatively small room where the band had little space and had to keep a lid on it in terms of volume - considering the music being played. As such, rather than using a more conventional setup, I incorporated some more percussion and electronics in to add different textures. I was really pleased with the result, and the different setup forced me to play slightly differently too, which was a fun challenge!

My hybrid setup for the “Fresh Streams” conference

The following weekend was gig-free, but I did find myself playing at my church on the Sunday for the first time in a few months after a busy Christmas build-up. As always, it was a pleasure to play at my home church alongside friends!

Setup at my home church

After a week of teaching, the following weekend I was back out with Pete James and the guys to play at another conference for the day. This time, it was a ladies conference so we were badly outnumbered! But again, it was a nice day playing alongside good friends. During the main part of the day, Pete and us lot were heading up the music, but then for the evening session there was another group who came to take the lead, where we then took a more supporting role. As they had their own drummer (who wasn’t on kit, but had a setup of a floor tom, snare and cymbals out front), they were keen for me to throw in whatever I felt I could to add to the music - enter the new TM-2 setup once again! For the evening meeting I just put together a simple setup using some of those electronics, and had various tambourines and shakers etc at my disposal to add in too. It was quite nice to have the freedom to just experiment and add things in as and when, rather than having to anchor things from the kit. During the daytime part of the proceedings while I was on the kit, I did comment on how nice it was to just be sat behind a “normal” drum kit again after a few weeks of show setups and hybrid kits - so it was nice to feel at home!

The kit set up for the daytime part of the conference.

…And my setup for the evening part, using a mix of electronics and percussion.

The final week of January got off to an exciting start… Over recent months I’ve hatched the idea of, and have been starting to organise a monthly “drum hang” for other drummers in my area. Essentially, it’s a chance for like-minded drummers to get together once a month to hang out, catch up, talk drums, compare gear and have all those “drummy” conversations we’re all itching to have! I was delighted at how well attended our first gathering was, especially considering there were quite a few others who were keen to come in future but couldn’t make the first one. If you’re another drummer in the East Sussex area and you’d be interested in joining us for the next one, please do get in touch!

The first drum hang!

That’s pretty much a wrap for January! As the month comes to a close I’ve started to do some homework for an upcoming production of “West Side Story” which kick starts my February, and there’s some studio time booked in too which is sure to be good fun! In the mean time, if you’ve made it this far then I hope you’ve enjoyed this entry and I shall look forward to catching you next time! All the best, Ed.