Embarking on an adventure: MMM3!

I'm heading to St. Paul this weekend to bear witness to an unparalleled rock extravaganza.

I'm republishing my blog post from www.loseroftheyear.com about it because hopefully it explains some background and why I'm going.... Check the live feed at http://m3.implex.net/ and you may just catch me drumming over the weekend!

In a triathlon, athletes test the limits of their physical abilities by running a full marathon, biking 112 miles, and swimming 2.4 miles.  This weekend, musician Mark Mallman ( http://www.mallman.com/ ) will undertake the musical equivalent of such a challenge by performing a 78-hour rock epic entitled “Marathon 3”.

That’s actually not a fair analogy, because while thousands of athletes can say they have completed a triathlete, I am unaware of any musician who has rocked for 78 hours nonstop.

It is an artist’s nature to want to push things to extremes.  After all, the dangerous qualities of rock and roll are part of its allure. We pride ourselves on playing for hours on end; we wear the scars and scabs resulting from onstage antics like badges of honor.  We cram ourselves into vans, drive dozens of hours, play seven shows in four days, and drive another twenty hours straight back home, making barely enough money to cover our expenses- Not something most adults would elect to do with their time- yet we love every second of it.

But Mark Mallman takes his dedication to music a step further.  The prolific songwriter and performer, also known as the Mad Man, pushes the boundaries of modern music and his own creativity far beyond limits that the rest of us dare not approach.  Having previously completed 26-hour and 52-hour versions of the marathon, he knows what he’s getting into, and he leaps enthusiastically into the rabbit hole with reckless abandon.

Can you imagine what might come out of one’s mind after hours and hours of continuous musical expression? What magical corridors of the brain might be unlocked by days of sleep deprivation? For an artist to not only choose to do this, but to do it publicly and invite the world, is a bold move which I respect profoundly.

When I first heard about Mark Mallman’s marathons, I thought it sounded like a cool way to rally the troops, gather scores of musicians and stay up all night rocking. It reminded me of the childhood delight of a lock-in or slumber party, where we would defy sleep and partake in all of our favorite activities until we dropped. However, further investigation revealed to me that this is no joke, not a gimmick for press attention, an attempt to break a record, nor a charity fundraising event. This is all about art.

The Marathon 3 involved much more prep work than just finding a venue that will allow such a lengthy performance.  Mallman is armed with hundreds of pages of lyrics and an overarching theme for each of three 26.2-hour segments of the event.  He has scheduled a continuous rotation of musicians who will follow him through the twists and turns the lengthy performance will surely take.  I should have known all along the man nicknamed Mr. Serious would not take something like this lightly! Of course, it is rock and roll, and therefore guaranteed to include the fun and entertainment that a show normally includes: elements crucial to defying the gravity of such an enormous creative undertaking.

So, this weekend I will make the pilgrimage to the twin cities to experience the Marathon 3 for myself, not only to support an artist I highly respect, but to seek out some inspiration of my own.  I will not just observe what is happening in the temple of rock known as the Turf Club in St. Paul, but like everyone there, I will become part of a unique scene; a grand vortex of music, lyrics, and creative chaos.  Although but a fraction of what Mallman will be doing, I will also challenge myself to perform for hours on end, and hopefully come out of it with a fresh and new perspective. I will enthusiastically follow this obsessed pied piper of rock as he hammers out his catchy tune on the piano. And with any luck, I will survive the journey with a new outlook on musical performance itself.

With one tweet...

(Sung to the tune of "With One Look" from "Sunset Boulevard"):

With one tweet I'll restart this site

With one tweet it will reignite

I have found encouragement

With the one tweet I just sent

I've left this blog hanging for many months now... It's joined the ranks of a million other web sites, initiated with the good intention of updating daily, gaining momentum, providing insight to others and helping with my own progress but then abandoned for no apparent reason.

For the record: Sites like that really annoy me.

 

The past few weeks I have been toying with the idea of resurrecting the Drummer Improvement Project; not just the blog, but the entire concept of really focusing on my own betterment as a musician.  This is such an important part of my life that it deserves a lot of my attention.

 

Today I casually put it out there to my fellow Twitterers (and Facebookers): "I'm thinking about resuscitating my drummer blog."

 

And guess what?  People actually cared enough to reply!  Within five minutes I had a delightful collection of encouraging responses.  Enough to convince me that this is something I should more than just think about.  Time to take action!

 

So with that... IT'S BACK ON!

 

A quick update on my progress: I began taking drum lessons the end of January. The experience has been invaluable, as I quickly realized that there are some things that a book or DVD simply cannot convey (I know... DUH!  But, what can I say, I like being stubborn and John Wayne-ing it, learning things myself). My instructor, Joey B. Banks, is incredibly talented and creative, always full of energy, highly technical, and also a working drummer who performs in many different bands.  In short: a very inspiring person.  So far, one of the biggest changes he has imparted on me is to learn traditional grip.  As of right now I am working on a lot of sticking/rudiment exercises, using both traditional and matched grip.  I still use matched grip when I perform with the band, but as I improve at traditional grip I imagine I will incorporate it into the performance.  The goal is to add more tools to my toolbox, more colors to my palette, etc.

 

Aside from the lessons, I gained some new insights from being on tour with Sunspot for several weeks this summer.  Obviously we have toured before, but this was the longest continuous stretch we have undertaken.  Playing every single day (except Mondays) for 22 shows straight, although it may not seem like much, was an excellent test of my endurance and I'm happy to report that I held out just fine.  :)  I was actually more concerned that I would lose my singing voice, which has happened on past tours, but all of my limbs and my voice stayed the course for the duration of the tour.  I'm sure many stories from the road will surface in future blog posts here.

 

That's all for now.  I'll be back soon... Hopefully with something interesting for you to read.

 

Oh- and thanks to all who replied to that one tweet!  :)

Happy New Year!

I always like the turning over of one year to the next... 2010 brings about new resolutions, goals, and a renewed enthusiasm from me for this project!

I've been doing some more research, practicing a lot, and working on tons of other things which I should be sharing with you.  So, I will do so this year.

Best wishes to you with all of your goals and resolutions!

Progress, even just a little, feels so good

Last night I returned to the "Day 1" exercise and it was remarkably easier than the day before.  It's as if the exercise itself got into my head on Sunday night, and stayed in there practicing on its own for 24 hours, so when I tried it again it wasn't difficult.

Granted, I'm not up to the recommended tempo in the book just yet, but compared to my initial attempt last night's improvement was staggering.  This is encouraging and makes me even more excited to practice tonight.

I'm still unsure of what I'll do over the Thanksgiving holiday, since I'll be short on time and won't necessarily have access to a drum set every day.  I'll bring the practice pad and continue doing hand exercises, for sure, but I may have to substitute something else (reading, research, etc.) for the kit exercises.

Moving on to the Exercises

I stuck to my plan last week and practiced each day for 45-60 minutes.  I spent most of my time continuing to work on sticking and full set warm-ups.  After seven solid days of much repetition, I am now very comfortable with the warm-up exercises and I have them almost completely memorized.

With twelve total warm-ups, I realize that I'm going to have to restrict myself to a minute or two per warm-up.  Otherwise I will continue to live in warm-up land forever, and I'm very eager to move on to the "fun stuff"!  The warm-ups do serve an important purpose, though, and even over the short course of seven days, I already notice a marked improvement in my consistency.

Last night I tackled the first official Exercise in the 30-Day Drum Workout.  Each day begins with a sticking-only exercise, followed by a full kit exercise that is based off of the pattern defined in the sticking routine.  I love this approach, as working on the basic stick-only exercise ingrains the pattern in your mind, preparing you for the next step which adds more.

The first exercise followed on the single-stroke roll theme found in the warm-ups, but added some interesting accents to various notes within each measure.  I found the exercise challenging enough (and one can always increase the tempo to add challenge) to keep me engaged, but not so overwhelming as to be daunting.  However, during the drum set portion of the exercise, I discovered a major weakness of mine that definitely needs work: my left foot.  The pattern had a hi-hat foot on each quarter note- which sounds simple, but with the bass drum hitting on different sixteenths of the beat, it's not so easy.  I had to slow the tempo waaaaaaaay down before all of my limbs would cooperate on this one.

I may spend another session on the Day 1 exercise before moving on to Day 2.  Baby steps!  I'm getting into the rhythm (ahhh... another pun... they're everywhere) of practicing every night and I'm really enjoying the extra time behind the kit.