So a C, an E flat and a G walk into a bar……

The bartender says, “sorry, but we don’t serve minors.” So E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough.

A D comes in and heads for the bathroom saying, “Excuse me. I’ll just be a second.” Then A comes in, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and says, “Get out! You’re the seventh minor I’ve found in this bar tonight.”

E-Flat comes back the next night in a three-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says, “you’re looking sharp tonight. Come on in, this could be a major development.” Sure enough, E-flat soon takes off his suit and everything else, and is au natural.

Eventually, C, who had passed out under the bar the night before, begins to sober up and realizes in horror that he’s under a rest. So, C goes to trial, is convicted of contributing to the diminution of a minor and sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an up scale correctional facility.

The conviction is overturned on appeal, however, and C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are bassless. The bartender decides, however, that since he’s only had tenor so patrons, the soprano out in the bathroom and everything has become alto much treble, he needs a rest and closes the bar.

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Python and Swing

Now, this is cool. Sweet Child O’ Mine really swings for me.

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Heavenly Smooth, Wickedly Expensive

So, after so much comtemplation, I fell for it finally. The reason is because the local drum-shop is offering a Christmas sale that is so hard to resist.

The item I am referring to which I have bought is the Pearl Demon Direct Drive Bass Pedal (Single)- P3000D.

Three words describe this pedal: S-I-L-K-Y   S-M-O-O-T-H   F-A-S-T. Gosh, I really love the feel of it. What I think/sing, I play. Gotta Love it !!!

That said, even with the discount, it is still costly BUT in comparison with its competitors (DW, AXIS) of the same high-end league of bass pedals, it is still comparatively cheaper.

Heavenly Smooth, Wickedly Expensive, Sinfully Mine 🙂

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A Good Trade today

I traded away my used Zildjian 14″ K Light Hi-Hats today for a pair of used Zildjian 14″ K Hi-Hats. I was looking for a more solid and a louder “chic” (I would sound it as “chup“) than what my K Lights can offer – and so far, these slightly heavier pair sounds really good on my kit. At least, it is able to match the roar of my 22″ Bosphorus Stanton Moore Wide Ride without being drowned out.

Also, as luck turns out, I sold my Zildjian 14″ K Light Hi-Hats to a desparate buyer and bought my Zildjian 14″ K Hi-Hats from an equally desparate (but different) seller. As such, the Ecomonics law of Demand-Supply is on my side and I ended up buying the Zildjian 14″ K Hi-Hats for less than what I sold the Zildjian 14” K Light Hi-Hats for.

I ended up a happy camper with some good change in my pocket home.

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Have I found The One ?

I have been looking around for a guidance mentor and an educator for some time. But so far, I have not had much luck as I encounter many teachers and not educators or mentors – who would like me to fly where actually I would just like to walk at a comfortable speed.

Q: “Would you like to be Elvin Jones ?”
A: “No”

Q: Mouth agape. “Why?”
A: “Because I dont want to”. I want to be me – just me. Not Elvin Jones, not Tony Williams

Q: Look of disbelief.

So – What is me ? What do I want ? I want to be able to play in an comfortable way with Bu and my friends, who happens to NOT be Keith Jarret, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk or any of the Montgomery brothers. Nowhere close. And I would like to support them musically below the bar, not above. That makes me want to be gazillions of leagues below Max Roach or Art Blakey.

Maybe one day, I want to be like Elvin Jones or Tony Williams. Maybe not. BUT not now for sure because I am not a full-time musician and I dont strive to be.

I need someone who respects me for me, myself and my opinions, my ideas and my originality and where I want to go.

After a couple of rounds of interviews, I think I may have found who I was looking for. I will refer to him as JMW as he is known to most in the jazz circuits. He comes across as a mentor and a guide and will only take students of jazz music of a certain calibre and skillset. I am so glad I passed his test as he did mine.

I told him my pains and he immediately hit the nail right on the head by articulating what I want.

“To learn Jazz 101 and that is all – no more, no less.”

He also told me, like everyone, musicians have their own paths and journeys to follow. A young up-n-coming session or recording musician may spend the most and bulk of his time practicing, playing and recording and very little time teaching and most importantly – learning how to teach. The younger ones that came from prestigious schools such as Berklee tend to think they can teach because they have a prestigious backing and have only ONE METHOD to teach – and that is – HOW THEY ARE TAUGHT.

And that is so important for these “younger” teachers to understand because every student, who is a professional in their own right, is different and have different inspirations and triggers. You cannot teach them the same way you teach younger children, who may not know what they “want” yet. I can bet my last cymbal felt that 90% of students attending or going to Berklee know they want to be a full-time musician – BUT not every person wants to be. Some, like me, are contented to be just hobbyists.

What irks me most is that students like us put in hours and effort before every practice session BUT the teacher shows up empty-headed and takes the easy way out by asking us to loop our practice-routine over and over again at every imaginable tempo until our 50Dollars-an-hour session burns up in money ashes.

Who is paying who here ?

Do I want to learn Jazz 201 ? My answer is simple – Ask me when I graduate from Jazz 101.

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Newest (and Shiniest) Addition to the Family

Below is the latest, newest and shiniest addition to the family. Doesnt take a strain of the eyes to figure out what it is. Great – now we have horns and wind with the wood 🙂

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Music and the brain

Playing a musical instrument makes you smarter:

LONDON – New research suggests that regularly playing an instrument changes the shape and power of the brain and may be used in therapy to improve cognitive skills. It can even increase IQ by seven points in both children and adults, according to researchers.

Experts said there is growing evidence that musicians have structurally and functionally different brains compared with non-musicians – in particular, the areas of the brain used in processing and playing music.

These parts of the brain that control motor skills, hearing, storing audio information and memory become larger and more active when a person learns how to play an instrument and can apparently improve day to day actions such as being alert, planning and emotional perception.

Mr Lutz Jancke, a psychologist at the University of Zurich, said: “We found that even in people over the age of 65 after four or five months of playing a instrument for an hour a week there were strong changes in the brain.

“The parts of the brain that control hearing, memory, and the part that controls the hands among others, all become more active. Essentially the architecture of the brain changes.

“For children especially we found that learning to play the piano for instance teaches them to be more self-disciplined, more attentive and better at planning. All of these things are very important for academic performance, so can therefore make a child brighter. Music isn’t the only answer, but I do believe that it should be used in addition to other things.”

Mr Jancke said that music can make it easier to learn foreign languages. It also helps people become more perceptive in interpreting the emotions of others.

“When you play a musical instrument you have to learn about tone and about scores and your ability to store audio information becomes better.”

He suggested more studies on the use of music to enhance cognitive performance through therapy. “Hopefully, the current trend in the use of musicians as a model for brain plasticity will continue … and extend to the field of neuropsychological rehabilitation.”

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC091029-0000078/Music-and-the-brain

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Why I want to learn drums in the first place

I just spend 30 minutes tonight jamming on a simplistic 3 piece setup (hats, snare, ride) with Bu on the keys. She hasnt played on the keys for a long time, even though she was very good at it in her heydays.

We played a couple of jazz tunes, bossa novas and played along to some old classic contemporary jazz records. Our timings were off most of the time. There was off-keys and mis-beats but it was so fun playing with another musician.

This reminds me of why I took up drums in the first place – NOT to spend hours by myself behind the kit trying to work up a sweat to 300 BPM – BUT creating music (not the most perfect, but still a melodious tune nonethess) with another musician.

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Hello World !

Welcome. As a clarification note: I dont make drums or drumware of any kind. This is a pure word play off my main source of living and income – in Software.

That said, I am a drummer and a learning drummer at that. I mean, arent we all ? Jazz drumming gets a lot of my time at the current moment and I will randomly (not frequently) posts of my hardware, learnings, videos or gigs.

Thanks for being here. Stay tuned.

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