Chris DeChiara

drums, percussion, timpani

Filtering by Tag: drums

2023 wrapped in March 2024

It’s March 2024 and I just realized I need to recap what happened last year - as in 2023. I will probably forget otherwise. And after just reading about 2022 I realized it really IS nice to look back and read about what happened! Wish me luck. Here we go.

As I mentioned in the previous blog, I flew down to Florida to play the first “Sanctus” show in Melbourne. 40 tons of Carillon bells, rock band, dancers, tracks, lights. It was a rock show! If you’re ever in the area, check out the Brevard Renn Fair in mid January.

Iron Maiden tribute, Eyes of the Nile, continues to grow and play great shows. We were back at Baltimore Soundstage, Tally Ho (twice) to incredible crowds, Phantom Power, Beacon Theater (new), Crafthouse (new), State Theatre, Sherman Showcase, and possibly the highlight - Rock the Mountains, where we opened for the legendary Quiet Riot. Even crazier was buying a Randy Rhoads figurine and getting to hand it to Rudy Sarzo after they played. I recently read his autobiography and learned how close they were. He was sincerely touched by it and posted the photo on the right to his social media pages.

Someone took drone footage! Check it out-

We also had a fair share of guest appearances on a number of podcasts - Somewhere in Time, Roadies n’ Rockstars, That Tribute Band Show, and Subfacts (now Matt’s Mosh Pit), (We also did a few more already in 2024!) At this point, we’ve been to Florida for two shows in Orlando and Miami Beach, and will be heading to NC (twice) and MA this year for the first time. Also heading back to the Orange County Fair and a new venue in town called Vanish Hill. Our presence on FB is going very strong at over 5300 followers and some of our videos are at over 140K views. Here is the most viewed one so far and it’s a drum cam vid!

We did another home video. This time our medley of Genghis Khan and Transylvania we call Genghisvania.

It is pretty crazy and a blast to play-

Here is our latest promo video to get an idea of what to expect!

I’m continuing to play with Nowhere Men at breweries, Vienna Summer on the Green, The Perch, private parties, and retirement homes. Dr.FU is continuing to rock The Renegade, Friday Night Live!, weddings, private parties, Seacrets in Ocean City, Farm Brew Live, Electric Palm, and the new Whitlows in DC. We also had two shows at the Hotel Washington, a private party and a crazy 4th of July celebration. Herr Metal has been doing an annual ticketed event at Ned Devine’s and bringing the masses to Friday Night Live! We also had our first private event at Lake Anna. I even found time to sub with Junkfood again on one of the hottest days of the year. Finally, I did an extremely last minute show on no rehearsal playing a bunch of Beatles songs (which I never actually do on drums) AND the Abbey Rd medley. I had a few days to prepare and I was leaving for my big Asian trip a few days later, but man…what a thrill. It was amazing to play those songs with a full band of instrumentalists and singers. There’s nothing like going into a show on no rehearsal and being hyper focused. Same with musical theater which we’ll get to soon.

It’s also been a lot of fun finally playing some live shows with Animal Ion. We played The Recher in Baltimore for the first time, Zen West, and a Car/Truck show in which comedian Don Jamieson (That Metal Show) MC’d! I didn’t realize it till he was introducing us. :)

I also recorded two more songs for Animal Ion, “One Track Mind,” and “Tuff.” Here is the drum take for OTM with the mastered audio.

Continuing with original music, I also played my first show with the great guitarist/songwriter, Richie Gomez. The one cover we did was Porcupine Tree’s “Let’s Sleep Together!”

One of my favorite drummers in the world passed away - Kirk Arrington formerly of Metal Church. I did a few tributes to him (and Mike Howe, their second singer who passed away in 2021), the self-titled album classic “Metal Church” (with original vocals by David Wayne) and “The Powers That Be” from Blessing in Disguise - originally sung by Mike Howe and here by Navid Rashid!

Even though I recorded it this year, I’m not going to wait till the end of the year to mention probably the hardest song I covered yet- Dream Theater’s “The Dance of Eternity.” And just to take it one step further, I made another video with my own transcription I made with a moving cursor. If you know what keyframing is, you know how long this can take!

The classical world still keeps me busy and I’m proud to say that I’m now Principal Percussionist of the Alexandria Symphony. I’ve been playing with them on and off (mostly on) for the past 15+ years, so it’s an honor to be entrusted in this role. We played some great rep including Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony (my first time with an orchestra), Finlandia (a first), and Rite of Spring. I was happy to perform a piece by Quinn Mason (on the ROS concert) who happened to be a massive help in the writing of my The Rite of Spring - A Percussionist’s Guide book. He is an extremely busy composer with his pieces getting performed around the world regularly. It was great to finally meet in person! The book is finding its way around the world including Australia, Canada, Brazil, UK, Italy, Spain, US, and Japan.

Another regular collaboration has been with composer/multi-instrumentalist, Andrew Simpson. We’ve performed together quite often and last year we performed more silent film music and a World Premiere of his new score with film, dance, and choreography entitled “Flying Car.” We also performed his score to the Buster Keaton silent film “Our Hospitality” with Buster Keaton’s own velocipede on site! The performance coincided with the reopening of the National Geographic section of the American History Museum. We even got a private tour of some of the incredible musical instruments in the vault!

Other performances include Reston Chorale (Chichester Psalms), a new work for the annual Trombone Conference at Ft. Myer, another Carmina Burana (playing timps), subbing Pacific Overtures at Signature Theater and Fun Home at Studio Theater, Cathedral Choral Society, New Orchestra of Washington (Shostakovich Cello Concerto #1 and a chamber version of The Planets), Annapolis Symphony’s amazing Messiah, and a private show at the Waldorf Hotel backing opera stars on the kit.

Teaching-wise, I’m still adjunct Professor of Percussion at Catholic University of America in Washington DC. Up to 5 students now with one actual percussion major. I’ve also been helping out the amazing kids in the Maryland Classical Youth Orchestras as well. They are seriously incredible!

On a personal note, we celebrated my mom’s 90th birthday with a huge surprise party. It was planned for over a month and the fact that she did not find out is a minor miracle! My sister and I took a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. We also checked out the Cleveland Orchestra and the Christmas Story house! Later in the year, I joined her and her husband for some camping in Bar Harbor and Camden, ME. We even “saw” the first sunrise in the US. And then an even bigger trip - 5 1/2 weeks in Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Way too many pics to post, but a lot are on my FB page if you are that bored. While I was away, my childhood home was sold. I got one last visit when it was empty and it was very surreal to say the least. Then one more trip back home for Xmas and that completed the year!

Last but not least, I got a chance to see a few shows. It’s hard to get out to do it sometimes but these were well worth it.

Navid and his band Iris Divine opened for two massive bands - Winger and Winery Dogs. Jagged Little Pill. Staged version of Rent. Helloween (with one of my all time favorite singers Michael Kiske still killing it). Geddy Lee. Ghost. Bret Michaels (w/ my friends in 8 Track Jones opening). And Geoff Tate!

2022: The Wrap

Now is the time to look back and reflect on what the holy hell just happened. It’s easy as a creative person to always move on to the next “thing.” So in the words of Graham Cochrane - “If you can learn to recognize and celebrate the small milestones along the way, you are really providing yourself with gratitude and endless motivation to reach your goals, even if they feel really far away in the moment.” So this is my way to do that and realize how much this year has been full of amazing moments - musically and not. While I try to celebrate it in the present, sometimes it doesn’t seem to happen. So what did happen? Strap yourself in and read on!

This year saw a huge milestone in that I retired from the US Navy after 21 years of service. I had my retirement ceremony in mid- April, then went on terminal leave till I officially retired on May 31.

I posted an album on my FB page of some of my favorite memories. Here are 250 of them since 2001 ;)

It’s pretty surreal to not be doing the things I did for 21 years - funerals (in frigid and beyond hot temps), concerts, ceremonies at the White House, Pentagon, Navy Memorial, all over DC and beyond; touring the country, soloing with the band, inaugurals, recording sessions, and of course the lifelong friendships that came out of it. I’m beyond grateful I got this job way back in 2001 a few years after grad school and was able to do so much outside of it at the same time.

The first band I got in after joining the Navy Band was Dr.FU (2004) and we’re STILL going! Maybe not as much, but we’re still doing the usual bars, clubs, summer sizzlers, private parties, and even occasional weddings. These guys are lifelong friends as well and I can’t believe we’re still playing music and people are coming out.

Beatles acoustic tribute, Nowhere Men, played some more outdoor shows outside the State Theater, The Perch at the new Capitol One Bldg, and our first retirement home! We’re looking forward to “Getting Back” to lots more gigs in 2023. I really love singing Beatles music and it’s nice to be in a band with a bunch of massive Beatles nerds and friends.

Iron Maiden tribute, Eyes of the Nile, are going really strong. This band is a force and playing with these guys is a pure joy. We seemed to become regulars at Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, VA (we’ll be there Feb 4, 2023) and feel like it’s our VA home now. We recently played the new Salisbury Center in Manassas and a couple shows at the amazing Elevation 27 in VA Beach. We debuted at a couple venues, The Southern in Charlotte (the Harlot) sville and Phantom Power in Millersville, PA (returning Feb 18). If there was one highlight of the year for EOTN, it was playing the Orange County Fair in Middletown, NJ in July. Joining us on stage was Chris Caffery from Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Savatage, and many more. Growing up a Savatage fan, this was big for me. We played Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” and “Wrathchild,” but also Savatage’s power ballad “Strange Wings!” A career highlight for me. Check it out HERE. Unfortunately, we didn’t have Jason, one of our main man guitarists, but got lucky last minute with a fill in from a local Maiden tribute. A small miracle that ever worked out!

We have a lot of exciting things coming up in 2023, so if you like Iron Maiden music, consider following us on Facebook IG (@eyesofthenileband) our website or our youtube page.

Here is a preview of what you can expect at a show!

Outside of the regular bands, I played some church gigs, cabarets, and got my country/country rock on with Georgia artist, Clay Page (yes, that Clay Page from American Idol) and Scott Kurt. Always have to learn a ton of tunes for those gigs!

Besides teaching some private lessons from home, I’m now Adjunct Percussion Professor at Catholic University! I’m teaching music and non-music majors drumset and percussion and will coach the ensembles as well. After playing and rehearsing at CU for many years with Great Noise Ensemble, I know the school and faculty well and it’s nice to have my own percussion studio.

In the classical world, I played shows with the Harrisburg Symphony (including a drum solo in Sing, Sing, Sing every night for a week), Maryland Symphony, Apollo Orchestra (finally played John Adam’s Chairman Dances), Alexandria Symphony (another Scheherezade performance and played drumset on a tabla concerto!), La Traviata with MD Opera was a thrill, New Orchestra of Washington (a chamber version of Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony), Cathedral Choral Society (live stream of Verdi’s Requiem at the National Cathedral), Delibe’s “Lakme” opera with Washington Concert Opera, Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto with a pickup group of amazing musicians, Delaware Symphony, among others. I did a show of film music for the Middleburg Film Festival in which many of the composers were present including the infamous Charles Fox. Little did I know that he composed music for Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days, Killing Me Softly (yes that one), Love Boat, and a million others. Was a blast to have him conduct as well!

Another highlight was with Sorrow & the Spire. This is the side project of Navid Rashid (of Iris Divine and singer of Eyes of the Nile). He wrote 6 songs which we all recorded separately in our own homes and it was FINALLY released this year. Steve Brown (Trixter, Def Leppard) produced it and made it sound kick a**. Turns out our first show was opening for the legendary 80’s band, KIX, at Tally Ho Theater. We played all 6 songs and it was an amazing night. Hope to do it again!

Music releases included Iris Divine’s “Mercurial” in which I again played a lot of percussion as with their previous album, “The Static and the Noise.” I also have an engineering/producing credit! We recorded a ton of stuff at the house with the ears and eyes of Navid watching over the session. Their drummer, Scott Manley, also came over and recorded a few things as well. Have a look at their video for the super catchy “Sapphire” HERE. I played a lot of mallets on this one including vibraphone, glockenspiel, and marimba. You can hear it at 1:59. Get the album HERE.

I also played on the new EP by Anthony Nuccio’s band Animal Ion. The song is called Insane and it is intense! You can check out the EP HERE. Anthony sings in the ever popular 80’s band, The Reagan Years. Look out for some Animal Ion gigs with me behind the drums in 2023!

Here is the drum take I did for it with the mastered audio-

Speaking of drum videos, I posted a bunch of drum cam footage here from mostly Eyes of the Nile gigs. I also did a tribute to the late, great Taylor Hawkins and the Foofighters song “Walk.” Zink and Jose from the band Shumaun, Bill Whitney, and I (we did Toto’s “Africa” last year) teamed up on Dream Theater’s classic, “Pull Me Under.” Of course I also had to do a drums cam version for it. Click the pic to take you to Youtube-

And speaking of Dream Theater, I FINALLY finished all the drum transcriptions of Images and Words I started in 1993. Yes, 1993. I started transcribing the songs with pencil and cassette during one of my jobs. I finished the whole album and even met Mike Portnoy around then to show him. He seemed impressed, wrote down his management’s address and suggested I send them a copy. So I did. Nothing. Ever since then it’s been in the back of my head to get this into a professional drum book. I had two articles written in Modern Drummer, but never got an actual book off the ground. During the pandemic, I started revising my pencil to paper versions and getting them into Finale. Now that they look legit, I’ve talking to one of the biggest drum book publisher and even though I’m kind of convinced it won’t happen, there was interest and it’s still possible. If nothing else, they will go up for sale on a transcription website and mine as well. Check them out here.

And speaking of books! The Rite of Spring - A Percussionist’s Guide still finds its way around the world. I love getting a notification that one sold to someone I don’t even know in another country. I can only hope they like it. Read all about it here.

During the pandemic, I made a video of one of the most epic moments of The Rite of Spring. In Dec. 2022, it reached over 100,000 views on Youtube. Seems people like Stravinsky more than Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, covers, etc :) I made another concentrating on a different section and that seems to be gaining some ground as well. Thank you to anyone who has supported these vids and the book!

2022 also saw the release of two BluRays! Both are Buster Keaton silent films that my colleague at Catholic University, Andrew Simpson, wrote music for - The Saphead and Little Women. The Saphead saw it’s first live performance this past November at the AFI Theater in Silver Spring. If you’re interested, you can find the BluRays on Eureka’s website.

I saw some great live music - Sammy Hagar (I met Jason Bonham!), Porcupine Tree, Mammoth, Iron Maiden, Corey Wong, Bass Extremes (Gregg Bissonette, Victor Wooten ,and Steve Bailey), The Aristocrats (Marco Minneman, Guthrie Govan, and Bryan Beller), John Petrucci w/ Mike Portnoy and Dave Larue, and Bruce Dickinson’s speaking tour.

I also took a couple of epic trips - Utah and India!

Utah was full of hiking in Salt Lake City and Bryce Canyon. My friend Laura (ex-Navy Band clarinet and the biggest go-getter you ever met) drove us down from SLC to Bryce, then through Zion on the way back to SLC. I was invited to speak to the percussion studio at the University of Utah about all things career development, social media, auditions, and music! Thanks Michael for having me and Laura for setting it up. I had mole for the first time in a while and I am now officially hooked. It was also great to see an old friend from grad school days. Madeline Adkins is now the Concertmaster with the Utah Symphony and they sounded fantastic.

India was an adventure of a lifetime. New/Old Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi, Kolkata, and Darjeeling. Pictures will do more justice than words, so here are a few of the 2500 pics I took-

Another milestone…I celebrated the Big 5-0! I’m trying to do what I can to get in the best shape I’ve ever been and I know it’s possible. I don’t need a new year to make it happen, but it does give you a little push. Here’s to 50 more!

Lastly and looking ahead…in mid-January, I’ll be headed to sunny Florida to play some shows with a group called “SANCTUS.” It’s comprised of a rock band, male/female vocals, dancers, percussionists, backing tracks, and the star of the show - 40 tons of carillon bells! I have been practicing this hour long show for a while to have it completely memorized. We’re playing covers of Evanescence tunes, Skillet, Nightwish, but also arrangements of Harry Potter music, Carmina Burana, and more. It will surely be epic. If you’re in the area, come check it out here!

Well, I think that’s it. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. And to anyone that has gone to a show and supported me and one of my bands, I truly thank you! I can’t wait to be out there again and make more music and meet more great people. Till then, Happy New Year and see you in 2023!!

New release! Iris Divine - Mercurial

Iris Divine released their latest album recently and it’s another MUST LISTEN. I had the honor of playing percussion on it again and even got an arranging and engineering credit!

Here are some of the reviews coming in:

“The focus on delivering the right riff and rhythm section combination…keeps Iris Divine away from being a mere ‘technically brilliant’ band only for the musician set – logical songwriting skills are paramount.” Dead Rhetoric

“An Iris Divine album always gives you a unique experience, but this time it comes with genuine bounce and swagger. This is an enjoyable album, taking the band in a more commercial direction, and another definite for the playlist. 9/10 Powerplay Magazine

"The musicianship from a trio is quite impressive...Brian Dobbs is also a monster on the bass guitar, playing with the fluidity of Geddy Lee and the ferocity of Les Claypool...an intelligent and sophisticated sense of songwriting. The production is also top notch. You don’t want to miss this one." Metal Temple

Navid was more than happy for me to come up with whatever ideas I had after listening to all the demos. A lot of the guitar and keyboard lines translated easily to mallet percussion (glockenspiel, vibraphone, marimba, and/ xylophone) in my head. The industrial aspects conjured up concert bass drum hits, brake drum clangs, thundersheet wallops, and gnarly sounding effect cymbals. We also experimented with cowbell, rototoms, darabuka, djembe, hand claps, gas can, shakers, bell tree, concert toms, a jazz ride cymbal, extra snare drums, vibraslap, and I’m sure a lot more. Some of the instruments like vibraphone, marimba, and glockenspiel play in unison or in harmony with the keys and/or guitar (the breakdown of “Sapphire” especially), some instruments play their usual role (cowbell and shaker) and some add texture and impact (bass drum, effect cymbals, thundersheet etc).

The idea was to at least HAVE the options to bring into the mixing stage and then cut the fat off. A lot made it, a lot didn’t. Of course the end result is tasteful as a lot ended up being superfluous anyway.

Here is an example of the mallet parts in “Sapphire”-

And here it is in context with the bass, keys, and guitar-

Some more pics-

Here are all the pertinent links. I hope you check out this great new album!

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3agYpE1

Apple: https://apple.co/3sQ9iTt

Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/album/312597437

Youtube: https://youtu.be/E5Za-QWwtMY

Bandcamp: https://irisdivine.bandcamp.com/

CDs and T-shirts: https://irisdivine.bigcartel.com/

CDs outside of North America: https://www.layered-reality.com/.../iris-divine-mercurial/

Sorrow & the Spire-Debut Single and Video

Last Sept. 2020, I wrote about recording six songs for Sorrow & the Spire, Navid Rashid’s solo EP. I’m happy to announce that the first single, “My Misery Calling,” is officially released with an accompanying video:

Here is a link for streaming audio. Click the pic!

Navid Rashid-Vocals, Guitar
Jeff Teets-Bass Guitar
Chris DeChiara-Drums, Percussion

Special Thanks to Steve Brown (Trixter, Tokyo Motor Fist, Def Leppard) for his dedication to the project and making it sound as good as it does.

Thanks to LJCreative for being so into the project and sweating just as much as we were!

It’s interesting to watch the final video knowing the ordeal that went into setting up the shoot. The venue was Graffiti Warehouse in Baltimore, MD. There were two studios inside and we didn’t know till we were able to start bringing equipment in that we were on the second floor - up two VERY steep and long sets of stairs. Of course, I had to bring the 6-piece DW kit, rack, drum riser, and a bunch of cymbals. Needless to say, it was the hardest load-in of my entire life. And that is with help! As luck would have it, the room we were in consisted mostly of windows…letting that nice hot sun add that special touch. The natural lighting did look good though!

Since we recorded three songs, the drums would have to move to a different part of the room for each one. Sounds easy, unless your drums are on a rack system on top of a drum riser, with uneven wooden floors. Moving the kit a couple feet was an ordeal itself!

After a couple hours of shooting each song 3-4 times each, our time was up and we needed to get everything out of the building ASAP. Going downstairs IS easier, but it was still brutal. Dump everything in the alley, do an interview, pack the car, and finally…pizza. I’m not sure pizza never tasted so good. Or water. But thank you Joe’s Squared for being open and for being so damn tasty.

I really hope this project takes off as all six songs on the EP are incredibly strong. Please check out the links above and follow the band if you’d like as well:

www.facebook.com/Sorrow-The-Spire-105463695020899
www.instagram.com/sorrowandthespire

Thanks for the support!

Chris










2020: The Wrap

There isn’t much to say about 2020 that we don’t already know. It left a lot of people unemployed, furloughed, relocated, and struggling mentally as well. I’ve been holed up at home most of the time and grateful I have a job that supports me. It still isn’t easy not seeing people as much and I think we’ve realized how much we need human interaction. As great as Zoom is, it’s obviously not the same.

I had the time to put together some projects that would have NEVER have happened if it wasn’t for the pandemic. Not one to sit around, there ended up being a ton of music projects. And reading!

January started with a massive bang as Eyes of the Nile (Iron Maiden tribute) opened up a show at Tally Ho (first time!) to a pretty damn nice crowd. There’s some great footage here. A couple days later, I’d realize that I would be playing there again the following week.

I wrote about this in an earlier blog (RIP Neil Peart 1952-2020), but it was one of the craziest times of my life. I flew to NAMM (in Anaheim), flew back a couple days later (to Virginia), last minute sub gig (on one week notice) for the Rush tribute, Sun Dogs at a sold out Tally Ho Theatre (Neil Peart just died the week before), flew back to NAMM (Anaheim!) the next day, shot a video of Rush’s Limelight for Soultone Cymbals, and flew back to Virginia that same night/morning. This was in a span of 8 days. A couple hours later I was rehearsing a concert with the US Navy Band and Johan De Meij conducting his own works (some of the hardest xylophone I ever had to play). The same week, De Meij also conducted a program of his own arrangements for brass and percussion with Barclay Brass. Some of his timpani parts were a challenge!

A couple more Dr.FU, Eyes of the Nile, and Nowhere Men (acoustic Beatles tribute), and classical gigs later, the pandemic hit. Things got cancelled one by one and while the concerts with the Navy Band all got cancelled (including trips to Norway for the International Tattoo) and Singapore, funerals went on mostly as planned albeit “modified.” We started doing a ton of video productions from home and I contributed audio and video to these “virtual collabs":

  • When I’m 64 (drumset/vibes)

  • Luz for clarinet and percussion (cajon, claves, shaker)

  • Dance of the Rose Maidens mallet quartet (xylophone)

  • 1812 Overture finale (bass drum)

  • Instruments from a Distance” which was a short percussion demo demonstrating the coolness of percussion:) I played a little drumset, cymbals, bass drum, snare drum, conga, marimba, glockenspiel, castanets, timpani, vibraphone, and tambourine.

  • Double Stroke Roll explanation

  • Stars and Stripes Forever (bass drum)

  • Mahler 2 (excerpt-timpani 1)

I also recorded Pomp and Circumstance (timpani and bass drum) for the virtual graduation for New England Conservatory graduates.

Nowhere Men recorded a bunch of collabs that I edited:

I recorded multi cam drum videos for these great songs:

The band collabs were:

  • Hang On For Your Life (Shooting Star)

  • Dreams (Van Halen-with musician friends)

  • The Evil That Men Do (Iron Maiden-with Eyes of the Nile)

  • Indians (Anthrax, updated with Navid singing and special guests)

  • Learning to Live (Dream Theater, updated with Zink on vocals)

These were fun duets where I played both parts:

I also recorded some albums for some amazing musician friends-

Two of the biggest projects were labors of love-my new book “The Rite of Spring- A Percussionist’s Guide” and my first teaching course called The Single Stroke Roll. I wrote about them already in detail, so check out the links! I also made a list of some of my biggest pieces of advice for musicians called 13 Strategies in Becoming a Successful Musician. I really feel like anyone can benefit from this (for life), so check it out!

And more:

  • Virtual masterclass for DMV Percussion Academy

  • Virtual masterclass for UMASS Lowell percussion studio

  • Friday Night Live live stream with Herr Metal and live show at Middle(metal!)burg Barn

  • Live stream (and podcast) with the all new viola duet “Violacentric” playing three Bach Inventions (marimba and viola)

  • Two live shows (the second closing out 2020 on NYE!) outside the State Theatre with Nowhere Men

  • Multiple podcasts with the metal folks at Somewhere in Time

NOT musically related, I got through these books:

  • I Will Teach You to Be Rish

  • Far and Wide (Neil Peart)

  • Far and Away (Neil Peart)

  • Random Acts of Kindness

  • The Infinite Variety of Music (Bernstein)

  • Sebastian Maniscalco autobiography

  • Liberty: Life, Billy, and the Pursuit of Happiness (Liberty Devitto)

  • Rules of Thumb

  • Bulletproof Diet

  • Leonard Bernstein autobiography (Burton)

  • Crime and Punishment

  • Confess (Rob Halford)

Homeownerwise, I had three trees cut down and a new roof put on!!

And finally, I want to share an excerpt from my current reading (The 12 Week Year). This hits the nail on the head for me:

In most areas of life, we have very little control over our outcomes - especially when dealing with other human beings.

We can try to INFLUENCE our outcomes. We can change what we are doing and see how that impacts our desired outcome. But we can’t control our outcomes.

So it’s critical to pay attention to and know what you do have control over, versus what you don't have control over.

By knowing this, you can both make smarter decisions, and have healthier reactions in all of life’s situations.

Here are some things you can control as we head into the new year…

You can control what time you get up in the morning.

You can control how much effort you put into today’s work.

You can control whether you ask for help when you need it.

You can control what percentage of time you let yourself be distracted throughout the day.

You can control what opportunities you pursue, and what energy and effort you put into realizing them.

You can control having the right equipment and supplies around you, and how you take care of them so they’ll be ready when you need them.

You can control your training and preparedness for whatever you will be taking on.

You can control where you focus your emotional and intellectual energy and intention.

You can control how you treat others.

You can control what you bring to any given situation.

You can control your decisions and actions.

You can control your mindset.

You can control you.

At a foundational level, you control your thinking and your actions, and that is about it. But that is enough, IF, you are intentional with it.

If you’ve made it this far (Bueller…Bueller…??), thanks for reading and Happy New Year!!!

-Chris

New album by D.J. Sparr

 

A couple months ago I was asked to record some songs for D.J. Sparr’s new album - Hard Metal Cantüs. Well, it’s finally out on Innova Records, the label of the American Composer’s Forum.

D.J. is an amazing guitarist and composer whom I met years ago when he was a soloist with the Great Noise Ensemble, where I was principal percussionist from 2005-2015. We also played some of his pieces and would perform together; he’s one of the few people I know that goes from classical to rock in a heartbeat.

One of the pieced that we played back then, “Folios,” was reinvented by taking electronic percussion/drums and performing them on acoustic drums. Now dubbed “The World Within,” I had to find a way to take a multilayered midi drum part and record all the layers myself. There were sections that were literally impossible to play, so I would record just snare and bass drum, then maybe hihat alone, or just splash cymbal chokes. For one song I used regular hihats to my left and a stack (a lot tighter) to my right, playing the complete hihat part divided between the two sets. Another hip-hop flavored song brought out my new Grover 5x10 snare and it received many rim shots.

The sounds were then manipulated and processed so that some of my drums don’t sound anything like how I recorded them-like completely different instruments. Very cool stuff. There’s elements of Zappa, Cowell, EDM, R+B, and Hip Hop.

If you’re interested in checking it out, head to the link below!

https://www.innova.mu/albums/d-j-sparr/hard-metal-cant%C3%BCs

“The album closes with a look inside. The World Within is our internal place, the world within our own mind…which if you learn to control, you become irresistible. Here we go from the outer worlds to our inner world. And then of course, even the worlds that are within ourselves. It is here that Sparr's rock-funk wah-wah guitars take the highest voice in the polyphonic tapestry. It uses the same musical processes as the previous works, but with hair tied up in Zappa-pig-tails accompanied by snare-cadence rock drums, a studio string section, Austin Texas Bass, and a wall of guitar amps.”

 

Navid Rashid Solo EP

In the past couple weeks, I had the great pleasure of recording six songs by Navid Rashid for his upcoming EP. Navid sings (and I play drums) for the Iron Maiden tribute, Eyes of the Nile. He also plays guitar and sings with his own progressive-metal band, Iris Divine. They even let me play a whole lot of percussion on their latest album, Static and the Noise. Check it out, it’s an AMAZING album. Here is the video they made for the song Taking Back the Fall. Listen for the trash can at the beginning…

It’s always a great experience to be hyper critical of your playing even if it means being disappointed. Preparing for an orchestra audition and recording in the studio/stage are the best experiences for improving your playing. While these songs aren’t “technically challenging,” the studio environment (my basement in this case) means playing to the best of your ability knowing the final product is forever. It doesn’t matter how “simple” or “difficult” a song is when you have to balance so many aspects of getting what will be the final take. One bass drum note that’s out of place or a fill that’s not perfectly in the pocket can throw everything off. With modern technology, it’s too easy to edit things, shift notes, etc. but in this case, I’m way too stubborn to do that if I can help it! 90% of the performance is unedited with a couple punch-ins that were needed later in some songs. If you’ve played what feels like the best take for 3 minutes and the hardest part of the song comes up, then MAYBE that will be a punch-in if things don’t work out.

Here are some observations/considerations during the recording; mostly a journal so I don’t forget in 5 years…! Maybe they’ll help someone on their next recording:

  • What will the most effective part I can come up with?

  • How can I get out of the way yet still offer some personality/edge?

  • What snare drum should I use and how should it be tuned for the specific song?

  • Should the kit maintain its same tuning through all six songs (that would be a yes in this case)

  • If I felt I got the take, I would do one more just in case. Sometimes that extra take was the one.

  • The click was never one tempo throughout any song, so there were always playing adjustments, a lot of times during a bar of a fill; not usually at the beginning of a new section.

  • I experimented with a different charting system for fun. I went through the song once and outlined the form-no notes, then went through again writing out what I’d basically play in another form outline. The are a lot of ways of transcribing, but this was a fun and new way of doing it.

  • There were a couple spots I had to overdub a fill or in one case, an outro-ad lib-over-the-bar-line-play-what-you-want section. That wasn’t gonna happen in one take! That was a first and a blast to be creative and have carte blanche for a minute or two. There may have been a Portnoy lick or two!

  • I filmed each song. What will Navid do with the footage…?

  • Added some percussion-tambourine and…sleigh bells. Even with the tambourine, you have to think when playing 16th notes-accent 2 and 4? 1,2,3,4? Playing perfect 16th notes with the same amount of space between each note is harder than it seems. Luckily I’ve had a lot of practice in that area!

  • No one was in the room with me, so I wouldn’t REALLY know how things went till I listened back after the fact (critical ears engage). THEN, I’d sent to Navid to get feedback/yay/nay and go from there. Some songs took longer than others to get the right groove down, fills, etc

  • The demos had a drum part programmed, so it made it easier to use that as a template. Maybe half the parts stayed and half were changed a bit. Figuring out the bass drum parts might be the hardest thing for me. Luckily, Navid has crazy musical sensibilities and a lot of it was very effective to begin with.

  • My Presonus interface adopted a connectivity issue. With two songs to go, I couldn’t do a single thing for almost 2 weeks :(

Using the Tama Superstar kit that is locked, loaded, and record ready. Used different Soultone Cymbals for different songs and made use of different splashes and their great FXO series (the ones with the holes in them). The lines used were Extreme, Custom Brilliant, Gospel, Vintage (the 16” china killed!), and Explosion.

I used the Promark Todd Sucherman model sticks till the last two songs. The gig I had before finishing up found me breaking the most sticks I’ve ever broken-three!! That’s what happen when you use someone else’s kit and the drums are higher. Rimshots! So, I used the Joey Waronker model for the rest of the session and really enjoyed them!

I switched between a 5” Ludwig Supraphonic and a 6.5” PDP snare and they both sounded killer. Pictured is the Supra. The trusty tambourine has no name, but she sounds sweet! I use her all the time in the Beatles acoustic tribute, Nowhere Men. Bright, articulate, and blends right in.

Here’s a snippet of “One Million Reasons”

Hopefully the whole product will be done by the end of the year. Can’t wait for you to hear it, so stay tuned!

Michael Colgrass (1932-2019)

In 1995, I was a sophomore at UMASS Lowell. My teacher and percussion ensemble director, Jeff Fisher, decided to do a “mini-Colgrass festival” that semester. Half of the program would be dedicated to some of Colgrass’s percussion works. Of course, I never heard of Michael Colgrass. I say “of course” because I was such a late bloomer to the classical world and wasn’t until college where I developed as a serious player, played mallets, and learned about classical percussion. Before this, I didn’t know a thing except playing drums in a band. Not that that was a bad thing and proved to be invaluable down the road, but…anyway…a friend and I were asked to perform a snare solo from his Six Unaccompanied Solos for Snare Drum. Considering I never played a “legit” solo in my life and the rest of the program were ensemble pieces, this felt like quite the honor. Here it is, hair and all. And getting out of there as soon as possible after for some reason…

When I was at UMASS Lowell in 1995, Jeff Fisher, the percussion ensemble director programmed a "mini Colgrass festival" consisting of one half of the program dedicated to Michael Colgrass's percussion pieces.

During the concert, Jeff mentioned a story about Colgrass freelancing in NYC. He was walking down the street and didn’t know whether or not he was coming or going to/from the gig! It was soon after that he decided to become a full time composer. This story stuck with me for some reason.

Three years later in 1998, I was a student at the New England Conservatory and the wind ensemble I was in was preparing Colgrass’s “Urban Requiem.” The piece was a beast to prepare-each percussionist’s station of instruments in specific locations around the stage. Mine consisted of 3 separate stations-a steel drum part (an instrument I never played before and included solo part with clarinet-that was hard!), general percussion, and a drumset station in front of the conductor where you were basically part of a jazz/bop combo later in the piece. I don’t remember if I knew that Colgrass would be there or not, but lo and behold, there was the man himself at one of the rehearsals. The story I heard years ago permanently etched in my brain, I enjoyed getting the chance to ask him about this. If it were today, there would be a selfie involved. I left Jeff a voice message telling him that I told Colgrass the story I heard years ago 3 years ago. He was floored that I met and told Colgrass this, but mostly that I heard and remembered the story at all!

Later that year at NEC, I learned about Colgrass’s book, My Lessons with Kumi (maybe he told me?) which was all about performance anxiety. Since I was playing recitals and starting to take orchestra auditions, I needed all the help I could get. I used a couple of the tactics inside, but mainly enjoyed the great “Karate Kid” like read.

Many years later while a member of the US Navy Band, I was performing a lot of “new music” on the side. In 2007, I finally had the chance to perform some movements of Colgrass’s “Variations for 4 Drums and Viola” with my friend Rebecca Kletzker-Steele. “4 Drums” (rototoms) has been a staple in the repertoire and I’ve been itching to do it forever. We played it on a couple occasions and was a blast to put together and perform. Check out the “Finale” here-

Even though I didn’t have a lot of experience with his pieces and our meeting was brief, his music was introduced to me while I was developing my classical musician skills. Many years later, it’s time to honor him and break out some of his music again! Where do I start?

RIP Michael Colgrass (1932-2019)

Welcome.

Finally, a website! With social media taking over, it didn't seem as mandatory to have an actual website anymore. But it's time!
And this blog-a place where I can ramble about mostly drums and drumming. Maybe it will spark some conversation, maybe not. But this will be the place to jot down thoughts about performance, teaching, gigs, equipment (otherwise known as Gear Porn), and general musical observations. Maybe it'll be some kind of Drum Therapy...if you have any critiques of the site, general or video ideas, let me know.
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