Percussion Deconstruction™

Time is an interesting concept and is something I think about a lot. As a drummer, time is something I deal with in my work. So I’d like to talk about how I relate to time. I’ve always been interested when people say, “drummers are the time keepers.” To me, this is a false statement, as everyone should be the time keeper. I can’t imagine how someone could play guitar/bass/keys/etc. and not be able to keep time. What if they rely on the drummer and the drummer has no sense of time ? Then what? The music being made, if it could even be called music, will have no relationship to the listener, as it will most likely be rather chaotic. So to repeat: everyone is a time keeper . OK, so if the drummer isn’t the time keeper, then what are they? I have always seen my job as getting things from here…………………….to…………………….there . The music starts, and in most cases, there is an unbroken thread running until the end. What happens between those 2 points, beginning & ending, is that energy is moved...

A celebration of the Atumnal Equinox. Every Gong Session I do is completely spontaneous, based upon my mood at the time, the room, and most importantly, the people who are there. So I’m never sure what will happen, or what I actually did when I’m done, because for me it’s all about being in the moment. I recorded last Friday’s Session in Chicago and and am quite surprised by the results. One thing different is that I brought some of my compositions into the mix of things, sort of bridging the gap between a meditation session and a concert.  It's truly a fine line to walk between improvisation and composition. But is improvisation really anything but composition in the moment? The key to all of this is to listen, and listen again. What is happening in the air around you? How are the sounds you create interacting with the room? With the people in the room? Since no two places in time are exactly alike, no two performances can be exactly alike, and it's the differences that ...

Here it is, Part 5 of my Gong video series. This time I look at using Gongs as Hand Drums. Pretty cool stuff. ~ MB

Monday, September 5th, would have been John Cage's 99th Birthday. Cage was truly one of the 20th century's greatest composers. As much as so many people despise or misunderstand him, his contributions to music, and more importantly, how we listen to and relate to music, are immeasurable. As a percussionist, I can attest to Cage's contributions to the percussion repertoire, and his immense sense of vision in bringing percussion to the fore. His ground breaking compositions, like Credo In Us ,   First Construction (in Metal) ,  and the Imaginary Landscapes series, are still fresh today after 70 years. Perhaps Cage's most misunderstood piece, and the ultimate musical deconstruction, is 4'33" (1952). In the performance of this composition, the player does not perform a note for the duration of the 3 movements. The piece has been a challenge to many who see it not as a "piece of music." But Cage's interest in Zen Buddhism is apparent here, an...

Further YouTube adventures. This time looking at different Gong types: ~ MB

In case you haven't seen this on my Facebook page, I've just released the 1st in a series of Gong instructional videos. The 1st topic is Mallets & Striking Impliments . So check it out. Coming next week is a look at different Gong types and sounds. Cheers ~ MB

I’m always intrigued when I read about someone asking the question, “Can I put a hole in a Wind Gong and use it as a flat ride cymbal?” While at first glance this would seem to be a very good idea, the answer isn’t as simple as just yes, or no. There seems to be a common misconception that because cymbals and Gongs are both made of metal, are both round, and are both percussion instruments, that they are really the same thing, just mounted differently. But the similarities end at both being metal and round. Let’s take a look at each instrument, both how they are made, and how they react when struck. Design & Shape While music books will classify a Gong as an idiophone , a Gong is essentially a membranophone : "any musical instrument, as a drum, in which the sound is produced by striking, rubbing, or blowing against a membrane  stretched over a frame." The face of a Gong is a vibrating membrane that is hammered—which is much like stretching a skin over a frame—which puts ...