If you’re reading this, you have been invited into the “inner circle” as I have not “officially” launched the new website. It seemed like a fun idea to keep up with you all and let you know what I have been up to. If we used to stay in touch on Facebook, I have been MIA for quite a while. Maybe more about this later…but please know that it’s all related to where things are going.

So maybe I’ll pick another time to drone on and on about all the hard work and such, but I’d rather get to the fun stuff for once! And what could be more fun than recording drum tracks? Hearing them back, of course!

My good friend and Recording Engineer Extraordinaire, Kirk Madden, and I FINALLY got a chance to work together remotely. His expertise has served the industry well for many years and I am most fortunate to have him and his ever growing skill set beside me. Without the right engineer….

When I sat down to record the following drum tracks, my mindset was to replicate what might be played in a variety of recording situations. The challenge is to play simple yet interestingly. With that in mind, I kept to less complicated patterns and fills, hitting mostly single note nuances such as

• Open Hi Hat
• Ghost Notes
• Splashes
• Accents
• Playing with Time

There are very few doubles in this piece, much like an actual working situation. There’s a distinct focus on “feel” and “sound”, respectively.

This was me sitting down and just playing what came out of me. While my playing could certainly be better, I was attempting to capture certain feels. It requires an engineer like Kirk to “hear” what I am going for and lock it in. He makes any drummer, even me, sound their best.

On a side note, he started as a drummer and plays God only knows how many instruments. And you thought he was just a great engineer…