Christmas '08

I'm short...

I live with a guy named Luke Zeller who is quite the amazing dude.  For the last few days, mama Zeller and brother Tyler have been staying at the house.  I don't feel short often, but I felt like a midget for the last few days.  

Free-potle

Seth, Riley and I went to Chipotle Sunday afternoon to get some lunch before an afternoon showing of V For Vendetta. I was blessed quite a lot when the manager came up from the back and shouted to me. "You get a free burrito!" I asked why, and she says "Once a day, the staff can pick out someone they think is hot and give them free food and Monica thinks your hot!" Then, of course, Monica hid behind the Nacho's til we left. I said thank you a million times but she still never showed her face. I'm convinced that she was either talking about seth and her manager misunderstood her, or that she was just trying to mess with her employee. Whatever the, I got two free burrito's on sunday. Sweet.

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
— Wendell Berry

...I always loved this poem. Thinking about this time of year and the craziness that comes with it, I thought this would be a fitting morning read.

Dropping some knowledge

Every year, it seems that this conversation comes up with me and my Pa. One of those holiday conversations along the lines of "These lights are so old..." and "We got this ornament when..." But this is one that I think everyone should be aware of, especially Christmas. Learn a little bit about X-Mas. Ya that's right, X-Mas.

The Greek transliteration of the word Christ is Xristos, the first letter which is the Greek letter "chi". The shortening of Christmas to Xmas by educated persons who knew Greek has been common since the sixteenth century, with the "X" often symbolizing a cross. "Xmas" was an ecclesiastical abbreviation used by churchmen in tables & charts. More recently the use of "X" has been associated with irreverent commercialism, leading to the saying "Put the 'Christ' back into Xmas"

...or the slightly longer version.

"The word "Christ" and its compounds, including "Christmas", have been abbreviated in English for at least the past 1,000 years, long before the modern "Xmas" was commonly used. "Christ" was often written as "XP" or "Xt"; there are references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as far back as AD 1021. This X and P arose as the uppercase forms of the Greek letters χ and ρ), used in ancient abbreviations for Χριστος (Greek for "Christ"), and are still widely seen in many Eastern Orthodox icons depicting Jesus Christ. The labarum, an amalgamation of the two Greek letters rendered as ☧, is a symbol often used to represent Christ in Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian Churches."

Merry X-Mas

Winter

It's rare that I'm awake for sunrise. It's also rare that there is a 'sunrise' in South Bend anyway. (Stupid Perma-cloud). Anywho, I was up, and so was the sun and it was pretty so I had to take some pictures.

Mark Nania

Mark is what you would call the cat's pajama's. He's the Bee-Knee's. He has the heart of a servant and I love him for that. The world needs more people like Mark.

"The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor." -Proverbs 15:33

Hatred

So I put this video on Youtube about a year or so ago.  I'm going to go ahead and say that this method of changing the background is a really bad way to do it and I'm well aware of it now.  I personally would take the video down in hopes to not mislead any photoshop uses but I've enjoyed watching the PURE HATRED flow in on the comments beneath the video from people (who I have never met) who know photoshop better than me and apparently not pleased.  But just when I was about to give up hope, I also noticed some people (who I also have not met) sticking up for me.  

So to the haters - I'm sorry, I recognize my folly.  I will never again post without consulting you.  Please don't kiss your mothers with those mouths.

To my protectors - Thanks for standing up for a complete stranger.  

D.C.C.B. Christmas Concert

My Dad plays in the Defiance College Community Band with all his other retired band director buddies. They brought the holiday cheer last tuesday.

Drum Week - Technique

This is a post about my particular views on stick grips and drumset techniques.

**STICK GRIP** - Match vs. Traditional

I endorse both Match and Traditional grip. I think they both have great purposes. I do suggest that all beginning drummers start with Match grip. The reason being that it translates to all the other percussion instruments. Traditional grip is used only for snare drumming and drumset so getting the Match grip started is important as it translates to mallets, aux percussion, and other things. I find that the traditional grip is great for playing brushes on a drumset for the 'stirring' hand, and I also believe that the traditional grip is helpful in another way. If I'm trying to control my volume and really subdivide without actually playing, the hitches in a traditional snare stroke plus the disability to get a ton of power out of the stroke control volume and enhance 'the groove.' I actually have a really great article articulating grip in about 8 paragraphs, including how to hold a match grip stick and how to hold a traditional grip stick. However, I believe a picture is worth a thousand words so I'm going to give you two photo's from Vic Firth's website demonstrating proper grip.

Right Hand (or Both for Match grip)

Left Hand (for traditional only)

**STICK GRIP** -French, American, German

...Now, stick grip does not end there, oh no it does not. There is also the French, German, and American styles of griping the stick. This if for the match grip, or the right hand in traditional grip. And it has to do with the rotation of the hand in relation to the drum head. Again, I could explain it but again, a picture is better. This is from snarescience.com which has a ton more explanation if you want to read further.
I use all three of these grips for specific instruments and styles of music. I prefer the French for Timpani. It requires a lot of finger strength and considerably limits the range of motion of the wrist which is not good for drumset. It is, however, great for bounce; specifically controlling bounce. I find myself using the American grip for most everything else. It's allows me to use my back three fingers for extra speed and accent but still get great control and power from the wrist. I use the german a lot if I need to use a Moeller stroke which is a topic that doesnt' need to be covered. However, when starting out, start with the german or the american grip.

**SITTING AT THE KIT** - Cross Your Arms

Obviously people get away without this (including one of my favorite drummers, Carter Beauford), but I am convinced that the best thing you can do for yourself is to cross the arms, using the right hand to play the high hat, and the left hand to play the snare. There are a couple of reasons.
-In most cases, if a player uses his left hand to play the high hat, it causes them to pull their hand back towards their body un-naturally and it causes them to raise their entire arm which does two things. It turns the hand out into the french grip which I already noted limits the wrist motion, and with the raised arm, it limits the wrist motion even more. That's bad for the wrist, and can cause tendonitis and other serious problems down the road.
-Unless you put the ride cymbal on the left side as well (ala Carter Beauford), you still have to use your right hand to play the ride so that means you have to switch. Yes, this does promote a bit more independence if both hands can play the snare and ride patterns. But the hands, especially for beginners, are not matched in terms of power, so there will be a significantly different snare sound when you switch hands. On that topic, if you do cross your arms, don't use a wrist stroke when you're arms are crossed and then when they're uncrossed to play the ride, you start swinging for the fences. I know a lot of sound guys who used to hate me for that...maybe still do.
Now you may be saying "But Jeff, I'm left handed. I need to use my dominant hand on the high hat. Either that or set the kit up backwards." First of all, you'll get no sympathy from me. I'm left handed and I don't do either of those things. Nor do many of the left handed players I know. In my and many others opinions, you're actually at an advantage. Not only is your left hand stronger, but you have more fine muscle control in that hand. That means that you can let your 'dumb' hand do the boring repetitive hat and ride work. Then your good hand can play the intricate snare patterns that include off beat patterns, buzz, duple and tap strokes, crossshots, and other fun little things.

**SITTING AT THE KIT** -Rock music puts you on the edge of your seat...literally.

When you're putting your feet on the pedal, there are two schools for how you position them. Some will say you should put your heel down on the back of the pedal and keep it there. Others will say that you should keep your heel off the pedal (except when resting) and use only your toe in the middle of your pedal. Some people say you have to do one or the other. Here's my thoughts.
-Toe only is great for rock and really fast doubles. Toe also drives the pedal into the head and keeps it from resonating. For rock, this is just fine and actually desirable. Mainly because rock players use triple ply hydraulic heads that have muting built into it. Ringing is not the sound you're going for, just a slappy thump. And if you're playing through a decent sound system, even if you play with a style that allows the bass drum to ring, the mic's usually aren't made to pick it up and most sound guys will gate that out anyway. Dealing with sound guys in a topic for another post. Dave Weckl made a great instructional video about 15-20 years ago (You'll have to excuse his hair and his outfit) about all kinds of techniques, here is his toe method of playing.

-I prefer heel down for acoustic sets and jazz/latin playing. Latin music often requires a lot of slower doubled notes over the course of the entire song. You do that with your toe the whole time and that tendon in your ankle is going to start to hurt after a bit. Heel down is a bit more natural. It also allows you to play without pressing the pedal into the head and deadening the sound. ALSO, I 'crash' the high hat with my left foot a lot. That requires a stroke where I leave my toe completely off the pedal, and kick the very end of the moveable portion of the pedal with my heel. It jars the pedal just enough to hit the hat's together without holding them shut and deadening the ring.

Learn your rudiments

...and maybe you can do this.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

A little B.C.S. Humor

BCS DECLARES GERMANY WINNER OF WORLD WAR II, US Ranked 4th

After determining the Big-12 championship game participants the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Germany to be the winner of World War II.

"Germany put together an incredible number of victories beginning with the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland and continuing on into conference play with defeats of Poland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. Their only losses came against the US and Russia; however considering their entire body of work--including an incredibly tough Strength of Schedule--our computers deemed them worthy of the #1 ranking.

Questioned about the #4 ranking of the United States the BCS commissioner stated "The US only had two major victories-- Japan and Germany. The computer models, unlike humans, aren't influenced by head-to-head contests--they consider each contest to be only a single, equally-weighted event." The only time head-to-head was programmed to be a factor was in Vietnam, which was input to hurt the US chances. But that also then hurt China.

German Chancellor Adolph Hitler said "Yes, we lost to the US; but we defeated #2 ranked France in only 6 weeks." Herr Hitler has been criticized for seeking dramatic victories to earn 'style points' to enhance Germany's rankings. Hitler protested "Our contest with Poland was in doubt until the final day and the conditions in Norway were incredibly challenging and demanded our original forces stay on the battle field until the end."

The French ranking has also come under scrutiny. The BCS commented "France had a single loss against Germany and following a preseason #1 ranking they only fell to #2." Japan was ranked #3 with victories including Manchuria, Borneo and the Philippines.

The Mars Hill Weekend

Jason Miller, Matt Melton, and I had the opportunity to lead worship at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI. It was a great experience. Uniquely because I used to play with Jason and Matt a lot when I first moved to South Bend. These days, I still get to occasionally play with Jason, but not at much as I'd like. And I never get to play with Matt because he moved to Dallas about 3 years ago. So this was a rare opportunity to not only lead a great community in worship, but also a sweet opportunity to make music with great friends.

Drum Week - Getting Started

If your child would like you to buy them a drumset, DO NOT DO IT!!!

That's the most important piece of advice I have when you start drumming. Starting with the drumset is sort of like moving to another country without bothering to learn the language. Sure, you can figure it out once you get there, but it's going to be a painful process. I see so many kids starting on drumset without learning the proper techniques of playing percussion instruments. This causes a lot of problems, not only right off the bat, but down the road as well.
I've been asked occasionally if I'll teach drum lessons to kids. I, in almost every case, will not do it. There are three reasons for that. First of all, I don't like doing it and I don't have the time either. Second, there are people who make a living doing solely that. These people are good at it and I don't feel like taking their business. But mainly, I firmly believe that students should begin in the schools.
*It teaches students properly and from the ground up.
*They learn with others so the pressure of performing for a private teacher is removed.
*They have the opportunity to learn the entire range of percussion instruments which is very important.
*The get public performance experience
*Most schools have thousands of dollars worth of percussion toys to play with. I'm sure most people don't have a reason to own a good set of claves. Schools do.
*Lastly, being a part of the school music program has been proven to be beneficial to children both in the band room and in the class room.

There are these delightful little things that we drummers call Rudiments. Rudiments are like scales for percussionists. In my opinion, it is CRITICAL that any aspiring drumset player learn these. I'm sure a lot of people don't see a point in knowing these, at least as it applies to drumset. But these people are stupid...can't say it any other way. Once you learn these delightful little things, they become the language of your hands; something you don't have to think about. It makes getting around the drumset that much easier. Playing fills become more natural, your hands move more freely, and some of the coolest grooves are based on simple rudiments. One of the greatest drummers of all time is a man named Steve Gadd. If you listen to any of his great grooves, you hear rudiments all over the place. Just watch this video which is completely based on one simple rudiment called a paradiddle.Rudiments are crucial to the development of a player. Vic Firth has provided a great way to learn them online. Check it out! If you listen to the audio files you'll notice that they start out really slow, get really fast, and then get slow again. This is called "Opening and closing" a rudiment. It's a helpful way to practice.

In Indian culture, there are several different kinds of percussion instruments. Students who wish to become performers must apprentice with the masters. Before even touching drums, the student spends YEARS with the master just watching and observing. It develops discipline and it's also a time in which the student can decide if that's truly what they are dedicated to.When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a drummer, not a percussionist, a drummer. My dad was a was music teacher, and on top of that, he was a drummer. He, to his credit, never caved to my whining crying hissy fits that I threw in attempts to get a drumset. Trust me, I tried a lot. He wouldn't even let me set up his drumset that he had in the basement. When I started in band in fifth grade, he told me that if I stuck with it until I was a freshman, he would buy me a drumset. So I did exactly that. And when I was finally a freshman, he was true to his word and bought me a drumset. Luckily, by that point, I had developed a love for percussion, not just the drumset. It's not in the picture, but the marimba was set up just around the corner. I'll be honest, it didn't see nearly the amount of practice time as the drumset, but it still was something I always enjoyed and felt challenged by.

I will close with this comment that my dad left after reading this article. He said:

"AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! Especially the part about starting in school. In my 30 years of teaching I had a number of students who came into band whose parents bought them a drum set. They had already developed bad habits that they couldn't break. In almost every case, those kids quit after a year or two. LEARN THE BASICS FIRST!!! You really should learn to ride a bike before your buy a motorcycle."
-Chas "Dad" Myers

Drum Week

I've intentionally strayed away from blogging instructional things on my blog. Mainly because I'm 25 years old, I don't know much. Actually, I think the most valuable thing I learned in college is that I, in fact, know nothing. That being said, I'm changing my view on that particular issue. I'm going to start offering some guidance, opinions, teaching, whatever you want to call it on some topics I think I know a thing of two about because hey, if you didn't want to hear it, why would you be reading this in the first place.

I'm going to start with Drum week. Every day this week I'm going to talk a little bit about my methodology when it comes to drumming. Some topics will be...

*Getting Started

*Technique

*Equipment selection

*Playing style

*Showmanship (very important)

*Working with your fellow musicians

Hope this week can be helpful! If it matters, I do have a degree in music education which I have never used for anything more than a placemat.  However, I still do some work with high school percussionists in my free time.  If you're not a drummer and you don't care, come back next monday.

***Disclaimer-Everything I will say is completely my opinion supported only by my experiences. Don't be offended if whatever I say conflicts with whatever you do.***

Creativity

So Derry Prenkert did a whole week's worth of posts on creativity last week.  They were great.  I figured, since my job requires some creativity, I'd give my perspective.  Before I go any further, it will not be helpful for you...at all.  Just read this to waste time at work.  Because be honest, that's what blogs were invented for.  Something to do to help waste time at work.  

When I need to be creative, and I can't be, I turn to my old standard.  I stare at the floor with my fingers on the keyboard of my computer.  Why do I do this, do you ask?  I have absolutely no idea why.  If I can't think of anything for about 20-30 seconds, I start tapping my foot on the floor really fast.  If that doesn't work for another 20-30 seconds, I start launching my foot off the floor and slamming my knee on the underside of my desk and then back down to the floor and repeat.  Again, if that doesn't work for about 20-30 seconds,  I just start typing the word "The" into my search field on google over and over and over again.  Something about the rhythm of typing those letters is soothing to me.  Then I laugh to see what my inquisitor app for safari brings up when I type the letters T...h...e  over and over again.  By that time, I've forgotten what I'd been trying to think about, and usually I think of something about 20 minutes later.  

I know that you think...I made that up.  I did not.  That honestly happens to me at least twice a week.  

The Epitome of the Holidays

My cousin Matthew insists that pumpkin pie is the greatest thing about the holidays. I'm not going to argue with him, but he's wrong. Could there be anything greater than egg nog? Seriously, I've already drank a gallon and a half of it and it's only December 4.

...without the bourbon for those of you who were wondering. Just plain old Dean's brand.

Christmas Decor(Second Installment)

For about twenty years now, I have been collecting nutcrackers at christmas time. It all started when I was asked what I wanted for christmas when I was 5 or 6 and I said I wanted a Toy Soldier. I saw them in Babe's in Toyland and some of the disney christmas cartoons and decided I needed to have one. Well mom and dad had no idea what I was talking about. They pointed out a nutcracker in a department store that looked pretty much like what I was thinking of and asked if that's what I meant. In my small brain, it was. Anyway, I fell in love with them and the story. Not the ballet so much, although I've seen it a few times. Anyhoo, fast forward to now...I have a ton of these things ranging from really nice hand carved nutcrackers, wal mart nutcrackers, tall ones, small ones, musical ones, themed ones, lot's of different drummer nutcrackers, nutcracker books, ornaments, blankets, pictures, clocks, advent calenders....the list goes on. Many of them didn't even make it out of the box this year because I realized something. If ALL you have to decorate the house with is nutcrackers, it's actually slightly creepy. Just a house full of oddly dressed wooden statues staring at you.

Senior Pictures (First Installment)

I'm trying to decide if this whole photography thing is something I want to do for money on the side. So I've taken a couple of students senior pictures to see if I could even do it. Here's a first shot.
***For the true photo nerds out there. Even thought I compress everything with sRGB so that the colors will remain nice for the web, they still turn out a bit flatter than I intended them originally. Not really sure what to do about it at this point.

Christmas Time

So I've had christmas away from home before, obviously. But I'm never had christmas in MY home. Some of you know I bought my first house in April. So naturally I was excited to get all the boxes upon boxes of nutcrackers out of my parents basement and permanently into my house. I takes longer to decorate than I thought it would, but I'm getting there slowly. Some people don't like decorating for a month. I am not one of those people. And Dad, for the record, I'm missing a box of christmas ornaments from Grandma.