2013 Holiday Gift Ideas for Drummers

It’s that time of year again! The holiday gift giving season is upon us so it’s time to head to the store to purchase something unique for your special drummer. Many of these items I personally use myself each and every day and others are items I have on MY holiday wish list.

Tools to Create Your Own DRUMLINE Sheet Music

How to Write for PERCUSSION: An extremely detailed and helpful book, not just for beginners but intermediate and advanced musicians as well. Whether you have years of percussion writing experience or no idea how to even approach it, this book will give you hundreds of great new ideas and will show you exactly how to realize them in your music.

Finale Print Music 2011: Simply the best professional music software for arrangers, composers, teachers, students, and drummers too.

My Practice Essentials

BOSS DB-90 Metronome: Dr. Beat! The most advanced metronome available. Trigger input to access unique Rhythm Coach Exercises. I never practice without it.

 

Evans 2-Sided Real Feel 12 inch Practice Pad: The most popular practice pad and for good reason. It serves its primary purpose well - QUIET practice with REALISTIC feel. Definitely a must-buy for drummers who have whiny neighbors.

Percussion Hobbies

Beat Generals: Beat Generals helps you unleash your inner super producer by teaching you all the techniques and tricks the pros use to create the hottest beats on the radio today. I love playing with this in my spare time – try it today!

 

How to Build a Marimba: Really fun comprehensive guides to build your own xylophones, marimbas, vibraphones and other quality percussion instruments.

Other Tech, Gadgets, and Toys

 

Google ChromeCast HDMI Streaming Media Player. Stream my Dumline YouTube videos right to your TV using your smartphone, tablet, or laptop! Perfect for parties, creating playlists, or sharing pictures with grandma and grandpa.

R/C Helicopter. This Brand New 3 Channel mini rc helicopter is the world's newest, most durable and stable helicopter. The item comes with the latest gyro system for precision control. The metal frame has proven to withstand dozens of crashes.

HDMI Pocket Projector. Projects up to 1080p HD images up to 60" diagonal. Rechargeable and portable. Connects via HDMI to most smartphones, tablets, computers, video players, cameras and more.

Breaking Bad: Complete Series. All seasons plus tons of amazing extras for the greatest show on television. The episode titled "Ozymandias" is my favorite episode of any TV show I've ever seen.

Amazon Prime

I highly recommend joining Amazon Prime. If you order something off of Amazon on average once per month then it pays for itself, or if you're ordering a bunch of gifts this holiday season it probably will too. The FREE two day shipping is awesome and everything I've ordered really has come in two days or less. You can also stream movies, TV shows, and get a Kindle book every month. Great alternative for Netflix or Hulu and well worth the investment in my opinion. Cheers!

What gifts are you getting your fellow percussionist for the holidays? Please let me know by commenting below!

Cadets Sheet Music: 2012 Snare Break

Looking for some Cadets sheet music? Check out the 2012 snare solo below.

And of course the video so you can play along. Man that's fast!

 

Download the Cadets 2012 snare solo.

Carolina Crown Wins 2013 DCI World Championships

Carolina Crown won their first ever DCI World Championship last weekend. For only the third time in DCI’s history, (in 1992 and 2004), a record nine corps broke 90 points at the World Championship Finals. The top ten scores were:

1 Carolina Crown 98.300
2 Blue Devils 98.050
3 The Cadets 96.950
4 Santa Clara Vanguard 96.850
5 Bluecoats 93.350
6 Phantom Regiment 93.250
7 The Cavaliers 90.500
8 Boston Crusaders 90.400
9 Madison Scouts 90.100
10 Blue Knights 87.750
11 Spirit of Atlanta 86.400
12 Blue Stars 85.450                

View a complete recap from DCI.org.

Here are the 2013 World Class Caption Award Winners:

Donald Angelica Best General Effect Award
Carolina Crown

Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance Award
The Cadets

John Brazale Best Visual Performance Award
Carolina Crown

George Zingali Best Color Guard Award
Blue Devils

Jim Ott Best Brass Performance Award
Carolina Crown

 

Posted below is a video of Carolina Crown's victory run after winning the DCI 2013 World Class Championship.

Download drum corp sheet music.

How to Create Beats with Beat Generals

Beat Generals is a site that uses FL Studio to teach you how to create beats with easy to follow HD video tutorials. In case you don't already know, FL Studio is a pretty cheap, easy to find, music creation software suite responsible for hit records by Drake, Jay Z, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross and others. It’s easy to make simple drum loops but takes a lot of skill to pull off a well-polished song.

 

So, naturally, I was excited just to find some awesome video tutorials that could help me to start making the beats I loved faster than ever possible before. So now, all I needed were some good drum sounds to make my beats sound better. Luckily, Beat Generals also provides drums for you to use to really get that professional sound quality in your music. Practically anyone can create full radio-quality songs with little more than their home computer! Here is a video tutorial example:

 

 

It's simply amazing to me that one of the most popular programs out there for making beats has so few resources to teach quality techniques. Sure, many things come with experience but where do you get the basics and the advice you need to help elevate yourself to the next level? Beat Generals isn’t something made by some kid in his parent’s basement. We're talking about industry professionals teaching you what you need to know and showing you exactly what to do. If you’re even remotely serious about making beats and making money within the music industry, or you just want to create cool beats to play for your friends, you should check it out.

Beat Generals offers a free trial, so you really have nothing to lose. Try them out today and start making your own beats now.

Drum Licks on Instagram Video

The new fifteen second video feature on Instagram is a great way for us drummers to share our sweet drum licks with the world. You can view a few of mine on my Instagram page: ntweisen.  If you do check it out, I want to apologize, I don’t have a real snare drum and haven’t played on one in years. I just wanted to record pieces of this solo I wrote before my chops are completely gone. Record a few solos of your own and use the hashtag #snarelick or #drumsolo. I’d love to see what you come up with!

 

Pictured below is the snare drum sheet music to one of my videos, just a short and simple little lick I came up with. Feel free to use it if you want.

 

 

And here I am playing it if you don't have Instagram. I haven't uploaded a video to YouTube in two years and today I've uploaded two!

 

Drumline Humor: Honk War

This is a funny drum video called Honk War. An innocent meeting at a traffic lights quickly escalates into an all out war over who has the better skills playing the car horn.  The battle climaxes when one driver pulls out a pair of drumsticks and starts drumming on the steering wheel. Hilarious! And something I’ve totally done before (drum on the steering wheel that is, not get into a honk war). Watch the funny drum video below:

Blue Devils 2012 Snare Solo

The Blue Devils drum and Bugle Corp won their 15th Drum Corp International (DCI) World Championship this past summer and their drumline won the top overall percussion score behind one of the best lines I've ever seen. I recently found some sheet music for their show transcribed by a fan which I will be sharing with you. The first segment is the snare drum solo. Download the full music as a pdf file using the link bellow (file is hosted for free on box.com).

Download 2012 Blue Devils snare drum solo sheet music.pdf

 

Anatomy of a Snareline

Here's some good drumline humor for you. I know which one I am. Do you?

Blue Devils Win DCI World Championships

The Blue Devils drum and Bugle Corp won their 15th Drum Corp International (DCI) World Championship on Saturday (and fourth in the last six years). The Blue Devils drumline won the top overall percussion score behind one of the best lines I've ever seen.



Carolina Crown placed second (drumline 6th) while Phantom Regiment got third and the Cadets wound up in fourth place.

Five special awards were presented during the DCI World Championships awards ceremony, each averaged after combining the scores from Prelims, Semifinals and Finals. The George Zingali Award for Best Color Guard went to Blue Devils. There was a tie for the John Brazale Best Visual Performance Award, between Blue Devils and Carolina Crown. The Jim Ott Award for Best Brass Performance went to Carolina Crown and the Fred Sanford Award for Best Percussion Performance was earned by Blue Devils, who also won the Don Angelica Award for Best Overall General Effect. Congratulations to all participating drum and bugle corps. View the full recap at DCi.org.

Were you able to attend DCI World Championships or any other shows this year? Did the results surprise you? Comment below and share your thoughts!

WGI World Championships Recap

WGI Percussion World Championships were held in Dayton, OH this past weekend. I unfortunately didn’t make it out so the event (no indoor shows for me at all this year) but I did follow the performances through the live blog, which was a pretty cool feature. Following the live blog while at the actual show would be very cool as the commentary offered great detail and insights into each group’s shows as well as pieces of WGI history.

Congratulations go out to Woodbridge? HS for obtaining the highest score ever at a WGI event (including color guard I believe). They scored an incredible 99.6! Three out of four judges gave them a perfect score. A high school group!

The Sport of the Arts (also known as indoor drumline, indoor percussion, winter percussion, etc.) has evolved quite a bit over the years. The most recent rule changes allow the use of video projection and lighting effects, which several groups including Rhythm X used to their advantage.

I’ll do my best to round up some sheet music for some of the best shows, including Rhythm X, Riverside Community College, Music City Mystique, and North Coast Academy.

Click here to see the completescores from Championship weekend.

Blue Man Group Lego Animation Video

I saw this amazing video on YouTube today of a Lego Blue Man Group animation. Kent Jenkins, the creator and animator, did a really fantastic job capturing the best and most memorable moments from the live Blue Man Group show and the stop animation is spot on. There is even a moment where the Lego figures throw marshmallows back and forth using a green screen. I really like his creative use of Lego pieces for instruments, such as barrels for drums and scorpions for guitars! Enjoy the Blue Man Group Lego performance below.

2012 WGI Show Video Update

We're in the midst of the 2012 WGI season and I have yet to make it to any shows (though hopefully that will change soon) so I've been trying to keep up with my favorite groups through YouTube. I've uploaded a couple of videos below.

Rhythm X 2012 MEPA 2/11/12 "Enlightened"

Northcoast Academy performing their 2012 show "Lose Yourself" February 11th at Troy Athens High School

Riverside Community College (RCC) 2012 Full ensemble 2-11-12 opener

Music City Mystique 2012 Premier | Nü Tribe

Sanre Drum Sheet Music: Blue Devils 1995 Ram

We've got more snare drum sheet music for you today from the infamous 1995 Blue Devils. This is the snare drum sheet music for their "Ram" warmup and chop builder. Embedded below is a short video clip of that amazing snare line. Talk about definition!

Snare Drum Sheet Music: Blue Devils 1995 Ram.pdf download

Honda Battle of the Bands

Eight marching bands performed in front of 60,000 fans at the Georgia Dome for Honda's Battle of the Bands (also referred to as HBOB). The Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase is the nation's largest and most highly anticipated Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) music event. Elijah Hayes of Fort Valley State University was the winner of a new 2012 Honda CR-V. For more information on the Honda Battle of the Bands program and the Invitational Showcase visit their website where you can watch a video of the drumline highlights.

Also, be sure to check out Honda Battle of the Bands on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HondaBattleoftheBands, Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/the_honda  and o YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/hondabotb .

Tenor Drum Sheet Music: Hey, Dick 1995

One of the most famous DCI cadences of all time is the Blue Devil's Hey, Dick from 1995. The beginning tenor part is especially catchy. Download the sheet music here.  I have finally found a video of the entire drumline playing along. Check it out:

Drumline Sheet Music: Hey, Dick Blue Devils 1995.pdf download

Drumline Cadence Sheet Music

One of my original compositions is a cadence and warmup I wrote for the University of Toledo drumline called "Ram Rocket." Below are the tenor and snare drum parts (written with Lime). Check out our other cadence sheet music.

And as a bonus here's a video of the University of Toledo Rocket Marching band marching over a brand new bridge (look how much it bounces)!

1984 Michigan State University Drumline Video

Check out this great, classic drumming video from 1984 featuring the Michigan State University MSU Drumline in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This vintage drumline footage was posted to DrumlineTV YouTube channel. Songs include: YYZ (Rush), Peter Gunn (Exit Cadence). What a great find! Do you have any old drumline videos floating around?

Rhythm X 2011 Tenor Solo Sheet Music

I recently found a pretty good transcription of the tenor solo sheet music for Rhythm X's 2011 show "Stand by Me." It's not ideal, but if you don't have a tenor pad or drums to practice on you can always use your Rock Band or Guitar Hero drums!

Percussion and Drum Stuff's Best of 2011

It's that time of year. Let's look back at our most popular posts from 2011:

1. Snare Drum Sheet Music - Rhythm X 2010: "Inspired"
2. Snare Drum Sheet Music: Cavaliers Flam I Am 
3. Drumline Sheet Music: Double Drizzle Cadence 
4. Marching Snare Drum Sheet Music: Blue Devil's Dick 
5. Tenor Sheet Music: Rhythm X Quad Solo 2002 
6. Snare Drum Sheet Music: Blue Devils 2003 Opening 
7. Drumline Sheet Music: Music City Mystique 2011 
8. Radiohead deput new song with two drummers 
9. Sheet Music: Glassmen Cadence 2003 
10. Snare Drum Sheet Music: Arcadia High School 2011

We aim to make 2012 even better! What are you looking forward to in the new year? I personally cannot wait for indoor drumline shows to start. I'm also going to be seeing the Blue Man Group perform this February in Columbus, Ohio which I'm super stoked for!

Steve Young on DCI

I found this video to be pretty interesting. Steve Young is pretty well spoken and I totally agree with his assessment (isn't he a lawyer too?).