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!

Snare Drum Sheet Music Warmup: Blue Devils Spree 1999

 

One of my favorite snare drum warmup exercises of all time is the Blue Devils Shopping Spree 1999 version. The Blue Devils used to have a warmup exercise every year called Shopping Spree but there's something about the 1999 line that stikes a chord with me. Download the complete Shopping Spree snare drum sheet music. Embedded below is a video of the actual Blue Devils drumline in the lot going shoppin. Check it out. What Spree is your favorite?

 

Download Blue Devils Shopping Spree 1999 - snare drum.pdf

Get more drum corps sheet music.

Colby Beers Tenor Solo Sheet Music

Colby Beers was the 2007 DCI Champion of the I&E Solo competition, scoring a 95.5. His tenor solo was called Free Mind and the sheet music is now available to download for free. Below is a video of the solo for you to play along with and a link to download the sheet music.

 

Download Colby Beers Tenor Solo Sheet Music - Free Mind.pdf

 

Visit our downloads page for more tenor drums sheet music.

Dartmouth HS 2012 Snare Sheet Music

Today I've got some snare drum sheet music from Dartmouth High School's indoor drumline. Dartmouth has won the Scholastic World Championship four times, silver medal five times, and bronze medal five times as well. The snare line typically plays with a matched gripped, atypical of most line’s traditional grip. Dartmouth earned a silver medal at the 2012 WGI World Championships with their show "Evolved", scoring a 96.825. They beat out Ayala but lost to Chino Hills. Here's a video clip to:
 

 

Download the 2012 snare segment here. My favorite show of theirs was called 2006's "What It Means To Be Human."



Download more indoor percussion sheet music for FREE from our downloads page.

Pulse Percussion 2012 Snare Solo Sheet Music

We’ve got some new drumline sheet music for you, starting with the Pulse Percussion 2012 snare solo. Pulse Percussion was the surprise 2010 Independent World Champion.Their 2012 show was called "Coming and Going" and placed third at the 2012 WGI World Championships with a score of 94.825.

Get the full snare solo sheet music here. Check out the cool video clip below.



Download more indoor percussion sheet music for FREE from our downloads page.
 

Math Formula Time Signature

Check it out...it's a musical time signature written as a mathematical formula that is simultaneously simple and complicated.

If you don't want to work out the math (and if you're American you probably can't anyways) I'll let you know that 4/4 never looked so good!

Thanks Alex!

Drumline humor: book reports

Here's some drumline humor for you that will really make you laugh out loud:

And if you don't get, a book report is a hybrid rudiment. I'll let Casey Brohard of Vic Firth to explain:

If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it with your friends on your favorite social media platform!

New Snare Drum Sheet Music Uploaded

I’ve recently come across some excellent transcriptions of snare drum sheet music from a few WGI and DCI shows. First up is a Dartmouth HS snare segment from their 2012 show. Next is Ayala drumline 2012 snare solo. Ayala percussion has really grown and is one of the better high school programs in the country. Finally, we have a piece from the Cadets drumline 2012. I can’t wait for winter drumline to start!

Check out the downloads page for more winter percussion music.

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

 

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

How to Begin Drumming - Multimedia Lessons

Do you want to learn how to begin drumming? Instead of spending over $1500 on drum lessons try this new revolutionary multimedia approach. I wish techniques like these had been around when I was learning how to play snare drum. In my drumming experience I've found the best thing to do is to first learn technique and then learn how to apply that technique. It's the same with learning drumming rudiments - first learn the basic rudiments on traditional marching snare drum and then you can apply those rudiments when playing drum set. Begin Drumming teaches these best practices and more! The Begin Drumming package includes how to videos and many pages of sheet music. You can learn at your own pace. Try Begin Drumming today and maybe one day you'll be marching with the Blue Devils or jamming out on stage at a rock concert!

Click Here to begin your drum lessons!

Snare Drum Sheet Music - Rhythm X 2010 "Inspired" Complete Show

Earlier, I posted the first movement of the snare book for Rhythm X's 2010 show "Inspired." Well, I've finally got around to uploading movements two and four: The United States of Eurasia and Knights of Cydonia by Muse. View movement one, Butterflies and Hurricanes, here. I embedded a video of the show from Centerville High School below. I'll be posting a rare piece of Rhythm X music from 2003 coming soon!

Inspired movement 1 snare drum.pdf download
Inspired movement 2 snare drum.pdf download
Inspired movement 4 snare drum.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)!

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!

New Percussion and Drum Stuff Download Page

I’ve created a new page for the Percussion and Drum Stuff blog where I will be adding links to all the drumline sheet music files I’ve made available to download. You will be able to find all of our cadences and sheet music snare, tenor, bass, cymbal, battery, pit, marimba, etc. We’ve got transcriptions of some of the best indoor percussion lines out there as well as audition packets. Please comment if you have any original compositions you would like to share.

 

Now you won’t have to search through the whole site looking for one file. Simply go to the new page and read through the list of pdfs. The link to the downloads page is located at the top of the blog, or click here.

 

Please let me know if any links are not working. Thanks!

 

In the coming weeks I plan on adding a ton of new music so stay tuned!

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!

Holiday Gift Ideas for Drummers

Looking for that extra special holiday gift for your drummer friend? Here are a few suggestions on gift ideas for percussionists.

RealFeel by Evans 12" 2-sided pad has a large playing surface that fits inside a standard snare basket, a natural gum feel on one side for realistic stick rebound, and a harder recycled rubber surface on the other for a real workout.

Rock Band 3 Wireless Pro-Drum and Pro-Cymbals Kit. 4 Durable drum pads / Metal-reinforced kick pedal / Sound-dampening, velocity-sensitive heads for more expressive performances. Wireless connectivity/3 AA Alkaline batteries included.

 

Once you've seen Drumline: Special Edition, halftime shows will become works of art. This formulaic yet surprisingly captivating movie honors the military precision of college football marching bands, those battalions of eager, sternly disciplined brass sections, drummers, and fly girls who turn halftime shows into well-oiled Vegas variety acts on steroids. 

The Blue Knights are a competitive indoor drumline from Denver, CO. Every year they travel to Dayton, OH to compete in the Indoor Drumline World Championships. Watch On the Line today!

Blue Man Group takes the audience on a 90-minute journey that pushes the boundaries of the rock concert experience. Filmed during their summer rock tour, The Complex Rock Tour Live is a behind-the-scenes look at the creation and themes surrounding the tour. 

Finale SongWriter lets you hear your music play back, print sheet music, share songs with the free downloadable Finale Reader, and save MP3 files for your iPod. From the creators of Finale, the world's leading music-notation software, SongWriter is perfect for songwriters, band and choir directors, church musicians, students, and other musicians. 

 

Virtual Drumline 2.5 by Tapspace. The world's most powerful, complete marching battery and concert percussion sample library ever recorded - featuring the 2004 world-champion Santa Clara Vanguard percussion section. 

On The Beaten Path: The Drummers Guide To Musical Styles & The Legends Who Defined Them (Book & CD). Learn to play the most legendary drum beats and solos ever recorded! This book is your essential guide to the biggest & best drummers to ever grace the instrument, the music they played, the gear they used, and the drummers that influenced them. Pick up your copy today!

 What are your drummer gift ideas?

Snare Drum Sheet Music: Phantom Regiment 2010 feature

Keep your chops up by practicing some snare drum sheet music. Here's Phantom Regiment's 2010 snare drum percussion feature available for you to download below. Can't wait for the WGI season to start!

 

Download 2010 Phantom - Drum Break.pdf

Music City Mystique Drumline Audition Music Download

 Ever wonder what the audition music is like for one of your favorite drumlines? Well, wonder no more. I've just uploaded that audition packet for Music City Mystique's 2007 indoor drumline. Yeah, it's pretty challenging. Download the packet now and see if you've got the chops!

Don't forget to check out some of our other battery sheet music downloads! Any requests?

Music City Mystique Drumline Audition Music Download.pdf

Drumline Sheet Music: Music City Mystique 2011 Opener

Here is the sheet music for the opener of Music City Mystique's 2011 WGI show "Mantra", which won first place at World Finals in April. Below is the tenor and snare drum sheet music as well as a great video of the smoking drumline tearing it up.

MCM 2011 Mantra Opener