DRUM THEORY AND REVELATION

I love this

2011-12-29T13:05:00.001-06:00

Keep on Truckin

2011-06-24T04:11:00.000-05:00

EMBARK: A DRUM DUET

2009-12-24T01:56:00.004-06:00

I am ECSTATIC!! I recorded this over a year ago on my Blackberry while I was walking down a lovely shaded lane in Venice Beach. I was playing a water bottle and my solo turned into an incredible duet. I truly am beaming with pride! I totally forgot about this. This is better than finding a wad of cash in old jeans which ALSO happened to me today!! Sweet blizzard in a nativity scene I'm happy :)

Blackberry photo in Venice :)

AFRICA INDIA ECSTASY

2009-12-23T17:38:00.008-06:00

I am excited to be working and learning with Arthur Lee Land. He has extensive experience with the art of live looping. He is teaching me about congas, bongos, djembes, talking drums, cowbells, shakers; the works.

One of his more exquisite loops is drenched with that African sunlight and the moving sidewalk on a moving sidewalk feeling that Elvin Jones is known for. I am now completely in love with implying 6 over 4 and we get lost for hours and hours in the continually expanding and contracting movements.

We have a show on new years at the new Cafe Paradiso and I'm gonna be playing tablas and djembe. For future shows my kit will look more like the picture above but Congas and a Djembe will be added.

My heart is pounding for Africa and India and the Shaman-healer-priest-wild man-nut bucket-asteroid lasso-Santa-triplet-whip-crack against-the-moon aesthetic is blossoming like the birth of a rose colored planet. I'm excited and honored to be getting an education and making music for a living simultaneously.

PS Jupiter left its phase of debilitation and I always and especially feel escalating gratitude for my tabla teacher Pandit Anup Ghoshji. Big love, namaste, and happy holidays to all!

THINKING ABOUT REPLACING MY RIDE CYMBAL WITH THIS...

2009-12-23T01:28:00.001-06:00

CONSTRAINT IS THE SPARK PLUG OF INNOVATION AND POSSIBLY ETERNAL LIFE IN FREEDOM :)

2009-12-19T11:27:00.004-06:00

Do to a complicated vacuuming accident my fellow blogger and drummer Sheldon can't use his right arm for awhile. Obviously there is the one armed drummer from Def Leppard... but deeper than his personal victory is the principle that made Twitter virtually explode on to the scene.

When restrictive parameters are laid out with absolute clarity the conditions are ripe for wild experimental creativity and growth.

Limits are opportunities to test drive and/or implement new perspectives.

Take the book STICK CONTROL: do 8th notes with the hi-hat using only the foot. R=Kick. L=Snare. You will learn by opening and expanding through times of constraint rather than contracting into victimhood and the pillaged village of excuses and reasons. haha :)

ACCIDENTAL RHYTHM, AVANT-GARDNER TONY OXLEY, AND A DAY AS BEAUTIFUL AS THE CHANCE ENCOUNTER OF A SEWING MACHINE AND AN UMBRELLA ON A DISSECTING TABLE

2009-12-18T01:24:00.009-06:00

There is the intentional and then there is serendipity, joyful accidents, chance, bald eagle mating rituals, and Tony Oxley's toaster-oven-in-the-bathtub drumming style....my favorite :)

The rapture of ubiquity, god-as-child anything goes snowball fight in the howling void; automatic avant-gardner turning on the sprinkler at midnight, and that glorious alpha cowbell of the underworld stolen out of Picasso's backyard! (check the video below)

Today was an exalted day for me. Not only did I walk to Wal-Mart to buy nothing but I had a magical chance encounter with Mr. Sheldon Kreger, a truly fantastic human being/drummer/physicist and MD PHD hopeful. We talked about particle accelerators, John Hagelin, snowboarding, black holes, open source software and DRUMS!!

He has a fantastic drum blog called MODERN INSTINCT and in the Christmas spirit, in the sanctity of a full on drum geek-out session he gave me some incredible recordings of Peter Erskine, Antonio Sanchez, Paul Motian, and Steve Smith to name a few of the many I am excited about!

Thank you Sheldon and let the 365 days of Christmas begin!

PARADIDDLE NEW YORK: A PILGRIMAGE

2009-12-16T16:50:00.012-06:00

A paradiddle is one of the primary rudiments of the drum set. It is usually notated | R L R R | L R L L |. That got me thinking about driving directions. So I decided to make a macro paradiddle pilgrimage through one of my favorite cities in the world; New York City.

The Paradiddle Pilgrimage starts at Blue Note Jazz Club. The midpoint is Birdland Jazz Club. The destination is the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

It took some tweaking at maps.google.com but this is what I finally came up with. Below the directions are listed for anyone who wants to actually make the trip :) I also took screen shots for your viewing pleasure. The manifestation of the Macro Paradiddle!!!! Check it out!!

Blue Note Jazz Club

131 West 3rd Street

New York, NY 10012

1. Head northwest on W 3rd St toward 6th

2. Turn RIGHT at 6th Ave

3. Turn LEFT at W 23rd St

4. Turn RIGHT at 10th Ave

5. Turn RIGHT at W 44th St

Destination will be on the left

Birdland Jazz Club

315 West 44th Street

New York, NY 10036

6. Head southeast on W 44th St toward 8th Ave

7. Take the 1st LEFT onto 8th Ave

8. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto W 59 St/Central Park S

9. Slight RIGHT at Grand Army Plaza

10. Turn LEFT at Park Ave

11. Turn LEFT at E 125 St/Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd

Destination will be on the right

Apollo Theater

253 W 125 St

New York, NY 10027

DYNAMICS & JUXTAPOSITIONS

2009-12-13T14:42:00.009-06:00

Master uilleann piper Tim Britton just commented on an old blog post. At the end of his comment he left a mysterious and fascinating audiophile forum link. I read through it and below is a passage that struck me. It confirms my growing intuition about dynamics and the ideas of space that I have been conscious of in music that thrills me. Dynamics are crucial for drummers with access to such a huge range of volume. With this raw power comes a great responsibility :) Weeeeeeeee!

Loud ‘Forte’ passages sound altogether louder and appear to be at their very loudest when they are strongly in juxtaposition with extremely quiet ‘Piano’ passages.

Great music has its most powerful impact when the natural dynamics and contrasts are preserved that make sound continually interesting to the ear and brain, in a way, that naturally engages them.

If you fail to hold the listeners attention over time, by not providing proper relief for their ears and brain by eliminating the contrasting dynamics that would demand their listening attention and enrapturing enthral them.

Ultimately you will force the listener away from the source of sound, if you insist upon totally maximising level continuously, for in the last resort, the ear has a safety mechanism called ‘temporary threshold shift’ which acts to shut off sound, when it is delivered above a certain level continuously.

to read the full passage click here starts on post #23

Hang Drum And

2009-12-13T12:35:00.006-06:00

I think the Hang drums are absolutely beautiful. This particular player is a man named Dante Bucci. Become a fan of him on facebook here. It's quite an ordeal to even obtain one of these drums as they are handmade in Switzerland. Check out the wikipedia article.

More and more everyday I'm leaning toward the John Cage approach to drumming, that every sound is capable of organization and/or allowance into music. My new favorite found drum is the metal slide at the park my son likes to play at. Bust open your conception of your drum set. Include a water tower?

SENSAI JOE MORELLO

2009-12-13T12:07:00.002-06:00

Terry Bozzio's Drum Set

2009-12-13T01:46:00.004-06:00

I'd like to set this kind of set up in a coffee shop :)

SILENCE and PROFESSIONAL ETIQUETTE

2009-12-12T12:38:00.001-06:00

photo by Hiroshi Sugimoto

Recently I realized that I was noodling a lot between songs and while my band mates were setting up their amps and the PA system. I figured I couldn't really help them and I didn't want to just sit there and do nothing.

I have a lot of work lugging, hauling, setting up hardware and drums etc. Because of this, once I am set up, I am anxious for the chance to play and continue my divine romance with my instrument. This fire is vital and the desire to play should be cultivated.

However I have made a rule for myself and it goes for LIVE SHOWS, RECORDING, AND REHEARSALS. Except for tuning and basic soundcheck protocol any other playing or experimenting is not allowed.

Silence is the ground of music and it cultivates the fire and the conditions to be present and grateful when it is time to play. It also makes setting up quieter and more efficient and communicating between songs effortless. It is basic professional etiquette and I highly recommend implementing it immediately.

SERVICE

2009-12-11T05:01:00.000-06:00

Maharishi talks about the gap between scriptural syllables as the silence that gives rise to the form of the universe(s).

Space, silence is what serves music. Effective drumming is the invisible usher of silence, like keeping a small fire going or rowing a boat.

Practice with a relaxed and open heart. Transmute the desire to showcase your skill into a commitment to dissolve completely and serve the wholeness of the music of every moment.

SOMETHING I WROTE FOR 88.1 KKJZ IN LA, I BELIEVE THE QUESTION WAS SOMETHING LIKE "WHAT DOES JAZZ MEAN TO YOU?" HAHA

2009-03-02T04:12:00.000-06:00

It's tempting to start this paragraph with the word Jazz, but jazz survives its own annihilation. I think of jazz as the music that will be playing after the apocalypse. Classical music like that scene in the Titanic with the quartet playing as the ship is sinking, is the music being played during the apocalypse, but after the ego has been incinerated, what is left behind is a world of skeletons, gods and jazz. Embryonic in the dark altar in the heart of Africa jazz is bottled at the source where the universe is heard as one whole note. Jazz is the invocation and propagation of silence that binds all of us together back to a Higher Self. Jazz is freedom within imprisonment. Jazz is the volcano god whose muscle guts the hearts of people with the guts to unlearn everything they know, it's the dark feminine, the tornado, the against the grain of society power, aligned with the north star at all costs, worship of the terrifying moment stripped of all pretense, jazz is life and death, its firefighting, its wrestling the Marlin to ground zero, its a collision of planets, what a blessing we have created together, Africa, America, the whole universe of sound, truly I can see that the big bang, on the one, or the four if you're from New Orleans, is what started this amazing music.

ZANE MUSA QUARTET

2009-02-09T19:10:00.000-06:00

It was electric! Zane Musa has the divine mischief and syncopation of Monk, on the saxophone. He's like the reverse of a forklift-roadkill-death of a squirrel, barbequed and unstruck by lightning out of a canoe on the Snake River in Wyoming. When he blows the molecules start doing their jobs better and people all over New York and Paris, snap up in bed in a cold sweat as he holds the tonic to bursting thresholds. I've been a fan of Zane's from Danny Masterson's Thursday night sessions at the Roosevelt in Hollywood. If you haven't heard Zane Musa then think of this as your new mission.

Back of Charlie O's coaster

Front of Charlie O's coaster

"DON'T BE FRIGHTENED TO DISPLAY YOUR TALENTS"

2009-02-08T22:02:00.000-06:00

is an oblique strategy by Brian Eno. The Evangenitals recording engineer Tracy Chisholm has a deck of these in the studio. The Evangenitals, the Los Angeles band I play drums for, spent the whole weekend in the recording studio.

Because it was so ridiculously exciting and inspiring I thought I would share with you a revelation that I had about the recording process. When I thought about it deeper it really has to do with the creative process as a whole. Natalie Goldberg says in her incredible book WRITING DOWN THE BONES,

"First thoughts have tremendous energy. It is the way the mind first flashes on something. The internal censor usually squelches them, so we live in the realm of second and third thoughts, thoughts on thought, twice and three times removed from the direct connection of the first fresh flash."

I remember hearing that Keruoac frowned upon revision and I found this in his biography at biblio.com:

"Kerouac's method was heavily influenced by the prolific explosion of Jazz, especially the Bebop genre established by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and others. Later, Kerouac would include ideas he developed in his Buddhist studies. He called this style Spontaneous Prose, a literary technique akin to stream of consciousness. Kerouac's motto was 'first-thought=best thought'"

The power of first thought energy is absolutely crucial in EVERY ART FORM. My revelation was that fearless resilience is needed to go from, WHEN THE RECORDING LIGHT IS ON, being free, in fearless first thought rapture of the timeless zone to, WHEN YOU ARE HEARING PLAYBACK OF THE RECORDING, being brutally honest, objective and analytical. Then being able to switch between modes effortlessly and quickly with a SILENT EGO.

Many people develop a negative relationship with recording (making art) because they remain in their critical, analytical brain while they are creating. The critical brain annihilates first thought energy and the spontaneous joy of invention and cosmic mischief.

It is essential to be able to return to that PRIMAL and INNOCENT state when in the act of creation. This will free you from the fear of radiating your true and authentic self and the utterly terrifying depths of your latent talent.

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SOMETHING TO HAUNT YOU

2009-02-07T15:06:00.002-06:00

I have been corresponding with Joe LaBarbera about the MFA program at Cal Arts and also to solicit advice about teachers and concerts in the area. I made a list of all the stuff that I am eager to learn, jazz, afro-cuban, rudiments, brushes, hip-hop, sight reading, etc. The first thing that he wrote back was that I should learn piano in addition to my pursuits as a drummer. This is a guy who toured the world with Bill Evans. He is a serious jazz drummer and jazz historian.

Because this advice should be SERIOUSLY and SOBERLY considered by every drummer I am going to post another picture from my pilgrimage to NEW YORK. It is the world's first piano made by the guy who invented piano; Bortolomeo Cristofori. BE HAUNTED BY THIS IMAGE :)

LOUIS ARMSTRONG: THE KING

2009-02-07T00:12:00.001-06:00

I'm on disk nine of the Ken Burns History of Jazz 10 DVD set. Even though it is a VERY mainstream slice of the highly dangerous and beautiful art form of jazz, one of the main things that I have taken from it is that Louis Armstrong is an American Bach. In the Court of King Oliver he is the successor of the throne. The improvisations and innovations of Armstrong spawned an entire art form, an entire way of understanding rhythm and melody. He practically invented the concept of a swing feel which is the basis of most of the music I love.

Louis Armstrong is widely misunderstood as just a mere entertainer because of his showbiz aesthetic yet in fact he is a Patriarch of Jazz, a complete virtuoso and innovator on the trumpet, and a musical force so huge I now refer to him as the fountain head, or the Holy Grail.

I was in New York last weekend and I made a point to make a pilgrimage to his house in Queens. It was a sad tourist trap that should be converted into a temple/shrine and upheld with silence and reverence and yet it was still amazing to stand in his den and pay homage to the founder of jazz, the real King of Swing.

Here is a photograph that I took of his doorway because I was not allowed to take pictures inside. I think it is an appropriate metaphor somehow :)

ISN'T

2009-02-04T03:56:00.000-06:00

The word ISN'T describes Zen and Hinduism in one fell swoop. The paradox of IS being N'T is the crux of Zen. In Hinduism IS = VISHNU, N'T = SHIVA, and the apostrophe = BRAHMA, creating the universe out of the uncreated silence of Shiva to BE maintained by VISHNU the IS integrated and inseparable from it's own absense!

POST-IT: REVELATION CATALYST #3

2009-01-27T07:34:00.000-06:00

THE SECRET SERVICE

2009-01-24T03:23:00.000-06:00

When you are backing a singer or a soloist it's like being part of the Secret Service. You don't see secret service agents staring at the wall and looking bored EVER! No, because their mission is CLEAR; they are to protect the President AT ALL COSTS, even if it means sacrificing their own lives. Mind, heart, intuition, breath, EVERYTHING is focused on the protection of the President.

IT IS THE SAME WITH MUSIC; EGOLESS SERVICE TO THE MUSIC AND TO THE MUSICIANS. Bradford Marsalis remembers what Coltrane's drummer ELVIN JONES had to say about this.

"a lot of younger musicians were hanging around with Elvin Jones, and they were talking about, ‘Man, you know, you guys had an intensity when you were playing with Coltrane. I mean, what was it like? How do you play with that kind of intensity?’ And Elvin Jones looks at them and says, ‘You gotta be willing to die with the motherfucker.’ They started laughing like kids do, waiting for the punchline, and then they realized he was serious...."

The AWARENESS needs to be resilient and flexible enough to maintain awareness on the execution of an instrument and feel (holding your own), while at the same having an awareness of the entire band as ONE UNIT (giving your all).

I tell my students that it is the drummer's DHARMA to be the OCEAN for JESUS to walk on. This requires a balanced ego, massive intuition, dedicated practice, and LOTS OF LISTENING AND RESEARCH. Peter Erskine says in the new DRUMHEAD magazine,

"Imagine, the rhythm section is a bright blue background and the soloist cuts a brilliant red diagonal stripe across it, it makes no sense for us to turn red"

RHYTHM SECTION = OCEAN
SOLOIST = JESUS WALKING

SELF PORTRAIT AFTER JAZZ NIGHT AT THE ROOSEVELT IN HOLLYWOOD

2009-01-23T05:27:00.000-06:00

POST-IT: REVELATION CATALYST #2

2009-01-22T22:50:00.000-06:00

DO IT RIGHT!

2009-01-22T17:24:00.000-06:00

I dance around on a trampoline for 1/2 an hour at least 3 times a week. It's a good way to listen to music and stay in shape and get that heart pumping. BUT YOU MUST DO IT RIGHT. CHECK IT OUT! WOW! Pay special attention to #18, especially my Chicago readers :)

FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM

2009-01-22T04:56:00.000-06:00

IT IS MY SON'S BIRTHDAY TODAY AND I JUST TALKED TO HIM ON THE PHONE. HE RODE AN ELEPHANT IN BALI TODAY. KING DIL!! KING DIL!! KING DIL!! I SALUTE YOU! I AM FEELING EXTRA HIGH ON LOVE AND SENDING EVERYONE IN THE UNIVERSE BLESSINGS AND EVIDENCE OF THE MIRACLE OF LIFE AND THE MIRACLE OF GRATITUDE FOR LIFE!!!! I LOVE YOU DIL MONDRIAN HURLIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got this Vivekenanda quote off of Corey Morrow's Blog who is also braving the path of studying tabla in India. I am proud of him and the steps he is taking in his life and art.

Really good and evil are one and are in our own mind. When the mind is self-poised, neither good nor bad affects it. Be perfectly free; then neither can affect it, and we enjoy freedom and bliss. Evil is the iron chain, good is the gold one; both are chains. Be free, and know once and for all that there is no chain for you. lay hold of the golden chain to loosen the hold of the iron one, then throw both away.

TATTOO THAT PARAGRAPH SOMEWHERE YOU CAN READ IT! :)

SILENCE, Stevie Wonder, Transcendental Meditation, Lord Shiva, Timelessness and the Role of the Drummer in the Universe!

2009-01-21T22:22:00.000-06:00

The experience of experiencing time is immensely varied. You can listen to a song lying on your back in your room, or you can drive over three miles listening to the same song. In the same three minutes at light speed it's possible to travel 33,480,000 miles. That is why philosophers have reduced the body to dust and why the Hindus have Lord Shiva, the God of Destruction. Everything will be destroyed, except the uncreated consciousness of the destroyer. Similar to the Buddhist concept of Emptiness. Except in Buddhism emptiness is empty of Itself.

It is the responsibility of the musician and especially these days, the drummer, to BE and ASPIRE TO BE, a master of the entire field of time. Elvin Jones said,"That's what the drummer is supposed to do: keep the time. If you can do some thing else besides that fine. But the time is essential. That's non-negotiable." I heard that Victor Wooten can keep time at 4 BPM. An old friend of mine recently had a dream and posted this on my facebook wall,

"I had a crazy dream you were in a battle with a Rastafarian drum god, and each beat would string through tree branches. In the end it seemed you won by tapping the drum only once every 6 minutes exactly. Dude, what? I'm totally serious."

A beat every six minutes is .01 BPM. But what about the rhythm of the moon; a cycle that most women are attuned to? 1 Beat every 28 days = 2.4801587301E-5 BPM. Or the Earth around the sun; 1 Beat every year = 1.90258751903E-5 BPM. The mathematics of the universe are astonishing in their precision. The stars are a navigation tool! JESUS!

Because the field of time is impossible to master if you are ONLY externally driven, it is vitally important for musicians to fathom the INNER silence of their own minds, and probe the depths of consciousness to arrive at the SOURCE OF TIME; the non-changing field of pure consciousness. Having access to timelessness is the freaking Holy Grail for drummers!!

Stevie Wonder knew that when he wrote "Jesus Children of America"

Say
Tanscen
Transcendental
Dental meditation
Meditation
Speaks of
Speaks of inner
Inner preservation
Preservation
Waell...
Transcendental meditation gives you peace of mind
Peace of mind

It is much deeper than peace of mind. Peace of mind is the bare minimum for an artist of the New Paradigm. The light of inner silence is the fountainhead of all creative energy of the universe available to you in your own MIND. Timelessness is not a theory, it's a physiological process of lowering the metabolism until the breath stops altogether and you are sustained by the purity of your silent AWAKE consciousness alone.

The beautiful thing about Transcendental Meditation is that it is about INTEGRATION. It is about establishing that silence and peace of mind so that you are more powerful and masterful in your daily life. As a musician having access to that silence and (whole note) rest is the reference point for understanding and mastering the whole field of time.

THE LIVING MASTERS

2009-01-21T03:36:00.000-06:00

What if Meshell Ndegeocello asked you to play drums with her band? What if Prince asked you? What if D'Angelo asked you? What if Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, John Scofield, John Medeski, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Flea, Dr. John, Maceo Parker, Soulive, Victor Wooten, Stevie Wonder, Method Man? What if Michael Jackson asked? What if you asked him and he said yes? It doesn't matter if you don't play drums, whatever instrument, whatever trade. If you're in real estate what would you do if Donald Trump wanted to do a deal with you, write a book with you?

These are some of many names that would get me seriously delirious if any possibility of drumming with them were to come my way. Find the living people in your life that you know would get your heart pumping wildly and make your head scream with excitement and feelings of unworthiness if you were given the opportunity to collaborate with them.

Pick one living hero-master.... for me that is Ms. Ndegeocello. If you had one week until an audition to join his/her band what would you do mentally, physically, emotionally, on your instrument, off your instrument, to FILL THAT ENORMOUS HONOR AND RESPONSIBILITY TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY? How would you respond NOW if a master approached you and needed your service?

Now align yourself with that excitement and joyous burden. That is your path. You are WORTHY without any doubt. Anyone is worthy who says they are! Get ready to battle, love, and serve the masters. Do it! We are all in the same band......period!

THE FREEDOM TO CREATE: HAVING A SETUP

2009-01-20T19:42:00.001-06:00

David Lynch wrote a book called "CATCHING THE BIG FISH." It's Lynch's equivalent to THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS. There is a chapter called "HAVING A SETUP." This chapter talks about how crucial it is for an artist to have a studio, a place that is prepared with the tools and square footage to put your ideas into the ACTION and CREATION. He says,

"It's crucial to have a setup, so that, at any given moment, when you get an idea, you have the place and the tools to make it happen."

I'm posting this quote today out of pride, because my band, the Evangenitals, just put money down on a lockout studio in Silverlake. In addition to being able to rehearse 24/7, I will also be able to teach drums and tabla there. Most importantly I/WE will have a setup, a place to execute ART. (double meaning?)

One thing about drummers is that their "PROCESS" can be insanely annoying to neighbors who don't understand why you would want to practice straight eighth notes on a snare drum for one hour straight :) The crux of my mission statement is through music to facilitate "THE EXPASION OF LOVE AND HAPPINESS IN EVERY LIVING BEING." Coltrane himself said it's about UPLIFTING PEOPLE.

That was my heartache about the drums; "out of context" when you are trying to rope a complex pattern into music, the process can be ugly, loud, and hard on the listener. Now that I have a studio with 24hour access 7 days a week I can play as loud as I need and experiment with every possible dynamic and idea (screaming into megaphones etc :)) without the danger of invading someone's sanctity. That is a beautiful thing. That is freedom. The freedom to create. FIND IT!

STOKING THE FIRE OF THE HUNGER OF THE PRACTICE OF MUSIC FOR THE LOVE OF GOD (Excerpt from a Letter)

2009-01-20T04:54:00.000-06:00

Don't have any standard for yourself for how much you are supposed to practice. Try making a regiment that is ridiculously within your means. And pretend like you are in first grade. Take your favorite piece and just commit to the bare daily minimum.

IT'S LIKE STOKING A FIRE!!!!! If you put too many logs on you'll put the fire out. If you put too few logs on it will go out too. In the same way if you stuff your face when you eat you'll get sick. It's same with music, granted there are thresholds you can push through!!! It is important to keep your fire alive and hungry. As your appetite and ability increase you'll be able to EAT more.

And same with a fire you start with small logs and then when it's HOT you add the bigger logs. Take simple pieces and practice them ONLY for the SAKE OF THE SHEER JOY OF PLAYING THEM not with the intention to improve.

Because if your purpose of practicing is ONLY to improve, then the feeling you'll get from it is the feeling of WANTING TO IMPROVE but if you use joy as your weapon for practicing then you'll breed more and more of that hunger and ecstasy for more practice.

Be simple. Don't judge your ability. Keep stoking the fire. Free yourself from any future oriented restraints and focus on the joy of music, because ONLY THAT will propel you forward!

THEORY AND REVELATION: WEEK JAN 11-17

2009-01-20T03:50:00.000-06:00

Performing live keeps you accountable and is a good indicator of where you really are
Practice simple and daily
Maintain the Network. Always communicate with your teachers and musicians and be of service in whatever way you can.
The definite benefits of regular practice are not always apparent. The time frame for noticing your progress might be longer than you think. KEEP GOING!!!
Metronomes are a good preparation for the necessity of relaxation during times of adrenaline, nerves, and performance.
HI-HAT must be subservient. If you are anchoring with sticks on your hi-hat it will lead to tension and trouble. A good exercise is to start a simple eighth note rock groove and speed it up all the way like a rudiment as it gets faster keep relaxing your hi-hat but increasing and maintaining strength and dominance of KICK & SNARE
Thelonious Monk is a MASTER at supporting a soloist- SIMPLE, PLAYFUL, DARK, DEEP, SEXY, and RHYTHMICALLY GORGEOUS.
NOTHING IS AN OBSTACLE. Forge ahead no matter what. RISE ABOVE YOURSELF.

BE PREPARED TO FLY

2009-01-20T03:23:00.000-06:00

I was driving down Colorado feeling that hopelessness that penetrates the entire field of change if you choose to cling to any portion of It. I saw in the window a man playing saxophone, but it was a statue, and I thought to myself, man! that guy plays the saxophone 24 hours a days without a single break, he is PLAYING RIGHT NOW, NOW NOW NOW, THERE IS NEVER A TIME WHEN HE IS NOT PLAYING.

Now even if humans were capable of that kind of regiment; 10,080 min per week or 525,600 minutes per year of continuous solid practice what would come of that? It made me realize that even though in a very real sense the conquering of an instrument is a linear path, there are multiple non-linear levels at work.

The moment Charlie Parker realized he could improvise against the chord changes rather the than the melody completely opened the flood gates for a generation of Bop musicians. When this revelation happened he himself called it flying.

It's like that scene in the Matrix when Neo realizes he has total command over the whole system, where he can fight infinitely fast with apparently no external effort or exertion.

Now I fear that my metaphor of a super conducted statue is collapsing, but what I realized is that THE ENTIRETY OF YOUR EXISTENCE IS YOUR PRACTICE. Everything you do, Hell Duke Ellington used to compose in the bath tub. Free your mind....imagine yourself practicing and performing, if you can't arrange for a drumset, be unashamed, perpetual, and yet INCLUDE NOTHING, INCLUDE SILENCE as the most FUNDAMENTAL and most important part of your practice. And that is the beautiful symbol of that statue; TOTAL SILENCE and TOTAL DYNAMISM in one IMAGE!!!

BE YOUR PRACTICE ALWAYS, who knows when the new revelation or methodology of soloing will present itself to you. BE FUCKING PREPARED TO FLY. That is the faith that is required to succeed AND IT IS NOW!!!!!!! BE IT. DO IT. BREATH IT. FLY.

REVELATION CATALYST #1

2009-01-16T08:34:00.000-06:00

Drum with Beethoven!

THELONIOUS SPHERE MONK

2009-01-15T01:52:00.000-06:00

I'm watching STRAIGHT NO CHASER. Thelonious Sphere Monk is spinning clockwise like the Tibetan Monks performing the 1st Rite. We must keep the company of the masters!

THEORY AND REVELATION: WEEK JAN 4-10

2009-01-14T13:39:00.000-06:00

I keep massive spreadsheets of my intentions for drumming and my life. On the back I write my revelations and observations to keep the momentum going for me. This is the perfect place to share them.

Playing live is much more grounded and confident with exercise. I've been doing the rebounder for 1/2 hr daily. Also since my new year's resolution is to free Tibet I have been doing Tibetan Yoga everyday, otherwise known as the 5 Rites.
Consistency is king
Splitting the Single Drag up between the toms and snare was a breakthrough in drum set dexterity for me. R llR L rrL Where RR is on Floor Tom, LL is on Rack Tom and the ruff strokes are on the Snare.
Playing fills with same dynamic, relaxation and ease of the groove
DON'T OVERDO THE HI-HAT. Hi-hat is the frosting. KICK&SNARE is the Foundation, Hi-Hat and all cymbals should be subservient (regardless of volume)
RIDE GROOVES ON QUARTER NOTES. skip notes in Jazz Ride do NOT change the quarter note emphasis, hence the phrase "SKIP NOTE"
The psychology of practice radically changes after the first 20min, lesson for me is START regardless of mood and Judge not until after, and not even then.

I like to look for evidence that ALL MY REVELATIONS are mistaken. Just like it is dangerous to try and nail down an observation say THE EARTH IS FLAT, I try to remain perpetually open to being to COMPLETELY WRONG. So please feel free to leave your comments and opposing viewpoints because I am highly curious to approach life and drumming from an entirely integrated point of view. Anyhow I found this video of STEVE SMITH doing a hi-hat solo to firmly question my revelation of the Hi-hat being "subservient" I saw him do this live at Jazz at Pearls in San Francisco. WOW!

FOLLOW YOUR BLISS WITH BALLS (excerpt from a letter)

2009-01-13T04:28:00.000-06:00

Keep your mind OPEN
HAVE FUN
HONE THE CLARITY OF YOUR PURPOSE

It really is a survival skill to follow your bliss
and expand your comfort zone with bliss as the basis
push yourself but completely without strain.

take a dance class
anything that teaches you how to feel the drums in your body
playing from your heart
it's about dancing
and being primal and GROOVING

INWARD AND OUTWARD VIEWS

To cling to oneself as Buddha, oneself
as Zen or the Way, making that an un-
derstanding, is called clinging to the inward
view.

Attainment by causes and conditions,
practice and realization, is called the out-
ward view,

Master Pao-chih said, "The inward view
and the outward view are both mistaken."

Pao Chih also says THE ZEN POCKET READER,
"Just seek nothing at all, and afflictions will naturally fall away"

These are my new favorite quotes.
Allow yourself to grow naturally without getting in the way of yourself.
Don't strain. Just be blissfully faithful and take CREATIVE ACTION.
Spontaneous Discipline.

Having said that I have recently made a spreadsheet for myself that has every category of what I would do in an UNLIMITED AND PERFECTLY IDEAL DAY.

from
Brushing Teeth
to tabla to drum books
CONCERTS:PERFORMING, ATTENDING, REHEARSING
rudiments
tabla solo
rebounder
to education from books films You tube blogging
fitness
and I have ZERO obligation to the spreadsheet
it is just my cosmic blueprint
reminder of what I continually return to putting my attention on
set as an intention to blossom in its own time with Easy Effort.

If you're having trouble focusing it's because your heart isn't open fully or the stakes aren't high enough.

I remember one saint Ramakrishna didn't attain enlightenment until his Guru stabbed him in the Third Eye with a piece of glass after several suicide attempts.

You are undertaking the path of the warrior so anything you can do to strip away the BULLSHIT
Dance
Yoga
Running
Singing
Free writing
Reading
Films
LISTENING TO ALL KINDS OF MUSIC
anything that opens your heart
VOLUNTEER
SERVICE
COMMUNITY
FRIENDS
AMENDS
LOVE LETTERS
TEMPLES
MEDITATION
SHOULDER STAND
MEANINGLESS WORK
TOTALLY RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
LAZINESS
INSANITY
make up parameters
buy a stop watch and say
"okay for fun I'm going to play the simplest exercise I know for two hours straight with zero improv"
or
"okay today I'm only allowed to practice for ten minutes"
find ways to STOKE YOUR PERSONAL FIRE
You MUST REALIZE THAT YOU ARE YOUR ONLY TEACHER
and THAT EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING IS YOUR TEACHER
EXPERIMENTATION
write a love letter in tabla speak
FREEDOM IS WHAT EVERYONE SEEKS
FIND IT IN YOUR ART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IMPROVISE
DON'T IMPROVISE
TAKE RISKS
JOIN A BAND
USE GARAGE BAND
VIDEO TAPE YOURSELF
TAKE SELF PORTRAITS
YOU GOTTA GET IN DEEP
FIND THE ECSTASY OF INSANITY
THAT IS THE LIFE OF THE ARTIST
REVISE
FAIL
FAIL AGAIN
FAIL BETTER
STAY UP ALL NIGHT
DON'T LET ANYTHING DISCOURAGE YOU
EVERYTHING IS A GOOD OMEN DIRECTLY FROM GOD
FOLLOW YOUR BLISS WITH BALLS AND MASTERY WILL BE YOURS IN TIME.

SELF PORTRAIT WITH PETAL FROM PUJA TO GURU DEV ON MAHARISHI'S BIRTHDAY, JANUARY 12TH, 2009.

HUNTING FOR JESUS

2009-01-11T09:27:00.000-06:00

This morning I AM AWAKE VERY EARLY after going to bed VERY LATE. Al Green's song "Jesus Is Waiting" is playing in my head before I got up and now in my headphones. Here I sit guided by a strong predisposition to write. As'f this article has already been written. (As'f is my new favorite made up word :))

Last night I glanced at an article in a newspaper at DENNY'S (full moon :)). It was about how the Boone & Crockett club of Missoula, Montana had recently given their concurrence that the world's largest antlered Bull Elk is now dead and is a new world record for big game.

This morning in an ordinary epiphany I connected the Al Green song with this dead elk. What is the aggressive thirst to nail down forms; to control rather than to allow? This must be why so many artists either wind up insane, dead too soon, or religious. Once the inability to attain anything with FORM dawns as a reality, then the formless eternity of God is the next logical hunt.

I have mentioned before in this blog my theory of THE CROSS; the VERTICAL or INNER aspect of art which deals with spiritual practice and fulfillment; the HORIZONTAL or OUTER aspect that deals with knowledge and skill in action. But I found the third and crucial element, THE INTERSECTION, in this amazing piece in THE POCKET ZEN READER translated by Thomas Cleary.

INWARD AND OUTWARD VIEWS

To cling to oneself as Buddha, oneself
as Zen or the Way, making that an un-
derstanding, is called clinging to the inward
view.

Attainment by causes and conditions,
practice and realization, is called the out-
ward view,

Master Pao-chih said, "The inward view
and the outward view are both mistaken."

Pao Chih also says in this book,
"Just seek nothing at all, and afflictions will naturally fall away"

OUTSIDE THE BOX?

2009-01-03T05:35:00.001-06:00

This video was sent to me by my good friend George Foster. Even though this is "inside the box" It is a direct charge to LET YOUR BLISS LEAD YOU TO THE ECSTASY OF GOD AND TOTAL FREEDOM OUTSIDE THE *&%ing BOX. That is the charge to all musicians and artists, or as Eminem says "Lose yourself in the music the moment you want it you better never let it go..." :) Find your edge!

viva la "CISSY STRUT"

FREE TIBET,
David Hurlin

PS Here's Scofield's version
PPS Here's John Mayer's version
PPPS Here's the version by the guy who wrote the song
PPPPS Here's the crazy Oriental Allman Brothersesque Fusion Incredible version WOW
PPPPPS Here's New Orleans funk group Galactic's version

THIS IS JUST A VERY TINY INDICATION OF HOW STRONGLY I FEEL ABOUT THIS BOOK!

2009-01-02T22:49:00.000-06:00

FREE TIBET

2009-01-02T21:23:00.000-06:00

MY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION IS TO FREE TIBET.

THE FUTURE OF MUSIC :)

2008-12-29T20:43:00.000-06:00

LANGUAGE AND THE FIFTH LIMB OF DRUMMING

2008-12-27T17:11:00.001-06:00

Gary Chester in his book The New Breed integrates the voice as the fifth limb of drumming.

My friend Charles Knoles told me "If you can hear it, then you can play it" That is the ideal, but one of the stepping stones to TRUE hearing is being able to SAY IT or SING IT first.

In tabla you always learn how to say a GROOVE or COMPOSITION before you learn how to PLAY IT.

I think this phenomenon has to do with the HUMAN method of learning through LANGUAGE. We start learning the language of our MOTHER while still in the womb so it is the most intimate and heart-centric method of expression and assimilation of knowledge that we have available to us.

That is what is so ingenious about the tabla methodology. You learn these compositions as linear monologues of text. Then what happens is that independence and poly-rhythmic ability is an effortless bi product of sustained involvement with the language of Tabla. The compositions become three dimensional and circular and naturally complex and beautiful out of the simplicity of spoken word.

SINGING, BEATBOXING, VOCALIZATION, SPOKEN WORD, TABLA anything that integrates your voice as the fifth limb is so vitally important.

Like I said before Gary Chester's THE NEW BREED is a good place to start for the western drummer.

From my heart to yours, It's an undeniable miracle to be involved in this field of rhythm and life.

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO OF MARCO MINNEMANN that has turned a scene from Monty Python's THE LIFE OF BRIAN into a drum solo. LANGUAGE IS RHYTHM.

Here is a tabla solo by Alla Rakha who is Zakir Hussain's father and tabla player for Ravi Shankar. It gives you a taste of the vocalization of tabla.

Next is a video by Mal Webb. Absolutely incredible. WOW! Check it.

THE RIDE CYMBAL IS GOD

2008-12-26T05:44:00.000-06:00

Today I spent 3-4 hours playing the jazz ride pattern. I am completely in love with John Riley's book "The Art of Bop Drumming." The main revelation so far is that the ride cymbal pattern, in the midst of it's triplet feel, should accent and fully drive a QUARTER NOTE pulse.

Previously I had played the pattern how I felt it; slightly accenting only the 2 & 4. If you accent all the quarter notes and get that relaxed rounded sound, it grooves so hard it feels like flying.

I literally spent almost four hours today getting that ride pattern like a Brancusi bird :). Allowing the ride to EFFORTLESSLY be ABSOLUTE and INVINCIBLE (with hi hat on 2 & 4) is the foundation for exploring all the ecstatic complexities of jazz drumming and independence.

It's Christmas today. The deepening of the knowledge of the music I love, the music of New York, the music of the bones, the music of smoke and ash, the music of destruction and from the shivering silence of the Primal Origin, endless resurrections of zero-gravity waves of blood-pumped sound, the one ingredient of the physical universe, is the perpetual intravenous Christmas presence of my life.

EZRA REICH HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

2008-12-24T02:22:00.000-06:00

This is just such a freaking fantastic video I had to post it. I am currently drumming for EZRA REICH and this is his crazy fun video for the song "EMILY." Check out this video! WOW :)

PS If you don't have John Riley's book, THE ART OF BOP DRUMMING you are doing yourself a serious disservice. This book is freaking incredible. Thanks to Jesus Christ I have it in my possession now :) It has brush patterns, a systematic step by step understanding of the jazz ride and learning the comping, I can't spoil it. I'm just so freaking excited about this book I might have to defenestrate my Turkish Flat Ride to release some of the tension :)

STICK CONTROL and THE GLORY OF INTERPRETATION

2008-12-23T03:22:00.000-06:00

I am writing this entry because I have a deep fondness for fundamentals. I also have an intense love of the avant-garde and the wild unknown territories of art and music.

Stick Control is the quintessential drum instruction book. It's the book you get after you go to your very first drum lesson. Because I have an insanely linear mind and I tend to follow rules, I was locked into a very rigid understanding of this book. It was only recently that I discovered the ABSOLUTE JOY of INTERPRETING this book and using it as FOUNDATION work but also as a way to work on independence, creative reading, and other more advanced techniques.

Just with pages 5-7 there is an infinite number of ways to interpret the exercises. My most recent teacher was James Dreier at the University of Iowa. He started me off doing:

1. pg 5-7 sticks on pad following the recommended sticking pattern over a samba with kick and hi hat

2. pg 5-7 R=Floor Tom L=Snare drum over a Samba. Instead of reading the exercises in order you just go straight across the entire page as if you were reading a book for both 1 & 2

3. pg 5-7 R = Floor Tom & Snare in unison L= Kick Drum hi hat is on quarter notes.

4. pg 5-7 Same as number three except with a swing feel and hi hat on 2 & 4. For exercises 3 & 4 do each exercise 2 times and then on to the next first time through. Second time through as in exercise 1 & 2 reading across the whole page as a line.

I was talking with Stephen Hodges, the drummer for Mavis Staples, awhile back and his use of maracas and shakers inspired me to interpret stick control as a groove with R= Kick and L= Snare while the shakers and maracas are doing eighths over the top.

My friend Craig Waters, drummer for The Bell Rays and Cody Chestnut, told me he would just practice it as straight Soul groove with eighth notes on the hi hat with R=Kick and L=Snare.

The point is not so much HOW you interpret STICK CONTROL but more that YOU CAN!!!! Get totally creative, the more flexible your mind is in coming up with systems and honoring them the better.

Just yesterday I spent the ENTIRE AFTERNOON listening to D'Angelo and then locking in a jazz pattern on the ride with hi-hat on 2 & 4 and going through with R=Kick and L=Snare.

It is a really fun way to work on independence. Another amazing book for this is The New Breedby Gary Chester. He has 39 systems that you lock down one by one and then many pages of melody to play on top of the non-changing parts. It's a terrific book to learn sight reading and it REALLY irons out any weakness in your groove and then starts to incorporate singing as the FIFTH LIMB of drumming on a foundation of invincible groove. Excellent stuff.

The message is clear as drummers we are charged with mastery of the entire field of NON-CHANGE and the entire field of CHANGE. A metronome is good at pointing out both of those worlds at the same time.

INTENTIONS: MISSION STATEMENT

2008-12-20T15:28:00.000-06:00

You can say "I LOVE YOU" and MEAN IT undeniably in your BONES!

You can say "I LOVE YOU" with the intention to manipulate.

They are the same words!!!
They are the same words!!!

One could almost conclude that content is just completely irrelevant. It is the modality of feeling that buoys content and therefore your feelings and intentions should be examined.

Regardless of content I think it is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL to set your intentions. I am not saying to control the content or to censor WILD CREATIVITY NO NO NO!!! I'm saying set the intention beneath your expression. What is it you aspire to manifest in your world and environment?

Or you could call it a mission statement. Mine is:

I am living God-Relization Now. I choose deep meditation, Yoga of body and mind, and fearless gift-giving through art and music, as my vehicle of divine action to create right now in my life, enlightenment, wealth and abundance, perfect health, and the expansion of love and happiness in every living being.

Come up with your mission statement today and every action you take will be filled with confidence and the muscle of the universe!!

This is a picture of the back of my mission statement. I keep it in my studio so I see it everyday when I practice.

PROFESSOR MILFORD GRAVES

2008-12-20T03:40:00.000-06:00

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It's about the master free jazz drummer, scientist, herbalist, martial artist, and tenured PROFESSOR MILFORD GRAVES

WALKING ON BURNING HOT COALS

2008-12-19T20:07:00.000-06:00

It's so easy to think "I can never do that." In fact I hear that all the time from beginner and expert musicians alike. "Not this lifetime," "I'll never be able to do that," "Not in a million years," that sort of thing. Here is my theory, don't ever believe the voice in your head. Even if you will never be able to play the Black Page or three different time signatures across four limbs, or a one handed roll, think to yourself "I can do that" or "If he can do it, I can do it." Firmly believe in practice and performance that you are the best in the world. Not being naive, but as a way to structure and allow for maximum possible growth.

I was watching Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez Videos on Youtube. Now this guy is just a complete master of Cuban and Latin rhythms, double kick wizardry, left foot tapping out claves in the midst of a total brilliant storm of four limb independence. Normally my reaction would be a mix of inspiration and depression. But tonight I said "I can do that" without a hint of lack or pain. It was thrilling even to think something so daring.

My good friend Charles once told me "If you can hear it, you can play it" Now I may never be able to play anything close to Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez but saying "I can play that" raises the energy from negative to positive, it makes me accountable for my desire to play with that level of mastery, and it's an exhilaration to not assume that I can't.

It's almost mischievous, a gamble, a risk, because all of sudden "what if I can't?" That voice in the head is making calculations from a false consciousness. I would never have thought I could be able to play how I can now when I was first starting out. With diligent practice and a UNWAVERING POSITIVE and CONQUERING attitude you will COMPLETELY SHOCK YOURSELF at what you can do. It is about being true to your bliss, to yourself, and your work.

This NO ASSUMPTIONS rule is absolutely crucial for a progressing musician because the more you progress the more the masters reveal themselves. If you fall victim to the comparison game you will actually find that everyone is better than you. It is completely imperative that you give yourself permission to be baptized by the fire of the masters not to discourage in any way, so that you are given a vision of the way to become a master in your own right, in your own way, and in your own time.

My brother who I consider an incipient master musician is obsessed with Yogananda who says in his book Living Fearlessly,

...I have sat and meditated all night long in icy water in bitterly cold weather. Similarly, I have sat from morning till evening on the burning hot sands in India. I gained great mental strength by doing so. When you have practiced such self-discipline, your mind becomes impervious to all disturbing circumstances. If you think you can't do something, your mind is a slave. Free yourself

I have walked on burning hot coals over 700 degrees. I have jogged on rocks barefoot. The attitude that you are invincible is absolutely real and must be cultivated in the art of living and in the art of practice and performance.

This is one of my favorite quotes by Henry Miller

Death is wonderful too-after life. Only one like myself who has opened his mouth and spoken, only one who has said Yes, Yes, Yes, and again Yes! can open wide his arms to death and know no fear. Death as a reward, yes! But not death from the roots, isolating men, making them bitter and fearful and lonely, giving them fruitless energy, filling them with a will which can only say No! The first word any man writes when he has found himself, his own rhythm, which is the life rhythm, is Yes! Everything he writes thereafter is Yes, Yes, Yes,-Yes in a thousand million ways. No dynamo, no matter how huge-not even a dynamo of a hundred million dead souls-can combat one man saying Yes!

Try saying yes now. :) I love you!

Here's a good video to start with. :) wait for the drum solo and then say "I can play that" PLEASE TRUST ME ON THIS ONE. IT IS WORTH THE WAIT!!! IT STARTS WITH 1:08 MIN OF SPANISH DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE BUT THEN IT KICKS IN SO WAIT IT OUT. IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE :)It's from the documentary Calle 54 featuring all the best latin jazz artists. This video features Michel Camilo, Anthony Jackson, and Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez. :)

Next check out Stevie Wonder and his daughter. This song makes me cry with joy almost everytime. :)

DRUM THEORY AND REVELATION POWER STORE

2008-12-17T02:33:00.000-06:00

I have created a store and now I am in the process of filling it with relevant books and products. I call it the DRUM THEORY AND REVELATION POWER STORE. You can click on the link in this entry but at the bottom of this blog there is a permanent window into the store so that you can return to it if need be. I hope you enjoy these amazing resources.

my very best prayers for you and your work,
David Proctor Hurlin

YES WE CAN'T CAN'T

2008-12-16T04:55:00.000-06:00

inspired directly by (Dr.) Reverend August 1 Juli June Crockett Carter's One Book One Week blog which I follow religiously because of my recent personal renaissance with books I have decided to write an entry before I go to bed tonight because before I was thinking I've been on such a good run I've been writing one entry everyday I've been a good little boy and I'm tired so I can just go to bed but her entry on Lowering Your Standards inspired by William Stafford one of my personal HEROS reminded me to be free not necessarily to seek out mediocrity but to encourage NO HOLDS BARRED creativity wild wild wild freedom no sense of restriction or self doubt no sense of no or I can't YES WE CAN'T CAN'T lowering your standards is in fact raising your standard to the infinite degree where fullness and emptiness overlap in an invincible unity of paradox ("the sun doesn't actually set" -RJC) by lowering your standards you are giving yourself permission to be free things like writers block is an illusion things like I can't sing or I'm not an artist dissolve those pre conceived notions are just flat out delusional everyone with a heart is a drummer everyone with a mind is a singer anyone that is is an artist our capitalist conditioning has taught us to evaluate art in terms of the product but that is like evaluating your favorite meal in terms of your excrement i'm hear to tell you that if you are undertaking the path of the artist or any path for that matter for the fruits of your action you will be disappointed in THE GITAit say "YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER ACTION ALONE NEVER OVER THE FRUITS" you do your best out of love out of bliss of WHAT YOU ARE DOING not out of WHY out of WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT FOLLOW YOUR BLISS OR PERISH and the fruitsbecome the blissful overflow of your divine romance with the process of your art you cook your favorite meal because you love the smell you love the ritual you love the taste in your mouth you love the onion tears and the vegan sausage dipped in mustard listen I am not here to degade the product and equte art with shit although many people feel that way I am here to EXALT the foundation IT IS THE GROOVE that sustains life imagine if your heartbeat was doing drum fills????? it would be considered a disease IT IS THE GROOVE THE FOUNDATION THE JAMES BROWN LOCK the river of divine momentum the rhythms of the planets and the solar systems it is the AWARENESS BLISS AND DEDICATION to the JOY OF THE PROCESS that yields the most rewarding fruits whether useless or not in lowering your standards you give up the right to judge others to judge yourself and you liberate yourself in humility and the rapture of your FIRST THOUGHTSwhere the energy is where you think and you pounce like lightning in every direction it's not thinking "I am the lightning in the in the soul of the smashed lizard" and then revising to "I am light in the soul of the lizard" revising to ..... "I am" revising to "I" revising to ..... no this is nihilism a complex of self censorship that is way more paralyzing than any version of self created delusional writers block no HONOR your FIRST THOUGHTS that is the energy of jazz that is the fire in Coltrane and Monk stand up for your rights Bob Marley was not writing songs "Depress yourself" no "Lively up Yourself" "One Love" getting the energy up up up keep your right of freedom transcend all the ridiculous racism the ridiculous crime the ridiculous injustice transcend to the source of the river where every quarter note is pressed into MANIFESTATION like an orange snowflake into the oven of your heart with the pure intention of creating perpetual world peace infinite harmony and the blossoming of an (ALREADY PRESENT) ubiquitous love and happiness in the hearts of everyone

FOOT STOMPING AT TANGIER WITH JEREMY ZUCKERMAN AND COUSIN JUNEBUG

2008-12-14T17:06:00.000-06:00

I would like you all to know that prior to my leaving the house tonight I did the exercise that I recommended of sitting behind the drum set and not playing. Holding my bright green Mike Balter 22R Rattan Vibe MalletsI DID NOT PLAYING ANYTHING FOR ONE HOUR. I timed this exercise to the second with my SPORTLINE stopwatch. As a matter of pride, I didn't even play one note after the allotted hour was over, just got up and basked in my increased energy and independence.

Now I am at Tangier in Los Feliz for the Cousin Junebug show. Luckily they have not started yet because I took many a wrong turn and had to endure a WAMU ATM hunting fiasco in order to get the cash to gain entry into the night....club.

After being silent for an hour, sitting to watch live FUNK music seems like a luxury, and I am more attentive than ever because I know in every moment, the miracle of revelation is available. It hits: The almost ubiquitous power of music to make people move. Foot stomping is that miracle for me tonight.

Most people gravitate towards quarter notes. The excited ones have at least one leg doing eighth notes. The guy in the front is speeding through 16th note triplets with his right foot like Geena Davis' rapid-fire vegetable slicing in The Long Kiss Goodnight after the clouds of amnesia lift and she remembers that she is an assassin.

I have a particular fondness for the people doing eighth notes in a completely different tempo than the music and/or the imperfect eighth notes shifted between left and right legs with no apparent mathematical pattern as to when they shift; mid measure, on beat, off beat, struggling, post-shift, to realign themselves with their concept of pulse.

Both feet on the ground, only the left knee bending on quarter notes is another valid reaction to James Brown and the Meters. As is the popular right foot planted, eighth note left leg fidget. Or the decelerating quarter into some mutant relative of the triplet into awkward silence. Or during "Pass the Peas" the impossible-to-maintain uptempo eighth notes. Or the totally avant-garde epilepsy where Merce Cunningham is set free by John Cage into a realm of internal rhythm that is purely independent of the environment.

I'm having so much fun relating all this stuff to the way of the Samurai that I can't help but quote Musashi again to conclude this fantastic evening of Funk and the magic of the human desire to dance/twitch :)

From the Wind Scroll in The Book of Five Rings

In Martial arts, speed is not the true Way. As far as speed is concerned, the question of fast or slow in anything derives from failure to harmonize with rhythm....In the art of dance, if a poor singer accompanies the song of a skilled singer, there is a sense of lag, which results in haste. Also, when "Old Pine" is played on the drums, it is a quiet piece, but in this case too, someone who is unskilled will tend to fall behind or get ahead. And while "High Dunes" has a rapid tempo, it is wrong to perform it too fast.

GREAT BILL STEWART DRUM SOLO!!!

2008-12-13T17:01:00.000-06:00

I just love this video I have to share it. Not only do I seriously love Bill Stewart but I have a deep fondness of the moment when his hi-hat starts moving away from him. Fantastic!!
Also he's from Des Moines. :)

HUMILITY AND PERPETUAL LEARNING

2008-12-13T16:07:00.001-06:00

As a drummer, artist and survivor :) I always keep my ears "peeled" for inspiration, revelation anything that will open the skies and summon the LIGHTNING GOD. I regard every person and every moment as a highly revered teacher. If you are FULLY OPEN you will be bombarded by continuous OMENS OF BLISS. You can walk on water when you have the balls to follow your bliss.

One of the stories I have overheard, I forget the source, but that doesn't matter. It doesn't even matter if the story is true or not because the principle is so gorgeous. I heard that in some parts of Africa the master drummers refrain from teaching the babies and little kids for awhile. In fact the masters give all the kids drums and then learn new ideas, new approaches, new perspectives to the ART of drumming from them. Kids, non-drummers, beginning drummers, everyone truthfully has something to teach you if you can remain grounded in the sheer joy and humility of perpetual openness and learning.

One fun exercise to maintain humility is to go into a music store where everyone likes to show off and pretend to barely know how to play. It's interesting how attitudes shift depending on skill level or association. The lesson is for you, to remind yourself to treat ALL ARTISTS at every level with the same amount of respect and humility. Not just because it fosters well being, an open heart, and harmony between all people, but because paths are not necessarily linear. If you are totally encouraging and uplifting and respectful to a beginner drummer, that drummer might develop into an ELVIN JONES equivalent. Your network should be maintained with love and dignity ALWAYS with EVERYONE at all times.

The lesson is you don't have the right to judge even yourself. Stick to the bliss and the work.

Check out my son Dil Mondrian Hurlin!

THE WAY OF EMPTINESS

2008-12-13T04:14:00.000-06:00

There is a scene in the movie Secretaryin which Maggie Gyllenhaal puts her hands on a desk waiting in devotion for her love. She stays glued to the desk for three days in the divine patience and stubbornness of love.

In Indian Classical music during the ALAP section of the Raga the tabla player sits without playing and ONLY LISTENS for lengths of up to an hour.

Contentment beyond expression, beyond the individual ego, needs to be cultivated in order for an authentic, objective, fully present, and deeply sensitive method of listening to develop.

If you gain independence from your instrument then when you allow yourself to play it is pure overflow, pure generosity; integration. A deep authenticity will blossom if this independence is cultivated.

Exercise: Sit behind your drum set, or whatever instrument you play, and holding sticks if you are a drummer, DO NOT PLAY ANYTHING FOR ONE HOUR. Just bask in the love of life, the love of music and the love of your instrument. Silence is the foundation.

Miyamoto Musashi says in hisThe Book of Five Rings

"....once we speak of 'emptiness,' we can no longer define the inner depths in terms of the surface entryway. Having attained a principle, one detaches from the principle; thus one has spontaneous independence in the science of martial arts and naturally attains marvels: discerning the rhythm when the time comes, one strikes spontaneously and naturally scores. This is all the way of emptiness..."

THE COURAGE TO BE NOTHING

2008-12-11T17:47:00.000-06:00

As a former professional book indexer, I recently indexed The Drum Recording Handbookby Bobby Owsinski and Dennis Moody. In that book, which has not been released yet, there is an interview with renowned Los Angeles drummer Bernie Dresel. Dresel was talking about a story he overheard in which Miles Davis expounds his advice to drummers, "When you think you want to play something, don't"

I remember an interview I read with Dave Grohl. I'm pretty sure it was in Modern Drummer when he talks about one of the hardest thing he ever had to endure as a drummer was being taken by a bass player into his basement and told to play a groove for thirty minutes straight without filling. After the first few minutes he was completely raging and wanting to explode.

When I was at Berklee College of Music for their summer program I had the sublime pleasure of studying with Dave DiCenso. One day after my lesson with him he broke down his approach to practicing grooves which consisted of a graph with grooves on the Y axis and Reps on the X axis. His recommendation was to build your way up to practicing grooves PERFECTLY up to 500 reps. FIVE HUNDRED. FIVE HUNDRED. FIVE HUNDRED. FIVE BILLION!

I had an idea in college for a piece of video art. I video taped myself in the NUDE playing the simplest beat there is FOR ONE HOUR CONTINUOUSLY. Kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4 and eighth notes on the hi hat. Horrible idea for a video but what an amazing exercise in will power and restraint. One hour without a fill. How many drummers can claim that, besides ?uestlove :)

As Philospher Simone Weil said "In order to be just, one must be naked and dead -- without imagination."

Set your metronome to 40BPM (if you're Victor Wooten 4BPM) pick the simplest groove or just quarter notes with all limbs and repeat continuously for an hour.

Approach EVERYTHING from the INVINCIBLE foundation of GROOVE; rudiments, stick control, sight reading, and especially fills.

In the Tao Te Ching #46 it reads

There is no greater sin than desire,
No greater curse than discontent
No greater misfortune than wanting something for oneself.
Therefore he who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.

SING. DRUM. BE FREE. :) consistently

LISTENING

2008-12-09T21:52:00.000-06:00

This morning as I was playing tabla I was sitting in front of a mirror as I usually do to check out my fingering and posture, and to make sure that I keep my mouth shut. For some reason I squinted my eyes and it had the effect of me watching someone else play tabla.

I am not necessarily endorsing squinting into a mirror as a technique, but what occurred to me was the unbelievable gift of being able to hear yourself OBJECTIVELY. Tape recordingand video taping are good tools to utilize because they provide that objectivity but it is after the fact and while useful for future performances the feedback does nothing for what has already happened.

It is imperative that one is able to hear oneself objectively in the MOMENT. Sometimes when I am playing live I close my eyes and listen to the entirety of the band and then I focus on myself in the context of the band and I ask myself "Would I like what the drummer was doing if this was a recording of another band?" If the answer is no then I must find a deeper way to be in support of the music.

A shocking revelation I had is that whatever I hear, everyone hears. Maybe not in the same way, but it is crucial to learn how to deliver your instrument in the way in which you like to hear it played. This requires patience, practice, and self forgiveness. As Beckett says "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better."

The vertical dimension of drumming is endless. Listen deeper deeper and deeper with less and less and less of yourself until when you are playing live it is like you are listening to music on a stereo.

Here's a picture of the man it is my irrevocable duty to listen to. Keith Lubow. Bass player in my rocking band THE EVANGENITALS.

CONSISTENCY

2008-12-08T19:05:00.000-06:00

I have a tendency towards extremity. I studied tabla in India with a tabla master, Pandit Anup Ghoshji. He lived with his teacher and practiced 8-12 hours a day with his master Pandit Shymal Boseji for 15 years. I would hear stories of from my Guruji about his total dedication and devotion to music and depending on my mood it would either inspire me like crazy or totally deflate me and leaving me feeling hopeless.

When I was inspired I would practice like crazy and improve rapidly, when I was depressed I would not practice AT ALL. I would go for days without touching a tabla, and the decline of my skill was much more dramatic than the improvement.

The lesson in it for me is similar to the Tortoise and the Hare moral. It is crucial to have Tortoise energy when you practice, meaning you have faith in the spontaneous development of your gift and you are focused on the practice alone, not on the results of your practice, not on judging yourself or comparing yourself to others. The work is what is important and it should be easy, fun, and consistent and completely independent of mood. Discipline beyond personal consideration.

It is much better to do 20 minutes of practice a day, than 7 hours once a week. Don't over practice. Make it a ritual that keeps you hungry for more. If you implement consistency and moderation (this is relative and needs to be earned through rigor and commitment, not an excuse for neglect) the results will shock you like an electric blossom out of an invisible bud. LOL.

SING. DRUM. BE FREE :) consistently

PS one thing my Guruji says is that if you practice first thing in the morning the results of practice are TWICE as powerful.

THE VERTICAL

2008-12-06T18:00:00.000-06:00

Here's an amazing article reinforcing the strong indications to develop the VERTICAL dimensions of drumming and living.

SING. DRUM. BE FREE :) consistently

Study: Drummers Are "Top Atheletes"

I found this article on a fellow blogger's site

ALL THINGS LOUD

Thanks Jon Cohan :)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED HORIZONTAL AND VERITCAL PRODUCTS AVAILABLE TO YOU ON THIS BLOG BECAUSE I LOVE YOU AND I CARE ABOUT YOUR DEEPEST VISION

2008-12-06T17:25:00.001-06:00

In Reinforcement of my entry called "THE CROSS" yesterday, I have gathered together my recommended HORIZONTAL products and VERTICAL products. They are viewable in the sidebar of this blog.

The Holistic approach to a lifetime of drumming and art and learning about drumming; If one neglects the Vertical, one becomes superficial, stiff, and emotionally shallow. If one neglects the Horizontal, one lacks credibility and is under-prepared for the glorious challenges of recording, performing, and composing.

Those of you who are not drummers will still undoubtedly benefit from the VERTICAL products.

Check it out. Let me know what you think!

SING. DRUM. BE FREE :) consistently

Milford Graves

2008-12-06T03:33:00.001-06:00

Milford Graves is just beautiful. This video made me laugh out loud with the sheer joy of creativity.

THE CROSS

2008-12-06T01:31:00.000-06:00

Here is the formula for ecstatic drumming HORIZONTAL = VERTICAL.

Horizontal= Gear, books, lessons, teachers, knowledge, notes, gigs, concerts, connections, business, collaboration... all of the tangibles or externals of drumming.

Vertical= Heart, Emotions, ritual, spiritual energy, body, breath, silence between notes, awareness, consciousness, lifestyle, posture, yoga, meditation... all of the foundational internal elements that ground the Horizontal in depth of awareness.

So the formula (similar to Einstein's technology v. spiritual development of society) is that every step in the horizontal linear path of learning and knowledge should be complimented by a deepening of consciousness and spiritual grounding in the NOW.

Horizontal and vertical together make a cross. To me the Cross symbolizes freedom, paradox and the FOUR LIMBS of drumming.

The intersection of the Cross is the hub of silence, the fifth limb (Voice) THE HEART or better yet THE BALLS where all good drumming and breathing originates from and is sustained by.

These are the ruminations I came up with this morning as I played Teen Tal Kaida #1 continuously for an hour.

SING. DRUM. BE FREE :) consistently!

Homage to Sugimoto

2008-12-04T19:37:00.000-06:00

I am obsessed with how water is perpetually seeking horizontal. When I came across photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto I was completely blown away by the simplicity and power of his seascape images. The chalk drawing on a brick is an Homage to his seascapes.

I tell my drum students that it is the role of the drummer to become the ocean for Jesus to walk on. Drumming is about finding true horizontal and radiating that through consciousness, breath, silence, and an ocean of sound that is in total selfless support of the music.

Glank, The Newspaper, and Found Art.

2008-12-04T19:33:00.001-06:00

Today I was drumming on USA Today and LA weekly newspaper stands. The USA Today was so warm and busty I felt like taking it to my studio and putting it next to the floor tom of my drum set. FOUND PERCUSSION OBJECTS are nothing less than miraculous. Everything from the slides of playgrounds, to walls in the bathroom of the SAE Institute, to streetlight poles can be turned into haunting and beautiful instruments. In The Triplets of Belleville, the triplets used a refrigerator, a vacuum cleaner, and a newspaper as their primary instruments. Even using the built in microphone on my Mac Book with Garage Band to capture the sound, I recorded an amazing track using the book MOBY DICK as a drum.

My obsession with found art was super charged when I happened upon GLANK at the Eagle Rock Music Festival. GLANK is a found-percussion ensemble with 10-15 drummers in radioactive jumpsuits banging on drums, saw blades, sheet metal, empty tanks, and much much more to create intelligent and rivetingsoundscapes that make you want to dance. At one point they handed out massive home made shakers for the audience to get in on the action. The industrial vibe with all the shimmering metal and dark tones, mixed with the ominous appearance of jump suits and the earth shattering rhythms, all make Glank The Product highly recommended. It's like witnessing the mutiny of an assembly line.

The heightened sense of creativity and the profound sense of resourcefulness; of recycling as innovation and music are just some of the many glorious benefits of readymades. So next time you buy a newspaper remember you are a midwife, witnessing the birth of an instrument out of another instrument. Pay your respects.

THE NON CHANGE

2008-09-16T13:25:00.000-05:00

listening to 88.1 KKJZ
I heard a cover of Leon Russell's
"THIS MASQUERADE"
also covered by George Benson;
an album my dad had when I was a kid;
an album that was played a lot in our house
for some reason.
So I was familiar, very familiar
with the chord progression
It's one of those songs that is just in me.
I heard the sax player go through the melody
simply and recognizably
and after he had done that a couple of rounds,
you can hear the shift take place
where the storm comes
BUT THE CHORD PROGRESSION REMAINS.
And it immediately made me think of Job
what prompts him to say in Job 10:17
"Your forces come upon me wave upon wave"
Rilke said it in his poem "THE MAN WATCHING"

The Man Watching

by Rainer Maria Rilke

I can tell by the way the trees beat, after
so many dull days, on my worried windowpanes
that a storm is coming,
and I hear the far-off fields say things
I can't bear without a friend,
I can't love without a sister

The storm, the shifter of shapes, drives on
across the woods and across time,
and the world looks as if it had no age:
the landscape like a line in the psalm book,
is seriousness and weight and eternity.

What we choose to fight is so tiny!
What fights us is so great!
If only we would let ourselves be dominated
as things do by some immense storm,
we would become strong too, and not need names.

When we win it's with small things,
and the triumph itself makes us small.
What is extraordinary and eternal
does not want to be bent by us.
I mean the Angel who appeared
to the wrestlers of the Old Testament:
when the wrestler's sinews
grew long like metal strings,
he felt them under his fingers
like chords of deep music.

Whoever was beaten by this Angel
(who often simply declined the fight)
went away proud and strengthened
and great from that harsh hand,
that kneaded him as if to change his shape.
Winning does not tempt that man.
This is how he grows: by being defeated, decisively,
by constantly greater beings.

Job got boils all over his body, lost his
possessions, and his children and his animals etc.
But through and because of his trials
there is a part of him that is unaffected,
an anchorage beyond the storm
a place of silence beyond the elements
and the layers of the mind
and he reaches the mindset of peace
anchored in his Higher God Self alone
in Job 40:13
"When the river rages, he is not alarmed"
and that right there is the true guts and origin of jazz
the chord progression being that place of anchorage
and then the improvisation on top the will of GOD
literally jazz mirrors the structure of life
the archetypal structure of the myth
the beginning the middle the end
and it got me thinking about how powerful
music theory is
how powerful it is to be able to feel where the music
is going no matter what is happening
I know this SONG
I know myself
I know this SONG of MYSELF
I know my purpose and where I am headed
and even if Ornette Coleman blasts an avalanche of atonal wizardry
the intelligence of silence
of trust in the invisible structure of music
is guiding the ship.
But then busting out of that anchorage
that necessity of a predetermined structure
or a predetermined melody
moving into the realms of free jazz
where the structure is spontaneous
where Brahman becomes the charioteer of all action
where telepathy fosters the radiance of self sufficiency
like Merce Cunningham and John Cage
collaborating in a state of sheer independence
navigating the storms and flows and harmonizations
while feeling the non-change as the temple and anchorage
like pouring water
into the dark soil of a plant
and seeing the leaves become greener
this is the life of jazz, eternal
based in the trees and soil
in the interaction of the elements
in the divine play of the universe
in ecstasy of its own entropy
dancing with the realm of perfect forms
in the collective abstract
all the way down to the void
that is the nectar
in our hearts
the empty room with no walls
and the best acoustics.

ON LOUDNESS

2008-09-16T13:23:00.000-05:00

Playing with the Evangenitals at the Nocturnal Bar in Santa Monica during our Klezmer remix of the infamous song "THE HOLE" which I absolutely love, I was hitting the drums hard. Juli Crockett was belting out her chant "Hole Hole Hole Hole" on the quarter notes and i was smashing my cymbal in accordance with her ferocious chanting. It was a pure stretch of symbiotic rapture, the whole band writhing in a collective exorcism.

In spite of how loud or violent with Joy it got I remained relaxed. I realized that by keeping pure relaxation, the kind of relaxation you feel when you're not playing, by holding that as the foundation of the drumming, then you can explore volume and its various pleasures both quiet and loud to a point.

HOW TO SIT BEHIND THE DRUMS

2008-09-16T13:21:00.000-05:00

God won't give you more than you can handle
and He won't give you any less.

Let go or get dragged

So fully imprisoned we are in the moment
that I believe if you let go deeply enough,
if you become like water and find a true horizontal
within your mind, that even turning on the faucet
would invoke a feeling of religious rapture.
This is the state of mind that needs to be cultivated
in the listening to, practice and performance of music.
Just sitting behind your drum set, just holding your instrument
should be enough. Anything more than that; tidal waves of bliss.

SILENCE

2008-09-16T13:20:00.000-05:00

Reading John Cage's Silence.
He is talking about giving up music
for the entire field of sound.

That is the future.
Resourceful.
Minimal. Maximal.

Everything is an instrument
every sound can be organized into music.

Everyone is a musician.
Heartbeat!!
buy a stethoscope and dance!

PUTTING THE BABY TO BED

2008-09-16T13:15:00.001-05:00

Recently i had a long conversation with drummer and percussionist Stephen Taylor Hodges who has played with the likes of Mavis Staples, John Hammond, Smashing Pumpkins, Tom Waits, and where I met Stephen, playing with Rick Holmstrom who also tours the world with Mavis Staples.

One of the first things he said about playing the drums was "how hard would you pat your baby?" (I have a two and 1/2 year old son, Dil Mondrian Hurlin)

This resonated with me immediately because as a drummer I have realized that volume has a limit. In fact this conversation opened my eyes to what I already believed, that the drums should invoke silence, that the dynamics of the trees should be the reference point, the swaying of the ocean, the aura of the moon of the snare drum has ancient power at the level of the whisper.

It's not so much a negation of volume, but an embrace of the full dynamic range holding close to the center as the silent hub of the wheel and from there exploring the lightning of the storm and the violence of ecstasy always returning to the whisper of the leaves and the black sky.

It has completely transformed my practice routine. Right now I am going through stick control for R i hit the bass drum soft for L i use a brush on the snare and in my right hand I am using an egg. Mr. Hodges said that using shakers is a very powerful way to bring you back to your center. Also playing at this volume allows you to use a metronome without headphones which is amazing.

I had an amazing experience tonight. My drum set is in the living room now because I am playing at a volume like a quiet radio. My son's room is right next to my drum set and while my wife was putting him to bed I continued playing dropping my volume to the quietest possible. Barely audible, my kick with the synthetic lambs wool beater sounded like far off thunder, and on the snare with the snares off I used a Native American drum beater. I felt like I was in a dream playing this music that could facilitate the transition from waking to sleeping. It was shamanic, primal, mystical, and grounded in the dynamics of nature. So I have decided to dedicate a blog to my experiences along this path so clearly illumined by Sensei Hodges.