On Thursday 22nd Jan 2004 Jason Bowld (the hard rocking groover from Pitchshifter)
came to Drumtech to demonstrate his fast and powerful playing.
Jason started the night off playing his kit to a hard rocking backing track, I was
impressed with how fast he played while hitting the drums so hard! After about 10
mins of playing he finished to a roar of applause from the students.
After catching his breath he explained that the song that he had just played to was a track
from his CD-ROM Tutorial. The CD-ROM is an idea he came up with after realising that
there was a serious lack of tutorial material for drummers who play alternative/extreme
styles of music (hard rock/metal/drum n bass). It’s full of useful tips and backing tracks that
enable extreme drummers to go crazy while still being musical.
Jason went on to play to another track from his CD-ROM and did some wicked fills while
crossing his hands over each other.
Next was a Question & Answer session.
Q – Have you ever had any wrist or elbow problems as a result of your hard playing?
A – No, touchwood. When I first learnt to play the drums at the age of 11, my drum teacher
was a jazz
drummer and his tips on technique have been invaluable throughout my career! As a result
I have always played with my palms facing downwards, I use the Moeller technique and I
put grip tape on my sticks (you can use the stuff that’s put on tennis racket handles!).
Q – Any quick tips that you can give us that will instantly make our playing sound better?
A – The Moeller technique always sounds good on the hi-hats. It makes you accent every
other 8th note, which allows the groove to breathe. Simple things like this could give you the
edge when it comes to auditioning for gigs/recording. Producers love to hear simple but
effective dynamics because it gives them something to work with!
It’s also very important that you choose what you play carefully, ask yourself why you are
playing a certain groove/fill. If you can’t answer your own question then maybe you’re not
being musical!
Jason went on to give us a simple sticking exercise that sounds really good.
R L R B L R B R L R B L R B R L = 16th notes/1 bar’s worth of notes.
R = Right hand
L = Left hand
B = Bass drum
This exercise can be used around the kit and sounds great, try it!
Jason finished off the night playing to a medley of Pitchshifter tracks that involved lots of fast
cymbal chokes and complex sticking. The whole night was incredibly enjoyable.
Many thanks to Jason for coming down and to Darren at Drumtech for organising this event.
Lucas Van Rensberg (Drumtech student) |
