Jezen Thomas Creativity //. Ideas

Here's a great little idea that I've been familiar with for a while, but I especially like the subtlety of this instance which I found while watching Evan Esposito's Guitar Centre Drum Off performance.

Finally, my Mandala Drum from Synesthesia Corp has arrived! I haven't yet seen many videos on the internet of users playing their Mandalas alongside their acoustic kits, so I thought it would be nice to give it a try.

I feel like I've only scratched the surface with this thing, even after spending an entire evening exploring its sounds and features with the proprietary software. I know it works with Logic, Cubase, Ableton, and any other DAW but I haven't come that far yet.

This is a clip taken from the Butterfly Imp show at Sticky Fingers, Gothenburg, on Saturday April 11th.

I had a theme of flashy rolls around the kit and stuff to rile up the crowd before the encore tune, Where the Sun Don't Shine. So, rolls around the drums, a bit of flair, some hand/foot rolls and 3-way backsticking.

This evening I ordered from America, one Synesthesia Corp Mandala Drum 2.0, co-developed by drum god Danny Carey of Tool.

From Synesthesia Corp's website:

The Mandala™ helps you find your rhythm - whether it's the beat of a drum, or of a sound you haven't yet created. Use it as a compositional tool, or to create any sonic reality your heart desires.

It's got percussion sounds down cold - and that includes percussion instruments like the piano, the vibraphone and the triangle. Its range gives people a rich, satisfying way to experiment.

BFI will be playing the top floor of Sticky Fingers on Saturday the 11th of April. Because it's a Saturday, and it's Sweden, then you will have to buy your tickets early from Pusterviks Biljetter if you are 18-20.

Aside from that, there's not much else I can (be bothered to) translate from Sticky Fingers' website about the show, other than that tickets cost 80 SEK, there will be a support band, and the show is presented by KIDKOAS & TMK NÖJE.

I look forward to seeing some friendly faces at the show, and if you have read this and decide to come along, then please do come and say hello!

I painstakingly transcribed all 125 bars of this absolute monster performance by Gavin. There are some really interesting ideas that he played, like dragging his sticks down the toms, and rolling on the snare with his fingers etc. Some very tricky licks in odd groupings with crazy 32nd note double bass ornamentations...

I really do hope this is well appreciated! The video can be found in high quality on Vic Firth's website, or alternatively on YouTube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKCIUpW3q9s

Butterfly Imp and Streets of Mars will be sharing the stage on two consecutive nights, near the end of this month.

Of a (take a deep breath) Black Panther Dynamic Steel Collectors Edition Stainless Steel Etched Snare Drum.

It's the right sound I'm looking for at the moment: the sensitivity of a steel shell but with a little more body and depth than my vintage Premier piccolo. It's more of a workhorse drum too, being very modern with easily replaceable parts.

Couldn't forget to mention that it looks very pretty as well. I mean, look at it! It's like the snare drum version of a disco ball!

This is a short play-along track from Rick Gratton's book 'Rick's Licks' that I was trying some ideas on. It's really the best way of getting better as a musician as well; otherwise I might not have noticed that my left hand needs strengthening, especially when playing ghost notes in the context of a groove, because at the moment it's sounding a bit swung when it shouldn't. I hope it is somewhat enjoyed anyway!

During the recording of 'Walking Tall', the band had the privaledge of working with camera and light technician Jonas Carlsson. He was in the studio with us documenting the recording process, and fortunately he managed to get a rare clip of me talking rubbish about microphones. For the record, I'm completely clueless when it comes to microphones. Guilty. But you'll see that in the first part of this video...