I used to get frustrated when my ride-hand phrasing felt like it belonged to another drummer than my left hand and feet. Ghost notes would either disappear or sit awkwardly behind the pulse, and no amount of playing along to records fixed the problem. Over the years I developed a focused, 12-minute...
Read more...
Lessons
I often get asked how I make a hybrid kick — a sampled or synthesized low-end...
Grooves
I practice groove every day, and over the years I’ve built a compact routine...
Technique
I love vintage snares for the character they bring—those slightly woody...
Technique
I’ve been running hybrid kits for years — acoustic shells fitted with mesh...
I love vintage snares for the character they bring—those slightly woody overtones, the slow bloom, and a thickness you can’t fake with modern shells. But when I’m tracking pop records or doing session work that needs tight rimshots and a fast...
I’ve been running hybrid kits for years — acoustic shells fitted with mesh heads and pads feeding into modules like the Roland SPD‑SX or Alesis Strike — and one recurring annoyance is double‑firing: a single stroke registering as two hits....
Getting a sampled kick and an acoustic kick to sit together in a mix so they read as one powerful, cohesive instrument is one of my favourite studio puzzles. I love the musical options a blended kick offers: the body and beater of the real kit with...
I love the sound of a vintage snare: that warm woody body, the subtle overtones that sit under your rimshots, the way it breathes in a room. But when you need a tight pop for radio-ready pop rimshots—clear attack, quick decay and no annoying...
When a kick drum on a recording lacks weight, the instinct is often to reach for a big compressor or an EQ boost. I prefer a different, more musical approach: blend in a sampled kick to reinforce the missing low end while keeping the natural attack...
I want your electronic snare to feel like an acoustic one when you’re playing live — not just in sound, but in response, dynamics and how it sits in the pocket. Over the years I’ve spent hours mapping SPD‑SX pads for live gigs and studio...
I’m obsessed with pocket — that deep, elastic place behind the beat where neo-soul breathes. Over the years I’ve condensed dozens of warmups, transcriptions and studio tricks into a compact daily routine that takes 15 minutes but moves the...
I’ve spent years chasing that elusive neo-soul pocket: a warm, behind-the-beat feel laced with whispery ghost notes that sit perfectly under the singer or keys. This week-long plan is what I use with students and in my own practice to lock that...
I want to show you a fast, practical way to get a 1970s "roomy" drum sound from a tiny home studio using just a single dedicated room mic plus three different stereo mic-pair options. The idea is not to imitate a huge studio exactly, but to capture...
I get asked a lot how I dial in a Ludwig Black Beauty for modern pop. It’s one of those snares that can sound cinematic, dry, fat, bright or anything in between depending on what you pair it with — heads, tensions and damping make all the...