Watch here for assignments Walkersville and Catoctin High Schools

Hello students,

Students with Walkersville High School Marching Band drumline and Catoctin High School Marching Band drumline can catch schedules, practice material and other what-nots I will be dishing out for training.

Be sure to get your copy of Row-Loff Production's "The Drummers Daily Drill" for fundamentals training.

Stick/Mallet needs will be Innovative Percussion's FS-1 Field Snare sticks and Innovative Percussion's FP-2 Fundamental Education Package. These are required for full training to become a quality competing drumline for your school and for your own drumming education.

Watch here daily for upcoming news.

Ray Sword

Percussion Night At Frederick Community College

It doesn't get any better than this! 3 clinics. 3 artists. ALL FREE!!!
Greg Herron, Ray Sword and Frank Gonzalez will present many different topics on percussion and they will team up to perform a three movement chart by Armand Russell titled Percussion Suite. You will also get to see and perform with the FCC Percussion Ensemble.

This clinic is supported by Promark drumsticks, Music & Arts Center and Frederick Community College.

Percussion Ensemble Clinic to be held at Frederick Community College

Frederick Community College's Percussion Ensemble will be having a Percussion clinic open to all on March 20th, 2009 rom 6:30 - 8:30 pm.

Greg Herron, Percussion professor, and Ray Sword, private percussion instructor at Music & Arts, has teamed together to present a percussion ensemble clinic for all of those interested. The clinic will include a discussion, a demonstration by the college's percussion students and then an all out hands on for everyone.

There is no fee for this event. Just bring an open mind, pencil and paper.

Directions, Maps & Parking

Frederick Community College, 7932 Opossumtown Pike, Frederick, Maryland, 21702, is centrally located in the state and about an hour outside Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The modern campus is just minutes off several well-traveled thoroughfares.

From Baltimore: Follow I-70 from Baltimore to Frederick. Exit onto Route 15 north. Follow 15 north to Motter Avenue exit. Turn right onto Motter/Opossumtown Pike. Travel one mile and turn left at entrance to FCC.

From Washington: Follow I-270 northwest from Washington to the junction with I-70 and Route 15. Follow Route 15 north to the Motter Avenue exit. Turn right onto Motter/Opossumtown Pike. Travel one mile and turn left at the entrance to FCC.

From the west: Follow I-70 east from Hagerstown. Take the first Frederick exit to Route 40. Follow Route 40 east to Route 15 junction. Follow Route 15 north to Motter Avenue. Turn right onto Motter/Opossumtown Pike. Travel one mile and turn left at entrance to FCC.

From Anchorage: This obviously would be a really long drive so we suggest you fly instead. We encourage you to take classes online.

From San Francisco: Head east, otherwise you'll run directly into the Pacific Ocean. Depending on your route and sightseeing habits, allow 3 to 5 travel days. Credit classes are out of the question, so consider our one-time continuing education courses, art exhibits or concerts. An online class in Cultural Geography (GG 102) or History of the United States (HI 201), will broaden your travel experience.

See you there.

Ray Sword
Drum Instructor @ Music & Arts

New Official Alternate Mode Kat Percussion Online Dealer

Badassdrumming.com is now an official dealer online for Alternate Mode KAT Percussion products. We continue, at Badassdrumming to bring you the best available products and keep you up to date in your craft. Drumming is always changing and music is always changing. So be prepared. Check out the new line of KAT Percussion now. Click the banner to see this incredible line of products.

Students are EXCITED with their drum lessons.

This past Friday's and Saturday's drum students had their lessons on the new Simmons SD5K Drum Kit for the first time. You should have seen the their reactions!!!

None of them wanted to leave!!! Even the two 6 yr. olds wanted to stay and practice more. Every student got lost in time because they were having so much fun learning. Each one thanked me for bringing in a drum set that is so much fun to play on.

We, as teachers, need to look at what keeps a student interested in learning. If you don't keep it exciting they leave quickly. I say to each teacher out there to evaluate what and how you teach. I say this as help to you if you are losing students or not getting more students. I have parents that drive 40 miles one way just to bring their child to lessons. WHY? Because that child begs to be at lessons.

I here some say that they won't start a student any younger than 9 or 10 years old. Why? Teaching styles may be a little different to each age group but I see better progress while they are younger. I don't worry about them learning to read yet at 6, 7 or 8. I can put that in once they start understanding spoken language and can spell decently.

If you want help to teaching younger students contact me and I'll be glad to help you with methods that work.

Kenneth "Ray" Sword Jr

Drum Lesson Studio coming to Frederick, MD

High Tech Drum Lesson Studio coming to Frederick, MD

Just imagine ... you show up for your drum lesson, enter the practice room and sit down to an electronic kit that can be tailored to the sounds needed for the lesson. From 80's pop sounding toms to a coctail jazz kit to a kit tuned for the Dave Matthews Band style songs or for Contemporary Christian Rock. Whatever sound you need we most likely have it.

Need to practice a tympani part for your school program? Got it covered here. Plus, with the Aux. Input for mp3's and other tunes playback devices AND the built in songs bank, you have many songs and styles ready to practice to.
Just pop it in hit play and you play along with it. If you are using the song bank that is included with this kit you can silence the drumtrack and you play along and hear yourself with the band.

Once we have this track thing established your next step will be to be recorded. I will be growing your chances of fast advancement with all the high tech tools available. In the coming months audio and video recordings of the students lessons will be incorporated into the lesson plan. This gives the student the opportunity to have on record what the lesson plan was, what things we worked on to fix technique and so on. They will be able to see, without a doubt, what was covered in the lesson and what is expected to be ready for the next lesson.

Come and check it out. I'm located at Music & Arts Center on W. Patrick St right across McDonald's and Giant Eagle on Rt. 40 in Frederick, MD. I have available time slots for students on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the moment. Contact the store for specific times available @ 301.694.0007. Lessons are contracted on a monthly basis.

Ray Sword

Badassdrumming site is up on the new server

Hello all,

We are in the process of getting the site up on the new server and hope to have register and login functions working within the next 48 to 72 hours. There are drummer profiles that are accessible right now and a few other pages.

If you find something not working feel free to report it so we can get right on it.

Hoping that 2009 will be your best year yet.

Kenneth Ray Sword Jr
www.badassdrumming.com

Heidi Klum and Guitar Hero

Heidi Klum's Guitar Hero commercial has got to be the latest lows of low for the gaming industry and for herself.

For starts, the gaming industry has raped the consumers worldwide on sales of the games Guitar Hero and Rock Band and all of the accessories nearly the same way oil companies raped consumers on gas prices. The consumer gets addicted and they'll spend whatever to get it. And when the next Gene Simmons Limited Edition Axe comes out for the games you can bet many will go out and buy it.

What amazes me more is the number of consumers that would never take a music class for the worry of being a band geek in their younger days are now wanting to be glorified, certified, GH Superstars; the best button pushing, flipper-flipping guitar emulating band geeks anywhere. And will waste thousands of dollars doing it. Yes, thousands. Add up all of the replaced, broken 'controllers', upgrades, another version, newer model, different color, etc. and it adds up. That's why every toy maker is jumping on to this rapidly growing money waster. They see consumers buying it all.

Want real proof to what I say? Let's look at Gene Simmons of KISS. He now has his AXE ready for the market. Gene is a marketing genius and proved it over the years starting back in the seventies. From the Costumes to lunch boxes to Action Figures, KISS was marketed in many ways more than most music groups ever were and GENE made MILLIONS on the KISS Empire. There is not one product on the market that resembles KISS unless it's through Gene Simmons. So, if Gene sees a way to make $$$$$$$ he'll do it.

Ok, I guess I should say something about Heidi Klum here or should I comment on how unoriginal the Brett Ratner commercial is. So, here goes. I guess she needed the popularity of GH to bring her some attention. Brett is cashing in on the the unoriginal commercial making of Risky Business that featured Tom Cruise. It seems the only thing original anymore are the songs being featured in the games.

Anyone want to emulate the motion?

The Simmons SD5K Electronic Drum Kit - A Review

I recently saw a Simmons Drum kit SD5K at Music & Arts and decided to see if it was worth looking into as at least as a practice kit.

Comes with 4 drum pads, kick tower, 3 cymbal pads and a hi-hat footswitch, rack and module, sticks and power pack. Ok, not a bad start. No bass drum pedal. No problem. All cables for pads to module included. Nice.

The first hits on the kit while in default settings prove not bad at all. The ride cymbal was the first not to trigger on all strikes. Switched cymbal pads and still the same. Missed triggers.

Ok, on to the hi-hat. Here's the real test. Do you get a good sound when opening and closing the hats pedal. I was getting ... A GREAT RESPONSE from the hi-hats!!!!! I always heard many other drummers say the HH bites. This one is so close to real. So I tried partial opens and all. I'm shocked. It worked!!!!

Now, the rest. All pads worked and responded well to dynamic playing. Even the kick tower.

The frame is very lightweight.

Even for a practice kit this would be ok. I may just get one for the studio to teach on. For apartment living this will help you get that practice in quietly.

Oh. There is a headphone jack and an AUX in to pipe in mp3's and all.

Music & Arts price ... $499.00 + taxes (In-Stock).
Music 123.com .... $399.00 + taxes and shipping.
Musician's Friend ... $399.00 = taxes and shipping.
Shipping will have an additiional charge because of the box size.

Shop for the better deal for you.

Ray Sword to perform with the Frederick Symphony Orchestra

Ray Sword will be one of the percussionists performing with the Frederick Symphony Orchestra on October 25th, 2008. FSO's concert titled "Latin Fiesta" will be featuring guest artist Luis Engelke and will be held at the Jack B. Kussmaul Theater. Concert time is 8:00PM.

See the calendar for full details.

The FSO is under the direction of Elisa Koehler.

Acoustic or Electronic Drums? You input is needed.

In a time where everything is going digital should drums and percussion follow suit? The more I listen and look at electronic drum kits, drum pads and drum triggers the more I am compelled to look at this option for my drumming needs. The idea of lighter weight, less bulk is drawing me closer to this idea.

Recently, I have looked at a few electronic Marimbas/Vibraphones and a few electronic drum kits. Since everything is MIDI based this means that real drum samples can be used for the voicings. I can have two mallet instruments for far less price by going electronic than the conventional instruments, saving thousands of dollars.

A decent 5+ octave Marimba alone goes for over $10,000.00. A good set of vibes over $3,000. Their electronic counterpart - under $3000.00.

As for a drum kit ... acoustic 5 piece drum kit for about $1000.00 plus stands and cymbals. It's electronic counterpart for under $1000.00 easily.

Even looking at the Yamaha DD-65 Drum Pad kit with 50 preset drum kit sounds and 5 programmable kit slots, 8 pads & 2 footswitches that can be upgraded to a kickpad and hi-hat tower. This setup, upgraded, would run about $400.00+.

As for aesthetics, the look is not what I'm after it's the sound and durability. With gas and all expenses going up it's not worth doing gigs anymore with so much equipment. Wanting to limit setup and teardown time to maximize my earnings.

So what do you think. Good idea? Or bad idea?

Match Grip vs. Conventional Grip - Which is correct?

Match Grip vs. Conventional Grip - Which is correct?

Hello and no, this is not a battle of one grip over the other. This has to do with current practices that are not ergonomically friendly. The rising number of drummers within the past 15 to 20 years that have had drumming related injuries is well beyond the numbers of generations prior. Let's take a look at some of the possible reasons.

The most common injury is Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, an injury of the tendons. This comes from several things.
1. Lack of stretching and warming up before playing.
2. Bad grip or grip technique
3. Bad motion of the wrist/arm

Let's start with stretching. It is a necessary instrument prior to performing. The cold tendons and muscles need time to get into playing condition. Getting good blood flow to the limbs is necessary, too. With the blood/oxygen flow the limbs are now prepared to handle the stress they are about to take on. Without stretching you are placing those limbs into an At-risk of injury.

Next is bad grip. With any job your goal is to expel to least amount of energy and get maximum results. I call it the 'play smart, not hard' theory. Think of like a major purchase. If you can get that big flat screen TV at one store for $1400.00 and the same TV is at another store for $890.00 of course you'll go for the $890.00 deal.

Well, drumming should be the same way. Spend less energy and get the same product. This is where alot of energy is wasted, the grip. If you are not working with the stick's fulcrum (balance point) you are already fighting a lost cause. Second, gripping the stick like a club will tire your hand out. You want a loose grip just barely keeping the stick between the fingers. I tell my students to think of using the friction of the skin only to hold the stick in place, fingers lightly wrapped around the stick.

Now, since we are here on grip next would be what is the right grip. This is going to depend on the angle of the drum. If the drum is flat in front of you then match grip would be best for this drum position. Shoulders, elbows, forearms and wrists are all symmetrical and balanced. This would be ergonomically correct or in harmony with the body.

If the drum is tilted with the left side of the rim up and right side down then conventional grip is ergonamically correct. This grip was designed for field military drummers because the drum hung on a sling and tilted in the process. So the conventional grip was designed just for that. Later adoption to using it on flat field drums has led to more injuries and a player that is ergonamically out of balance. One shoulder is higher, one elbow in vs. the other out and the degree of twist in the left arm from the elbow forward. With this in mind, the spine also twists a little to help compensate for this position. This is not good at all on any marching player. The same goes for any sitting player behind a drumset.

So a marcher playing on a flat drum should be using match grip and this goes for sitting drummers with the snare flat in front of you or tilted toward you. On to bad motion of the wrists/arms.

There are times when a player gets tired and the gig isn't over. What happens? They tighten up. They start holding their breath. They start twisting the wrist in an awkward way. They start using more arm and less fingers ... it becomes an increasing stress to the player because they react in the opposite way they should. With the arms and wrists now reacting in the wrong way the player has increased the risk of injury. The player needs to relax, check their stick grip and their breathing. Any other bad motions, like slouching, will correct itself once you start to relax.

We covered some possible causes of injuries that the player can immediately correct. Let's look at just a few other things real quick that may cause injury.

Let's look at all of the things a percussionist has to strike and how. First, there are nearly an endless amounts of surfaces a player strikes from plastic, metal, wood, resins, composites, calfskins, cowhide, sheepskin, etc. And the choices to strike them from the hand to sticks/mallets to shaking. The gammot is wide open. How dense or soft the material is will also play in the effect on how we strike it and the repercussion it creates.

Todays marching snare drum has gone through many changes over the years in materials but still have these things in common; it's a round shell with heads, has hoops and snares mounted across the bottom head. Todays units are are built tighter and lighter than their predeceasors of 20 or 30 years ago. Torquing the top head, now made of Kevlar, is one design I question. The snare now sounding like a piece of masonite and such high tone doesn't carry far. So to compensate drummers have to play harder to get louder and when that's not enough the director needs to add more snares to the section. So, striking a torqued surface made of Kevlar with a Hickory drumstick ... what does that do to the player's arms? The repercussion (shock) of the strike will send back through the stick to the hand/arm a wave that is bound to have some effect to the player.

I mentioned other materials like metal (cymbals, gongs, bells, chimes, vibraphone ...), wood (woodblock, headless tambourine, marimba, bass drum hoops, cajon ...), resins (xylophone, graphite blocks ...) plastics (tambourine ...), different skins (bongos, congas, doumbek, djembe ...) and even vegetables (gourds, guiro ...) and clay pots (gourd variations, platas ...). Each of these have different methods of holding and striking. There is no doubt that the hand drums will have the most impact on your body overall. Care must be taken to insure the least possible amount of injury. Learning the correct techniques in holding and striking all of these instruments is essential.

Kenneth Ray Sword Jr
www.badassdrumming.com

Drummers are far better in percentages than football players and doctors.

Drummers are far better in percentages than football players and doctors.

Someone will surely say this is obsured but think about it for a moment. Athletes, making millions of dollars, do not obtain 100% efficiency of their sport. It's just not possible. Look at doctors. They get paid to practice their field. WHAT? Musicians have to practice on their own and are expected to perform perfectly, EVERYTIME! I just don't get it.

Ray Sword

Welcome to BadAssDrumming Blog

Ray Sword here to greet you to our new blog. For all of you drummers we will be bringing you some of the most sought after and less known things about drumming and percussion. It free to join our site and we continue to grow and expand the site weekly.

Just locked in a new endorsed artist - Frank Gonzalez, educator for Promark Drumsticks. He joins the ranks with Art Avila. We also have Ricky Malichi, Jazz drummer endorsed by SPAUN Drums.

All of these guys will be bringing videos, lessons, articles and more to give to you, our drumming friends.

Be sure to join up for free.

www.badassdrumming.com - Are you a bad ass? Join and prove it.

Ray Sword
Founder of BadAssDrumming. com