what is going on in your musical life

Rad! Congrats.

I have been rehearsing with a group doing Schuetz, Green, and Allegri in a concert next week Saturday that has been pushed back to a date in May where I can no longer sing with them. I'm supposed to start rehearsal with my regular group on Handel's "Alexander's Feast" on Sunday but I suspect that is going to be canceled.

Fuck you, coronavirus

I just bought a fancy new drumkit, just in time to not gig.

What kind?

It is a DW LowPro - a travel kit that fits in a rolling suitcase. Very compact and nimble; idwL for the small clubs that I am not playing in.

https://i.imgur.com/mpCrCLK_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

*ideal

How much sound comes out of that kick when not mic'ed up?

that's really cool YMP!

reminds me of the old steve jordan "cocktail" kits i used to see in modern drummer ads in the 90s:

https://i.imgur.com/JU494Rj.jpg

Jordan - quite a lot.

It's very full and boomy. Sounds like a jazz kit (more "note" than "thud"). I will likely change to some more rock-oriented heads, like Pinstripes, to get my accustomed sound. But as configured it is plenty loud for a bar stage.

And KM I know a dude with one of those - I find the ergonomics questionable. I played standing up a couple time in an experimental band in college, no wish to repeat that. With my old Pearl travel kit and with this new one, I am making all the same motions as I would with a normal kit; the drums are just a little smaller.

Those little kits are built for someone my size — I’ve been wanting one! Unfortunately my musical life is a minor mess rn. Even if the band I’m playing with doesn’t have their record release show cancelled, I’m not playing at it as had been previously planned :(

Sorry LL.

My band has a text thread going right now about canceling our gig in a couple weeks.

I feel very torn about that kit because even though I loathe lugging drums more every year, they just don't look cool :/

what does that mean, LL? Are you still with the band?

fortunately, the drama of my situation has been drowned in COVID-19, so the sting is less fresh.
i could explain the whole thing but the basic situation is that I was under the impression that we were going to try a double-drummer situation, we rehearsed this way once, a month passed, and then I got an email with the other drummer's suggestions for my parts a) 3 days before the last rehearsal before the show and b) they were extremely minimal, including playing a tambourine/shakers/doing nothing. i didn't have time to practice his parts even if i wanted to, and upon reading them (and because of the combination of a and b) I decided that I did not want to. So I bartleby'd and told everyone I would prefer to hang from the floor instead of on stage.

now i'm not sure the show will actually happen, and i am assuming that i am still local sub because we all have bigger things to worry about than drum parts. still, i did not relish the idea of being on a stage doing nothing but needlessly shaking a tambourine.

i feel that i am showing a lot of restraint by not complaining in public about all of the things about this situation that bothered me. i am now over it, hoarding food, and looking forward to a little pandemic practice time

Wow, LL, that seriously sucks. Shitty move on their parts.

That does suck, but I must say that shaking a tambourine is never needless

Yeah it sucks.

I think I disagree w you Jordan

When there are already 5 other people on stage, it is not necessary for an extra person to be there shaking a tambourine. Would you want to be that person? I decided that I don't, at least not under these circumstances.

xp - it's actually kinda difficult to do double drummers (depending on the parts and musical style) without much rehearsal -- so I could see other band members thinking the parts suggestions were good and pragmatic and still valuing you as a musician / bandmate. Otoh that sucks to be person demoted.

I don't know if this will make you feel better, but, last month I got to hang out with a friend I hadn't seen in a year. About 13 years ago he was in a band with a double drummer line-up. He was the bass player. One of the drummers was the bandleader and he kicked the other drummer out of the band because he felt her playing wasn't similar enough to his style. I was shocked to hear this, because she, the second drummer, was like, always perfect. Her timing was perfect. Her sight-reading was perfect. ... Anyway, now he doesn't really have a band, and she is in a very highly regarded weird/arty/indie band that there are threads about on ilx.

that does make me feel better!
more than anything i would like to preserve my relationship with bandmates (and especially the songwriter/main person whose band it is) and keep things going smoothly. it didn't have to be like this, and that is part of what gnawed at me about this situation.

I messaged you further details!

I get that there are probably additional dynamics here with the band, and also maybe a gender thing if you see playing shaker/tambourine as not as important as drums.

But personally I love playing tambourine, I think it makes everything come together and I often sit in on friend's gigs on tambourine, and we often have a third drummer who just plays tambourine and cowbell. But I probably wouldn't join a band just to play tambourine, yeah (unless they were really good friends).

I just think the tambourine is a noble pursuit!
https://youtu.be/ib9lUmgCyFU?t=84

Both things are true: LL was treated shittily, _and_ we can dig a well-played tambourine.

When I am sitting in as a percussionist with a band that has a drummer, I will add what I think is tasteful and right for the song.

But if I'm one of two drummers? No, we will talk about the parts and we will come to a consensus decision about what best serves the song. That can include subtler parts, sure, but by agreement, not by dictatorial edict. What it sounded like in LL's case was that the other drummer thought of it as "lead drummer / backup drummer", not "two drummers."

yeah totally

Agree. Mostly I lament that there was not clearer communication to have avoided the situation I found myself in upon reading that email 3 days before rehearsal.

In more upbeat news, my band's album is OUT NOW WOOO: https://slumoflegs.bandcamp.com/album/slum-of-legs

Yaaaaaaay!!! I recently saw that a guy I knew in high school (in Ohio!) is a fan of yours!!

LL very sorry to hear about what happened. i'd say "their loss", but i know you're trying to continue on with them, which is admirable.

emil.y this is so good! in a way RUTHE14ME reminds me of a fast La Dusseldorf of the Viva-era (an era I adore)!

Yeahhh! If at least one person agrees with the La Dusseldorf comparison then I am happy!

Wait, has anyone else said that?? If so that is a great compliment imo

Ha, we say it in our press blurb and it's somewhere on the bandcamp page (we compare ourselves to Slant 6, The Shaggs & La D), but if you came up with it without even seeing that then that's even better.

haha, tbh i did see "krautrock" mentioned somewhere and my first thought was "oh yeah, like La Dusseldorf"! so i guess i was influenced toward that comparison

i think that's a really good riyl though, both fitting and a wonderful sound

Sounds great, e.mily!

I would probably join a band just to shake a tambourine. That’s where I’m at in life.

Sounds rough, LL. Sorry it happened that way.

I hadn't spent a lot of time on standards, since I've been mostly focused on recording* for the album I hope to complete, but I did "Autumn Leaves" and "Lester Leaps In" at a jam last Friday. When I do find time for this stuff, I try to work a bit more on comping these days. I blanked out on the turnaround in the A section of rhythm changes at first, lol, but it eventually came back to me and I think things worked out OK in the end.

*at a bit of a slow point after I finished one piece and now want to redo half of it

Will catch up with recordings on this thread.

Does look like there will be a lot of time for home recording coming up anyway.

I should have said that while there's nothing inherently "less than" about playing tambourine/aux perc, no one wants to feel relegated to a role they don't want to play.

all the show cancelling drama -- and the people who don't want to cancel, and the people shaming them for not doing so, and most of these shows are like ... probably audience of 20 - 40 people ... these past few months and the next two are the busiest for my non-musical life so I am kinda glad I am not enmeshed in the drama, and while at times I miss running an arts / concert venue (which I did for many years), I definitely don't miss it now.

listening to slum of legs now, sounds great

My church gig has been cancelled for the next three weeks.

Still getting paid though, thank you MA political climate

I'm playing "The Baader-Meinhof..." in a plug party rn. It got a rave review from a non-ilxor (song as well as band name).

Ah wow, you guys <3 <3 <3

Yeah, holy shit, slum of legs! This is so far up my alley that I’m calling the cops for trespassing.

Emily, I see you’ve got vinyl coming out. Are you happy with how it looks/sounds/feels?

So it looks like I never posted about my new band’s record of last year. Pretty proud of how it came out overall. Old-skool indie rock (GBV etc) if you like that kind of thing.

https://salthorse.bandcamp.com

We’re currently doing pre-production for a series of digital singles for later in the year. I have 5-6 songs completes and about 50 in various stages of incompletion. Hoping for a work-from-home quarantine so I can finish a few more of them in between Skype meetings.

Emily, I see you’ve got vinyl coming out. Are you happy with how it looks/sounds/feels?

Yeah, we're really pleased. It took us long enough and all.

Will give your stuff a listen in a bit!

Salt Horse sounds great too!

Thanks! It ain’t much, but it’s what I’ve got.

Emily, I finally got around to listening to SoL... It's fucking great! :D

The sound of the violin is so beautiful, all over the record. Goes for all the strings and synths! Love the melodies, the post-punk twists and the overall 'pulse' driving your sound (def La Dusseldorf in there, too!). And 'Benetint' is a fucking statement of intent to open with. Love it. <3