Blending diverse rhythmic and musical styles into the mainstream scene with good taste has been Tim Kane’s forte as a Massachusetts-based drummer, percussionist and music educator for more than 25 years.

Kane began drumming and playing trombone in fourth grade. He graduated from Fitchburg State College where he was course and ensemble trained in jazz, concert and various school-based jam bands. He also studied and performed with a jazz quintet at the well-respected Indian Hill Music Conservatory in Littleton, Mass.

Today, Tim is entering his 10th year as the drum set and percussion instructor at Eagle Hill High School in Hardwick where he implemented an innovative new percussive arts and djembe group drum circle program for special needs students as well as teaching privately in his home recording studio. He also teaches songwriting and digital audio recording. He can help you record a cover or original song demo.

He endorses Vic Firth Drum Sticks and worked previously for several years as a professional educational and product writer for Dixon Drums and Gibraltar Hardware. He had a major story about famed Police drummer Stewart Copeland published in Modern Drummer magazine two years ago that is featured here.

Kane currently tours New England every summer in a trop-rock Jimmy Buffet-style tribute band, The Island Castaways Band, which released a new CD of original songs this past spring that is getting killer airwaves on a bevy of top island music radio stations. The band’s top single is linked here. TICB’s fan base ranges from a few hundred to thousands at indoor and outdoor public and private venues, including Boston Red Sox Fenway Park festivals.

Kane also holds down jazz drums for the Trinity Swing Big Band, performing most every Tuesday in and around Worcester and Central Mass.

In 2012, he published a full album of his own making, composing and recording 10 original songs and playing all instruments found streaming live at Spotify and located at Reverb Nation here.

Kane expanded his drum teaching and performance business eight years ago to host “All Together Drumming” offering fun, therapeutic group hand drumming circles using djembes and other percussion in private and public settings on a weekly basis year-round. Recent clients have included Stonehenge NH, YMCA, Worcester Art Museum, area schools, senior citizens, town commons, parks and recreation depts., and the Center for Autism Awareness of Central Massachusetts.

He is an active member of the national Drum Circle Facilitators Guild, Percussive Arts Society and Massachusetts Music Educators Association.

Learn more about Tim at kanedrums.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/timkanedrums/

Call or text him at: 774-757-7636

Email: tim@kanedrums.com

Hi.

I would like to take this brief time to thank you for hiring me to lead your recent drum circle experience. I thought it went well and hope you and your guests feel the same.

As my business relies on word of mouth and referrals, I invite you vote and comment on my services at the quick Poll link below? I will use comments and feedback to improve my program.

I find most repeat clients of mine remain happy with the services rendered. I would like to extend the same opportunity to you and perhaps any peers who might be interested as well.

Thanks again for the opportunity.

Sincerely,

Tim Kane
Founder
All Together Drum Circles
kanedrums.com

774-757-7636

The Drum Set Doctor as part of Kane Drums offers a complete drum and percussion instrument repair service traveling to local schools, colleges,  institutions and homes.

With 30 years of experience tuning and repairing everything from drum set, bass drum and timpani heads to replacing smaller lugs, nuts, washers, strainers and felt components, The Drum Set Doctor can quickly assess your drum or percussion instrument’s needs and recommend options.

The Drum Set Doctor also offers a complete drum restoration program, specializing in drum kit re-wraps and hardware overhauls.

Read our drum and percussion repair blog here.

Call today for a free consultation at 774-757-7636.

Most know that I facilitate and lead group djembe drum and percussion circles on a weekly and monthly basis at various senior centers, libraries, community facilities, and assisted living facilities throughout Massachusetts. This summer is heating up as one of my best season’s yet. Thanks to everyone for taking a chance on me. Here’s the schedule:

Hitchcock Free Academy International Music Day – June 21,  6-8pm (for kids, teens and adults, public invited)

Eagle Hill Summer Camp, July 10-Aug. 1 (private)

Oxford Public Library, Oxford, MA – July 18, 6 pm (for kids and teens only, public welcomed)

Monson Free Public Library, Monson, MA – July 19, 4-5 pm (for kids only, public welcomed)

“Art of Drumming” Lecture and Drum Circle, Monson Free Public Library, Monson, MA – July 19, 6-7:30 pm( for adults only, public welcomed)

Gardner Rehab, Gardner, MA – July 20, 10:30 am (private)

Clapp Memorial Library, Belchertown, MA – July 25, 6-7 pm (for kids and teens only, public welcomed)

Joshua Hyde Public Library, Sturbridge, MA – July 27, 2-4 pm (for kids and teens only, public welcomed)

Sturbridge Senior Center, Sturbridge, MA – Aug. 1, 3:30 pm (seniors welcomed)

Clinton Senior Center, Sturbridge, MA – Aug. 9, 10 am (seniors welcomed)

Masonic Nursing Home, Charlton, MA – Aug. 10, 2 pm (private)

Gardner Rehab, Gardner, MA – Aug. 17, 10:30 am (private)

Charlton Senior Center, Charlton, MA – Aug. 20, 11 am (seniors welcomed)

Paige Memorial Library, Hardwick, MA – Aug. 21, Time TBA, (kids and adults welcomed)

Hampden Senior Center, Hampden, MA – Sept. 7, 10 am (seniors welcomed)

Masonic Nursing Home, Charlton, MA – Sept. 14, 2 pm (private)

Email: tim@kanedrums.com

Cell/text: 774-757-7636

They don’t call him Christopher “Miles” for nothing.

Here’s his very first live gig jazz drums performance to “Sweet Georgia Brown” as a fifth grader in front of hundreds of onlookers.

He nailed it… Even had a sweeet little solo.

So so very proud of all his progress this year on the drum kit and classical percussion. Honored to be his teacher.

I feel like that little boy again sitting in my tiny bedroom endlessly playing my uncle’s Pearl cotton candy finish drum kit dreaming of  stardom.

Some things take time and patience in life. Sometimes even decades.

One of the biggest gigs of my life with The Island Castaways Band came Tuesday night at the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park. The festival was unbelievable and surreal. This was not your typical local nightly band or solo artist lining up next to the sausage stand on Yawkey Way and hoping a few dozen folks would take a listen as they passed by. This was as close to the big time as I’ve ever been honored to be a part of. Thousands of people showed up to actually hear our band, dance, sing and have a great time at a private, pre-game party. It was a live concert.

Bandmaties Joe, Paul, Heather, Rick, Lyn, John and I practiced really hard for this and it paid off with a nearly flawless performance.

I don’t know where the future will take me as a career-minded drummer looking to tour more, or even with this very talented on-the-rise band, but one thing is resoundingly certain after this awesome experience: all that endless teenage practice, sweat, rejection, criticism, pain and study is finally paying off.

Live to play live music.

In my private teaching system, rudiments are a part of every lesson no mater what skill level the player is at.

Why?

Because rudiments are “the language of drums” – just like our alphabet helps power English as our primary language or scales guide the learning process on brass, string or woodwind instruments. Without rudiments, there is no baseline barometer for playing any type of percussion instrument.

Today, there are 40 common rudiments as agreed to by the Percussive Arts Society (PAS). In 1979, the PAS Marching Percussion Committee appointed the PAS International Drum Rudiment Committee to act as the governing body in the revision and standardization of the previous 26 rudiments. A new listing of 40 International Drum Rudiments was adopted by PAS in 1984 and included drum corps, orchestral, European, and contemporary drum rudiments.

However, the genesis of rudiments actually dates back to the morning of April 17, 1775, according to graduate student Eric Alan Chandler in his 1990 Louisiana State University dissertation paper, “when drummer William Diamond was given orders by Captain John Parker in Lexington to sound his drum (no doubt a field snare crafted by Noble & Cooley Drum Co. of Granville, MA) to warn that the British were coming. At the Battle of Yorktown, which was the virtual end of the Revolutionary War, a British drummer from the 23rd Royal Fuseliers stepped up on a redoubt and beat the Parley, which stopped the firing. This signified the desire for a conference with the enemy. The fact that the Revolutionary War started and ended with the beat of a drum indicates the instruments’ historical importance.” Essentially, rudiments and drumming helped end the war.

For those who possess little knowledge of drumming rudiments, they are simply a series of left and right hand snare drumming command signals (like the famous Paradiddle RLRR-LRLL) coming in several different families and sequences meant to strengthen coordination and improve muscle memory. They also help students develop an early understanding of sight reading and note values.

But they are a lot more than that today with countless stick control method books written on the topic. When applied to the full drum kit, rudiments take on a whole new meaning and application.

Everything we play on the drum set is a simple or complex array of different rudiments played in partiality or as a whole together. So you can see why mastering them first will make you a better drummer. In fact, I’ve found those who don’t learn rudiments and don’t practice them for life, hit a wall in their progression on the instrument and that can even lead to injury from poor technique. That’s because rudiments are meant to help drummers teach their own body how to play. It’s called muscle memory.

Learn your rudiments.