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.

This week’s drum blog was supposed to be about my wonderful experiences having just wrapped up an extended “show choir” gig on Sunday with Gilbert Players Theater. It was a cabaret involving six awesome singers. I played drum set in the pit band trio. My original lead was supposed to be something like this: Dr. Elizabeth Wrenn-Johnson (Beth) would be pleased to know I’m still doing exactly what she first gave me the opportunity and training to do many years ago.

Today is a sad day, though. Dr. Johnson died yesterday at age 67, God rest her soul. She was an amazing and talented woman who gave the gift of music to countless kids and adults in my hometown of Auburn, MA. I’d like to dedicate this blog to her memory and also today’s Trinity big band gig, previously scheduled coincidentally, at Auburn Senior Center.

As my single most fondest childhood memory, Dr. Johnson discovered me as a struggling trombonist practicing hard on my true love – the drum set – while playing in a practice room (closet) at Auburn High School. I still vividly remember her slowly opening that closet door, saying “Who is that drummer I hear”….. It was like she was opening the door to my future life, which today is mostly music thanks to her encouragement. As a lanky, shy, freckle-faced 13-year-old, I was waiting to be discovered, heard and inspired after putting in years of dedicated work behind the drum kit in private practice, lessons and junior high bands. Dr. Johnson “hired” me on the spot for her rapidly expanding chorus and jazz show choirs and sub acapella groups. At that time, she was superintendent of music for the entire Auburn School District, which is almost unheard of in today’s “arts come last” budgeting priorities. It was a golden era for music in Auburn Public Schools. Beth believed in live pit bands instead of pre-canned tape.

Dr. Johnson essentially gave me my very first chance on the drum set with several bands when all other traditional ensemble positions were filled by older drummers. I never forgot her kindness. Those teenage music memories are endless – from the many district and state competitions we attended – and sometimes won – to the endless after school rehearsals, parties and school concerts, and all the friends we made along the way.