Just in case anyone is thinking about abandoning the Percussion Forum because there has been no activity for nearly a fortnight, I should point out that we are actually all counting bars rest

hehe- this made me laugh. Being a percussionist, that is what we are best at doing!

Brilliant!

Lol...!

Very funny! We do play quite a bit, too, especially when not playing more classical music!

But even in the band I'm with atm (cheesy pop covers for dancing to!) I play less than keyboards/vocals do! Pretty much all the songd we do are ones where the drums don't come in to until the chorus or second verse!!


At least I'm doing plenty of studio sessions at college though! Got lots of e-mails through today from people at college with songs attached saying "can you learn this and record it for me tomorrow/day after tomorrow/next week" so that's good at least!!

hmm...do you think huge drum solos could fit into the cheesy pop covers?! It could be interesting, and it would reduce the number of rests. Best solution for percussionists is to play in a percussion ensemble, as you end up playing most of the time! Have fun with the studio sessions. I hope that the songs are all playable; non-percussionists sometimes come up with, erm, interesting music!

Lol... Most of the songs sound pretty simple, for the sessions...

But then when I research the track, I always find it's some real legend playing on the original, and I just know I won't be able to perform as well as they did!! Lol...

I've done a Vinnie Collaiuta track, a Steve Gadd track etc... And more to come from really good artists, it appears, so I am feeling the pressure!

I'm gonna get the tracks off the desk and college (after mastering, obviously!) and stick them on my website, though, so if anyone here (or elsewhere) is interested they can ofc listen to them! (There are three tracks with my drumming in them on there atm...)

It gives you something to aim for, though! You never know, you might be the next legend! lol...

My daughter plays percussion in the Youth Orchestra and my Mother goes on and on about her standing around waiting to play

Hope your studio sessions go well Manek!

Lol... Thanks!

I've got one booked for tomorrow, though, and the girl who's track I'm play for has repeatedly forgotten to bring me a CD of the song! I know it vaguely, which is alright for a live performance, but when I'm playing in the studio I prefer to know a track better than "vaguely"...

Don't worry it's her fault for not giving you the track, I bet you'll be brill anyway!

You count 100 bars of 101 rests.... Get ready to play... and the strings mess up, conductors stops and you go back 50 odd bars.....

That ALWAYS happens! In fact, it happened yesterday in my county wind orchestra. The percussionists had all just got ready to play after quite a few rests and the conductor decided to stop! Typical!

Lol... Was meant to record the track on Friday at lunchtime... Got given the CD at about ten o'clock on Friday morning! Didn't have time to listen before the session (politics lesson) so just wung it (past tense of "to wing it" ofc!) with somebody shouting through a communicator mic into my headphones every time it was the end of a section!!

Took two takes (destroyed my one-take record!) but got done in about half an hour, including setup and breakdown, so it all worked out alright in the end!

So long as it went well that's all that matters!

But then it happens as a piccolo player too (some people may see a pattern in my instrument list soon, lots of rests, very little playing!)

I am off to band now- so quite a lot of sitting around counting (also known as falling off, re-adusting and moving my throne for a while!)

My good friend (usually solo cornet) played with me one week, and suddenly realised how little you play, and how much you count the rests. She appreciates it now!