trickg

I came across a page on the Aquarian Drum Heads website that is essentially archived articles written by Roy Burns, drummer for Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton, among many others, and while most of the articles are written from a drummer's point of view, I began to realize that most of the things he talks about can be used by any musician who works with other musicians.

Anyway, there are some real gems of advice regarding professionalism, your attitude, dealing with mistakes, practice philosophies, etc.

http://www.aquariandrumheads.com/con...chive_list.asp

I wasn't sure where to put this. I didn't think that it really belonged in the Lounge, but at the same time, it's general musician discussion, not so much general trumpet discussion. Anyway, if you thinks that it should be somewhere else, please feel free to suggest it and I'll see to it that it gets moved.

trickg

Did ANYONE read any of the articles? I'm surprised that this thread hasn't gotten a response - I really thought that some of the stuff Roy wrote about was good stuff.

tpter1

Pat- I took a few minutes after school yesterday to do some reading. I skimmed a couple of the articles.

I just may print some of them and begin some dialogue about practice habits, self respect and respect in general. Not that these are disrespectful kids, but I am always trying to move things in a new direction.

I really took alot of what Roy Burns said about respect under serious thought, and thought about the many times I've said and heard "Oh. Them? They stink". or "So and so...not such a hot shot. I've heard better." I thought alot about those things, and actually my wife and I had a discussion about a very popular rock group (used to be metal, but has lightened up a bit) that has been around for many years. Neither of us like the songs the band plays, or how they perform them, but they are very well established and have been for many, many years, and will most likely be for many, many more. I thought about respect...and how difficult it is to even get a gig in this industry (you and I have both been beaten up at auditions recently, so we know this to be true), and my opinion of them is a little more tempered, and maybe when I speak of them and other bands, I will re-phrase what I say to reflect more of what I mean...(such as: country is not my type of music or even close to what I would listen to, but the famous artists are certainly well-recieved by their fans, and they must be good at what they do to be so consistently successful).

Good food for thought for us musicians.

ps. Roy Burns has some really well-regarded drum method books; I've used them myself.

dizforprez

I looked over them as well, it is alot of good advice collected into one place. After I have had time to read all of them I will probably post the link on my school webpage so that some of my students have a chance to read over them as well.

thanks!

trickg

Here's a quick update regarding the information and where it originally came from.

After digging a bit more, I've discovered the Roy Burns is actually part owner of Aquarian Drum Heads, which would make sense why his stuff is up there. The articles apparently came from an article that Roy used to write (still writes?) for Modern Drummer Magazine called "Concepts". The idea behind the column was to take someone who had been around the block several times as a pro drummer and have them put into words the common sense things that they used in their career as a way to pass them along to the aspiring drummer. Roy Burns certainly played with some greats and has had a fantastic career on his own.

I just thought I would share that little tidbit regarding the origins of the articles.