To me, the cymbals are the most important component to a great sounding drum kit. In fact, I often like to consider myself a “cymbal player” instead of a drummer. Your cymbals are your color instruments, it’s what completes and expresses your personal style.
You can dampen, tune and manipulate your drums all day. But with the cymbal: What you hear, is what you get. Let’s look at three ways to get the best sounds out of your cymbals: Continue reading →
A few weeks back I posted about the NPR 100, a series from back in 2000 that recounted “the stories behind 100 of the most important American musical works of the 20th century, across all styles and genres.”
In light of the passing of banjo legend Earl Scruggs, take a minute to listen to this episode which has a brief history of Earl — from his early days in North Carolina to his stint with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys — and the story behind the development of Scruggs style banjo playing and the song that catapulted it into the American consciousness: Foggy Mountain Breakdown (original recording here).
There’s also lots of incredible footage of Earl and the Foggy Mountain Boys from the Grand Ole Opry on YouTube which I’d highly recommend exploring. Here are some good places to start:
The producers of a new show called One True Religion looked for an edgy, contemporary rock song that reflects the swaggering attitude of European football fan culture.
Now, a track by Indaba Member Marvin Tripp will be prominently featured in a show about Munich’s football culture. If you have cable and you’re watching the tube on Sunday evening, check it out!
1TR will premiere this Sunday at 9:00pm EDT on FOX Soccer Channel. Listen to the winning submission below.
At the Indaba Media Headquarters, we listen to a ton of music. Our community (that means you!) are unstoppable creators making serious waves in a wide variety of genres and music scenes around the world.
The 4 artists below are Indaba Members and we’re proudly begging to hear more.
Town Hall is an earnest and adventurous indie folk band from New York City. The band explores unexpected rhythms, warm textures, and candid lyrics, which create a raw, spellbinding sound.
Andrew Foshee is a very gifted singer and multi-instrumentalist with a sense for tasteful songwriting. His music sounds pure and honest. Based in Lake Lotawana, Missouri, Foshee has been featured on NBC and Indaba’s Breakthrough Artist Playlist’ at Grooveshark.
Bruno Merz, a New Zealand born singer-songwriter, understands what taste is about. His beautifully composed music, paired with sensitive lyrics and a recognizable voice, will enchant everybody who listens to it. Bruno’s songs are deeply personal and honest. Right now he is working on a new album, which will be released this year. We can’t wait to listen to it.
Diggs Duke is a very talented multi-instrumentalist who currently resides in Maine, US. His ability to combine R&B with Soul and Jazz is impressive and creates a funky sound that stays in your head. Diggs is a very sophisticated artist who knows exactly what he wants.
When they wrote their self-titled EP, Lucius was living in an old Victorian house in Brooklyn’s Ditmas Park. They found the place on Craigslist, not knowing it was a recording studio and music school for 60 years prior. There were so many treasures that had been left behind – like the 100 year old Steinway piano that would nurture their writing habits. The four-story musical fortress also housed 8 other musician friends and would soon open their doors to bandmates Danny Molad and Peter Lalish.
Much of their record is about these unique experiences, told from the same perspective, at the same time, with the same sentiment. Two voices as one.
Indaba Music is thrilled to present a gorgeous video capturing an intimate moment the band experienced at the Suite268 loft on the Bowery. “Go Home” is a wonderfully built song filled with power and soul.
The following is part of Travis’ blog series and eBook “The Musicians Guide to Better Sounding Drums”
