Soft DXS :: The Drum Mentor/Drummers To Look Out For Thread

[plainsman]

hi again bros and sistas,

I don't know if any of you guys realised this, a group of very special people had been left out of the last DXS committee update.... for A REASON ...hehehehe, cos we were thinking of posting up something separately !

YES, this group is very important, Some are drum teachers, some are professionals and some are talented youngsters whom I think will likely make their mark. The one common thread all of them have, is that THEY CAME AND SHARED, selflessly their experiences, knowledge with us.

In this thread, I would like to do a recap, in an attempt to put the face to the nick, and to acknowledge their contributions to Soft DXS thus far.

Disclaimer: We are attempting to make sure this post is representative of what transpired at past Xchanges, where memory fails, pls add on if any one has been left out or unmentioned. THANKS !!!



Useful Links
1st Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup -17 March 07
2nd Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 21 April 07
3rd Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 26 May 07
4th Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 23 June 07
5th Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 21 July 07
6th Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 18 August 07
7th Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 22 September 2007
8th Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 20 October 2007
9th Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 15 December 2007 - JAZZ DO IT!
10th Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 26 January 2008 - METAL





Let us start with ............ the FIRST, yes very 1st Drum Xchange, held on 17th March 2007 (last year)

The very first committee of Soft Drum Xchange

(from left: chunleng (caijunlong), rupert (rla), reuben, jimmy (jimmyplaydrums), eric (RudimentalDrummer), Fu Man (drum_hobbyist)


Sitting happily waiting for good stuff...

Fu Man giving a talk on cymbalogy

our brother hairi

 

[plainsman]

Hairi demonstrating some snare rudiments

Jason bro (rustee), a very good drummer who is now in cantopop scene

The 2nd Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup : 21 April 2007


Mel80 plays on while getting endorsed by metalhead (is he a drummer? :mrgreen

 

[plainsman]

Marc trying on some snares

Hairi (blissuicide)

Jason (rustee)

3rd Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 26 May 07

Sadly, this Meetup was cancelled as drummer Kevin Corey (of Heritage) who was supposed to do a drum clinic at the meetup passed away. We dedicate this meetup to his memory and he will always remain an honorary member of Soft Drum Xchange.




4th Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 23 June 07

The drummers/drum mentors who came and shared on this Xchange: Hongliang, Rajiv, Hairi, Anish


I could not find any pics of this on previous thread. Any bros have them (or its in another thread?) Eric, able to help find?




5th Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 21 July 07

The drummers/drum mentors who came and shared on this Xchange: Rupert (rla), Rajiv (vanhelSingh), mark chan (blurred), alvin tan (alvinthedrummmer)


Fu Man also did an informal cymbal/drumworks session at this xchange

 

[plainsman]

The 6th Soft Drum Xchange/Meetup - 18th Aug 07

For some reason I thought this Xchange was kind of a watershed event for Drum Xchange.

The drummers/drum mentors who came and shared on this Xchange: Hongliang (hi), Rajiv (vanhelSingh), Hairi (blissuicide), Anish (exrocker), Alvin Tan (alvinthedrummmer), Fu Man (drum_hobbyist)


Hongliang (hi), a great young drummer who I think has a very bright future!!

Rajiv, terrific drummer and a great bro to have around =)

More drilling cymbalworks... courtesy of fu man (drum_hobbyist)

 

[plainsman]

Anish (exrocker) damn power neil peart (rush) drummin' !!! :mrgreen:

Alvin Tan (alvinthedrummer)

Bro Hairi

[EDIT]wah this is tiring... think i shall have to do the rest later tonight.... [/EDIT]

 

[mel80]

That is a very very comprehensive writeup on the birth of DXS until today! 2 thumbs up for Alfe!

 

[metzalx]

To Chun Leng: Last time you really looked like a student lol. Esp with that hair :mrgreen:

 

[plainsman]

haha yah lor metzalx !!! u know, from the piccies i can literally see some of our softies drummers growing before our eyes (look at chunleng, marc, gambatak etc.) really for kids 1 year can look quite different sia... hahah!!! (eeek i old liao still look the same i think last 10 years )

Mel: yahhhhh i shall finish part 2 of the update soon (up till 10th Xchange + JGCC) but maybe tomoro la... tonite gonna peng san soon liao X_x;;

 

[plainsman]

The 7th Soft Drum Xchange - September 2007

For some reason I can't find this thread !!! so no piccies at the moment..

But as far as I can remember, the drum mentors/drummers who came and contributed are: Jerry, Ahpek (Shahferi), deonportnoy, rupert (rla)







The 8th Soft Drum Xchange - 20th October 2007

How time flies... I thought this Xchange was just a couple months back, its already half a year ago.

The reason why I remember this one so strongly, is because the featured drum mentor/professional was MOHD NOR !!!!!!

I'm sure many softies would agree with me that it was a great experience just listening and watching as the man shared with us his story, his grooves and his advice for drummers out there.



And... because this Xchange was the one where we had the photo-taking, many, many drummers came... I'm so sad we did not have pictures of the following drummers: bryan, matthias, jono, chow kiat

I believe these 4 guys are among the cream of the graduating crop at la salle and hope that they can continue to contribute their experiences at DXS.


Nevertheless, here are the rest that we managed to snap:


Daniel Chew

Daniel Chew was really sporting, he did not come prepared to present anything but he gamely took on the invitiation and tried his best to share with us his experiences, favourites and so on. You guys might remember him as he was recently on TV's "Live the Dream" (The band was After The Rain if I remember correctly)

We appreciate his time and efforts and hope to see him around again.

 

[plainsman]

Gary Tan

Gary Tan aka "The Monster" plays for Ublues band and has been a killer drummer for many years (I used to idolise him growing up... haha!!!!!) So happy to see him again after so many years !!!




Dol

Uncle Dol (drum great Louis Soliano's nephew). Alvin told me his sightreading was impeccable, especially for big band stuff. Sadly, we did not managed to catch hold of him to share much, he just played and blew us away, then he ran away






Rajiv

Jiv our brother who no matter how late and whatever time he finishes teaching (he teaches drums at the Academy of Rock) he will drop by and help to mentor and guide the younger drummers. He happens to be very young himself !!!!! (hint: high potential alert)

 

[plainsman]

Mark Chan

Mark just came back from Aussie land after completing his bachelor's degree in music studies and he had been eager and itching to come to Xchange. Well, I guess he did and then some :mrgreen: He liked Mohd Nor very much and teamed up with Rajiv & Ahpek later on to present and share some latin / shuffle related stuff.






9th Drum Xchange - JAZZ DO IT!!! - 15th December 2007

The first Xchange we did with a MUSIC GENRE as theme.

Audrey Tang

Audrey, whom we have been talking to since the 8th Xchange, had suggested doing a jazz workshop for the next Xchange. She has been very kind, helpful and given us a lot of advice on how to grow Soft DXS.

When Eric and myself talked to her, she shared about how she wanted to help the female drummers, for her workshop she even prepared handouts (another 1st in the Xchange) and everything she presented was so structured and educational.

We are very grateful to her for taking her time. The one that really takes the house down ..... SHE BROUGHT HER OWN DRUMSET / PA EQUIPMENT & MUSICIANS (yes MUSICIANS - poor sebas and wah yong lol)

you can very well imagine the effort and costs involved.

 

[plainsman]

Finally, she did not just bring herself, she brought one of Singapore's best drummers, Tan Boon Gee (Jazz@southbridge resident drummer) along!

I'm not going to go into any details since you guys should know for yourself. I really hope he can drop by again, and we can do a showcase for him :mrgreen:





After that, we had happy hour with the rest, and Tama decides to drop by

Tama Goh

U guys should know the time, effort and $$ tama invested to help Soft DXS so far. For us, its just happy hour all the way man.




Mark Chan

As usual, Mark comes and hang out as well. We're hoping he makes himself a regular fixture here, but he's gone MIA off late (too many new students?)

anyhow, saturday's always peak hour for teaching, I've never been able to invite Zain, Boey and some of the other working drummers/drum teachers to come to this cos of Xchange always being on Saturdays.

 

[plainsman]

10th Drum Xchange - 26th January 2008 - METAL :twisted:

We had been raring to put a METAL theme for Xchange, and finally we did ... who else but Brandon Khoo did we manage to invite to come share :mrgreen:

 

[plainsman]

We really had to bridge the gap on both sides to make this... for one, Brandon had a really tough schedule and was not likely to make it on Saturdays, but he managed to squeeze in the time, and even brought in a guitarist and they did rehearsal for their presentation AFTER they finished their night gig at wala wala (I think they did not sleep at all)

For our side, we had to try to get the equipment needed. For the longest time, we do not have PA and decent amps (and still don't) hopefully we could address that eventually.

For Brandon's showcase, Tama personally paid for the PA and Music Equipment. Words cannot describe how grateful we are for all parties involved for bridging the gap.


On to brandon's presentation, he was indefatigueable. He shared everything he prepared, and so much more. I got the feeling that he was worried something was not covered adequately hence he really tried to make the most of the timeslot and cover as thoroughly as he could.

His chops are just incredible. Now we get to see first hand just why he is one of the up and coming top drummers.





Also, I was really impressed and proud that the younger drummer participants - myner and Syamil (smilezdrumz) volunteered to present an item.

I think they did a great job and I hope they will continue to grow and to encourage other young drummers to come up and not be afraid to play and share. WELL DONE GUYS !!!! :mrgreen:




Towards the end of the xchange, Saufee (Phat_phunk) came up to share as well

From his playing, I get the feel of someone old-school who has been playing rock and metal for years.

He told me during hangout after the Xchange, he intended to go back to learning from teachers how to play other genres of music - jazz, latin and so on. I am impressed that for someone who has been playing long time, he keeps an open mind and not afraid to go back to school and learn things he had missed out on earlier.

Keep the faith and you inspire me brudder with that humble attitude and open mind of yours!!!

 

[plainsman]

The 11th Soft Drum Xchange - 4th April 2008



well.... this event hasn't happened yet.


But we're hoping you can drop by and hang out with us ...


Make this Xchange yours... don't be afraid to come and play, to share and just to have fun


For those drum teachers/working drum professionals whom we've yet had the pleasure to meet, and introduce to Soft DXS attendees... please DO COME !!!!


you can discuss with us whichever way you prefer your segment be, or if you just want to join in to chill and have fun.


CHEERS AND SEE YOU AROUND SOON !!!

 

[bryanlim]

any upcoming meetups?

 

[plainsman]

to update, we've been scouting for venues to hold this.

scape and YMS are full booked for several months. YMS cos a lot of music schools often hold abrsm grading exams there.

we'll update again, hopefully with good news. it is truly difficult to plan xchanges, especially when we are always on a saturday and it is full-day teaching usually for most drum instructors.

i kept trying to invite boey (music clef teacher/NY drum collective) and patrick (dragonfly resident drummer/drumfest above 21 winner) and although they really sincerely wanted to come, the schedule has made it all but impossible for them for saturdays.





also, it was most unfortunate we could not plan one when wen is back here for school break.

Wen, if you're reading this.. take care and see you again real soon !!!!

cheers

 

[xenOgenesis]

dam i didn't know this thread exists. must have been quite hard work posting all those up. thanks alfe! kudos to all who hlped dxs grow.

 

[alvinthedrummer]

Just a suggestion, what about friday evenings? Or Sunday afternoons after 2pm so church goers can still make it?

 

[caijunlong]

To Chun Leng: Last time you really looked like a student lol. Esp with that hair :mrgreen:

I didn't notice this thread after a year I think. Yeah my hair. I just cut my hair short again. Haha. Hope to see you guys soon again! I'm meeting Faidhi to go Soma for a drum workshop this afternoon! =D