Audio sample clip of my jamming....

Hey Bruce,

Yup, I meant per person....$150 per band is scary...sounds REALLY tough to get a decent paying gig there! In Melbourne I was getting AU$150 per person too but it always feel a lot less the worth there cause I always get really beat up after a gig with all the gear carrying etc...(I know...pretty spoilt by the Singaporean gig scene!!). I was getting on average about 1-2 gigs a week and I thought that was already pretty harsh...man, where you're at, its worse!

Ha, you're right..."competition" is kinda the wrong word to use...more like "sharing" with a larger pool of musicians....haha.

Man, I would really love to fly down to states for a couple of weeks just to take some lessons, that would be one dream for me....but its getting impossible to even take a day off now! But it'll happen! Someday, Somehow!

The sound is pretty decent really. I used to do some recordings too and the hardest part is the dependency on the room acoustics...its really a very time consuming process but if you already have a regular room to work with, then its just a matter of finding the best mic position for that room (given the proper dampening of course). I was able to get quite decent sounding recording in my old studio with 2 shure sm57 used a overheads and a AKG D112 for the bass drum....now that I have moved...its back to the experimental stage again...I feel SOOooo tired just thinking about it!

O2Q's myspace link is www.myspace.com/theoliviaongquintet

The videos are with the older band members though...

The new band member Roy Dragon is one of my best buddies and he is local. Gerard Rodrigues is from Canada and Luiz Vital is from Brazil...
 
"Well, if you're ever planning a trip to Chicago, we can put you up. We have a guest room in our house and close to the train that goes downtown. We can check out the music scene and jam at my house too. Maybe my wife can even cook some hawker food too!"

--Man, thanks so much for your offer Bruce!!! Appreciate it!

And thanks for your compliments! Still got heaps to work on!! So much to practice so little time...!!

As for lugging the kit about...After my double slip-disc and also the sizing down of stages here (clubs are always looking for cajon players nowawdays)...I started to look for other options. I finally came up with my own version of a cocktail kit that allows me to sit down and play:-

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One of the gig venues:-

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1) 14X 12" Floor Tom
2) 12 X 3" Mini Piccolo
3) Modified Pearl Eliminator
4) 12" Turkish Hi-Hats and 18" Turkish Turk crash/ride

If its a bigger show, I'll have the Tama mini timbales setup too....

It all fits in 2 bags...!
 
Bruce,

The turkish sounds really good. It actually sounds very similar to any other hand made turkish cymbals...I find them very similar to the old K's.

The bags are very light. I have the floor tom packed in a 18" drum bag. The snare fits snuggly together with the cymbals in a 14" snare ritter snare bag (yes, the 18" crash fits in it!). The snare bag is then stacked on top of the floor tom inside the 18" drum bag. Becos the drums are made of poplar, they are very light (approximately 10kgs). The hardware bag holds one cymbal stand with 2 clamps for hi-hat and crash, throne and pedal. It weighs only about 4-5kgs.

The cool thing is, I play this setup with another quartet that does cocktail parties and launches. The set list can be a mix of jazz and pop/funk in the same sesion...it works just fine for both. I usually request for one overhead mic and one sm57 or 58 to be placed near the snare and floor tom (which also doubles up as a bass drum). So far I've been great reviews from all the event organizers and the musicians I work with.....I'm really loving the weight loss...!
 
I wish I could be at your meet-up. I will definately let you know in advance the next time I'm coming to Sg.

Yeah we can have fun too! I'll buy ya a round!

Bruce

Thks ok (one month Notice to enable us to book the place for that Particular week)..many thks...it will be fun and - - nah it will be on me - and I will buy you some Exotic drinks and DXS members who will be there with us in the evening and .... Let's get Real Sober - The Theme for the evening will be "Everything Exotic" including the dinner and "Surprises" here- I promise my Brother.
Singapore is really a Very Intesting, Fun Loving & Exotic Place Cheers if you know where to go. ...hehehehe ! A mini-Jamaica there shall be.

Eric
 
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Yeah my Bro, as it is part of my job to entertain my Suppliers & Customer usually - I mean "As In Really Entertaining Them In Full-Package", to get my Sales & Good Profitablity based on Lowest Cost in a Commodity Environment to compete effectively in my job all these while - - - I have scout around many a times and look for new interesting and exotic venues (a must) whenever they visit us each year ..... of course "Everything ON Company's Account" ....... so rest assure I will give that to you too as a good host and more importantly as a brother in Drumming.

Entertaining (On a Commercial Basis as above) and entertaining a Brother as in you(Non-Profit of course) in Drumming - the Objective is similar - We want you to be Happy, Enjoy your stay here, and bring back many great (better still Unforgetable) memories when you're here with us....

That's All Folks ! (Warner Brothers)

Eric
 
Hey Bruce, thanks for the sound advice! Pun intended! There is indeed only ONE Chewy! I'm still trying to let that sink into me. Heh.

There's so much to read up and check out when it comes to sound proofing! I was about to place an order on Guitar Center's site but realized they don't ship overseas. Bummer!
 
this sounds like all the videos from tama goh.

are u tama goh? or maybe one of the guys who used to go for the earlier drum xchange sessions?

cos when i watched all the videos of the older gatherings on youtube, i realised nearly everyone plays the same way.

the same way, the beat, the same, the same, the same..............
 
You sure? Cos I really don't think Tama sounds like the clip chewy posted...

And Tama is Tama, therefore all his videos will sound like that Tama! No?
 
yeah man. i like watching Tama Goh's videos on youtube.

many patterns and many styles. but in the videos, there were others who took turns playing. and they all sounded like him; playing-wise.

also, i came across some nice videos from the x-change session on youtube.
however, there were some clowns who posted some hurtful comments online bout the drummer(s) in the video.

to these clowns, the following message is for u.

if u have the guts, say it to the person's face.

don't hide behind the monitor and type rubbish as though you're some guru.

even if u are a guru, at least have the decency to shape your comments as a form of teaching.

all of us are here to learn.

im pretty sure we only have this prob in singapore.

cos honestly, elsewhere, the drummers all have respect for each other and during gigs, u can see the drummer from the first band, helping to set up the drumset for the 2nd band. there are many nice things like this but yeah, u get my point.

here, its ridiculous.

RLRLRLRLRLRL TA-TA-TA RLRLR TA-TA

YEAH!
 
I think those videos are part of Tama's clinic right? He was basically making everyone play and giving advise as they play...maybe thats why...

Woah...I didn't know there were harsh comments being thrown at the xchange videos! Where are they boy? I think you are absolutely right about the lack of mutual support here among local musicians....mostly thrashing and bitching and worst...the experienced thrashing the young/new...

I hear your frustration but I think it'll take a whole lot to change things here...rather than wasting your energy on absorbing such bad vibes...you're better off focusing 100% on throwing us more of those cool drum video links like you did earlier!
 
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