Woke up today with some wicked influenza. I was up for about thirty minutes and then slept until Noon. Decided I needed to get tested and turns out I have the virus. I got my medications and orders to stay home and quarantine for around 10 days.

That means no show on Sunday so disregard the last three posts. Such is life.

Did the first rehearsal last night playing drums on iPad and the Koala app. I had to not bring drumsticks to force myself to not quit on the digital drum pads and jump on the kit 2 meters away. 60% of the songs were smooth and we both knew right away they worked.

The other 40% were clearly the wrong approach. Not a defeated vibe but more of a signpost to take this song a different direction. Also, the direction to take each song was pretty clear but I wouldn't have found it if we hadn't tried the original idea out.

I'm also glad I know to not try to force a music idea to get it to work. Try it, move on if it isn't happening, save your mental energy for the next song, and go rework back in the mental workshop with the notes from the rehearsal studio.

I've been watching random tutorials about the sampler app I love messing around with called Koala. I'm not watching the videos to learn the app but more for triggering any ideas I can use for our show on 06/30. Two things stood out to me as a drummer:

Grid

The sequencer in the app supports not locking to the grid. This is cool because you can place snare hits slightly behind or ahead of the beat. You can drastically change the vibe of the song if you rush or delay the snare hit in the right context.

Tuning

It's easy to overlook tuning your kit in a drum sequencer because it's so fun to just jump into it and start beat-making. If you take the time to tune the kit to the project it is in, the results are a definite level-up.

For the guitar-only project I am working on, the drums become the bass. When I tune the kick and snare to match the dominant notes in the song, the boost to the feel and power is noticeable. Things lock together better.
 

Our next show is at a place with no space for a drum kit. A good chance to bust out the iPad and get things done with the Koala app. The only tough decision I am facing right now is what kind of drum sounds to use.

The cool/difficult thing about digital drums is infinite possibilities. You can load as many drum sounds and kits as you want. That level of choice can be very overwhelming if you go down the rabbit hole of trying out every kit.

I've settled on my favorite drum machine which is the Roland CompuRhythm CR-78. It was made in the late 1970s and was one of the earliest drum machines ever made.

Instink = bad instincts