On this page I’ve collected a some reflections about my view on different pipe band drumming related topics. Over the years I have often been asked about some of these topics, which is why I decided to write about this stuff. The views and tips&tricks in the reflections are spiced up with stories from my journey in pipe band drumming. I hope you enjoy the reads. Feel free to share and discuss them with fellow pipe band enthusiasts.
Adjusting the snare drum carrier
Why is this so important? Can't you just put on your carrier and drum?
Well, no. The reason that a proper adjustment of the carrier is so important, is because you don't want to hurt yourself over both short and long term, and it'll affect your ability to play well for longer. If you have a proper set carrier, you'll be able to enjoy standing with your drum for hour long sessions.
My experience,...
Fix your rolls
One of the things I've discovered throughout my pipe band drumming journey is, that roll quality can almost certainly give you an idea of the level of the drummer. Hence why all competitions starts with two rolls? Roll quality seems to me, to be the biggest differentiator when it comes to determing the level of any pipe band drummer, generally speaking.
Well, how do I fix my rolls then or how do...
Get the timing right
Getting the timing right, is one of those things that I find the hardest to teach. Mainly because it takes a lot of individual exercise to improve this. Music. It needs to be trained and stimulated. It's all there inside us. From the day we were born. The heartbeat of our moms and conscious and unconscious singing in our childhood. Naturally, music has been a part of me even before I started thinking...
How to practice?
Having read a few articles, debated with a number of drumming friends and experienced a bit myself on the matter, I'll throw in a few of my thoughts. The following points are a view on some of my experiences with practice and what has worked for me. Maybe it'll work for you too? Be inspired and try out whatever you think you can use, and throw away things you already knew or don't think will help you...
Installing dynamics
One of the things I learned early on in my pipe band drumming journey was importance of drummers playing dynamics. We're the ones regulating volume in the pipe band sound. Ultimately (at the extremes), that's what makes pipe bands interesting to listen to, in my opinion. The obvious quality stamps of a good drum corp, such as tightness, musical accuracy, and clarity of technical embellishments of course...
Memorizing drum scores
"It's taking forever to memorize these scores" and "Do you have a trick to memorize drum scores faster?" - is two sentences I've heard a lot from beginner (and also even from more experienced) drummers. I'm not sure faster is necessarily the way to go. I'd rather take the time needed with a lot of focus, and then of course spend the time effectively. Below I've made a sum up list of what has worked ...
Online tuition experiences
I've been wanting to do this interview for some time, to get an insight and an outlook from someone else than myself on the topic of online tuition. So, here we go 🙂
Online Workshop Tuition – Interview with Christoph Rienass November 2020
Q: What is your background?
A: I was born in 1998 in Berlin, but raised in Brandenburg, a federal state very close...
Pipers & drummers - what can we learn from each other?
For a long time, I've sometimes wondered why there's such a big difference between the general core personalities of pipers and drummers? I'm thinking about general values and identity markers. And, I know, it's hard/difficult to generalize, but it serves a purpose this time around to put a spotlight on which characteristics we, as musicians, can be inspired by and/or learn from each other.
Here's...
Top 5 Most Common Issues
I've been wanting to put this article together for some time. Whenever I go teach somewhere I seem to stumble across the same list of issues that drummers are struggling with. So I've been reflecting; Which are the top 5 issues that drummers seems to struggle with? How can these be addressed? And, what are the solutions?
The obvious stuff that comes to mind would be consistency in the technical...
Tuning the snare drum
So, I'm sure there's tons of different ways of tuning the snare drum. In this article I'll share what I've learned about tuning the snare drums during my drumming journey. In the bigger bands I've been part of, it's always been a thing that every drummer took part in, although a few drummers in the corp would take charge and have tools and spare parts handy. However, I do recommend that all drummers...
What's important to you?
Like many things in life; taking time to reflect regularly is necessary. In the following I try to note down, what has been is is important to me in regards to drumming in pipe bands.
Although titles and competition results are easy to list, and often what people look at when reviewing your resume, that has never been the most important factor in my drumming life. That's not to say that I haven't...
Writing drum scores
Here's a short of list of things that I like to take into consideration when writing a drum score.
Do I know the tune well enough to start writing a drum score for it? If not, become more familiar with by listening to it a lot more. Have a piper make a recording of the tune for you, so can hear the tune properly.
Will the score be primarily for band or solo use?
Which level should the...