DTX / Artist News
Ralph Humphrey’s Yamaha PHX kit with DTX electronics on the set of DWTS
“The Man” at work
On Television
In addition to Yamaha and DTX artists on television such as Anton Fig (Late Night with David Letterman) and Teddy Campbell (Tonight Show with Jay Leno), Ralph Humphrey is just wrapping up his season on Dancing With The Stars, and Russ Miller is wrapping up his season on American Idol.
Ralph Humphrey – Dancing With The Stars
Ralph Humphrey’s playing and sound this season were second to none. Ralph was tasked with being able to play every style of music that was thrown his way – and he played them perfectly down to every detail and nuance.
Ralph Humphrey is one of Los Angeles' most in-demand studio drummers, recording for TV, motion pictures, albums and jingles. In addition to his work with Dancing With The Stars, Ralph has worked on American Idol, Charmed, Piglet's Big Movie, Star Trek Enterprise, The Simpsons, ABC’s 50th Anniversary Special, Far From Heaven, Coca-Cola and Ping golf clubs. His past touring and recording experience include: The Don Ellis Big Band, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Akiyoshi-Tabackin Big Band, Al Jarreau, Manhattan Transfer, Seals and Crofts and Free Flight. Ralph can also be heard on album projects by Wayne Shorter, Tom Rainer, Mike Miller, Jeff Richman, The Outsidemen, and Babaghanoush among many others. Ralph is the author of the drum book Even In The Odds and contributes occasional articles to Modern Drummer Magazine. Ralph is the head of the drum department at the LA Music Academy College of Music. He teaches Playing Techniques, Rhythm Studies and Ensemble Reading Techniques.
Here’s a back stage shot of Russ’s DTX rig
Russ Miller on the set of American Idol
Russ Miller - American Idol
Talk about a tough gig! Russ Miller got the call to play on the mentoring sessions this season for American Idol. Here’s a little behind-the-scenes look at what Russ was faced with… First, he got the call that he was to play an electronic kit in the mentoring sessions because Jimmy Iovine wanted to be able to talk to the guest artist and the contestants over the volume of the band, so Russ said, “no problem” only to find out that the production crew had ordered another brand of electronic drums over DTX. Russ, being the loyal trooper that he is, said that he wanted to bring his own DTX rig in… well, generally, you don’t stick your neck out like that when you get such a high-profile gig with Jimmy Iovine. However, once the kit was on the set and dialed in, the front of house engineer said that he loved the sound of the kit and Jimmy agreed. Whew! We love you, Russ!
The past few months have been extremely varied (as usual) for Russ Miller. Live shows (using the DTX–MULTI 12, with a single DT-10 triggered aux. snare) have included shows with Ray Parker Jr., Cheryl Lynn, The Annual Spotlight Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion & Daniel Bedingfield. Other events this the past month where Russ used a DTX-MULTI 12 for some orchestral percussion tones included the Joan Rivers Comedy Show, & The Don Rickles (Big Band) Show.
Russ's recent sessions have included music for the new movie Hit & Run, the Continuum sci-fi series, trailers for Total Recall remake and the Davey Jones tribute recording for the passing of the Monkees’ Davey Jones. All of Russ's session rigs include the DTX-MULTI 12, a rack mounted DTX900 module with two DT-10 triggers and two XP-80 pads. Russ is currently starting back at the CBS soundstage this week for the Glee Project shows and will be using a DTX–MULTI12, two XP-80 pads, an HH-65 trigger hi-hat pedal and the DTX900 module. Upcoming shows include Japan dates with Rufus and some big "All-Star band record/tour" news is coming up for the fall so stay tuned! Go Russ!
DTX / Tips & Tricks
Groove Check with Acoustic Drums
Did you know that the Groove Check function can be used to check your timing even when playing acoustic drums? It’s really easy to set up, and can be a great learning aid to help to you and your band lock in together during rehearsals.
All you really need to use groove check with your acoustic drums (besides the drums) is an acoustic drum trigger, such as a Yamaha DT-20, and a DTX series drum trigger module. If you have two triggers you can use one for your kick and one for your snare. This allows you to check your downbeats (typically 1 and 3) and backbeats (2 and 4) at the same time.
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Consistently Steady Strokes
When triggering electronic drums in a live setting, it is sometimes crucial that your strike be recreated perfectly, night after night. This is especially important when going for that big sound effect, background music loop, or transitional interlude. For these sounds you often only get one shot to get it right.
While the DTXdrums are known for sensitivity over a wide dynamics range - they can also be set to perform a consistent strike every time. Not only that, but on the DTX700, DTX900 and DTX-MULTI 12 this ability is programmable per pad and per kit, so you can use it as needed and restore dynamic operation by simply playing another pad or selecting another kit.
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DTX Studio
Velocity Crossfade in the DTX500 Series
In the August 2011 DTX Newsletter we learned how to layer sounds using the DTX500 drum trigger module and that the layered voices are designated as “A” and “B”. In this installment we’ll see how the Velocity Crossfade parameter can be used so that layer A plays loudest with soft strokes and will start to “fade out” with harder strikes as layer B will “fade in” accordingly.
After setting up voices for layers A and B you can use the KIT13 screen to select one of nine different velocity crossfade (VelXFade) types shown here:
You can see from the diagrams that values 1-4 will crossfade smoothly between both layers over a wider range of velocity. Values 5-9 have steeper fades over a shorter range which results in more of an abrupt switch between layers. Here are some ways to try this feature for yourself:
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DTX / Other Artist News
Matt Sorum will be on the cover of the Guitar Center Buyers Guide celebrating Yamaha Month at Guitar Center in October. Matt did a video, photo shoot and interview about how he uses DTX electronics and played a DTX500 series kit.
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Where does rock star Matt Sorum park his $120,000.00 Benz when doing an appearance? Wherever he wants to!
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Matt Sorum on the set at Guitar Center.
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Where does rock star Matt Sorum park his $120,000.00 Benz when doing an appearance? Wherever he wants to!
Matt Sorum on the set at Guitar Center.
Kenny Aronoff has been busy as usual. Kenny was on tour with John Fogerty in Australia in April. He somehow found the time to do an interview with Digital Drummer Magazine (May Issue) where he spoke about how he got involved with DTX and how he uses the gear. Check it out at: www.digitaldrummermag.com. Once home, he bought a house and moved, did a couple of high-profile recording sessions and then jumped on the Chickenfoot tour.
Also, check out Kenny’s interview in the May issue of Musician Insider Magazine
If that weren’t enough, Kenny squeezed in a DTX clinic at J&R Music in NYC in May.
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Kenny Aronoff on tour with Chickenfoot
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Kenny Aronoff – DTX clinic
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Kenny Aronoff on tour with Chickenfoot
Kenny Aronoff – DTX clinic
Alan White of YES was recently on tour in Australia, Indonesia, and Japan. Alan invited many of our Yamaha/DTX colleagues to the shows to see his DTX gear in action. It was also reported that Alan was unable to get a kit from his acoustic drum sponsor and used a Yamaha Oak Custom kit on the Japan leg of the tour.
John Blackwell is on tour with Prince down under in Australia. I hear John will be doing an interview with Digital Drummer Magazine regarding his DTX gear. Stay tuned!
Thomas Pridgen will be out touring with his new band, The Memorials. There is a lot of material on YouTube and their new CD will be released in June.
Gorden Campbell will be taking the drum throne for this summer’s American Idol tour.
Donny Gruendler, head honcho at PIT/MI has been tearing it up with a number of clinics featuring DTX. He was just in NYC and did a clinic at The Collective and his band, Rhett Frazier Inc., performed at Joe’s Pub while in the city. If you haven’t picked up a copy of the newly released Everyday Is Saturday CD, you need to. It’s terrific! Donny also did a clinic at the LA Live Grammy Museum to a packed house on May 25th. Congratulations are also in order – Donny just signed an endorsement deal with Yamaha Acoustic Drums and is the proud owner of a beautiful Maple Custom kit!
Mike Johnston of mikeslessons.com has been on a whirlwind clinic tour all over the country. Look for Mike to be coming to your area. He does a great clinic and is an awesome guy and player.
Chad Wright is in rehearsals with The Jacksons for their up-coming summer tour. Chad has been tweaking his DTX-MULTI 12 in preparation.
Tony Verderosa will be doing a clinic at J&R Music in NYC on June 14th. Tony will be using his DTX950K along with his DTX-MULTI 12. If you have never seen Tony do his thing and you can make it to the clinic, you will be blown away - Guaranteed!
Sergio Bellotti - Professional Drummer, Composer, Educator (Berklee), and Entrepreneur. And I might add; monster player, nice guy, and very Italian☺
www.sergiobellotti.com
Lil’ John Roberts - Jill Scott, George Duke, George Benson, Janet Jackson, and many more. John will be holding the drum chair on the new television show for the summer called Duets on ABC that will feature Lionel Ritchie, Kelly Clarkson, Robin Thicke, and Jennifer Nettles.
www.liljohnroberts.wordpress.com
Pete Parada – The Offspring. You can see Pete with his new DTX gear this summer while touring with The Offspring. Check for tour dates near you.
www.theoffspring.com
Bennie Rodgers - Mariah Carey, Big Bang. Bennie is on tour in Asia with Big Bang and will be touring with Mariah Carey late in the summer.
www.facebook.com/bennie.rodgersii