by Chris Belin

   I just finished the final edits this week on two new student videos. The first video features the young aspiring Jedi master-in-training Solomon Cole, who loves Star Wars and his performance was inspired by the Imperial March. He amazes me every time I see him, the sky is the limit for Solomon!

   The second clip features Tyler Tedesco, who proposed the idea of doing his own drum part to an old folk song redone by Johnny Cash.

The Positive Spin on Drums 

by Chris Belin

  
The Satin Hearts make the FMQB Top 50 most added nationally to radio! 

   It’s been a great few weeks for The Satin Hearts, a band i’m in with Marci Eustice, Fran Rifugiato, & James Capp. Our new album, ‘Living On Overdrive”, has been getting great feedback and radio stations all across the US, plus some in Canada, have been adding songs to their airwaves. I’ve been reading the reports for weeks now and they keep getting better!

by Chris Belin

   Late Sunday night I did a percussion maintenance session at YCS studios, replacing drum heads on one of the house kits. I fitted the "almost vintage" Ludwig toms, 12X9 and 16X16, with Remo vintage emperor coated tops / ambassador coated bottoms. This was the first time I used the vintage emperors. They are slightly thicker than the originals, which helps bring out more warmth and low end.

by Chris Belin 

Musical Reflections and Remembrances of the Week 

   This past week I’ve been running into all kinds of Levon Helm tributes. For those who are not familiar, Levon passed away Thursday April 19th at age 71 after a long battle with cancer. He was primarily known as being the drummer and one of the vocalists for The Band. You can find a lot of information on him and The Band, as well as some great stories about his affiliation with Bob Dylan.

by Chris Belin

Drum Book Update #1

   As many people in my life know, one of my major goals is to release an instructional drum book. This vision started back in 2007 and finally the first book will see the light of day very soon. The first book will be a short self released book, focusing on a major concept that has challenged every drummer, in some capacity, I’ve ever brought it up to. Plus there has not been a book focusing on this topic as of yet so I’m psyched to introduce it to the drum universe.

by Chris Belin



Live Album Awareness 

  There is something about a live album that has always captivated my interest. Whether it’s a typical album opening with crowd cheers, or the fact that a live album usually captures a specific moment in time for an artist, they’ve always been an extremely integral part of my music collection. Sometimes live albums have been my intro to a new group or genre of music. Other times they’re just a more raw in-the-moment interpretation of songs from a band I’m interested in.

 by Chris Belin

  Today is the 5th annual World Autism Awareness Day. In honor of that my blog this week will feature Traveling Drum School student Chris Brozek, who has been diagnosed w/ pervasive developmental disorder, PDD, a mild form of autism. Below is his performance of the Guns N' Roses song "Sweet Child O' Mine", which was one of my favorite songs to learn as a kid. This clip is from a Norwin High School concert last year, for which Chris received a standing ovation!

by Chris Belin 

March 2012 Publicity   

   This morning for breakfast I started my day as usual; coffee, cinnamon toast,   morning drumming. Then after finishing my originally planned blog for this week I decided to check my email before posting. After re-reading the awesome 4.5 out of 5 star review for The Satin Hearts record, I stumbled upon The Woodpile article from ThePghMusicReport.com. I discovered a link to a really cool promo for the band in the local spotlight section.

by Chris Belin 

   I’ll never forget the first time I walked into a music store to officially buy a pair of sticks. I was 11 years old. The previous 9 years of my playing life I used sticks that came with drum sets, gifts from teachers, or hand-me-downs from drummer friends. Never actually choose a pair for myself until this point. As I stepped into Plum borough music center I was faced with a difficult choose; 7A, 5A, 5B, or 2B sizes.

Hello Friends,

  Tonight I'm posting a link to a really cool drum cover/remix of Wiz Khalifa's "Black & Yellow" by Traveling Drum School student Luke Smartnick. This clip has 21,000 hits on You Tube & counting! Luke's playing is solid, composing some creative variations to the original programmed drum track. I especially like his bass drum patterns & fills. I feel humans will always beat machines when it comes to drumming. Questlove from The Roots is one of my all time favorite hip hop drummers, who continues to be mostly organic & always innovative with his sounds.