The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1920-10-29

drummers, whom I have quoted in diff
ferent parts of my article, says you
should devote only five minutes at a
sitting on the snare drum; the rest of
the time should be put in on pad.
He says: "The practice pad shows UP
many flaws which the drum does not;
also the constant jar upon the delicate
ear drum is bad for these delicate
nerves."
What are they trying to make out of
the modern drummer? A mollycoddle
kindergarten toy drummer? The whole
thing is ridiculous The pad is all right
for side issue only. My advice to
those who desire to become real drum
mer is this: If you have sensitive
nerves and delicate ear drums don't
start on the drums; take up something
else. If you have good red blood in
your veins, healthy body, and are not
afraid of the rough stuff, get a good
drum with some body and timber to it,
take your coat off, roll up your sleeves
and go to work. Put in at least an
hour standing (only sit dossgl when
resting.) The sitting down practice can
be reserved for the double drum work
later on. You can detect flaws quicker
on the drum than on a pad AS you
are trying to make drummer out of
yourself, the drum is the only thing to
do your principal work on To become
good double drummer you must not
sacrifice your drum practice to become
xylophone soloist. 1t is all very nice
to be great xylophone player, but to
sac~ nee your drum work, as the ma
j ity of our modern drummers have
done for the xy1ophone is wrong. Try
to become good all around drummer,
tympani and practical bell player for
band and orchestra first before taking
up xylophone. Many fine xylophone
soloists fall down on their drum work
and bell parts that are required to be
played in strict tempos under a con-
ductors baton. | could tell you of
many instances of this. One case in par
ticular will do to tell here. l played
the Toronto Exposition in 1917 with
one of the leading American bands; the
musicians came from several United
States cities. One drummer was from
Pittsburgh; the other was from De-
troit The Detroit drummer played
William Tell Overture for xylophone
solo. Very fine; but in 1872 Overture
and Wagner's Parsfal he balled up the
chimes part in both numbers. Both
small drummers muddled up the drum
solo in the Patrol of the Allies" and
several other numbers that required
real drumming. These young men had
sacrificed their drum work to the fad
OF becoming great xylophone players.
All they did about the band shell be-
tween concerts was to show each other
how expert they were on the xylophone.
There was absolutely no excuse for
these young men failing in their drum
work. To hold down a good job in
band or orchestra, either in or out of
theatre, you must be good drummer,
tympani and bell player Some of the
best and most accurate bell players
never become soloists on the xylo-
phone, but you can always depend on
them playing bell part to a conduc-
tors stick, and they never fall down on
chimes solo that is played in a rigid
tempo.
Many drummers set their big chimes up
wrong. They pick out the notes they
are going to use in number and hang
them one alongside the other, just to
make it easy to reach with the ham
mers. 1t is better to hang the chro-
matte notes in their proper place; you
will get better results. l know many
fine drummers that are also xylophone
soloists. | remember during the
Worlds Fair, Chicago, and later, "a
young man, Tommy Mills, who was an
ideal al1-around drummer and xylo-
phone soloist. liked his drum and
tympani work so well that I placed him
as my substitute for ten weeks in Nc
Vicker's Theatre. Later on he was
with T. P. Brooke's Marine Band as
feature, and from there he went with
Sousa to Europe. His double drum and
tympani work was very smooth and
clean. He excelled on bells and xylo-
phone. Young Wagner, son of Frank
E. Wagner, drummer with the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra, and grandson of
Ernest Wagner, noted Chicago musi-
clan, was a scholarly drummer for all
around work. was more than pleased
with his clean work with Sousa's Band,
when heard him in Dublin and Liver
pool some years back. Billie Ludwig,
of Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is an
other all-around schooled drummer.
These young men are examples that any
drummer might follow with credit to
themselves. Hard studious work was
what landed them at the top.
NJ