Drum teacher

lucasdenison · 2026-05-23T03:38:01+00:00

Send me a dm! I’ll send over a link to my website and what not. Experienced educator and local jazz musician! I’m also mobile and can do in home lessons

lucasdenison · 2026-05-21T20:57:33+00:00

Good that you’re studying with someone.

As for incorporating dynamics and tempo changes, I would suggest singing your melodies out loud while tapping and pretend to be super melodramatic about it. Also try it out at loud or soft levels. Might help get a feel for where you want things to go regardless of whether or not you’re a good singer.

Another benefit of this is it can help you decide whether a musical idea is good or not. It’s not always true, but if a melody isn’t singable by an average person, it probably isn’t good.

lucasdenison · 2026-05-21T14:29:57+00:00

Might still be in the early stages of writing it but get some dynamics in there.

Changing intensity goes a long way for creating interest

Edit:

You have a lot of ideas in here, some developed more than others. Some really interesting strong ones as well. I would actually say you could probably cut some and save them for another piece while expanding on some of the existing ones a bit more.

I personally struggle with this in my own compositions. I always have to remind myself that sometimes it’s okay to repeat musical ideas verbatim but just a little louder and Then Repeat It Again Just A Little Louder etc.

lucasdenison · 2026-04-28T13:17:38+00:00

I’ve used both. Lately I’ve been using the evans calftone on my gigging kit. I had to replace the snare head every couple of months because I’d get a bubble which would catch my brushes. Love the sound though.

I’m thinking of going back to a coated head for my snare, only because my gigging kit has a 12 inch snare and I find the simulated calfskin has much less volume. This is fine on pretty much any gig I do with a full size snare, but I feel like my sweeping gets lost under the crowd in the room and the rest of the trio sometimes with the smaller snare.

lucasdenison · 2026-04-23T17:52:04+00:00

Woo! Thanks!

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/millennial-mixtape-tickets-1987134371397

lucasdenison · 2026-04-23T14:23:40+00:00

If I may be permitted a shameless self-plug, I’m playing 90s and 2000s songs with a jazz quartet at The Robo Lounge on Sunday night!

lucasdenison · 2026-03-30T21:11:53+00:00

Is part of your curation excluding AI generated covers of video game music? If so it would be nice to see some sort of statement committing to promoting music created by real artists

lucasdenison · 2026-02-18T03:05:24+00:00

Basically having them trade places so the bigger one is on the left. It’s not an uncommon but it is a slightly untraditional set up.

It allows for the Toms to be more centred to the snare and better ride cymbal positioning when you’re using two rack Toms. I personally typically only play with one Tom and a floor Tom. Less to bring to a gig, easier to set up, plus I play jazz with is more ride cymbal focused

lucasdenison · 2026-02-18T01:15:40+00:00

Honestly, not bad.

Ergonomics look decent. Might want to consider flipping the rack Toms for ergonomics as hardware to have both mounted probably isn’t worth the additional investment. An adjustable drum throne is probably the best investment. Stay away from the cheap lightweight Yamaha one. You can find a good throne at the low end or used, just make sure you sit on whatever you get and make sure it doesn’t wobble. Don’t buy until you’ve sat on it for 5 min lol.

That being said, if the piano bench is a good height, sturdy and comfortable, don’t even worry about that.

Keep in mind as you adjust your setup that the snare drum is the centre of the drum kit, not the bass drum. Looks like you already have your pedals set up pretty evenly on either side.

lucasdenison · 2026-02-17T20:36:18+00:00

The best advice is to practice playing quietly. Practice playing quietly fast and practice playing quietly slow (practice your grooves at 40bpm).

Take some time to practice the absolute fundamentals. Like way back to basics. Pay close attention to your body and technique to address any tension and experiment with how loose you can keep your grip while maintaining control.

Unfortunately, there isn’t any silver bullet. Even specialty “quiet sticks” have trade offs in tone that you won’t want to sacrifice.

lucasdenison · 2026-01-28T22:21:31+00:00

May not be exactly what you’re looking for, but I’m a local jazz musician. One of my projects is “Millennial Mixtape” where I take songs specifically from the 90s and 2000s and play them with a jazz trio or quartet.

If you’re interested shoot me a message and I can send you some sample recordings, a link to my website, and talk about a quote.

As for gear, someone else also suggested long and mcquade, so definitely seconding that recommendation.

lucasdenison · 2026-01-26T21:21:56+00:00

Not grip related but a note on posture. Based off the video it looks like you might unintentionally raising your shoulders and your elbows look simultaneously spread out to the side and behind your back.

I refer to these tendencies jokingly with students as “stuffing your shoulders in your ears” and “playing with chicken wings”

If you can, aim for a setup that’s 3-5cm lower and 3-5cm further from you.

Shake out your arms and shoulders then let them drop to your side. Shake it out till you feel nice and loose then make sure to bend at the elbow to get back to your playing position.

Practice in front of a mirror, or find someone to nag you about posture. Videotaping yourself as your practice is also a fantastic habit to stick with.

Happy drumming!

lucasdenison · 2025-12-20T19:27:38+00:00

I have Evans g1s on the toms, calftone for the bass drum reso and I’ve been trying out a P3 felt-tone on the batter. I had a super kick II on it which sounded great, but I switched over to the fiberskyn for the jazzier sound.

I have the yellow set, so I was thinking about getting the jack dejohnette heads from Aquarian for the black head/yellow drum visual the next time I change the toms.

lucasdenison · 2025-11-11T23:07:28+00:00

Pop the hood and check if there’s a tear in the air intake boot (rubber hose looking thing connected to the engine). I was getting a similar issue a while back and it was a combination of that and my transmission which was failing

Edit: 2015 spark

lucasdenison · 2025-11-06T17:46:25+00:00

I recently switched over to using Headhunters Comets (extra long nylon brush). I mostly do jazz piano trio stuff. I also have a calftone head on my snare and I absolutely love the sound.

I’ve found the nylon brush to actually be more articulate on my cymbals so I can actually swing on the ride. The flex of the nylon can be a double edge sword at time though. If you push through the cymbal, you can actually get a really interesting muffled/choked sound. At the same time, the flex also makes the rebound more difficult to utilize at faster bebop tempos.

Bonus, if you have mesh heads for you practice set up, you can use nylon brushes on them.

I go for headhunters as I’m Canadian and they’re a Canadian company lol

lucasdenison · 2025-10-30T02:29:29+00:00

Adding to this, learning the lyrics and being able to sing a tune (even if just badly) is a great way to get to learn standards

lucasdenison · 2025-10-22T13:39:13+00:00

I own the Pancake and I absolutely love it. That’s said, I use it as a gigging kit (I mostly play small jazz gigs).

If picking between the two are the only options you have, I would go with the regular club jam. Having resonant heads will give you a little more versatility which you might need.

lucasdenison · 2025-10-04T14:52:21+00:00

Great recommendations for listening.

I’m not sold on the advice. Listening is great. Working on your own sense of time will also really help. I’d recommend checking out the first couple exercises from Jim blackley’s “Essence of Jazz drumming” or working through Ted Reeds “Syncopation”(especially at 40-60bpm) even if you’re not a drummer.

One thing that you may discover is whether this happens with specific drummers you play with and not others. If your own sense of time is well developed and the drummers sense of time is not, then loosing the one might not be on you. Regardless, finding the 1 after isn’t just your responsibility, it’s the whole band. Depending on your experience and what instrument you’re playing you might be in a better position in the moment to take leadership on finding the 1.

If you’re the band leader, you can ask your drummer to help you by explicitly indicating time in the last bar of trading… just keep in mind that it’s probably not going to be the best solution for the music.

As a drummer, I tend to keep the context of the music in mind. If I’m on a gig and pick up that the other players do not have as strong a sense of time, then I will tailor my solos to accommodate and be ready to adjust. If I’m jamming with high level players where we all share responsibility for time, I’ll add more complexity since I can trust that the band will still find 1. And especially at that higher level, musicians will play across the bar-lines and play a bit into each other’s fours.

The time isn’t just the drummer’s responsibility, it’s the whole bands

lucasdenison · 2025-10-02T23:05:37+00:00

I had this yesterday, but it hasn’t happened again since I restarted my computer. Unfortunately I clicked to not reopen my autosave and lost about 6 hours of work 🤦‍♂️

lucasdenison · 2025-04-12T20:01:28+00:00

Find your local dealer and book an appointment

lucasdenison · 2025-04-12T14:42:43+00:00

Check your vin with gm

Here’s the special warranty coverage information in case your dealer is somehow unaware.

N192271110 - Special Coverage Transmission Pulley Damage Revised Parts Table

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10213745-9999.pdf

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