SPECTRUM TOUR of JAPAN 2008
15/11/2008




 

TOKYO, JAPAN “STB139”                                                                        11/15/08

PHOENIX Sings: I now understand that these drum shells are very discriminative and will speak to me when something is out of whack with its tonal character. If the heads are not agreeable to the performance environment based upon the other elements used by me to create my performance through them, the drums will present an unbalanced and non-harmonic personality in the organic sense. Please keep in mind that what I am saying here is only from my perspective and not to be considered “the rule of thumb” as relates to playing the Phoenix drum set. As I have mentioned in the other blogs: Phoenix is not for everyone and can make you sound only as good as your knowledge of the make up of the drum set you, as a player envision your self to be. I suggest you come to Phoenix with a strong foundation and direction as to what you want to do with it and then proceed accordingly. If you choose to drive a Ferrari F1 with only the knowledge of what to do in the driver’s seat of an Edsel Ford you will be in trouble and come away with a negative opinion of the drums and your performance ability. This second day in the same place of performance (STB139) gave me the opportunity to make slight adjustments in my performance at the drum set that would have probably continued to stay in the background as secondary problems to be dealt with a later date. But, since I had this luxury of time and space on my side, not to mention the help of key members of  the Yamaha staff popping in to check on how the marriage between me and my new “percussion mistress” was coming along, I was able to better understand and gauge what could be done through this ‘kit’. Performance mode is now much easier and quicker to access because I know how the gear will respond in performance. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I will still continue to learn more about these drums with every performance and in a way, I expect that they will spoil me away from my other drum set in that I will want to play them more or whenever I can possibly incorporate them into a musical presentation somewhere along the way so, we will see what tomorrow brings.

The group performance has grown from the beginning of the tour this past September in Jim Thorpe Pa. as with any band, the more we perform together the more cohesive the presentation so, it’s a win and win for us. Interpretation of my material can be elusive for all of us, including me as I work out different scenarios in my head regarding an appropriate approach to playing the material as a group. By the time we arrived in Tokyo, I had a pretty good idea of what I am looking for as to which of my compositions worked best to support the other. Inter-relationships between individuals continue to grow, some more than others but then, that’s life as we live it so, nothing new there. We performed with a great amount of dynamics on a more constant basis from a velocity sensitivity perspective, something that clearly enhances the basis of my compositions and defines the overall ‘dynamic’ of my music. At each station within the group there are many challenges that confront the musicians and yet reward them in performance when they are able to meet those requirements demanded by the material. I believe that, overall many of those standards were met and that progress in performance was achieved although not in total. I look forward to performing in the future with the Spectrum band and achieve even greater heights in performance of the music.

It was great to work with Dean , Victor and Tom  as performances are all about what happens in life both on and off stage so, being amongst friends and having  a level of mutual respect goes a long way to making the experience in performance a memorable one to the positive. This coupled with the technical expertise of Franz Erl, and Michi Edakawa made for a good time to be had by all. Thanks guys!

List of tunes played on tour:

1.     Mirage

2.     Obliquely Speaking

3.     Crosswinds

4.     Heather

5.     Moon Germs

6.     Spectrum

7.     Two For Juan

8.     Stratus

9.     Panama

10. AC/DC

11. Red Baron

12. Quadrant 4

 



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