by Thomas Altmann » Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:08 am
Relatively late, I purchased the three volumes only recently. The format of this studying tool (large notation, DVD, slow breakdown) seems perfect to me.
The material presented in the books is accurate and interesting, especially in the instances where it deviates slightly from the way I had learned it. As I said earlier, I (and certainly many of us) had to travel, struggle and dig for years to piece together my repertory of rhythms, licks and patterns that is simply thrown at students in these books.
So far so good. It may sound heretical to some, and I'm certainly not making any friends with this; but it must be possible to express an even unpopular opinion.
Volume 3 is an interesting analysis of the Timba drumming style of one particular drummer - Tomas Cruz. He presents the rhythms he created himself to apply them to the particular musical situations he was facing in his personal career. Once the rhythms are learned, something that isn't exactly done in five minutes, as was stated before, we know how he did it; another drummer in another situation could come up with an equal amount of personal ideas, and so on. I mean: what is the asset in the end? What about the student? Unless he is a dedicated admirer of Tomas Cruz, the advice to use his own creativity is probably the most effective lesson that is stated in this book. I don't think I'll become a better drummer if I learned someone's private repertory, especially if this would take me a year of study.
The same with his so-called recursos. These do partly coincide with the licks that I learned, sometimes they go beyond them. (Others are missing in turn.) Some of them are identical with things I developed myself, others bring up technical stuff that I had found out but discarded, because they made no musical sense to me. I brought some exercises and fills home from a young drummer in Havana called Daniel Carbonell, who could be my son, by his age. They are different, but inspired by similar ideas. I think that every drummer has his own bag of tricks that he collected with the time. It is a very personal, even intimate, affair, and though it's nice of him to share some of his little things with us, they might not make the same sense to us as to him. They should not be preached and spread as the gospel.
My main issue, however, is his stroke technique and sound articulation. My question is: Is that what should be on an instructional DVD? Is really everybody in this forum glad to learn this kind of technique? I would really like to know it! I do not doubt that Tomas is a great player in the various groups he is playing (and I am going to buy the recommended "Con la conciencia tranquila", too). But in my opinion he does not present the kind of technique that is recommendable as a foundation for beginners. Hell, I say it: I found it horrible! He is "grabbing" the closed slaps, he travels too long distances on the playing surface, he does not incorporate the natural fall or gravity, he does not rest his hands on the edge of the drum when he could, he lifts the arms/hands too soon, he is pressing his fingers together for open tone strokes and even for slaps, causing tension in the forearms, making a relaxed stroke impossible. The sound comes out accordingly. As far as I can see, there are only a few mistakes he does not make.
That's what I see, and that's what I think about it. Once again, I will extract my 5 percent profit from the books, while I keep on playing my own stuff. And who knows, maybe I will have a chance to go and see Tomas Cruz actually perform one day, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
Sorry, but after all these laudatory comments I felt that some criticism was seriously missing.
Thomas