In-Depth 2022 – Final Blog Post #6!

In-Depth is almost over! It’s so crazy how fast it seems to have gone this year. 

 

For my final presentation this year on In-Depth Night, I’m going to be playing a song on the drums on the stage. After lots of discussion with my dad and thinking it over myself, I’ve decided to learn and play ‘Black Hole Sun’ by Soundgarden. Using a rock beat, the song allows for a lot of variation, experimentation with fills and cool rhythmic patterns and syncopation. (As well as its been song that I’ve loved for a while now). I plan to play along to a short 90 second clip of the song, this way I can also cut to parts that I enjoy playing or feel like showcase my skills better 

A big part of the presentation for me will be me being able to stay on beat with the song as well as performing in front of a larger audience. I’ve talked with my mentor about how it can be hard sometimes to stay on beat on stage when playing because of the loud music and the pressure of simply being on stage! One way that I’m trying to combat this is just practice. I’ve practiced along with the song on headphones, on speaker and played it through the drum amp as if to simulate what it might be like. I also am practice a lot more in front of my family so that I can get used to playing in front of an audience. I hope to work my way up so that I can play in front of neighbors and friends in preparation for the performance so that I at least feel confident in myself.    

 

Progress Report  

 

This week has been practice practice practice. I’ve been going over the song in my head, playing it on the car, and on the drums a lot more in my free time. Despite the repetition, I’ve had so much fun with the song and love figuring out rhythms with my dad or learning alongside with my brother. Who knew stage fright was such a big motivator! 

I’ve gotten a large portion of the song out of the way because most of it is this strange syncopated beat with the snare, crash and bass. I’ve learned how to do a beat with the snare by hitting it while open and then closing it for the next beat almost giving it a sst sound if that makes sense. I’ve worked with my brother (because now he’s just as excited as I am) to help figure out and learn some cool fills that he’s also learning. Together we’ve watched many covers of Black Hole Sun and pointed, paused and rewinded through some pretty sick covers on Youtube.  

To show my progress these past few weeks, I’ve included a video of my playing a short section of the beginning with a fill and open-closed crash cymbal.