Chris Scherer ... Drummer!

Drumming for King Keltic

Chris Scherer — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 19:20:28 +0000

I joined King Keltic in 2011 and had a solid string of gigs at venues such as Shandon Court, Nassau Community College, The Hempstead Country Club, Tommy’s Place, Dublin Decks, and Katies in Smithtown. In 2012 we also played at the Friends of Mercy Gentleman’s Dinner and, for St. Patrick’s Day, we performed at Napper Tandy’s in Smithtown.

Swiss Army KniPhone: Teaching Music

Chris Scherer — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:01:45 +0000

I am a private drum instructor who has always embraced technology as a vital teaching aid. In an effort to become efficient in helping my students better grasp the materials that I teach and to help them to achieve their performance goals, I have been using specific apps which I allow me to accomplish this both in studio and road lessons. I would like to share a couple of those apps with you in this article.

The Amazing Slow Downer By Roni Music
With this handy utility, I can import as many songs from iTunes as I want. Once they’re in the app’s inbox I can choose a song and change it’s tempo and pitch independently. I use this app to help students play along to a song in which the normal tempo is too fast for them. The guitar students in my jam class benefit from The Amazing Slow Downer as well in that they have a better chance of catching the melodies and chord changes when I send them slowed down versions of the music.

Music Theory Pro by Joel Clifft
To get a handle on music theory takes time and practice and Music Theory Pro is a great app to help students achieve a solid understanding of note names, key signatures, intervals and more. The ear training section features tests on tempos, intervals, scales, and chords. Each test can be customized to suit the user’s knowledge of music theory or focus of study. I’ve recommended this app to many of my multiple-percussion students with the understanding that the only feature not offered is a rhythm training section, but that’s where I come in.

iWrite Music by the iWriteMusicProject
Music notation on an iPhone seemed like it would be an arduous task until I found this app a few weeks ago. I love being able to notate ideas on the fly and then email them as a pdf or print them right from the app. So far, I have written several exercises for my students with iWrite Music and I look forward to writing a lot more.

The Shuffle Groove with Triplet Subdivisions on the Left Hand

Chris Scherer — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:14:14 +0000

The shuffle groove can be a lot more fun to play once a student understands how different subdivisions of the triplet played as comping motifs can add so much feel within the solid 4/4 shuffle framework. This is a short video to show an example of me working through some triplet subdivision comping with my student, Rob.

Swiss Army KniPhone: Music Production

Chris Scherer — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:52:10 +0000

Ever since purchasing the iPhone 4 in 2011, it has allowed me to be a more productive musician, instructor, and composer on the go. Here are some key apps which I find useful for music production.

Multitrack DAW By Harmonicdog
This workhorse of an app is what I use for my on-the-fly multitrack recording. If I suddenly have a new song knocking around in my head, this app allows me to layer the parts by letting me sing or hum each part onto a different track, eventually capturing the whole idea so I can then refer to it when I sit down at my computer. MultiTrack DAW also helps me to turn my iPhone into a digital recorder. I just plug my Tascam iM2 stereo mic into the data port, set up a new stereo track in the app, and voila! There are some common recording tools available in MultiTrack DAW, such as a compressor, EQ, pan, mute/solo track, auto select input, and input monitoring. The tracks, which are recorded as lossless WAV files, are easy to mix and edit and I can send my finished product right to SoundCloud, iTunes, or my desktop in M4A, WAV, or OGG formats.

NanoStudio By Blip Interactive Ltd
Sequencing, synths, and drum machines are just a few of the features in this easy to navigate, electronic music work station of which I’ve been a fan since last year. NanoStudio offers fifteen tracks to create with, nice wide keyboards that fit about fourteen keys on-screen and can be double tiered to access the next octave above or below. With several synth sound banks available to me, I can customize waveforms and use a host of available filters to further shape my sounds. The drum machine has thirteen editable drum pads along with several aux sends, filters, and quantization down to 1/32.

FunkBox Digital Drum Machine By Synthetic Bits, LLC
As far as drum machines go, if I’m ever in need of one, this is it, and by “it” I really mean this app which contains nine of the most famous drum machines in the history of music. FunkBox has a fun UI with a classic button and switch feel to it. It enables me to program beats using either a real-time drum pad tap screen or a pattern sequencer. I can give my beats a swing feel and adjust the levels of individual instruments. Once I’m satisfied with my creation, I can either export it as a midi file or a wav file. It should be noted that the band, Gorillaz have used this app on their album “The Fall”.

I use many apps for different aspects of my business and plan on sharing more with you in the near future.

Drumming for White Room at Bobbique

Chris Scherer — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:15:19 +0000

Playing with White Room is always great. Playing with White Room at Bobbique in Patchogue is even better. The stage has ample room with good lighting and the food and drink is terrific.

Drumming for Billy Connah at CMJ 2011

Chris Scherer — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:33:57 +0000

Billy Connah, Pete Crugnale (bassist for the Long Island Hornets), and myself had a blast tearing it up at the CMJ 2011 Rockabilly and Psychobilly Showcase at Public Assembly in Brooklyn. The rehearsals leading up to the show were productive and the show itself went extremely well. We have some good chemistry happening and will be working together again real soon.

Drumming for The Ronald Reagans

Chris Scherer — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:00:55 +0000

From time to time, The Ronald Reagans call me to fill in for their usual drummer. They are the best ’80s tribute act in the tri-state area i.m.h.o.

Melodic Tom Rock Groove Demo

Chris Scherer — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:36:57 +0000

I demonstrated this for a student at his lesson one night. He was preparing a drum set solo for his upcoming 5th grade talent show. We composed a piece which actually didn’t use the groove in this video, but came out pretty cool anyway. Feel free to download the sheet music here: Fierce Furci

Funk-Rock Groove Demo Clip

Chris Scherer — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:06 +0000

I was teaching a student this groove so he could use it in a Street Light Manifesto song; I don’t remember which one…

Groove Essentials – 14 Slow Demo

Chris Scherer — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 02:00:40 +0000

This is a sloooow demonstration for my student, Sydney. It’s from the book Groove Essentials 1.0 by Tommy Igoe. I use this book for all of my drum set students and highly recommend it to any drummer who wants to gain a thorough understanding of grooves in different musical genres.

Get Groove Essentials 1.0 Book & CD

Ric Jamisons Open Jam 5/5/11

Chris Scherer — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:00:33 +0000

The China Diddle Exercise

Chris Scherer — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 01:00:29 +0000

This exercise was presented to me in high school marching band. Our drumline director was Dave Franceschina (Sunrisers Drum Corps Alumni).

Download Sheet Music

“Head Butt” Backsticking Exercise

Chris Scherer — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:00:21 +0000

Backsticking was developed in the 1930s by a man named John Dowlan. As a student, he began using backsticking as a means of strengthening his wrists. Since then it has become a visual and audible effect mainly used in snare drum performance. I wrote this exercise to help drummers develop and incorporate backsticking into their repertoire.

Download Sheet Music

Drummers’ Hand Workout #1

Chris Scherer — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:00:45 +0000

In an effort to avoid writing a boring and mundane rudimental exercise, I came up with this one. The Drummers’ Hand Workout #1 runs through several rudiments starting at low intensity, gradually increasing in intensity until a plateau is reached, and it then goes into a cool down phase.

Download Sheet Music

Drumming for Brian Patanjo & Shades of Blue

Chris Scherer — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:27:47 +0000

Guitarist Brian Patanjo was a performer in the Air Force Tops in Blue, a music group which does family oriented concerts across the US. Since leaving the Air Force, Brian has done some traveling of his own and was bitten by the blues bug during a stay in Nashville. When he returned to New York, he shared his blues epiphany with me, Donna Schwartz (sax), and Rob Curry (bass). Shades of Blue was born.

Drumming for Chuck D.

Chris Scherer — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 15:00:53 +0000

After hearing my band laying down tracks for producer Johnny Juice, at Ice House Studios, Chuck D. decided he would like to work with us so we recorded for Public Enemy’s 2005 release New Whirl Odor. This live show from ’04 features Chuck and his good friends, Kyle Jason and Johnny Juice along with my band, My World.

Buy the New Whirl Odor CD+DVD Combo

Drumming With The Hip Pickles at Modern Drummer Fest 2003

Chris Scherer — Mon, 02 Jun 2003 00:16:30 +0000

On the day we were to perform at the Modern Drummer festival I received a phone call at 5 in the morning that something had happened to the Hip Pickles van during the night. While it was parked on the street a drunk driver had slammed into the tailgate and some of the equipment which was loaded in the back had sustained damage. Luckily we had backups, but the van was not going to make it so we wound up having to load each of our cars up with gear. Hip Pickles did two gigs that day; MD Fest in New Jersey in the afternoon and a drum corps stage show on Long Island in the evening. Aside from the van getting hit, it was a typical day for us.

Get the MD Fest 2003 DVD

Hip Pickles Promo Footage

Chris Scherer — Thu, 11 Apr 2002 00:08:33 +0000

This is footage shot for a Hip Pickles promotional video which was never used.

Chris & Zeus Duet – Hip Pickles at the Larrie Londin Benefit Concert

Chris Scherer — Tue, 16 Feb 1999 01:30:01 +0000

This was a duet which Zeus-Man (tri-bass) and myself performed at Texas Christian University for the Larrie Londin Benefit Concert organized by Sean Londin. Zeus and I put this routine together around 1992 and we had performed it many, many times since. It always got a nice reaction from the crowd.