Marc Carmi Smith
Be the different drummer
I'm starting this site because I love drumming, I love talking to others about drumming, and I love learning about how others are using drumming to further themselves and the people around them.
It is my hope that the topics we discuss, and the information we share will further the art and the communities around us.
Here we go!
My first memorable encounter with drums was a moment in the fifth grade. A great man named Chas Meyers had begun a student "combo". Being a drummer himself, he had brought to the school all his personal equipment including drum sets, marimbas, vibe and another mallet instrument that I never found out what it was called. His combo was open to those in the sixth grade. Being in the fifth grade, I was only able watch, but what I saw changed my life. Recalling it now still brings great joy to my heart. A student by the name of Sidney Baylis was sitting behind "the kit" and began to play an opening solo to an arrangement of the Beatles Nowhere Man. Simple as it was (16th notes at medium tempo for four bars) it set my heart in motion like nothing else ever in my life. This is what was going to bring me joy. And so it began.
As soon as I could convince my folks that this was a life necessity, I was taking lessons from Chas. With my Ludwig drum pad, Haskell Harr's book one, and a wanderlust not yet matched to this day, I was off.
Sixth grade came, and now it was me behind the kit... Well me and some other lads equally influenced. We practiced, competed, and grew at an incredible rate the by the end of that year, Chas couldn't keep up. The next blessing was having parental connects at the University of Michigan. We found grad students there eager to teach the youth of Ann Arbor, and the lessons continued. High school marching band came and went, then on to North Texas State, Karl Burger's Creative Music Studio, Berklee College of Music, then off to California to study with David Garabaldi, Atma Anura, and the blessing of sessions with Tony Williams.
There are times in life when the things you love most must be set aside while other callings are answered. In the mid 90's I was performing with the Jazz Iguanas around Northern California. The web was just beginning to emerge, and I knew we must get ourselves out there. So with a couple of books and a lot of coffee, I built my first site; Jazz Iguanas Theatre. Well, the band didn't last but the skills landed me a job that lasted 4 years. What followed was a decade of developing sites, still gigging now and then, but my "mistress" had been sidelined. Although I must continue working as a programmer, I am now ready to bring that which I truly love back into my life.
Now, it's 2012. I'm not looking to "do it all again" or relive the past. As artists we move forward, and that is my intent. Chop it up, and figure out what's next.
