Gene Hoglans DVD

[Myrk-]

Anyone else really looking forward to Gene Hoglan's DVD? Ultimate DVD for anyone who plays metal I'd say. Not sure when its coming out, and his website where you buy it hasn't been working a while.

Anyway, the trailer-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSGkxNpP8aU

On the note of DVD's, if anyone here is wanting stuff that shows about becoming sickeningly fast, then check out Flo Mouniers Extreme Metal Drumming 101 DVD. Good stuff!

[KevH]

I'll be interested in this. Top class drummer. I still dig out Darkness Descends on a regular basis.

[Iune]

When I have a bad day Strapping Young Lad never fails me. Definitely going to check this DVD out although I'm not playing that kind of music necessarily.

[kcmack1]

The DVD has been available from Gene's sister for a while now. If you PM Lisa on Youtube, she will hook you up; the DVD is worth every penny; I highly recommend it; mine even came with a bag of Gene Hoglan M&Ms. Lisa's username on Youtube is LISAHOGLAN.

[randallstevens]

**edit** so I wrote this review a few days ago, and I just read the back of the DVD case tonight. Hadn't looked at it before! It says, plain as day that he's (barely paraphrasing here) "not going to break down your favorite Hoglan grooves..." and "Instructional? Maybe! Educational? Who cares!!?... you don't even need to be a drummer to enjoy it!" So... I think my expectations may have surpassed the goal of the project itself. It's supposed to just be entertaining! So, I suppose it was. I think I'm gonna watch again. He's certainly a pleasant guy... who just happens to have an ass-load of talent that I want more insight on! Ok, on with the rant I wrote previously...
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I just finished watching the Gene Hoglan DVD, and was actually disappointed. Let me first say I am a fan of Hoglan's drumming, and have the utmost respect for the musicality he's injected into the metal genre. I didn't watch any of the extras yet, but just in watching the whole thing through, I found the following to be kind of a let down:

Biggest problem - he didn't really explain any of his playing or style in any detail. As far as a lot of the patterns he uses using doubles on the hands, he described them as "freak outs"... when he described his initial warmup on the practice pad, he said "just freak out a little bit". I think I know what he means, but a lot of people just starting to learn the rudiments wouldn't know the first step in figuring out what the hell he's doing! There were single/double paradiddles, all out double strokes, flams, accents... using a combination of fingers/wrists.

He just neglected to REALLY dissect anything he did. I think it would have been hugely helpful for him to go over what happens with his feet when he went into really fast double bass patterns. He seems to keep his heels on the ground when he does that, but at slower speeds uses his whole leg. His boots/pants were so big that it was hard to tell exactly what was happening. It leaves me thinking that he doesn't even know.

How did he develop his hand technique? What were some really hard obstacles in his playing that he had to overcome and how did he overcome them?

He really could have taken a song that he'd recorded for mechanism (or any song) and gone over how he came up with the part.

I get that in general, he doesn't overthink his playing. He's an incredibly naturally talented guy that's put a lot of work into his own development, but hasn't seemed to bookmark any of that development.

Also, I've seen videos from people who don't really read or write music well. Instead of just bypassing that whole part of the learning experience, they get someone to transcribe stuff and put it up on the screen, or in a booklet. Would have been GREAT! Nothing is broken down in this manner OR EVEN SLOWED DOWN!! He mentions trademark fills that he calls his "default fill"... points it out several times, and NEVER actually breaks down what he's doing.

Some of the playing was REALLY messy, too. He said he didn't rehearse much of what he did, and that made me feel great, because I just shelled out $35 bucks for a DVD that was by and large very haphazard and makeshift in structure, and poorly played in several spots. It was amazing seeing the clips of him playing Mechanism songs, but again, there was no breakdown of sections or anything like that.

If you're looking for some cool footage of Hoglan's playing, a few (not many) little tips and a play by play narration of how he "feels" about the things he's played, or who he stole the licks from, this is for you. If you're looking to really learn something from one of the most innovative drummers in metal, I don't know what to tell you. This had potential, but I think it was poorly done!

[hodsmack4]

problem is, most people are NOT teachers and sell this stuff based on their abilities as a PLAYER and celebrity status. I don't waste time or money on most of this stuff anymore. I find that I am just as easily impressed going on youtube and looking these guys up. If they aren't going to break down what they are doing and how I can achieve that same skill, then what's the point

As I have said before, if you want first rate instruction and 'how to' - mikeslessons is the best bang for your buck. This is stuff that I use on a regular basis and have incorporated techniques, and licks into my every day playing.

[sciomako]

Originally Posted by hodsmack4

As I have said before, if you want first rate instruction and 'how to' - mikeslessons is the best bang for your buck. This is stuff that I use on a regular basis and have incorporated techniques, and licks into my every day playing.

Hi hodsmack,

Risking of digressing too far from this thread....

I found that after I'd learned a new lick for a song, I could seldom recall it in another song. I always fall back to old boring licks. Someone mentioned it usually takes a year or so to actually internalize new stuff as part of your vocabulary. What's your experience, hodsmack?

[hodsmack4]

Originally Posted by sciomako

Hi hodsmack,

Risking of digressing too far from this thread....

I found that after I'd learned a new lick for a song, I could seldom recall it in another song. I always fall back to old boring licks. Someone mentioned it usually takes a year or so to actually internalize new stuff as part of your vocabulary. What's your experience, hodsmack?

I know exactly what you mean. I still do that with 'newer' licks and fills etc... I get em down, but my memory stinks and when I should be going to one of them, I forget and go with the old 'standards'. I don't know about it taking a year as more using them in your practice. What I try to do is take 2 or 3 things that I really like and think sound good and work on incorporating them into my playing that week. I actually over-do them. I have done that with some 32nd note fills that now they are my 'go-to' fills a lot of the time.

This is one cool thing I like about the mikeslessons. I have printed every lesson from day one and just last week, I went through all of them and put about half of them away that 1) already past that, 2) not interested in incorporating it, 3) just don't like it. So now I have about 120 lessons - different world beats, funk beats, linear beats etc that I want to focus more on.

Part of my problem is I have too much study material that I jump from book to book and don't fully incorporate one without moving to something else.

[sciomako]

Originally Posted by hodsmack4

Part of my problem is I have too much study material that I jump from book to book and don't fully incorporate one without moving to something else.

Same here. I've been resisting the temptation to get more materials from Amazon or subscribe to mikeslesson because I already got zillion of materials I can work on.

Thanks!