The Way of the Gong™

Gong Hacks    Over the course of my career, I've come up with a lot of practical and easy solutions to everyday percussionist problems, so I plan to feature these here in 2019. A lot of these may seem like common sense, or simple ideas, but I'm surprised how many other people haven't thought of them. Gong Hack #1 Your hands are you main tools, so you really need to take care of them. When I'm loading/unloading, and setting up/tearing down, I always wear a pair of work gloves . These have not only saved on the wear & tear my hands take, but they have saved me from injuring my hands on many occasions. Note, these are made from heavy material or leather, not your white cotton gloves that many Gongers wear to keep fingerprints off their Gongs. I currently have 2 pair that I bought for under $10 each pair at a local hardware store. I keep one pair with my cases, so they're always ready when I have to load up for a gig. I know most of you probab...

As an artist, it's easy to become myopic and get lost in your own perspective of what you do. This is especially true, if like me, you play mostly solo. While solo is great, the one big downfall is the lack of ideas and guidance from other musicians. In a duo/trio/group situation, there is a lot of communication about what is going on in the music and how to shape it. Playing solo, it's just you. This doesn't mean that one is better than the other, but that in continued solo playing, you often lack input from others who can see what you do from outside . I record every performance (audio and/or video), but even in listening back to it, I don't always catch things. Glaring mistakes or big things do stand out, but often the more subtle things can even escape me on reviewing my work. It's like writing a term paper, and when you edit it, you keep missing the same mistakes, yet when someone else reads it, they can spot things immediately. An Outside Perspective...