Place Random Update >> HERE <<

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Just figured I would drop a line and write something.  Work progresses on the drum covers, in fact, I am ahead of schedule by a couple months!  I have two drum covers I am working on simultaneously, but in reality, one of the them is definitely taking precedence.  I then have two drum covers queued up to be released for May & June…but that May drum cover just might get pushed back yet again!  That one has been the red-headed step child of my covers and been pushed back a few times when it originally was supposed to be released in March.   But this drum cover I am working on right now is badass and I want to get it out ASAP!  You guys will love it!

In other news, I have decided I will be remodeling my basement (or Red Gear Studios as someone called it) in early October.  Nothing crazy.  Just a new paint color, new carpet, and an electric fireplace that you probably won’t see on camera.  So I might miss a drum cover around this time unless I hustle and get as many as I can done & ready to go.  My wife and I do plan to move out of this home in hopefully 2-3 years and when that time comes, I will be offline for a good amount of time; that is if I am still doing this project by then.

Other than that, no more news and unfortunately no collaborations to speak of.  I did send drum tracks and video to someone for a collab early last year but nothing ever came about with it.  Bummer.  

You want to know the hardest part of making my drum covers?  Finding something to post at the end of the video.  You do know about the ending easter eggs right?

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It’s Be A Rough Couple Months & A New Challenge!

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Now that all the Black Album Project videos have been released, I am going back to my monthly YouTube channel releases.  I have completed two drum covers already; one for March and one for April.  I was beginning to work on the drum cover for May when my buddy Frank messages me and says, “You need to cover this new song and release it before the bands upcoming record drops”.  I actually was going to cover the song; a few months down the road. But I like a challenge…sometimes!  So there we were with about 5 weeks to go before the bands new album comes out, I’m learning the song, and it’s going rather well.  Then BOOM!  I get the flu.  At this point I don’t want to play the drums at all. My breathing is all fucked up and I ache everywhere.  Not to mention I just had COVID in the middle of January… (that was a piece of cake compared to this flu shit!).  

Today I finally sat down on the throne again and tried to get back at learning the song.  It went ok.  I still remember some of the parts.  Need work on some of the fills.  But my breathing is still laboring and my arms/chest hurts from coughing so much.  I got about 2.5 weeks to finish learning and filming this cover if I am going to release it by Maarch 17th -which is my next scheduled video release date.  If I can’t make it, you’ll see one I previously recorded and I obviously failed the challenge!  I don’t plan on that happening!

 

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Half Way Through The Black Album Project

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Today marks the half way point of the Black Album Project releases and so far, the comments have been super positive!  This project just might be very difficult to top and it could be all downhill from here.  😂🤣  I just finished the March drum cover the other day and it is so basic in comparison that I almost scrapped the release.  But why should I do that?!

I have plans for some good drum covers in the upcoming months; some basic, some that slay on the drums.  Let’s just hope I can actually play them.  LOL!  Not too much going on otherwise…just wanted to drop a quick note as it’s been a month since my last post.  Just remember every Friday @ 12pm (CST) a new Black Album release comes out.  6 more to go!

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Enter Sandman Premiere

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We currently sit at 45 minutes before the premiere of Enter Sandman in my year long quest to recreate the entire Black Album project on the drums.   I feel nervous and excited; probably for no good reason.  I have fielded a bunch of comments and emails about the sound of the kit I created which have all been positive.  I am going into a new adventure and selling the Superior Drummer 3 preset I created for this project because I feel there is no other person out there (that I have seen) with a kit that sounds like it!  You can find this preset in the downloads section.

Today I also finished filming the last song for the project, The Struggle Within.  This is by far the toughest song on the entire album and I had many challenges (and takes!) to overcome. I think it turned out great, the beginning was fun -even though some people made fun of me for it.  ? 

New videos from the project will be released every week which will take us to the 2nd week in February where I might skip a March release and go straight to the April one.  Hard to say.  I don’t think I can stop making covers for very long so maybe by Christmas I will start working again.

Until then, keep checking the YouTube channel every Friday for a new Black Album release!  ?

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The Black Album Project Has Been Announced!

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Ok, here it is…my BIG project!  😂  I hope I didn’t hype it up too much but this was a labor of love for me with countless hours of perfecting the drum sound, learning all the drum fills, and numerous video out-takes.  Even as I complete the finalizing of the drum videos themselves, I am finding the earlier videos from almost a year ago don’t sound as good as the latest.  This is because I tweaked some elements of the sound as I progressed through the project.  I have been going back and tweaking the mix on these earlier recorded songs so you may notice some of the end credit sample videos sounded different.

Since you have so graciously made your way over to my website, I will share the order & dates of when each video was shot, just in case you were ever wondering.  
        1.   Enter Sandman (12/21/21)
        2.   My Friend of Misery (01/01/22)
        3.   Sad But True (02/01/22)
        4.   Nothing Else Matters (02/21/22)
        5.   Wherever I May Roam (04/10/22)
        6.   The Unforgiven (06/07/22)
        7.   Of Wolf & Man (06/25/22)
        8.   Holier Than Thou (07/17/22)
        9.   The God That Failed (08/17/22)
        10.   Don’t Tread On Me (09/12/22)
        11.   Through The Never (10/09/22)
        12.   The Struggle Within (11/25/22)
Enter Sandman is the song I knew the best and have played since day one, so naturally this one would come first.  However, this is not the first song I actually recorded.  I initially recorded My Friend of Misery first for a project my buddy Frank wanted me to do the drums for; this was back in the beginning of October.  I already had the idea to work on this project (being it was the 30 year anniversary of the album in 2021) and began the early stages of creating the drum sound.  I completed that drum track and that’s when I decided to go all in and start filming in between my normal drum cover releases.  But eventually, I had to take the summer off from making covers to focus on this project.  The first 7 songs I filmed are songs I knew how to play just from over the years, so that left the ones I did not know (and probably some of the hardest) for the end.  Needless to say, I got through it and I am SUPER PUMPED at how it turned out.  

You can expect new drum covers from this project released every week; which should last until early February 2023!  Thanks for stopping by…be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!  Huge shout out to Frank for being my outside ears as he got to hear and view this project as it progressed.  He gave me a lot of valuable information and I trust his opinion.  Thanks buddy!

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