Re: Drum Camp topic: drum camp reviews and info
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 7:31 am
I went to Benny Greb's camp this year and one of Mike Johnston's last year. Both great camps!
Benny Greb's Master Session:
Camp of 26-28 drummers. He went through The Language of Drumming and some of The Art & Science of Groove. It was one of his more generalized camps, as opposed to his specialized ones on sound, or hands & feet. Tons of information and ideas on how to practice it and get them most out of it. Great bunch of drummers at the camp with all ages and levels. Very much concentrated work on developing your sense of time and beat placement, plus independence. Cool part about the camp was being able to eat all 3 meals with Benny and picking his brain about whatever drumming or music questions you had. The area was kind of out of the way in the Catskill Mountains with not so great wifi, so there were no distractions from the reason you are there. I would go to it again.
Mike Johnston's Drum Camp:
I attended one of his Intermediate Drum Camps and had a blast. There were all ranges of players there from relatively new to seasoned players. Mike has a knack of identifying your weaknesses and helping you come up with solutions to make them your strengths. It was a smaller camp with only 8 campers at a time. The great part of the size is the camaraderie you gain with the other campers, all working on their identified weaknesses. It was one of the most positive experiences I've ever had. He would have us work on something starting every morning and continue developing it through the day. We each would have to demonstrate what we had learned and where we were in playing that concept for the day. The camp also included two 30 minute private lessons with Mike, which can be very intense...in a good way. There are so many ideas that I'm still working on now. Mike hung out with the group for lunch and dinner, even bringing his wife Amber for a few of the meals. She's the business side of his enterprise. Each night included a camper shed, playing along to any song we requested, which was live online for all of his subscribers. One night was a Pandora random song list and another was Amber's choice, which really put you on the spot of being able to play a song you have never heard before. Folsom, CA, is a beautiful area with trails to walk and a bike rental store if you just need to get away for an hour and decompress. All in all, one of my favorite experiences!
MM
Benny Greb's Master Session:
Camp of 26-28 drummers. He went through The Language of Drumming and some of The Art & Science of Groove. It was one of his more generalized camps, as opposed to his specialized ones on sound, or hands & feet. Tons of information and ideas on how to practice it and get them most out of it. Great bunch of drummers at the camp with all ages and levels. Very much concentrated work on developing your sense of time and beat placement, plus independence. Cool part about the camp was being able to eat all 3 meals with Benny and picking his brain about whatever drumming or music questions you had. The area was kind of out of the way in the Catskill Mountains with not so great wifi, so there were no distractions from the reason you are there. I would go to it again.
Mike Johnston's Drum Camp:
I attended one of his Intermediate Drum Camps and had a blast. There were all ranges of players there from relatively new to seasoned players. Mike has a knack of identifying your weaknesses and helping you come up with solutions to make them your strengths. It was a smaller camp with only 8 campers at a time. The great part of the size is the camaraderie you gain with the other campers, all working on their identified weaknesses. It was one of the most positive experiences I've ever had. He would have us work on something starting every morning and continue developing it through the day. We each would have to demonstrate what we had learned and where we were in playing that concept for the day. The camp also included two 30 minute private lessons with Mike, which can be very intense...in a good way. There are so many ideas that I'm still working on now. Mike hung out with the group for lunch and dinner, even bringing his wife Amber for a few of the meals. She's the business side of his enterprise. Each night included a camper shed, playing along to any song we requested, which was live online for all of his subscribers. One night was a Pandora random song list and another was Amber's choice, which really put you on the spot of being able to play a song you have never heard before. Folsom, CA, is a beautiful area with trails to walk and a bike rental store if you just need to get away for an hour and decompress. All in all, one of my favorite experiences!
MM
