The DrumMantra Podcast

The mind can play tricks on us. It will make us believe we aren't doing what we are, and are doing what we're not.

Thinking is like a muscle  - it must be developed and trained.

Breathing is involuntary but is also voluntary, and thus must also be trained.

Creativity comes from within, and we access it through our ability to be present. 

Uh oh. I forgot to talk about drums...

All of us do it. We wait for the inspiration to hit before we make a move. This of course only works some of the time. What do we do when we aren't inspired? Usually, we make excuses or claim it's "meant to be" that practice doesn't happen today". 

Building a habit requires concentration, discipline, and patience. These are developed through perseverance.

This month's featured lesson on my educational site, DrumMantra.com, is now up.
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This is an 18-part series in 7/8 time with a dotted eighth ostinato and twelve different ride permutations. It is loosely inspired by Vinnie Colaiuta's drumming on Sting's Ten Summoner's Tales album.
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I wish them all good luck!

In this episode, we look at nervousness that can cause stage fright and then do a deep dive into eight ways to find balance and transcend your fears.

Swiss drummer Lukas Landis is a great player, an educator, and a really cool guy.
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He was a test pilot for the DrumMantra3030 course and helped shaped it before it was released to the public.
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The other day Lukas posted a modification for Rhythmic Melodies in the Foundational Series so I decided to make it a new audio download for the book and do a podcast interview with him.

Knowing how to connect your external experience to your internal development is one of the best ways to discovering and developing your own voice. 

It's all about intention, awareness, and a deeper understanding of the inspiration/preparation/presentation process.

Getting to the practice room is hard enough. Knowing what to work on is sometimes equally as challenging, and having the discipline, patience, and focus is sometimes nearly impossible.

In this episode, I give you 5 steps to organize your practice into an experience that is effective and successful.

I just came across a little monologue I created for a video that I posted on youtube a couple of years ago.

I am not a political person.

I try to be as compassionate and empathetic as I can remember to be.

Peace.

In this, the 50th episode, I present two sections of a brand-new five-part series called "Two-Way Coordination: A Primer". The goal of these exercises is to train the mind & body to pay attention to several things at once - the coordination, the relaxation, the focus, knowing where you are in the measure, the comfort, and the sound quality.  We cover the 3:4 and the 5:4 polymetric relationships as well.

Give it a listen, and then give it a try!

Steve Lyman is an amazing human. He is extremely dedicated to his craft and is driven by creativity, inspiration, and pushing the limits of his comfort zone. 

Steve was in town to hang with Smashing Pumpkins' drummer Jimmy Chamberlain for a few days and stopped by the DrumMantra Studio for coffee, breakfast, and nice conversation on his way to the airport.

We talked about practice, meditation, creativity, discipline, drive, ego, and more.