Get ready to tap that! The Mikes bounce like a hovercraft over contentious (but bouncy) waters to debate using practice pads for good and evil in one’s musical development. The Duo discusses pad selection, and setup, and makes some recommendations for pads in several categories. Pads mentioned, in no particular order:

• Ikea bath towels

Mike C endorses Vic Firth pads and sticks, Beetle Pads, and Remo drumheads.

Rebecca Moore is our wonderful audio editor.

When is now? It doesn’t matter! The Mikes share their excitement and joy for the details in the world with a short episode covering:

Cognitive Neurology

Mike’s summer of museums

Rituals in sporting events

The running style of Wimbledon ball boys

Marathon training

Thanks to Rebecca Moore for the amazing work on our audio!

There is an skill to maximizing individual music lessons. In this episode, the teachers become the students: the Mikes learn how to learn, covering preparation before, during, and after lessons. Topics covered include articulating the roles of the teacher and student, lesson preparation strategies, planning for multiple lessons, the importance of reflection, and more.

Rebecca Moore should be teaching us lessons!  She is the magician behind making us sound our absolute best.

The Mikes’ go head to head on their alliterative strategies for music-making, marking, and mastering for before, during, and after rehearsals and practice sessions. There’s nothing like describing visual practices in an audio-only medium, so buckle up!

Topics include

• Why write in your music?

Thank you to Rebecca Moore for all of the magical audio work with this episode!

What does it mean to be “ready”? Mike C’s longtime duo partner and jedi-level chamber music Hannah Collins says “ 99% of ensemble issues can be solved with good personal preparation.” From study to practice to logistics to showing up on time, great preparation allows for flexible and joyous music-making in rehearsals. Mikes T and C sound off on their go-to pre-rehearsal strategies to making the most of chamber and large ensemble rehearsal time.

Thanks to Rebecca Moore for optimizing the audio and editing!

The Mikes compare notes (written on paper) on their favorite technologies for music-making, productivity, and…getting away from technology. But first, what IS technology?

While the Mikes agree that less is more, apps and tools mentioned include:

• Transcribe!

(MikeDrop is not sponsored by any of the above, although they’d like to be!)

Special thanks to the technology EXPERT, Rebecca Moore, for her expert skills and ears. She made us sound the best we could!

Summer break is always welcomed for those of us in academia, but it is also a daunting responsibility to use it wisely and effectively. MikeDrop sounds off on the best way to maximize this precious time.

Audio editing by Rebecca Moore