The mattdudleydrumming podcast

This podcast is a way for listeners and myself to learn more from our drumming community through having conversations. My goal is to meet and talk to all of the great people I've met online throughout the years through the vehicle of drumming. This is a chance for us all to learn more about our craft and the people who create behind the instrument.

Musician/Leader/Drummer 11/04/2025

Musician/Leader/Drummer The other morning on the way to my Lifepoint session I was thinking of all the different aspects that go into my position there. I’m not just the drummer… I’m not just bashing away without care, without dynamics, without direction. There is so much more to it than that. So much more than just… being the drummer. Synopsis Each week our team is given songs to learn through an app called Planning Center. This app provides us with a calendar for the dates scheduled to play, what people and teams will be scheduled, our songs, and the order of service. Everything is scheduled to a tee so we can run as efficient as possible. Within the song list we have MP3’s of each track, as well as the practice track, which has all of the songs in order with a click track and guide. You see, each song has a specific time, or duration that it’s made to be played so that each service can be finished by a certain time. There has to be a bumper in between services to get people in and out. So if you can tell, there is a lot that goes into time management on top of us learning the material to play as professionally as possible. But even with everything laid out as meticulously as it is… things can change. We will come back to this in a moment. The Process Each week I start the process of learning these songs by listening first, then charting out each song in my notebook. I find this helps me retain so much more than just learning by ear and I have the written notation in front of me if need be. Next I sit at the kit in my home studio and work through each song reading charts and memorizing the material so that I can not just play the drums, but actually play with emotion because I’m not having to worry about my parts so much and can feel what I’m playing. This will tie into everything, I promise. On Sunday morning I’m up at 4:00 am getting ready to shower and have time to wake up good before my drive, that’s an hour away from home. On my drive I listen to the practice track rehearsing all of my parts on the steering wheel as it was all planned out from the music director. Our call time is 6:00 am. I arrive around 15 minutes beforehand to get inside and get situated. We have our meeting and then we start rehearsing each song to prepare for run through at 7:00. Here’s where things start to get interesting. You know all of those charts you just wrote? They are about to come in handy because there will be changes made to specific parts in each song along with how we transition in and out of each song. In these moments this is where I have to put all ego aside and go into serving and support mode. See this is where I say there is so much more to our job as drummers than just the status quo. Servant of the song “Hey Dudley, can you add a kick to this section with a hi hat so there’s no dead space?” “Hey Dudley, how about trying this instead of that”. “Hey Dudley, we need something more than what the part calls for, can you create something here that’s not too much or too little, but just in the middle?” See even though I spent all that time learning each song the way the drummer played it, it’s subject to change and I have to be ready to make those changes to accommodate the song for the bigger picture. And in the process I have to do this with the attitude of being a servant of the song. This isn’t about me, this is about serving the song to create an emotion for others to experience and I have to be malleable and open to ideas and criticism to create something bigger than myself. Encouragement and Leadership You are a support system not only behind the kit but also in the green room. You played well and made the song feel great and you hit all your parts. Now it’s time to get off the stage and go hang with your team in the green room. This is where you need to have those team building skills. Not for personal gratification but to reinforce your team and to build confidence. Someone may have hit a bad note, there may have been technical issues, or someone forgot their part. When they walk back into the green room they may be beating themselves up for what happened so it’s our job to encourage and get them back on track. Don’t speak on how someone dropped the ball, lift them up with how great of a job they did recovering. Just giving a few words of encouragement can go a long ways and help get that person back on track. We can be the thermostat and set the level. Trust Your band or team will go so much farther and have the confidence to take on any obstacle knowing that you are in their corner and that there is trust bonding you all together. Thats just it… trust. That’s one of the most important ingredient to any relationship on and off the stage. In closing As drummers we have a lot of power within us to make the music feel good and to support our fellow musicians on and off of the stage. To incorporate not only playing skills but leadership skills. We can do so much for our teams having these qualities. So if you’re ever sitting back there thinking I’m just the drummer… Be more than what you’re called for. /episode/index/show/mattdudleydrumming/id/38908130

Bass Drum Grid #2 10/28/2025

Jeremy Brieske of Lowboy Beaters 10/20/2025

Mark Powers 10/15/2025

Full Circle 10/13/2025

Full Circle In 1996 I was fourteen years old and I had a stack of drum catalogs from the local music stores. Anything from Pearl drums, to Sabian Cymbals. I would sit up every night looking through these catalogs looking at the different models of kits, the colors, configurations. I wanted a drum set so bad... At the time I was playing drums in middle school band and before that I had been sneaking into my brothers bedroom to play his snare drum. I knew how to play rudiments and how to read music at a basic level from what my brother had taught me but at the time I wanted a full set. I wanted to be able to play all of the Metallica and Megadeth songs I was blasting through my walkman at the time. Little did I know that the time for my new kit would be just around the corner... One day I was at school. Middle school that is. I was just finishing up with my last class which was band. When the bell rang to go home I picked up my snare drum and placed it in the case, along with my sticks and music folder and proceeded out the band room to get picked up by my mom. When I got in the car to my surprise my mom said for your birthday we're going to McFadden Music in Wilmington for you to pick out a drum set for your birthday. I couldn't believe it! I had been dreaming of Pearl drums, specifically the export series, and Sabian cymbals. That's also the kit and cymbals that my brother played. When we got there I remember them having a red export kit and a blue kit. Specifically Pacific blue. That's the one I wanted! it was such a deep blue color that looked amazing to me being a fourteen year old boy. I remember getting home and taking everything out of the boxes and setting it up in my bedroom. I can still remember the smell of the wood and glue from inside the shells while putting on the drum heads. You never forget that smell... I played that kit almost every evening when I'd get home from school. At least until 5:00, when my dad would get home from work. I practiced so much with that kit playing along to cassette tapes that my brother would pass off to me. That and playing along to the radio. I had found something I was passionate about and something that I wanted to invest my time in. It was something that didn't require making the team at School, it reminded me of skateboarding. I'll come back to this side of the story and tie it all together in a few... Fast forward to my senior year, I had art as one of my electives my last year of high school. One of the assignments was to take this paper called scratch paper and carve whatever type of art or portrait you wanted into it. The paper was mate black and thick. It had a firmness to it because there was tin foil underneath the surface that you scratch off. I found a Ludwig drums ad from a magazine that had a marching snare and marching bass drum, along with a trumpet. I used the provided exacto knife to make my marks and carve into the scratch paper to create my work of art. I took the piece home after getting graded for it and tossed it in my closet. This would have been in 2001/2002. Recently, just months ago, I found that piece up in the top portion of my old closet at my parents house that I had forgotten and realized what I had created. The drums that were meticulously carved into the paper were the exact models that I marched with at UNCP in 2009. Not only that, our drum line got invited to the Ludwig factory in Monroe NC to go perform for all the workers in the factory. The workers were so happy to hear the drums that they had made and to be played with such precision from our drum line. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would never forget. When I noticed how everything tied together I was speechless looking back. Yes it could be taken as coincidence. But to play those exact drums for something I had to work so hard for. And, to even make it into the spirit of the Carolinas Marching Band drum line and then play for the factory drum makers at Ludwig... You can't make this stuff up. You see... that first kit paved the way to where I am today. Well not just the kit, but it was the tool that got me to where I am this very day. I call this blog post full circle because it's fitting for the occasion. Now at forty two years old, every Sunday morning I wake up at 4:00 am to get ready to go to Wilmington where I play drums full time for a church that is just past the music store where I got my first kit. Every Sunday morning when I pass the old McFadden music store, which is now Music & Arts, I think back to going in that day after school and getting my pacific blue Pearl Export kit, the smell of the shells, the songs I learned to play, the bands I put together with friends from school, playing in church. I think of all the hours I put in behind that kit and what it meant to me. It was full circle that I ended up right back to where I started. It's a weekly reminder to me that I'm on the right path and I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to get this far. /episode/index/show/mattdudleydrumming/id/38558510