Search - Kenwood Dennard - The Studio/Touring Drummer: Successful Drumming Tips from One of the Most In-Demand Players Today Berklee Workshop on DVD

Interesting, but disappointing

Chris Dechiara | VA | 04/21/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"With the production of drum videos reaching new heights, it's a wonder that this DVD isn't trying to keep up.

I was first concerned when the opening live shot and interview are done with 1/2 video cameras (someone's handheld?) and a couple mics. Suffice it to say, it's low budget. But I thought once we get to the meat of the DVD, it'll all change. Nope.

All the playing demonstrations (and there's a lot of playing)are done with 2 cameras (the same two handhelds??) The angles and editing reminds me of some of the first videos to come out. They fade in with the drummer directly in front of the camera (videocamera) and awkwardly fade out again after a demonstration.

What irks me the most about this video is that there is too much playing and not enough explaining. Granted, Kenwood is a phenomenal drummer with scary chops. But all the playing he does is without any backing track or band. There's no music at all. You can here him solfege and sing certain notes and melodies here and there, but if you don't know the song, it's hard to know what he's doing and how. He announces each song and maybe plays two different ways (depending on who's version it is) and only mentions whether he'll play busier or not.

There's no mention of the HOW he's doing anything in his playing-just some alluding to WHAT he did in the last interview.

Solfege is important and internalizing melodies are crucial in playing a drum solo, but Kenwood could've went into more detail about how to do this and then demonstrating.

Again, having a live band or backing tracks would've helped. And the sound quality of this DVD is not flattering to his playing at all.

Amazing drummer, but the production and concept is amateur."

Disappointing

Petr Zemanek | Houston, TX | 06/15/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Kenwood is a great drummer and I love him with Maceo.
This video, however, is quite bad. Both the video and sound quality are low. It looks and sounds as if you recorded yourself in a garage. He plays on his own with no track or anything. There is no usual feet angles so you can't see what his legs are doing. There is little or no explanation on what's going on. A very low budget video. Not very recommended."