drumbiker + Musician in Clarkston, MI

ABOUT

In 1965, when Martin was 8 years old, he began tapping along to a Dave Brubeck album, and it lit a fire in his soul that changed his life forever. As a teen, he was part of the opening act for Brubeck and Maynard Ferguson, and also played many concerts, parties and wedding receptions in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Martin moved to California in 1976, and in addition to playing in numerous bands around the San Francisco Bay Area, he was also part owner of a small recording studio in Redwood City. Martin moved to the Redding area in 2000, and began gigging steadily with several local area bands, and co-founded the Dan Frost Confluence. Martin built a rehearsal & recording studio on his property, and began providing drum set instruction for beginning and intermediate students. He founded Clownbreath Productions in 2003, specializing in audio recording, graphic arts and promotion.
Family concerns led him to give up his home, his connections and his careers in California, and relocate back to Michigan in early 2008. He is already gigging on a regular basis, and currently working diligently toward rebuilding his empire.
As a drum instructor, Martin's syllabus incorporates the following elements: individual student evaluation; basic hand and foot technique, including drum rudiments, Stick Control, the Moeller Method and other fundamentals; reading drum charts; proper practice methods; helpful learning and study techniques; concepts of rhythm, tempo, dynamics, time signatures, context, and keeping time with a metronome and with other musicians; proper set-up, tuning and care for all drums, cymbals and hardware; variations of sticking and striking techniques on drums and cymbals; grooves of all types, from simple to advanced, focusing on development of coordination, independence and interdependence; fills, their purpose and how to incorporate them into a groove; drum-to-drum hand movement and traveling patterns; foot pedal techniques; single, double and multiple foot pedal patterns and exercises; many different practice patterns and exercises to increase playing skills; stretching and warm-up exercises; microphone types, usage and placement methods for live performance and recording sessions. Current rates are $20 for a full hour; block rate $100 for six hours. Instruction with two drum sets is provided in Clarkston; off-site instruction is negotiable.
Martin continued to expand his musical skill and knowledge by attending the 2008 Drum Fantasy Camp in Cleveland, taking master classes from Dave Weckl, Steve Smith, Tony Royster Jr., Jamey Haddad, Horacio Hernandez, Ganesh Kumar and David Brewer. Locally, he has studied with Joe Chila, and attended as many jam sessions, drum circles and workshops as he could.
In 2014, Martin began to cut back on his gigging and instruction, deciding instead to pursue other endeavors such as building his own aircraft. He still enjoys attending the occasional jam session, and may be willing take on the right student if circumstances permit. He continues to keep this site active as an archival source for photos and video links.

Screen name:

drumbiker

Member since:

Oct 05 2008

Active within 1 month

Level of commitment:

Very Committed

Years playing music:

50

Gigs played:

Over 100

Influences

Some of his musical and percussive influences include, in alphabetical order: Aerosmith; Alice in Chains; Ian Anderson; Darol Anger; Carmine Appice; Kenny Aronoff; the Beatles; Jeff Beck; Ginger Baker; Barriemore Barlow; Carter Beaufort; Blue Man Group; John Bonham; Terry Bozzio; Dave Brewer; Baron Browne, Dave Brubeck; Bill Bruford; Ronald Bruner Jr.; Clive Bunker; William Calhoun; Clayton Cameron; Danny Carey; Deen Castronovo; Matt Chamberlain; Dennis Chambers; Joe Chila; Billy Cobham; Vinnie Colaiuta; Phil Collins; Chick Corea; Stewart Copeland; Kirk Covington; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; John Densmore; Dream Theater; the Dixie Dregs; the Doors; Aynsley Dunbar; Don Ellis; Jon Fishman; Bela Fleck; FutureMan; Steve Gadd; Jerry Gaskill; Genesis; Gentle Giant; Gideon's Press; David Grisman; Dave Grohl; Jamey Haddad; Omar Hakim; Michael Hedges; Horacio Hernandez; Jimi Hendrix; Dan Hicks; Bruce Hornsby; Ralph Humphrey; Keith Jarrett; Eric Johnson; Journey; King's X; Ganesh Kumar; Led Zeppelin; Mahavishnu Orchestra; Nick Mason; MC5; Pat Metheney; Buddy Miles; Marco Minneman; Joni Mitchell; Mitch Mitchell; Keith Moon; Airto Moreira; Joe Morello; Rod Morgenstein; Paul Motian; Nigel Olsson; Ian Paice; Carl Palmer; Neal Peart; Doan Perry; Jeff Porcaro; Simon Phillips; Phish; the Police; Jean-Luc Ponty; Mike Portnoy; Queensryche; Buddy Rich; Bobby Rock; Tony Royster, Jr.; Rush; Joe Satriani; Danny Seraphine; Michael Shrieve; Steve Smith, Soundgarten; Ringo Starr; Chester Thompson; Dennis Machinegun Thompson; Tool; Tribal Tech; Jethro Tull; Butch Trucks; Steve Vai; Alex Van Halen; Stevie Ray Vaughn; Vinnie Valentino; Chad Wackerman; Narada Michael Walden; Charlie Watts; Weather Report; Dave Weckl; Alan White; Lenny White; the Who; Tony Williams, XTC; Yes; and Frank Zappa.

Instrument experience:

Drums:

Advanced

Background Singer:

Moderate

EQUIPMENT

Martin plays Pearl drums and Zildjian & Sabian cymbals, and uses Zildjian & ProMark sticks, Vater mallets, Roc-N-Soc thrones, and Sennheiser and Shure microphones. His big drum set is a 1996 Pearl Export Select custom kit in Burgundy Mist lacquer, with the following pieces: 22x16 bass drum; 14x5 snare drum; 13x3 brass piccolo snare drum; 8x8, 10x10, 12x10 & 13x11 mounted toms; 14x14 & 16x16 floor toms, and matching LP bongos. Cymbals and traps include 20" A. Zildjian ping ride; 20" Sabian China; 18" & 17" A. Zildjian rock crashes; 16" A. Zildjian medium crash; 15" A. Zildjian thin crash; Zildjian MasterSound 14" hi-hat set; 8" Paiste splash; LP Rock cowbell; LP red jam block; LP bracketed tambourine. The big kit has been retired to his home, and he also owns a 2014 Pearl Export Select 4-pc kit in Honey Amber lacquer, used for gigging and lessons. This kit has a 18x18 bass drum, 14x5 snare drum, 10x10 mounted tom and 14x14 floor tom and all Zildjian vintage cymbals in 20", 18" 16" and 14" sizes.

MUSIC

CALENDAR

Past Events