Very sad news. Mike Balter sold his company to Zildjian. I saw it in an article in a newspaper online. I kind of wish I would have known in advance, as it was a bit of a shock.

I love Mike Balter. Like Steve Weiss he is an icon in this business. Mike is also a really good percussionist and drummer. It was great to endorse a company like his, as it felt like being part of a family business. We will see what the future holds. Mike said to me "Everything will be the same!". I laughed and said back "Nothing will be the same!". Mike is one of a kind.

@gabrielslamnobles is working with the best tools in the business.
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Thanks Barry!

I use a metronome a lot. You know some people are against using metronomes. And some of those people don't have good time. If a musician with great time is against metronomes, then ok, we disagree. But if you don't have great time and your against using a metronome then I don't get it. It would be a great tool for you in my opinion.

So here's an example of how I use it. I take a tune I'm working on and slow down the tempo. In this case the tune is in 3/4. I have the metronome hit on 1 and I play.

I talk about studying 13th chords via a blues.

Attached is a PDF of an etude you can practice to work on your 13th chords. ALL KEYS ALL KEYS ALL KEYS!

Here's a sample of my current morning warm ups. My warm ups are always comprised of something I'm working on and spend about 30 to 45 minutes on them and then move on to learning tunes, practicing improv or whatever but first, I warm up with my current challenge goal. I stick with a particular warm up subject each day for as long as it takes to really get a good grip on it. I'm just about finished with this particular one and I really enjoyed it so I thought I'd share.

hey everybody,

It's been a while that I posted something here, but Tony asked me to do some content for the site, so I will try to post regularly, probably every week. I'm very excited to get in touch with the vibesworkshop community again.

I'll start with a video I did last November. I was asked to play in the large ensemble of Nels Cline, and documented my preparing process for you. Maybe you can take a little bit for your own preparation process.

“My Foolish Heart” - Vibraphone Masterclass – Playing the melody while adding color to the harmony via various techniques. The clip features one chorus of the melody on this classic ballad. My favorite version of this song is from the great pianist Bill Evans. One of the things that my students and I work on when focusing on solo playing is to play the melody along with various techniques of accompaniment. Those accompaniment techniques help to support the melody, sound the harmony and keep the flow going. The left hand is so important in this regard.

I've probably said a lot of this before. Consider it a refresher course :-).