This has the potential for being a particularly educational and informative clinic at PASIC. I start by explaining that there is a craft to play songs. To play songs, you have to understand how songs are built.

I talk about the anatomy of a song and how we can use that information to create parts that will serve the composition. This includes orchestration as well as fills. This section will provide a lot of detail in terms of the orchestration formulas and fill formulas that I use to create the parts that I put on records.

Then I'll show everybody how to quickly chart a song. We will listen to the song together and create the chart. Understanding how to chart songs is an absolutely vital skill for anyone who wants to be successful playing sessions. At that point, I’ll talk about snare selection, tuning and dampening.

Then we get to recording. I’m going to have a pro tools rig set up on stage and share the screen with the audience. As I play the tune, they will be seeing it and hearing it happen in real time. I will then show them what’s required from an applying standpoint when you punch into a recording in terms of consistency. I will finish that part of the presentation by doing some quick editing and helping the attendees understand that studio drummers aren’t perfect, but that understanding editing is another useful skill.