Rating: 
Summary: You better buy it or...
Review: Do you want to be a good drummer?? with a good Drumset Technique?? you better buy this DVD and do your homework, cuz it helped me a lot... if your not gonna buy it, then i can tell you that you're loosing a lot...
Rating: 
Summary: Very dissapointing
Review: First off: I was never a huge fan of Journey, so any effusive prose that may come from the tips of my little fingoids as I type is not coming from there. ;o) Steve is one of the most well-rounded and musically diverse drummers that I've ever seen. He plays it all and does it amazingly well. I've been playing since 1964 and have taught my son to play and am now starting to teach my grandson. My son was blown away when he came to my house and watched some of this DVD with me. In less than an hour, Steve had shown my son an appreciation for diverse musicial styles that I'd been trying to open him up to for years. Steve is *that* good as a teacher. I don't think I've ever seen better. While I would indeed rank this as an intermediate-to-advanced instructional DVD, he succeeds wonderfully in communicating his techniques for expanding your own expertise on the drums. The only thing that I find a drawback is that when I watch it, I am distinctly jealous of those just starting out in their young drumming careers today and who have great instruction like this to begin with. :o) This is amazing stuff. I own many drum technique video/DVD sets and this is the best of the breed. If I could give it 10 stars, I would. Thanks Steve for giving fresh inspiration to a grandpa who still loves to drum and who can't wait for his next chance to kick some ass behind the kit, and is truly grateful that I can get this kind of instruction to my son and grandson so that one day they can blast past the old man -- but they're going to have to work at it to do so, I ain't giving in that easy! ;o)
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Steve, what a piece of work!
Review: First off: I was never a huge fan of Journey, so any effusive prose that may come from the tips of my little fingoids as I type is not coming from there. ;o) Steve is one of the most well-rounded and musically diverse drummers that I've ever seen. He plays it all and does it amazingly well. I've been playing since 1964 and have taught my son to play and am now starting to teach my grandson. My son was blown away when he came to my house and watched some of this DVD with me. In less than an hour, Steve had shown my son an appreciation for diverse musicial styles that I'd been trying to open him up to for years. Steve is *that* good as a teacher. I don't think I've ever seen better. While I would indeed rank this as an intermediate-to-advanced instructional DVD, he succeeds wonderfully in communicating his techniques for expanding your own expertise on the drums. The only thing that I find a drawback is that when I watch it, I am distinctly jealous of those just starting out in their young drumming careers today and who have great instruction like this to begin with. :o) This is amazing stuff. I own many drum technique video/DVD sets and this is the best of the breed. If I could give it 10 stars, I would. Thanks Steve for giving fresh inspiration to a grandpa who still loves to drum and who can't wait for his next chance to kick some ass behind the kit, and is truly grateful that I can get this kind of instruction to my son and grandson so that one day they can blast past the old man -- but they're going to have to work at it to do so, I ain't giving in that easy! ;o)
Rating:
Summary: Very dissapointing
Review: From reviews and recomendations, I expected a lot from this DVD. When I got it home and watched the first ten mins or so about traditional grip techniques, I got bored. I play match grip.The overall audio level was low. I had to crank my TV to double the normal listening level of 10 to 20!! There are a couple of peak distortion audio splats on loud kick drums etc.. I lost interest with Steve's boring explanations. He goes into some gunk on polyrhythms that has no written reference and you can only see his hands. Not for intermediate players. I'll probably fast forward through the rest of it then take it back....
Rating:
Summary: Worth every cent
Review: Having bought lots of so called instructional DVD's, and being disappointed with the majority of them, I was very reluctant to buy this DVD.
Being a rock-oriented drummer, my personal influences are far more different, so I was a little bit prejudiced towards fusion type drummers, as their main strength is their technical ability, but some of them are lacking in terms of feeling, power and passion required and unable to create a "pulse" as defined by Steve himself.
Steve Smith is awesome and inspiring and he blew my mind away. One should not dare to criticise Steve Smith as a drummer because he definitely is one of the masters of drumming.
I believe that intermediate and advanced drummers can really learn from this DVD and improve themselves as a result. The information given on drumset technique is a very valuable tool and it opened my eyes on some issues even after 17 years of playing. I liked the "history of the U.S beat" part very much, especially the incredible performance with the "Vital Information".
Rating:
Summary: Excellent DVD - Excellent Value
Review: I never thought I'd call a $50 DVD a great value, but this is. Disc #1 is your own personal lesson with the Master himself. The hand and foot techniques are tremendous. I really enjoy disc #2. The historic band with Steve on a vintage drum set is a treat. Then they get into a long set with Vital Information where you can see the practical applications of the techniques he taught in disc #1. Be sure to check out the extras. I didn't see the hi-hat thing at first, but WOW. I had no idea you could do that with a hi-hat! A nice feature is that you have the option to play only the music without the talking in between, or even just the solos if that's all you're in the mood to view. I don't have any other instructional DVD's to compare this to, but it was recommended to me by a pro as the ONE to get. I have to agree!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent DVD - Excellent Value
Review: I never thought I'd call a $50 DVD a great value, but this is. Disc #1 is your own personal lesson with the Master himself. The hand and foot techniques are tremendous. I really enjoy disc #2. The historic band with Steve on a vintage drum set is a treat. Then they get into a long set with Vital Information where you can see the practical applications of the techniques he taught in disc #1. Be sure to check out the extras. I didn't see the hi-hat thing at first, but WOW. I had no idea you could do that with a hi-hat! A nice feature is that you have the option to play only the music without the talking in between, or even just the solos if that's all you're in the mood to view. I don't have any other instructional DVD's to compare this to, but it was recommended to me by a pro as the ONE to get. I have to agree!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Drumming dvd Ever
Review: Its very simple-this is the best instructional drum product ever. Thankyou Steve Smith.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Instruction.
Review: One of the best instructional DVD's I have seen. Steve is a monster drummer and a great teacher. The information on his left hand technique is worth the price of the DVD by itself.
Rating:
Summary: "Stick Control" of Drumming DVD's
Review: Steve is truly a great drummer and teacher. I have dozens of instructional videos and this is by far the best, truly worth every penny. The solos alone are worth the price. The sections on hand technique(both tradtitional and match stick) are just breathtaking, I simply wanted to cry. Plus the sound/camara work/menu system are all top notch and almost every solo has an alternate commentary track, so you can listen to Steve discuss the different techniques used while playing. Also, something I havn't seen touched on before in a drum video, is the history of the US beat. Steve gives a very interesting history of drumming, explaining where many of the styles seen today came from...
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