Category: Drumming • Page 2 • Vintage Logos

VintageLogos Has The Best Design Services Around — Here’s Why

Posted on January 8, 2019 - 12:01 am by Caleb J. Murphy

Every custom drum head we make is driven by people like you. We strive to help musicians and bands succeed, and we do that by improving their image with the best design services out there.

We seek to help you visually communicate your awesomeness to your audience.

But you probably have some questions, so let’s cover those now.

Why Should I Brand My Drum Head?

What is one thing that will make your band stand out from all the other bands? First, your music has to be heads above the rest (we already assume that’s the case).

But the next thing is to enhance your image — your brand. The best way to do that is to improve your stage presence by branding your drum heads and amp grill cloths.

When people look at you and your band on stage, whether you’re opening for an all-star group or playing at a Battle Of The Bands, they need to know your name. Custom drum heads do this for you.

Branding your band helps define your stage presence, sets you apart, and makes you look like the professional you are.

What Do Other People Think?

As we’ve seen from our previous clients, getting a custom design from us changes things for the better.

Here’s what our customers think about us:

“VintageLogos knocked it out of the park again! Best advertising out there! Super fast, and perfect every time!” – Tom

“This company is by far the BEST professional graphic company that I have EVER seen! They did a great job doing my bass drum heads, and people everywhere that I play just drool over my Custom bass drum heads! Way to go, Vintage Logos!” – Joey

“Great product looks awesome!!! This is THE place to go for great graphics!!” – Jim

What Options Does VintageLogos Offer?

If you decide to work with us to help brand your band, we offer a ton of great services.

We can help you with designing your logo and even making custom hand-drawn illustrations for you. VintageLogos’ staff has talent, experience, and professionalism when it comes to logo design. You’re sure to end up with an image that fits your band perfectly.

On top of our custom design service, we can also clean up your existing design. Maybe you already have a logo that you love, but it just needs a little help. Or maybe you have a photo that needs some retouching or photoshopping. That’s no problem — we can smooth it out, make it snap, and generally just clean it up and make it look professional.

How Quickly Can I Get My Design?

Simply put, we work fast. Have a big show next month or even in a couple weeks? You can count on us.

Here’s the breakdown of our turnaround times:

Simple Production – 1 to 3 business days for the first set of proofs (M-F)
Advanced Design – 2 to 4 business days for the first set of proofs ( M-F)
Premium Design – 3 to 5 business days for the first set of proofs (M-F)

Like we said, we’re fast.

Sounds Great — How Do I Get Started?

We thought you’d never ask. To learn more, you can check out our Design Services page and hit the “Get Started” button. That’s where you can tell us exactly what you need — what design service(s) you need, what products you want, upload your image or logo, and when you need it.

Plus, we’re super nice and friendly.

How Much Will This Cost Me?

We know what it’s like being a DIY musician, so we purposefully made our prices reasonable and doable.

Here’s what you can expect to pay for our services:

Simple Production: $25 to $100
Advanced Design: $130 to $225
Premium Design: $325 and up

See what we mean by “doable”?

vintage logos design services

Being A Drummer In 2019: New Year’s Resolutions That Offer Hope

Posted on January 1, 2019 - 1:01 am by Caleb J. Murphy

I’m not going to tell you what to do. Every musician should create their own goals and career trajectory, especially because being a drummer in 2019 can look very different depending on the person.

But there are creative ways to go about reaching your goals. And if you’re looking for some New Year’s Resolutions ideas, this is the post for you.

Here are four things you can do in 2019 to boost your music career and give you hope for the future.

Join Or Form A Band

If you’re not already in a band, you need to be — especially if you’re a drummer.

I’m not saying drummers need a band to succeed, but the whole idea of drums is that they work best with other instruments. Plus, it’s just way more fun to play music with friends.

If you don’t have musician friends or you’ve just moved to a new city, you can look up a Facebook group specific to your area.

For example, go to the Facebook search bar and type in “Nashville musicians” and check out the groups that show up. Then post in that group that you’re looking for fellow musicians to start a band.

You could also meet people the old fashioned way — in-person. Check out local artists who are playing concerts in your area, stick around after the show, and introduce yourself. Make sure you have business cards so you can quickly exchange contact info and websites (VistaPrint offers cheap and good custom business card).

Create A Practice Schedule

You’ll never be in a band if you’re not good enough. Yeah, you could do all the right networking steps and connect with other artists, but if you’re drumming is not up to par, it will all be for naught. It will go nowhere.

That’s why it’s super important to have a practice schedule (you may already be doing this). Having a schedule keeps you accountable. It tells you to practice even when you may not feel like it.

Sticking to a practice schedule will make you a better drummer. And the better you are, the better chance you have of being a successful drummer and having a hopeful future.

Focus On Advertising Your Band

Once you join a band, that’s when things get fun. You can start practicing as a band, booking gigs, and getting your name out there.

The only problem is that last step — promoting yourself.

Many musicians cringe at the thought of advertising or promoting themselves or their band, but it’s necessary if you want to stay a band.

And one simple way you, as a drummer, can do that is to get a custom drum head with your band name and logo on it.

Find New Venues To Play

Once you’ve joined a band and practiced together, it’s time to get out there and start playing shows. You could play the venues that all the other bands in your genre are playing. But you can also get creative.

You can look into some more unexpected venues to play to tap untapped audiences, like people’s houses, certain restaurants, and local record stores. And as long as you figure out the right rates, you can make money as a musician this way.

If you commit to these resolutions for the new year and apply yourself, you may find yourself with more hope for your drumming career and a success-focused path.

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Caleb J. Murphy is a songwriter and producer based in Austin, TX. He’s also the founder of Musician With A Day Job, a blog that helps part-time musicians succeed.

Do You Even Need A Drum Teacher?

Posted on December 11, 2018 - 9:13 pm by Caleb J. Murphy

Beginner drummers nowadays often ask, “Is it worth the money to pay a drum teacher?”

In the information age, this is a fair question. Can’t you just learn how to play drums by using YouTube or other video tutorials? Can you teach yourself?

Well, yes. But should you?

What Does A Drum Teacher Do?

So, what are you getting for the $30-60 per hour you pay a drum teacher?

The main thing a drum teacher (or any type of instrument instructor) does is give you feedback. They can observe your technique and give you direct, personalized, immediate feedback. The fact that they can give you tips and guidance that’s specific to you is invaluable.

The other side of that coin is that you can ask direct questions of the teacher about your technique and get a direct answer. Every student is different and each has their own questions.

A teacher also holds you accountable. If you know you’re meeting with your teacher next Tuesday, that should give you the motivation to practice. To do on your homework.

What Are Alternatives To A Drum Teacher?

The two biggest alternatives to a drum teacher are online courses and teaching yourself.

Online drumming courses can either be paid or free, like YouTube tutorials. Teaching yourself usually involves playing along with your favorite songs, reading articles or books, and watching some YouTube videos.

Heck, some of the best drummers taught themselves, like Phil Collins and John Bonham.

While many people do well by taking a course or teaching themselves, there are some downsides to them.

Online courses are not specific to you, you can’t usually get answers to your questions, and you don’t have a real person in the room literally showing how to play something. And if you teach yourself, you may be doing something wrong (or doing something the hard way) and no one would be there to tell you.

Should You Work With A Drum Teacher?

It depends. Can you afford a teacher? Are you available during the hours that an instructor would be available? Or are you a very independent person who likes to do things by yourself, on your own time?

The safest bet is to get a drum teacher. If it were guitar, I’d say just teach yourself. But playing the drums involves all four limbs working together and other complicated techniques you need to learn to be a good drummer.

But if you can’t afford a teacher, don’t give up. You can still become a drummer.

Taking an online course, watching YouTube videos, and reading helpful resources are good places to start. At some point, you may want to hire a teacher to help you get to the next level. But until then, you can learn on your own and save up the money for lessons.

Resources For Learning Drums

Whatever direction you take, here are some options for helping you learn how to drum:

Find a music teacher via Musika
FreeDrumLessons.com
Drumming lessons for beginners on YouTube
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Drums book

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Caleb J. Murphy is a songwriter and producer based in Austin, TX. He’s also the founder of Musician With A Day Job, a blog that helps part-time musicians succeed.

Get Your Musician The Perfect Gift – Custom Drumheads & More

Posted on December 4, 2018 - 12:01 am by Shawn McNamara

Get Your Musician The Perfect Gift

VintageLogos is offering a coupon this holiday season — for a limited time, save 10% on all of our products.

To save 10%, use the promo code XMAS2018 at checkout. This is good until March 15, 2019, so you may want to act fast. It’s the perfect personalized gift for yourself or the musician in your life!

Don’t know what to order? Give a gift card. Your musician can design their own Custom Bass Drum Head, Speaker Grill Cloth and Bass Drum Shield Logos. Check out all of our custom products and band merch @ VintageLogos.com

VintageLogos wishes you and your family a Merry Christmas & Happy Holiday

How To Tune Your Bass Drum (The Basics)

Posted on November 26, 2018 - 8:38 pm by Caleb J. Murphy

Fact: your bass drum sounds different to you than it does to your audience. You (on one side) and the audience (on the other side) have a different experience. That’s just one reason why it’s important to keep your bass drum in tune. So we’ve put together a basic step-by-step guide on how to tune your bass drum.

Get A Good Drum Head

To use a hole or not to use a hole — that’s the debate. Some drummers love ‘em, some don’t.

If you do get a drum head with a hole, the general rule is that it shouldn’t be any bigger than 5 inches and there shouldn’t be more than one hole. But typically, a no-hole head will project more low-end.

Choosing the right drum head is crucial to the sound of your kick. Whatever the case, we can make you a custom drum head — hole or no hole. We also offer 4 different Bass Drum Port Hole choices if you decide you need one.

Start The Tuning Process

Now you can start tuning your bass drum. The best way to do this is to tune the batter head first without the resonant head on the drum. Obviously, if you’re tuning in the middle of a gig, that’s not possible.

Start by pressing the center of the head with your palm to get out all the wrinkles, then start to finger-tighten each rod. Just tighten each rod a little bit as you work your way around the drum — half-turns should be sufficient.

That should get your kick drum tuned, although some drummers may go a step further and tighten another half turn on each rod. This gives the kick a bouncier feel.

Then tap gently around the head of the drum to make sure the pitch is generally even in each spot.

Dampen It

Putting pillows or a small blanket inside of your drum head can help dampen the sound, but the environment in which you’re playing depends on whether or not you need them.

If you’re playing live, there may be enough bodies in the room that dampening isn’t needed. However, you may need to grab some pillows from home before heading to the recording studio. If you have a smaller kick drum, you still may not need the pillows. And even if big kick drums, you’ll want to go easy on the fluff.

Tweak It

Now that you’ve gotten the wrinkles out of the head and dampened (or not), it’s time to tweak the head until it’s just right. This is where the actual tuning happens.

Set up your kick in the playing position and attached your kick pedal. If no other band member is around to play the kick for you while you stand in front of it, there’s a trick you can do.

Lie on the floor next to your kick drum and get your foot on the pedal and your head on the front side. Keep a slow and steady rhythm with the kick pedal and start turning the rods so you can get a more accurate sound of what you want the audience to hear.

Play It

Now you should have a tuned drum head and you can set up the kit for your gig or recording session. As you go through soundcheck, you may continue to tweak the tuning rods or any dampening that you used.

So you can see why it’s so important to get a good-quality drum head to begin with. It will make this whole process so much easier and rewarding.

Here’s Why Drummers Are Crucial To A Band’s Success

Posted on November 9, 2018 - 11:10 am by Caleb J. Murphy

Drummers are the butt of way too many jokes. The truth is, they hold a band together.

People say drummers are not real musicians, or they’re not as intelligent as the other band members. Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

John Coltrane’s drummer, Elvin Jones, says drummers need to know the song just as well as the bassist or pianist, showing how the drum set is a musical instrument.

“After knowing this kind of musical information one can then begin to construct and orchestrate a musical drum part that has some substance along with a musical shape to it,” he said.

Here are three big reasons why drummers are crucial to your band’s success.

If the drummer goes down, the whole band goes down

Even if the bassist misses a note, the song still moves along. If the lead singer forgets a lyric, the band keeps playing. If the guitarist loses his spot, he can easily wait for a beat or two and jump back in.

But drummers? They have to be perfect, or else the whole band gets screwed up.

If you’ve ever played with a sub-par drummer, you know what I’m talking about. When the rhythm section misses a beat or two, the whole song starts to teeter on the rails like a runaway train. It’s near impossible to right the vehicle.

To use another metaphor, the drummer determines whether a song stays afloat and moving or if it sinks to the ocean floor.

So if you have a solid drummer who can keep the band above water and cruising, thank her or him. Every day.

Drummers are crucial — it’s scientific

Drummers matter — science says so.

Researchers in Stockholm showed that there’s a link between rhythm-keepers and problem-solving. And drummers typically have more white matter in their brains, and that can help them solve problems, plan, and manage time. Plus, they’re usually just all-around complex and thoughtful people.

In other words, drummers are smart – maybe smarter than the other band members.

So maybe your drummer has thoughts about what show you should play next and why that might be good for the band. Maybe your drummer should be in charge of rehearsal sessions time is managed better.

Maybe it’s time to acknowledge and welcome the fact that drummers are crucial to a band. Just look at the science.

Drummers are a huge part of the band’s brand

When you’re performing live, the drummer’s energy can either fuel the rest of the band or suck the energy right out of the whole room. This is not a good look – for them or for the rest of the group.

The way a group looks onstage – their image, excitement, demeanor – can make or break how their music resonates with people. Another way to say this is their “brand.”

One thing that can help a band’s brand is having their name prominently displayed in a design that matches said brand.

And, you guessed it, we can help with that. We offer custom bass drum heads that can help bands look their best.

And if the drummer looks (and feels) their best, that’s good news for everyone involved.

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