Audio students work with Lyle Lovett’s drummer
By: Ryan Scott
Students of MCC’s Audio Production program got to witness drummer Dan Tomlinson work on a brand new song called “Threeway Freeway,” which was written by Kerry Jackson.
Tomlinson has been drumming professionally for decades with credits including playing with Lyle Lovett for 16 years, 16 appearances on “The Tonight Show” and seven appearances on “The Late Show.”
“He’s easily one of a handful of the finest drummers. He’s world class, but he’s also a natural teacher,” said Andy Seagle, head of the Audio Production department at MCC.
Seagle has been friends with Tomlinson for years and has had him come in to do demonstrations and teach the students for more than eight years now.
The students not only get to watch the recording process take place, but both Seagle and Tomlinson use it as an opportunity to teach the students about working with a drummer and what makes for a good recording session.
“I have a passion for music and a passion for playing, and passing on that knowledge to the next generation is extremely important to me,” Tomlinson said.
Tomlinson was preparing to record the drums for the tune, which had been mapped out by Jackson. Tomlinson said he planned to play almost exactly what Jackson had planned.
Jackson has known Seagle for more than 30 years and said that Segal reached out to him to see if he could show up with a couple of original songs to record. “I’m very excited to be able to do a couple of ‘me’ songs,” Jackson said.
Seagle had the students work on setting up the microphones necessary to record the sound of the drum kit and gave them some pointers on proper microphone placement. The students also had to set up the recording console and the other necessary equipment. Segal allowed the students to be very hands-on throughout the entire process.
In addition to doing the recording sessions, Tomlinson also does a drum tuning demonstration for some of Seagle’s classes. They both feel that the students benefit greatly from having some knowledge on how to properly tune drums while they are working in the studio.
Prior to the session starting, Tomlinson seemed very calm and collected as he got his sheet music together.
“I don’t get that nervous. There’s a little bit, it’s a healthy nervous energy. I’m very prepared though, so that helps,” Tomlinson said. “I’ve been doing this for over 40 years and I’m surprised that I still have 100 percent passion and it makes me extremely happy.”
