Thomas Lang's Clinic
La Cicala ''The Music Store'' - 26 Aprile 2005
by Massimiliano Cerreto
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Italian Version
by Massimiliano Cerreto

…because talent is made of discipline and…
One of us. He’s famous all over the world, he played with a lot of international stars (Robbie Williams, Rod Stewart), he recorded more than 250 albums and he is perfectly comfortable with all musical styles. But Thomas Lang is still one of us. Because he still loves to do what all of us love to do: drumming. Of course, it’s not easy to be a very great musician as he is. Of course, it’s not easy to gain his own incredible technical level. It’s not easy, but not impossible. That’s the greatest lesson he gave to us.

How did a boy, born and raised in a little town called Stockerau (Austria), become Thomas Lang? That’s what I was thinking about while driving to reach “La Cicala Mega Store” (Dragoni, Caserta, Italy) to see his clinic organized by Meinl and Master Music. I really need to discover his own secret, I said to myself. Instead, I discovered that Thomas Lang doesn’t love secrets. He prefers to share with people each single steps of his progressive evolution. That’s the reason why, for example, his last instructional dvd called “Creative control” (Hudson Music) is really “instructional”. That’s the reason why his clinics are always instructional.

In the early afternoon, I arrived at “La Cicala Mega Store”, the biggest musical instruments store in southern Italy. The main gate was still closed but Michele Zullo, the owner, welcomed me in. I entered in the concert room and saw two very tall men setting up a beautiful drumset. They were Thomas Lang and Norbert Seamann (he is about 2 meter tall), the Meinl Artist International Relations Manager. They were very busy so I preferred to introduce myself after they finished. Near them, there were other two very tall guys. I perfectly know one of them: Yuri Carapacchi, the webmaster of www.drumsportal.com. The second one, I had never met before, is Alessio Guadagnoli, an up&coming drummer. On the second floor, where the showroom of drums and cymbals is, sort of Disneyland for musicians, I found another person I know very well: Gaetano Fasano, a (great) professional drummer. I met also Riccardo Damiani (public relations and sales manager) and Pasquale Riccio (drums and percussions product manager).

Thanking to the great professionalism of all the staff, especially the skills of sound engineer Leonardo Riselli, the sound check was very fast. I had the opportunity to see Thomas Lang tuning drums by himself, and I noticed how he is able to get exactly the sound he really wants. “There are no rules about tuning. About bass drums and toms, I prefer a soft tuning. I like a medium pitch from snare-drum and a very high pitch from the secondary one. But, the way I tune drums, depends by the music I have to play. As I said before, there are no rules!” (Thomas Lang)

After an introduction I had been honoured to make, Thomas Lang’s clinic started with “Jump seat”, a song from “Creative Control” dvd. “This song is very useful to show the importance of groove and time keeping, but there are even fast solos I very like to do. First of all, it’s very important, for me, to say that what I play during clinics it’s not what I use to play during a tour or in a recording session. When I do a clinic, I desire to show to the audience of drummers and percussionists technical aspects of my drumming. Anyway, it’s also very funny to play in this way! (Thomas Lang)

The next song, followed by a long solo, was “Angel”, a composition co-written by Thomas Lang, whose comment was “It’s an Ambient and Drum & Bass composition I find very important to envelope dynamics and finger control.” Finger control? A good topic to talk about, especially because his snare-drum’s sound impressed me and all in the audience very much. Maybe, it’s the sound that comes from seven years spent studying with a classical percussionist named Johann Hengst (Vienna Orchestras). Maybe, it’s the sound coming from four years spent attending the Vienna Conservatory (with Walter Grassmann).

Questioned about it, Thomas Lang answered: “The classical influence is still present in my drumming. For example, I love traditional grip. It’s absolutely not a natural kind of grip (he smiles), but it’s like a challenge. Brain, and all people knows it, is divided in two parts. When you play traditional grip you are ‘forced’ to think the movement of left hand in a different way then the one with the right hand. In other words, traditional grip, being so difficult, allows you to be more creative: it’s the first step to reach the independence.”

Questions from the audience were another very important part of the clinic. Giampiero Franco, a professional drummer who spent a lot of time in England, was called up on the stage by the same Thomas Lang to translate. From questions such as “who is your favourite drummer” up to important suggestions about training exercises, Thomas Lang always answered showing incredible communication skills. Incredible is the only adjective I can use because, very soon, the universal language of music took the place of the words. For a moment, a very long moment, we all were talking the same language.

The clinic ended with other two compositions written (and played) by Thomas Lang. The first one was “Dog”, loudly requested by a guy from the audience. “This song is based on Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music. It has a great energy and its metrical structure, by the presence of odd times, is very complicated. The part of this song I best like is the one in which I play at unisono with the guitar.” The second one was “Looping”. “This one it’s like a compilation of all different musical styles I love to play. I think that is very important, for a drummer, to be able to play different styles.”

After it, there was more “hard work” for Thomas Lang: photos and autographs. The crowd was really crazy about him, and it was very easy to understand why: he is a great drummer, one of the best in the world, and a very friendly person.

(A short) Interview
(In his room, with Thomas Lang and I, there were also Norbert Saemann, Yuri Carapacchi and the young professional drummer Gianluca Palmieri).

I’ve seen your official web site http://www.sticktrix.com/ and the first thing I noticed is the title of your own homepage: “Thomas Lang - drummer and producer”. Could you tell us something more about your work?
I’m glad people know me as a drummer because I worked very hard, and I still do it, to be a drummer. But I also play bass, keyboards, I write songs and I like to produce artists. I produced, for example, Falco, Amadeus, Dynamo and Creig David…

…and Gianna Nannini, isn’t it?
…well, I simply co-produced her (he smiles).

So, you live music in a global dimension, isn’t it?
I use to say that I live music in two different ways: active and passive. When I listen to music, the passive mode, I let emotions free to flow in me. Instead, when I play, the active mode, I use all my physical energy and mental force. When I play, I’m like a person who builds a house. I build up it brick after break. Musicians playing with me take care of paintings and decorations. I try to build something strong and solid in which they can feel comfortable. Anyway, emotions are very important, always!

On your web site there is a long part, maybe the longest one, dedicated to the importance of practicing. Do you think it’s possible, for a common drummer, to get your technical level just practicing?
In that case, a lot of people would use the expression talent. Well, in my opinion, it’s very important the meaning you give to the word talent. For me, talent is a mix of different elements, not only a natural attitude to do something. Talent is made of discipline, intelligence, passion art and creativity. So, answering to your initial question, I’m sure that everybody can reach a very high technical level if they work very hard. There are no secrets, the key-word is work!

But, about drumming, technique is not all…
…yes, you got it!. Technique is an instrument, but the real goal is the music.

I have another question for you: projects?
I have to record some albums and I have already planned some tours, but I can’t say too much more about it. Instead, I can say I’m finishing my new solo album and it will be released next summer.

It will be my pleasure to listen to it.
I will send you a copy (he smiles). I desire to thank all the staff of “La Cicala Mega Store” and greetings to Drumsportal’s cyber-readers!!!

The “secret” side of Thomas Lang
I’m such a lucky person: I meet a lot of great musicians. Most of them are great even on a personal point of view. That’s also the case of Thomas Lang. Honestly, I’m a little bit scared to violate his privacy, but there are two anecdotes I really desire to tell you. I hope he will forgive me. The first one is about the interview. During it, he proudly showed me the photos of his own family:  his wife and his two very young and lovely kids (twins).
The second one is about the dinner we had after the clinic. We went to a (very good) restaurant called “Il Boccon Divino” and we were a real crowd. That’s the reason why I can’t mention all who were there. But there is a person I absolutely have to mention: Mr. Lucio Bynight. During the day he’s a serious policeman, during the night he is funny performer (singer and musician). He sang for us a lot of neapolitan classic songs and, incredible but true, Thomas Lang is very able to sing “O’ sole mio.”!!!

Thomas Lang Setup*
Drums: Sonor Delite - Brillant Champagne finish
Primary snare-drum: 14''x6'' wood shell
Secondary snare-drum (optionals): 10''x5'' - 12''x5'' wood shells
Rack Toms: 10''x8'' (optional) - 12''x9''
Floor Toms: 15''x14'' (optional) - 16''x16''
Bass Drums: 20''x17'' or 20''x20'' (2)

Cymbals: Meinl
Hi-hats: 8'' (Amun/Classic Medium Bell), 12'' Generation X Alien, 13'' Byzance dark, 14'' Byzance dark
Crashes: 16'' Generation X Synthetix, 17'' Generation X Kompressor, 18'' Generation X Kinetik, 18'' Generation X Signal (crash/ride).
Splash: 10'' Byzance
Ride: 20'' Byzance ping ride
Chinas: 14'' Generation X Filter (2)

Hardware: Sonor 600 series

Pedals: Sonor Giant Step series
Double pedal, (2) Twin Effect pedals, (2) Hi-Hat pedals

Drum Heads: Remo

Sticks: Vick Firth “Thomas Lang signature”

Cases: Hardcase

Electronics: Roland
TD-20, TD-10, SPDS.

* You can find (or order) all instruments listed above at “La Cicala Mega Store”

Infos
Thomas Lang: http://www.sticktrix.com/
La Cicala - The Music Store: 0823.866009 - 0823.866263 - www.lacicala.it