IamA the guy that plays drums, guitar, and sings SIMULTANEOUSLY AMA!

Why no harmonica?

It's hard!

It's hardmonica!

[deleted]

Dude, you just leveled up music. Now I won't be impressed again until I see someone playing that fantomas drum kit with a keytar and a bass while singing with a harmonica up his ass.

Look up Bob Log III

Dig Bob.

Let me know when you see that!

http://reactiongifs.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/barney-yes.gif

http://reactiongifs.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/barney-yes.gif

Hahah

https://i.imgur.com/WW5mCvF.mp4

https://i.imgur.com/WW5mCvF.mp4

This is high quality.

You need gold, sorry I'm broke

Though I appreciate the sentiment.

For the lazy... The aforementioned video

Impressive, but who is playing the second guitar part and the bass?

Bass comes from a Boss oc3 Super Octave Pedal. Splits guitar signal to a sub octave.

Boss Super Octave pedal is next on my want list after a Crybaby wah pedal

It's a sweet pedal!

I'm the guy who put your video on /r/videos!

My only question is around what age did you start to drum and play guitar at the same time?

Hey man!! Thank you so much for sharing the video!! Much appreciated! It's been many years since I first started maybe when I was like 12. I never really did it in front of people or on gigs until about 4 years ago. I'd do a tune here and there. In July 2015 I did the War Pigs thing. It got a lot of attention so I started to think about doing it more. I switched my website over and began the project seriously about a year ago!

I play drums a bit and guitar too but I could never imagine trying both like that, crazy to me. Mad respect dude. Thanks for answering!

I remember see a 311 concert where the stage goes dark while their drummer goes into a sick solo. Lights come on and they've rolled 4 more drum sets out and the whole group starts tearing it up. It was awesome!

But yeah if they were also playing the guitar at the same time I'da broke my jaw that'd been so cool

That sounds awesome!

Electricity running through us all, it feels good

!!!

Right on, man! Play on!! And give it try! See how it goes. Thank you for sharing !!

A one man band? Was juggling not enough? Did you want to get weirder with it?

Ah, can't juggle. Had to figure up somethin else.

All that dexterity and limb control ad you cant juggle????? What!!!!!!!!!!

I know, right. Dang.

Do you slappa da bass?

Indeed, I have.

Did this all start because you watched that Simpsons where Groundskeeper Willie is a one man wonder band singing "I'm a mainiac" and you thought, yeah that's the way to live?

Fo sho! Willie knows what up.

Why are you the way that you are?

Because I don't know how to be another way.

So, umm what's up?..

All kindsa stuff!!

Respect

Thanks Man. Back at you.

Favorite Rush song? Also damn dude, that was sick

Yo! Thanks man! I appreciate you support and positivity. I dig YYZ but of course they have a lot of great stuff!

Lots of respect for you, what kind of music do you listen to?

I know it will sound cliche but as much as I can! I love Beethoven and Stravinsky. I can't get enough Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker. I still jam to Led Zeppelin and Soundgarden. More recent bands include Royal Blood, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Lissie, Chon, The Lemon Twigs, Kimbra, Tune-Yards . . . on an on!!

chon is awesome

chon IS awesome!

I am a huge Beethoven Fan!

Oh nice! Check it out: a few years back I dig a classical drum set series! I did two Beethoven Pieces. Piano Sonata No. 14, Mov. III https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X4o8Sht5Ww And String Quartet No 12, Mov. III https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ywZfH0edEQ

Awesome, definitely going to go check these out

Right on! Let me know how it goes!

The Lemon Twigs are absolutely killing it!

YES. Dig em!

Respect, my friend

And, to you as well.

There was obviously a lot going on that you weren't actually doing in the video. How many backing tracks did you have and would you consider posting a video without them?

Hey! Thanks for watching! There is only one track that is not being played live and simultaneous in Tom Sawyer. A guitar track where I play exactly what I played live. Only for a little fuller sound. There are several videos on my Facebook and Youtube account that are live with no tracks. War Pigs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiXLIwr7xxg Moby Dick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOxpDSoVGm0 Originals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SJ68-lkdK0 Improvisation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C2uB8c3n8o Hope you dig them!

Dude that war pigs was dope as fuck. Look forward to more from you

Thanks man! I have more covers and originals coming soon. Next cover should post next week!

Also, peep my Artist Page on Facebook. I post videos there quite frequently: https://www.facebook.com/dominicfragman/

When and where did you come up with the idea and then take it to a respectable level? I love how you strum and drum!

Yo! Thanks man! I was pretty young when I started doing it. I just started with the guitar and the feet. As that came together I thought I could go for more. I started doing it in public about 3-4 years ago. But I really didn't develop it until with in the last year. My favorite thing to get into with it is improvisation. It's always fun to fall down a worm hole going at it on both instruments!

Bassist here that has recently started tapping my feet while playing. I also slap anything and everything all the time when I don't have an instrument in my hands. MAD RESPECT TO YOU. I can't imagine doing all that at once. I think the thing that stood out the most to me is your voice though. Did you ever receive any formal training for singing? You kill it dude!

Right on man! Play on and thank you! Not so much formal training. Just a lot of yelling behind the kit for many years!!

How do you go about practicing something like this? Obviously learn the individual parts, but do you chunk two at a time and add on the third later, or do you just roll through slowly with all the voices?

Mostly, I think of it all as one thing. Depending on the tune, I can usually pull off all parts pretty quickly. Of course there are things I break down. In that case it is usually the guitar and some logistics. All in all the practice approach is basically the same as learning a single instrument. Do it a lot. Do it SLOW. Do it fast. Do it a lot!

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Practice perfect and perfection will happen.

Watching these videos have been the highlight of my day so far.

Many Thanks!!

Did you learn by yourself, or with teacher(s)?

Hi! I learn to do this by myself. Though I have had a mentor for drumming, composition, and general musicing. His name is Paul F. Murphy. He is amazing!

Are you any good at that video game Rock Band? Can you do multiple instruments there too?

Awful at it. Awful at pretty much all video games!

Have you ever heard of Bob log?

Yeah man!! He's rad. And the helmet!

How did you start doing this? Did the band break up?

Looking to play all the time! When everyone else is spent, I still want to music.

Can you cover Avril Lavigne, complicated?

I certainly could!

What gear did you use to get that killer guitar tone in the Tom Sawyer video?

The guitar is a project guitar a buddy built. The amp was a PRS rig (belonged to the studio - Annapolis Audio Lab--Awesome place!!). I use a Boss OC3 Super Octave pedal which splits the guitar signal and tracks a sub octave to make the bass line. That's it!

What was the first instrument you learned?

What was the last?

Hmm first instrument I started playing was drum set. Singing was the last. Still working on ALL!! I am primarily a drummer. That's been 95% of my gigs for the past 10 years!

Have you ever heard of shakey graves?

Edit: first AMA ive ever commented on. OP delivers!

If you're interested

Yup. Sounds right fine.

Wow, your videos are very impressive. Do you have any tips for new musicians?

Thanks! Sure. You can not avoid progress if you practice!

Hi, just watched the video posted on /r/videos and it was brilliant, your singing reminded me of someone, whilst I think on that answer me these.^Please

How did you learn to do this? What gave you the idea of doing this? and was there any inspiration behind the style of playing/singing?

Hi! Thanks for watching and for reaching out. I taught myself to do it over time. Guitar and drums with my feet initially. Them expanded from there. I started when I was young and the idea just came from wanting to playing all the time. As for inspiration, I draw inspiration from all things. When I play and sing I just go for it. I don't necessarily try to sound like any one thing. Though for the Tom Sawyer video I wanted to be in the ball park but still sound natural to myself. Does that make sense? Ha!

That was rad. I loved it, my dad (lifelong Rush fan) loved it.

I play many-an-instrument too, just not at the same time. My question:

When you set out to learn a track in this way, what's the process like? Obviously learn each separately, but how does it all get glued together? How long does it take?

Right on! Thanks man! The process varies. Often I can basically pull off everything together pretty quickly. But If I have to break it down the practice concept is the same as learning for a single instrument. Analyze the movements and sounds slowly. Increase speed. Do it a lot. This tune took a little bit but I was playing on gigs here and there for about 6-8 months before I decided to record it. I just started doing this seriously about a year ago so I am experiencing somewhat rapid growth right now. Which is great!

I'm a musician, but I can't get the coordination to play the drums... It's not like I have bad rhythm, I just haven't been able to translate it to my hands. And outside of just strumming chords, singing whilst playing guitar is also difficult, sometimes you have to play your accompaniment on classical guitar. My question is... Did you practise all the instruments separately, or together? How long for each if both?

Great! Keep working at it! In general, I do practice all the instruments separately. But mostly to facilitate ability on them separately. For this configuration, I find that it is best to conceptualize it as one thing. One sound, one instrument. I have been playing both instruments for many years but am primarily a drummer. I spent many years in practice for 10+ hours a day. I do not yet have that relationship with the guitar. Depending on the allotted practice time I would share the time evenly: 6 hours - 2 hours drums, 2 hours guitar, 2 hours together.

U ever come to Canada?

I have not. But I would love to!

So how much can you lift?

Not much. I mostly don't lift haha. Variations of calisthenics, controlled movement, and meditation!

Do you play anything else? Can you do do simultaneous playing with other instruments? I'm super impressed with what I've already seen, and am just curious.

Thank you! I dabble on several other instruments. The only others I have played simultaneously are keys with drums. There are many drummers who do this and do it well so I didn't go too far in that direction. Kenwood Dennard and Josh Dion do it very well. Nate Wood plays drums, bass, and keys simultaneously and it is amazing! I'm am mostly just exploring guitar, drums, and vocals at the same time.

Will you ever learn to juggle?

Not opposed!

How many instruments can you play while simultaneously answering questions on reddit?

6

Are you looking to add another instrument?

Yes, I assembling a band that I will front as the Solo Trio (me on Guitar, drums, and vocals). Right now I would like to have a guitarist and bassist who both sing and play keys as well as a stand up auxiliary drummer who sings and plays keys.

Do you have any other hobbies? And Whats dream car?

I dont guess I do really. I just love to play! Never really thought too much about a dream car. Mostly just into stuff that runs well and holds all the gear!

What kind of guitars do you own?

I currently do not own a guitar. Though the guitar I use was made by a friend. A no name, if you will.

Can you do it in rock band? I'm sure r/rockband would enjoy that

Can't do much of anything in the Rockband.

Do you use some sort of setup on your drums similar to what Rick Allen of Def Leppard uses to make up for the missing arm with more to do with his feet? If not it's hard to wrap my mind around how you do it. Very impressive however it is you do it.

Nope no set up. Just some drums and a guitar.

When did you first REALLY listing to music?

As early as I can remember!

Any suggestions for someone like me who's just starting to learn guitar?

Play a whole bunch! And make sounds you like!

Bob Log?

Yup.

Freebird?

it'll be spensive.

Can you do syncopation?

I want to play guitar and sing at the same time, and I find it really hard to sing when the melody rhythm doesn't match the strumming pattern. For example, a not so complicated song, Demon by Imagine Dragon, I can sing and play guitar separately, but not at the same time. Any advice?

Sure. I can do syncopation. Best thing to do is do it a real whole lot!

Should I have heard of you before? :P

I missed the simultaneously part at first and I was like "uh, so?" haha

Haha. You SHOULD have heard of me. But I don't know if you did!

If you are to add one more instrument that you'll play to that Rush - Tom Sawyer vid, what would it be? And are you up for the challenge?

I guess it would be keys because it is the only thing I can imagine a way to do. At this point I am working on many things and would not be interested to go down that path. At this point!

Andrew wk?

I like.

My only question is where is the real proof?

Who knows.

Why?

Why not.

I wasn't that impressed. How do you feel about that?

Don't mind it all. Thanks for watching!

Awesome voice though!

Thank you kindly!