Kaplice Percussion & Technique: What Vince Thinks

What is happening in Kaplice

Kaplice Music Day takes place on July 28 as part of Festival Krumlov. The official program brings together percussionists Antonín Procházka, Ladislav Bilan Jr. and Matěj Diviš for music spanning Ghanaian traditions, classical repertoire, original works and contemporary composition. The Czech Association of Music Festivals independently lists the same performers, time and city-park venue. Those are the verified facts; the lesson below is Vince’s interpretation.

More instruments do not create versatility

The range is exciting, but it challenges a familiar assumption: touching many percussion instruments automatically makes a player versatile. Vince’s view is almost the reverse. A useful drummer carries a steady pulse, controlled motion and intentional sound from one surface to the next. New colours matter, but they expose technique rather than replace it. If the groove rushes when the hand moves from snare to floor tom, the musical idea has not travelled cleanly.

Try one rhythm on three surfaces

Choose a two-bar rhythm that is comfortable at a slow tempo. Play it four times on the snare, four times on the floor tom and four times on a closed hi-hat. Keep the sticking, note spacing and dynamic shape unchanged. Record the full sequence and listen only for pulse first. Do not correct every detail at once.

On the second pass, listen for tone and rebound. Match stick height before changing surfaces, relax the grip after each stroke and leave a full bar of silence between rounds. That pause makes differences easier to hear. The goal is not to make three instruments sound identical; it is to keep the same musical intention while each surface answers differently.

How Vince teaches it

Vince would begin at the student’s current level and with the music they want to play. He would diagnose whether the weak link is pulse, grip, rebound, balance or coordination, then isolate the two-bar phrase on one surface. He would simplify the sticking, adapt the tempo and stroke height, and add the other surfaces one at a time. Timing comes first, then technique, sound and musical judgment, so confidence grows step by step instead of being guessed.

Bring one rhythm that changes feel around the kit to private drum lessons with Vince in Montreal or online. Beginners can use quarter notes; experienced drummers can keep an accent pattern intact while changing orchestration. Starting lessons gives you a precise next step: Vince can identify what changes between surfaces and build an exercise around your goal, rather than adding more equipment to an unclear problem.