This isn’t a typical first-person “trenches” post about using Gig Performer. It’s about a pioneer who dug trenches, well before Gig Performer existed. Since many of us play Genesis/Collins songs and because non-drummers might have missed this, I’m sharing this here.
In December 2024, Drumeo released a two-hour documentary, including a series of interviews with Phil Collins and his son Nic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdGmydR715Q Fans of Genesis/Collins will know many of the stories, but this production is unique in that it is from a drummer’s and performing musician’s perspective, getting into the music, performances, gear, etc. They even set up his old kit, straight out of the touring crates. This polished production is touching and informative.
Along with the documentary, they published “The Genesis Of Phil Collins” a FREE eBook: The Genesis Of Phil Collins | Drumeo While the book includes history and photos, it mainly focuses on the music and includes many pages of detailed notation of key drum passages from The Musical Box through You’ll Be In My Heart. If you’re playing in a Genesis Tribute band, you can confirm that your drummer is playing the part right!
For instance, did you know that in the famous In The Air drum break that Phil placed a kick between each pair of two-handed tom hits, but not between the final two eighth notes? (His son, Nick, had been playing it slightly wrong - on stage with Genesis!)
Speaking of In The Air, I’ve seen many demonstrations of gated reverb on You Tube and few of them really sound like the album. If you want a plugin for electronic drums or creating backing tracks, check out the Superior Drummer expansion, “Hitmaker”, produced by none other than Phil’s engineer, Hugh Padgham. Remove the gated reverb effect and you’ve got the ideal “Phil Kit” for earlier songs.
Of course, you will want to host the SDX in Gig Performer, as I do. It sounds brilliant when I play it with my Zendrum LT. (No disclaimer needed. I have no financial ties to anything in this post.)
May the video and eBook be helpful to your own performances in the trenches.