I spend a lot of time touting the benefits of using DVDs to enhance one’s teaching style. (it’s kind of my job here!) But there is one aspect of DVDs that can’t be argued – and that is that they take up space. I mean real, physical space. Even before I was fortunate enough to get this gig I had shelves of DVDs and videos. You can imagine it now! A nice library looks cool! But in a teaching setting, when time is at a premium or in studio where space is limited at best, DVDs can often find themselves relegated to a corner, closet or drawer. What a waste of those useful resources. Traveling teachers will also find it difficult to have their DVD library with them at all times for road lessons. It’s just not practical. Our new Hudson Digital on Demand player solves a lot of those problems for teachers.
Currently there are over 20 titles available for you to download directly from us. Many are full length, fully functional versions of their physical counterparts. Some titles include Benny Greb’s The Language of Drumming, Tommy Igoe’s Groove Essentials series, and Neil Peart’s Anatomy of a Drum Solo. There are many more for you to check out, and new ones on the way. We also have some freebies up there as well from Aaron Spears and Benny Greb.
If you are at all like me, any opportunity to me more organized is a blessing. I can lose anything in an instant, and I have lost, trashed, broken, and forgotten more than my share of CDs, videos, books and DVDs. I used to keep a log of what I had loaned to my students until I lost that too. True story. For people like me, the On Demand player is a Godsend. I have never lost my Donny Gruendler Creating and Performing With Loops video that I downloaded via the On Demand player. If you are more organized than me (good for you!) this might not be a benefit for you, but I think everyone can enjoy having all of our videos on our computer. Like most musicians I travel a lot, and it is nice to have a collection of videos I can watch and learn from without having to fill my carry-on bag with DVD boxes, or stow them when I really want them! And, it’s a nice green alternative. Let’s take a look at how it works, how it can help your teaching.
Let’s use one of the free downloads as an example to get started. Click one of the links below to download the free media player (Yes, you have to do this part!). If you like, you can also watch a short video, below, to see some instructions to get the player installed. The video will explain clearly how to install the player, set up the account, download videos and enjoy your purchases. The video goes way more into detail than I can here, so trust me…go watch it. I’ll wait.
Click a download link above to get the FREE media player and get started today!
So, you watched the video right? I’m going to assume you did your homework and now you have a good idea about how the player works. Let’s download Benny Greb’s “Improvisation” lesson. Click on ”add to cart” right next to the title then click “Check Out” in the blue box, bottom right. Confirm your email address and in a few seconds you’ll see the download in progress. This clip is a segment from Benny’s full length DVD The Language of Drumming, and it has a direct application in a teaching setting. Once it is downloaded it appears in “My Stuff”. Watch the first call and response two bar exercise with your student then have them try it. Or try it together. After a few minutes of this, watch the next exercise where the form is doubled, then try it. You can do this for the remaining exercises in the clip. Actually you can do this with any video from the On Demand player, or any DVD for that matter. It’s just nice to have it lined up and not have to scroll through the DVD menu. And speaking of fast forwarding and rewinding, that is as simple as dragging the button along the line beneath the picture.
The videos you can download are at or exceed DVD quality. Some are shot in HD, and more are on the way. Your TIP teacher’s guides will work with these videos as well. If you are referencing a title that has more than one DVD in the original package, you might be better off checking under the chapter summaries at first rather than the Keywords when looking for a specific bit of information . All future Teacher’s Guides will list keywords by a time reference rather than a disc/chapter reference. All of the pdf files are included with each title just as they would be with the DVD.
One very cool feature of the On Demand player is the “Discuss” button, located directly under the video. Clicking on this takes you to the Hudson Online Drummer’s Community where you can talk about the video, take part in our TIP forums, or just hang out and chat with other drummers.
I can talk all day about why I think the Hudson Digital On Demand player is great for teachers. For me it represents a way to be organized, to have my collection with me wherever I take my laptop, and to be able to get more titles anywhere I have an internet connection. I encourage you to spend some time getting familiar with it and exploring ways it can help expand your teaching.
Please take a few minutes to check out the new On Demand player and come back and leave us a comment, below – We’d love to hear your feedback!
Check out the OnDemand demo video, below
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