Students
Douglas Lock
Young Drummer of the Year (top 40), 2009
My name is Douglas Lock, I am 18 years old and I have been playing the drums for 10 years – 7 of which at the Ritimo Drum and Percussion School. I am from Glenlivet, Scotland, although I am currently studying Ethical Hacking at the University of Abertay Dundee and live in Dundee during term times. Some of my greatest drumming influences are Neil Peart, Phil Collins and Mike Portnoy, with my favourite bands including Genesis, Rush, Pink Floyd, Dream Theater and Yes.
Events
During my time at the Ritimo Drum and Percussion School, I have benefited from extraordinary tuition and have had the opportunity to participate in many different events.
One example of such an event is the Young Drummer of the Year competition - a drumming competition for under 16 year olds – for which I had to record a video of myself playing a 2 minute drum solo. It was good fun and a great learning experience to record my entry and I finished in the top 40 participants in the UK, which I was very pleased with.
While playing at Ritimo I have also had the opportunity to play as part of a percussion group. The percussion group was a group of students playing various percussion instruments and it was a great experience to be able to play different percussion instruments rather than just the full drum kit. After much practice, the group played a gig at Duff House, where we mixed the percussion with bagpipes.
I have recently also had the opportunity to perform in the Ritimo Drum Festival, which was recorded and released on DVD. The festival gave myself and the other students a chance to perform a couple of tracks in front of a live audience and it was both a great learning experience and good fun.
What I’m Working On
During my time at Ritimo Drum and Percussion School I have had the opportunity to work towards taking some of the Rock School drumming grades. In 2009 I passed my grade 5 exam with a merit and I am currently working towards taking my grade 8 exam.'
