- Virgil Donati
Infobox musical artist
Name = Virgil Donati
Img_capt =
Img_size = 200
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name =
Born = birth date and age|1957|10|22Melbourne ,Australia
Instrument = Drums
Genre =
Years_active = 1972 - Present
Associated_acts = Planet X
URL = [http://www.virgildonati.com/]Virgil Donati (born October 22, 1957) is an
Australian drummer currently playing in the band Planet X alongside many side projects. Recently, he has been touring with French superstarMichel Polnareff on the European leg of sold out shows in France.Background:
Virgil is perhaps most well known for his fast, highly technical drumming skills. He holds the drum sticks in the traditional style and is also proficient at the keyboard.
His Pearl drum kit consists of a 22x18 bass drum, 10x9 tom, 12x9 tom, 14x12 tom, 16x16 floor tom, 18x16 floor tom, 14x5 Virgil Donati snare drum accompanied by a sopranino snare. He also frequently uses innovative 'air toms' which are toms that meet the players head height above the existing toms. Virgil also uses Pearl hardware. He plays Sabian cymbals, Remo drumheads and Vater sticks.
Virgil was born of Italian descent in
Melbourne ,Australia , and got his first drumset at age 3 [http://www.virgildonati.com/about_biography.php Virgildonati.com ] ] .He started playing right away with his father's showband, and kept on doing these shows until he was around 6 years old. He began taking lessons at age 7 with Brian Czempinski and later Graham Morgan, now a legend in the Australian drumming community.
He joined his first major rock band and signed with his first major record label at the age of 15. The band was first called Cloud Nine, but was later renamed
Taste . Overall, he recorded 3 albums with the bandTaste and as a result improved his skills in the places it counted - the stage and the studio.Donati left school when he was 16, focusing mainly on the drums, but also piano, and practicing hard every day.These days he spends most of his time in the
United States playing with a number of different bands. Playing 6 nights a week with Taste was what really “got his chops together”. Australia was very isolated as far as instructional books and big international tours, so he had to rely on self-motivation and listening to records.With his father's choice of records, including
Louie Bellson andBuddy Rich albums, Virgil quickly became a fan of those great jazz drummers, trying to emulate their solos.The first rock drummer to make a big impact on him was
Ian Paice ofDeep Purple . Donati was “blown away by his clarity and power”, something for which he later would become famous himself.Practice became a way of life for Virgil, who tried to learn as many different styles as possible, enabling him to cope with any musical situation he was confronted with.
At age 19 Virgil travelled to the U.S. to study with
Philly Joe Jones , and at Dick Groves School inL.A. He also took lessons from snare drum specialist Murray Spivack.He returned to Australia at the age of 21 where his career finally took off. Playing jazz with Allan Zavod and Brian Brown, and rock with Peter Cupples' band, he was a busy touring and session drummer Down Under.
His own pop band, The State turned into
Southern Sons , which led to Virgil's first taste of international fame, with their self-titled debut selling multi-platinum and producing the international hit single 'Heart In Danger'.During the 1980's Virgil incredible drumming was a feature of the hard-driving, high-quality Melbourne-based jazz fusion band 'Loose Change', which later became 'Changes'.
The big break came in 1995 where Virgil's first solo album [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-vdstretch.php Stretch] was released to a stunned community of drummers worldwide.In 1999 Virgil relaeased [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-otvsyi.php On The Virg: Serious Young Insects] through Melbourne based record company [http://www.vorticitymusic.com/www/4/1000902/displayproduct/1001258.html Vorticity Music] . With tracks like the timebending [http://www.virgildonati.com/sounds/OTV/otv-trk01-FULL.mp3 Native Metal] this CD cemented Virgil's status as a progressive musical mastermind. Additionally, the track
Alien Hip-Hop defined Donati's skill of double bass drumming over odd-time patterns.Virgil was voted the number 1 clinician of the year (2004) by the readers of the popular drummer magazine,
Modern Drummer . Virgil's own band 'Planet X', formed after Virgil's collaboration onDerek Sherinian 's 1999 solo album "Planet X", is one of the most advanced progressive fusion groups, setting new standards for other musicians to follow.They have released three studio albums; [http://www.vorticitymusic.com/www/4/1000902/displayproduct/1001234.html Universe] , [http://www.vorticitymusic.com/www/4/1000902/displayproduct/1001744.html Moonbabies] , Quantum and one live album, [http://www.vorticitymusic.com/www/4/1000902/displayproduct/1001743.html Live From Oz] . Virgil has also made numerous live appearances worldwide with fusion leadersScott Henderson andTribal Tech .Virgil's website, accordingly located at [http://www.virgildonati.com virgildonati.com] , amongst other features presents an extensive gallery, videos, audio samples from his albums, and - pioneering the world of drummer websites - [http://www.virgildonati.com/masterclass/ Online lessons] + a rapidly growing message board of 10,000+ drummers from all over the world, talking and learning about Virgil and drumming in general.
On March 15, 2007, his website Virgildonati.com exclusively launched a special 2-disc DVD digipak from his clinic in Stockholm during the Bass n' Drum festival of 2005. Produced entirely by Virgil Donati and Christopher Nalbandian (also the webmaster for Virgildonati.com), it has been very well received by drummers and percussionists alike, with Virgil showcasing his most technical drumming to date.
[http://www.virgildonati.com/about_discography.php Virgil's discography] :
As leader:
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-vdstretch.php Virgil Donati: Stretch]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-otvsyi.php On The Virg: Serious Young Insects]
*Just Add Water As bandmember:
*Taste: Tickle Your Fancy
*Taste: Knights of Love
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-loosechange.php Loose Change: Live At The Grainstore]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-stateelem.php The State: Elementary]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-sstitle.php Southern Sons: Southern Sons]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-sstruth.php Southern Sons: Nothing But The Truth]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-sszone.php Southern Sons: Zone]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-pxuniverse.php Planet X: Universe]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-pxlfo.php Planet X: Live From Oz]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-pxmoonbabies.php Planet X: Moonbabies]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-pxquantum.php Planet X: Quantum]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-fhbm.php Freakhouse: Beautiful Misery]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-roforacle.php Ring Of Fire: The Oracle]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-roflive.php Ring Of Fire: Burning Live In Tokyo]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-rofdream.php Ring Of Fire: Dreamtower]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-roflor.php Ring Of Fire: Lapse Of Reality]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-soulsirkus.php Soul SirkUS: World Play]As session player:
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-jcsuperstar.php Jesus Christ Superstar: The Album]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-jstevensays.php Jon Stevens: Are U Satisfied]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-jstevenscirc.php Jon Stevens: Circle]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-ghgravity.php Garsed/Helmerich: Under The Lash Of Gravity]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-mtldrumfest.php Montreal Drumfest: Live]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-dsplanetx.php Derek Sherinian: Planet X]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-swglossolalia.php Steve Walsh: Glossolalia]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-jhundefined.php Joel Hoekstra: Undefined]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-mbrof.php Mark Boals: Ring Of Fire]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-jhmoon.php Joel Hoekstra: The Moon Is Falling]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-bblazoo.php Bunny Brunel: LA Zoo Revisited]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-enmm.php Erik Norlander: Music Machine]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-alfie.php Alfie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/discography/disc-jwvertigo.php Joseph Williams/Vertigo: 2]
* [http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/cabband4 CAB: Live At The Baked Potato]
* [http://www.sirmillardmulch.com Sir Millard Mulch: How to Sell the Whole Fucking Universe to Everybody... Once and for All ][http://www.virgildonati.com/about_videography.php Virgil's videography] :
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/merch/dvd_stockholm.php Virgil Donati: Live in Stockholm]
* [http://www.virgildonati.com/merch/ Visit Virgil's Online Store]
Some of the other countless bands, projects or artists that Donati has played with are:
*Planet X
*Steve Vai
*Tony MacAlpine
*Derek Sherinian
*Michel Polnareff
*Joel Hoekstra
*Soul Sirkus
*Scott Henderson References
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