Welcome to Beatnik Studios, home of the  Los Angeles drum teacher Danny Brown. I have been passionately studying, playing, and idolizing the sounds and rhythms of drums and percussion for many years.  

Besides my mother’s claim that I was banging on pots and pans as a hyperactive toddler, I formally started private music lessons when I was nine years old.  First on piano, as I learned the basics of music theory and then officially on the drum set by age twelve. I was fortunate to find Ronnie Ciago, a Berklee School of Music graduate, who strangely enough, was my one and only drum teacher throughout my adolescence.  Ronnie taught directly from the books he had written about ambidexterity, independence, and syncopation. Learning from him for over six years was an inspiration.  He also taught me to respect music as well as the health and soul of my musical body and mind.

After high school graduation, I attended New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Film & Television Institute, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor emphasis in literature.  All through film school I pursued my music education. At NYU, I participated in the classical percussion ensemble and I continued with private lessons at Drummer’s Collective with Pete Zeldman, another wonderfully talented drum instructor.  While in college I started to play in bands and improvise with various musicians.  The excitement of New York City, teeming with people and culture, was the ultimate education in the many glorious forms of music from every imaginable corner of the world. I ingested everything and started playing in a wide variety of musical styles including; rock, jazz, folk, exotic percussion, and avant-garde improvisation.

Rhythm, as a form of expression, is paramount in my life, and even though I am an editor for films and TV, I’ve remained fully immersed in music. In between editing and tours with bands, I worked at record stores in New York and I’m still an avid collector of records and instruments.  The journey of music has taken me around the world to stages and studios. And, it has truly been the honor of my life to create and collaborate with so many magnificent musicians and to learn from the shows, recordings, and installations that I’ve been so fortunate to experience.

I look forward to sharing my musical craft, drumming techniques, as well as my professional and artistic experiences.  

Please contact me whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced player. It is my firm belief that there is always a great exchange between teacher and student.  I always look forward to imparting knowledge as I continue to evolve and learn from music.

Free 30 min. trial lessons – subject to availability.