Mitch Bruzzese, a drummer based in Sydney, Australia, found his path to global recognition through the digital realm of Twitch. As the platform’s popularity expanded beyond its gaming origins, Mitch recognised a unique opportunity to build an international drumming presence. What started as an experiment quickly evolved into a full-time career powered by the unique capabilities of electronic drums, transforming him into one of Twitch’s premier live music streamers.
Mitch defines Twitch as a platform centred entirely around live streaming, offering an immediacy and interaction level distinct from YouTube or TikTok, where live content is often secondary to offline videos. This real-time environment became the foundation of his success.
Initially doubtful that anyone would watch him play, Mitch was eventually convinced by a friend to start streaming in 2017. His primary motivation was to overcome the constraints of the Sydney music scene and establish a more global online presence. After a false start and a year-long hiatus, he returned to Twitch on Christmas Eve, 2018, feeling inspired by the community he found, and he hasn’t looked back.
The Electronic Drum Advantage
Mitch’s suburban living situation prevented him from using loud acoustic drums, forcing him to rely on his trusty Roland TD-20 kit, a piece of gear he’d owned since high school. While he initially resented the necessity of electronic drums, he soon changed his mind. “I think it’s a blessing in disguise that I’ve got electronic drums. I completely embraced the creative advantages.”
Those advantages include:
- Silent practice and 24/7 availability: Electronic drums allow Mitch to stream and practice late into the night without noise issues, a crucial factor for building a global audience across multiple time zones.
- Instant sound control: He can instantly change drum kit patches on the fly, tailoring the kit sound to match any requested song. This allows him to grab a snare from one patch and combine it with the toms of another, often live during the stream, making the customisation process part of the entertainment.
- Seamless audio integration: The electronic kit allows the audio to be pumped directly into his interface, simplifying the set-up compared to the complexities of micing an acoustic kit.
Current Gear and Visual Innovation
Mitch has significantly upgraded his rig from his initial TD-20. The decision to commit to streaming in late 2018 led him to upgrade his module to the Roland TD-50 module (and recently the V71), which he paired with his existing pads before upgrading to the Roland VAD (V-Drums Acoustic Design) series, currently a hybrid of the 706 and 716 kits.
However, the most groundbreaking aspect of his set-up is his use of MIDI to integrate visual elements, largely developed with the help of his “R&D team” of programmers and engineers:
- Integrated lighting: He installed custom DMX lights inside each drum pad and above his crash cymbals, allowing the drums to light up with every strike.
- Interactive effects: Using MIDI, his audience can choose the lighting “moods” (like “Fireball” or “Aurora”) or use custom software called Light Plan Studio to pre-design lighting cues that respond dynamically to his performance.
Community-Driven Performance
One of Mitch’s early discoveries was the strong interaction Twitch provided with his audience.
“It’s amazing what people are interested in, especially live in that medium. People were really suddenly interested in what I was doing and how I was doing that,” he says, noting that he has adapted his performances to encourage more audience interaction.
He uses collaborative Kit Selection, where viewers heavily influence his sound, suggesting specific kit patches for requested songs.
He also involves them in his ‘Live Learning’ process where he listens to and charts a new song while streaming, and then consults the audience on the best drum patch to use before performing it.
He also takes live requests, drawing on his massive song list of over 1,700 tracks, nearly 1,000 of which are drumless and professionally remixed.
The Leap to Live Drum-DJ Performance
The latest chapter in Mitch’s career is the integration of DJing into his drumming performance, a concept he realised was necessary to add unique transitions and musical manipulation to his streams.
“I wanted to be able to manipulate music and start mashing things and mixing things on the fly,” he notes. He is grateful to Roland, his endorsee, for helping him achieve this by incorporating Roland DJ-707M decks and a looper into his performances.
The goal is to seamlessly Drum-DJ: he can cue up the next song or manipulate the current track with his left hand. Crucially, he can record a drum loop from the V71 module (all connected via MIDI clock) and then remove his hands from the kit. The looped beat keeps the groove going, allowing him time to mix the next track in, fade out the loop, and then immediately take back over.
Mitch is currently preparing to move this concept from his home studio to the stage. While the technical operation is mostly figured out (running the decks and loopers off a laptop), the challenge lies in the visual presentation: making the set-up look right from the front so that a live audience can instantly grasp that he is simultaneously drumming and DJing.
“You gotta make people listen with their eyes sometimes. You gotta make it so that they can tell that I’m DJing and I’m drumming and jamming along.”
He’s actively experimenting with stage configurations, proving that for Mitch Bruzzese, the boundaries of drumming are continually being stretched by technology.
Mitch’s approach, be it for performance, musical collaboration or private teaching, leverages the flexibility of electronic drums. By combining drumming, DJing and real-time visual effects, he’s pioneering a new kind of live act, something that would not have been possible in an analogue-only world.
See Mitch in action here.