Drum Related

People often hear about “rock kits” or “fusion kits” but few new drummers actually know what the difference is. So here you go….

A “rock” kit is a drum kit characterised by toms which are larger and deeper than on a “Fusion” kit. For example, a “Rock” kit traditionally consists of 12″, 13″ and 16″ toms and a base drum size of 24”

A “fusion” kit is a drum kit characterised by toms which are smaller and shallower than a standard “Rock” kit. For example, a fusion kit may consist of 10″, 12″ and 14″ toms, and a base drum of 22”

This week I’ve chosen 6 of 1 thing by Craig David. Now I know this isn’t exactly a hard core track for drums, but it’s actually a great play! It’s full of energy and has plenty of opportunity to try out some flashy stuff!
If you’re at the stage where you use sextuplet fills then here is a great place to try some. It’s also a good track to work on your ghost note snare drums within the groove if you play that kinda thing.

Here’s the breakdown:

Section    No. of bars

Intro     1 (ish!) fill “+a4e+a”

Chorus     8

1st Verse    8

2nd Verse   8

Bridge     8

Chorus     8

3rd Verse   8

Bridge     8

Chorus     8

Mid section    16

Chorus     8

Chorus     8

Chorus  8 (end “1 +” with a flam on the snare on the “1” and bass/crash on the “+” of the 8th bar.) 

Try and make the verses real tight, bridges build a little, chorus flashy and the mid section chilled. 

Mikedolbear.com have a couple of very good reviews, click on the title above to open the article and then click on the links.

Drum Fest 2008 Review

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http://www.mikedolbear.com/story.asp?StoryID=1642

DVD Reviews for August 08

Please follow link:

http://www.mikedolbear.com/story.asp?StoryID=1641

Renowned British drum teacher Bob Armstrong has announced that he will be hosting an ‘Up Close and Personal’ clinic with top UK session man Ralph Salmins, plus a Special Guest Appearance by the Corps of Drums from The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, Portsmouth.

The clinic will take place at Bob’s Masterclass Studios in Essex (Drum City, 24 North Street, Romford
Essex, RM1 1BS) on Sunday 5 October at 2:30pm.

Tickets are available now by calling 01708 763708 or email masterclass.bob@btinternet.com.

You may know from reading previous material that I really love my co-ordination exercises. I personally feel a great sense of achievement when I crack them as it’s something you can notice right away.

I’ve given you quite a few co-ordination exercises over the past year, but this is the most tricky one to date.

It’s only 3way co-ordination using both hands and your right foot.

We’re gonna take 3 repetitive patterns (that we’ll loop):

“1e+”     “e+a”       “1  +a”      

To start with you’re gonna put…..

“1e+” on the Right hand (and play it on the floor tom)

“e+a” on the Left hand (and play the snare)

“1  +a” on the right foot (and obviously play the bass drum)

The idea is to keep these going simultaneously and smoothly.

I’d recommend just getting the hands going to start with, then maybe just playing 8ths on the bass drum until you’re confident, then turning that into “1  +a”.

When you’re fine with that arrangement try swapping two of the patterns without changing the other. (e.g. keep the bass drum “1  +a” going and swap the hand patterns over). This is pretty tricky as when thinking about swapping two patterns the third often forgets what it’s doing!

Give this a try and then I’ll give you a more advanced variation of this exercise.

When we “trademark” genres basically we’re talking about things that make them what they are. Things you use to identify it is THAT genre. We’re not talking about exacts, we’re talking about descriptive words to begin with.
Of course there are no EXACT answers as music has NO RULES, but generalisations can be made.

Now “pop” music is so eclectic as “pop” is basically “popular” music, which could include all genres. So to make things slightly easier I’m going to be focusing mainly on what I call processed pop using single artist and boy or girl bands. I’m also talking about how it is on the CD/MP3 file as opposed to the live version.

Here are some descriptive words I’ve put together for “pop”….

Flat

Repetitive/consistent

Un-complicated/basic/simple

Light

Catchy

Un-offensive
Things I wouldn’t really use to describe pop would be……

Dark

Aggressive

Super fast

Trashy

Sinister

When playing pop along to a pre recorded track there are usually very few fills. It’s mainly just groove all the way with the odd small fill here and there. It’s pretty much always in 4/4 and easy to sing and dance to - Think, 10yr old girl dancing in front of a mirror singing into a hairbrush doing the routine dance moves with a group of friends. You can’t do anything too outrageous as it would throw them off what they’re doing. Make what you play clear, easy to bop to and un-surprising. Pop should be very consistent in sound so if using hi hat lifts do try and produce the SAME sound over and over again.

When thinking about playing in a style or genre from now on, think also about HOW you play it rather than WHAT you play. Identify the trade marks and the rest will follow.

This week I’ve chosen Golden Touch by Razorlight as I’m not on my computer and decided to take advantage of the choice of different bands I wouldn’t have in my collection!

Quite a few people like to play along to the likes of Razorlight, and this song I vaguely know so I thought we could give it a crack.

This track is great for working on your counting (some stopping and starting as well as sections with odd amounts of bars), lifts, and general slow playing while keeping a constant and even sound.

To let you know, the lifts are on the “+ of 1” and the “+ of 3” and you can play the floor tom on the “a of 2 and the “a of 4” then the bass on the “1” and “3”. (Getting the timing smooth on this can be a bit of a challenge so you might need to work at it)

As I’m not as my computer this week I can’t write it for you like I usually do so you’ll have to use your brains and figure it out from that!

Section       No. of Bars

Intro           2

1st Verse   9

Chorus       6   (cross stick on the “2” and “4”)

Break         1 (don’t play)

2nd Verse  10 (in with groove)

Chorus      8 (fill in 8th bar)

Break        1 (don’t play)

Inst          2 (“ting cyms!”)

Bridge      10

Chorus    9 (fill in 8th)

Chorus    8 (fill in 8th)

Outro      6 (slow in 6th)

 

 

When learning to play drums, most people just want to learn how to do LOTS of different stuff. They want to learn how to spin sticks, how to play their favourite groove and fill from their favourite track. They want to learn how to solo and how to play round the kit real fast!

As great as all these things can be, they’re really not all that necessary if you wish to become a pro drummer, especially from a session prospective.

What’s really required from a drummer is a great sense of timing – which usually includes the ability to work with a click - a great sound, the ability to read a bit and being someone who’s great fun to work with.
Being able to solo, spin sticks, play at the speed of light and do all sorts of crazy arse fills doesn’t come into it!

When people I teach have been playing for a while I always advise focusing just as much, if not MORE on HOW they play something as opposed to WHAT they play. A simple groove and fill can sound WAY more effective when played well, than a supposedly complex/impressive groove and fill played slightly ropey.

Steve White said this “Remember, you might play a solo in one song in a 2hr set which lasts 5mins. That means you have 1hr 55mins of some pretty straight forward, solid playing. That’s about a 25/1 ratio. Meaning you should work on the “boring stuff” 25 times more than the fancy “fun stuff”!
Put simply, spend 25mins working of simple grooves, fills and solid time keeping and 1min on spinning sticks and soloing!

Now I know this is not something that any person learning wants to read ‘cos let’s face it, no one wants to get bored while practicing! So make you’re best efforts to keep the so called “boring stuff” fun. Play to tracks you know use a click, or play to loops. Challenge yourself and set goals in playing, then feel the sense of achievement when you complete them. Work on your sound. Try to turn a nasty sounding drum kit into a musical instrument, rather than taking a nice kit and making it sound like a load of cardboard boxes!

Try and take the most simple thing and make it sound poetic. Try and make someone dance with just you’re grooving alone. And finally remember this:

Nothing worth having/achieving comes easily, if it did everyone could do it and it wouldn’t be rewarding.

When you get to the stage as a drummer that you start to play with bands (either one band or are more of a session player) it’s more than likely you’ll need a “gigging” kit, even if you don’t have to use it every time.

So many people, when they first start out down this road, think that bigger is better! They say “I’ll have more things to hit”, “It’ll look more impressive”, ”It’ll look like I’m a better drummer if I have a big set up”. Well, I can tell you that all that really isn’t true for 99.9% of gigs they’ll be doing!

As a gigging drummer what you need is a SOLID kit that is easy to chuck around - focusing more on solid hardware.  You really want to make it as SMALL as possible to cut down on set up and take down time and you need to invest in some good flight cases.

Most gigs don’t involve a load of real flashy fills and made varieties of crash cymbal, so having a big flashy kit just isn’t necessary to start with (then when you do get to the stage when a big kit is necessary you can get roadies to help you out!)
If you turn up to a gig for the first time not knowing what might be in store then yeh, sure, maybe take a few extra bits with you. But that doesn’t mean you have to use them when you get there!

When thinking about a gigging kit think move-ability, adjustability and necessity!

One thing I like to use a lot are cymbal stackers to cut down on the amount of floor space needed as well as the weight of my hardware case.
If you play double pedal but one is not necessary for a particular gig then don’t take it!
Just because you HAVE 5 crashes doesn’t mean you must take 5. Just pick the 2 that compliment each other best or are most appropriate for the style of music or the room you’ll be using and take them.

Finally I’ll say this. If you get good it might even be worth having more than one gigging kit - One bigger kit, rock sizes with bigger cymbals etc… and one smaller kit, fusion sizes with smaller cymbals. That way you’re gonna be more versatile as a player.

If a clinic with Jojo Mayer isn’t enough to stiate your drum appetite then shortly after, on Thursday 16 October, idrums will be hosting a night of clinics featuring  ‘Drum Guru’ Martin Ranscombe, Craig Blundell and Andy Edwards.

Details below:
 
Venue - The Square, Harlow @ 7:30pm
Tickets - £8, available thru idrums
Contact - Call the shop on or visit the website.