Drumming tips? please (edited)

[Blaine]

I've been playing a 4 piece for the last 15 years and feel i've only scratched the surface. It's not the number it's how you use them. One thing you can do is rearrange your kit that can always spark some new ideas. For some motivation goto drummerworld.com or check out bob gatzen on youtube. Learning new styles of music also works.

Thank you this helped me a good bit I still think I need some personal lessons but the helped a lot I played for 45 minutes straight and then later on played for another hour.

[Blaine]

Who is this imposter? There's only one Blain.

Don't be an asshole my name is spelt different.

Spelt?

Quit being a penis muffin/ vagina brownie. If you do not like the fact that I basically have the same name go fuck off. I hate getting shit because some fuck has to have a problem with it.

[felix'apprentice]

Don't be an asshole my name is spelt different.

Spelt?

Quit being a penis muffin/ vagina brownie. If you do not like the fact that I basically have the same name go fuck off. I hate getting shit because some fuck has to have a problem with it.

[Colton]

Spelt?

Quit being a penis muffin/ vagina brownie. If you do not like the fact that I basically have the same name go fuck off. I hate getting shit because some fuck has to have a problem with it.

Buddy, dont get too offended. This is just the 'rockpage welcome'. You'll get used to it.

[dbdrummer89]

http://onlinedrummer.com/

this site helped me immensely and everyone there is more than willing to answer any questions. all of the lessons on there are helpful...worth a look anyway

[Jsun76]

My favorite drummers don't use double pedals...

Except when playing at a 1000bpm in the key of death...

my favorite way to play


Don't get discouraged because of lack of cymbals. My practice kit consists of a bass drum, floor tom, snare, single pedal, hi-hats, and 1 crash cymbal. It forces me to be more creative. You can make a very small setup sound huge.

[Blaine]

Quit being a penis muffin/ vagina brownie. If you do not like the fact that I basically have the same name go fuck off. I hate getting shit because some fuck has to have a problem with it.

Buddy, dont get too offended. This is just the 'rockpage welcome'. You'll get used to it.

Well every site I go on to basically there is a Blaine hey think hey I haven't seen anyone else with this name so lets be an asshole.

[felix'apprentice]

Buddy, dont get too offended. This is just the 'rockpage welcome'. You'll get used to it.

Well every site I go on to basically there is a Blaine hey think hey I haven't seen anyone else with this name so lets be an asshole.

it will be ok, dont take it personal. like colton said, its a "rockpage welcome" ... you will get used to it. good luck with the drums.

[Blaine]

Buddy, dont get too offended. This is just the 'rockpage welcome'. You'll get used to it.

Well every site I go on to basically there is a Blaine hey think hey I haven't seen anyone else with this name so lets be an asshole.

it will be ok, dont take it personal. like colton said, its a "rockpage welcome" ... you will get used to it. good luck with the drums.

Thank you. I will just eventually ignore it at most. But I played for about 2 hours yesterday. I got a little better watching travis barker and trying to learn low and also tryed to learn crank dat.

[felix'apprentice]

your welcome. just keep at it.

- kayla

[Blaine]

your welcome. just keep at it.

- kayla

I will I am just aiming higher. i want to be better. I am pretty experienced but I just need to practice a lot. I really want to get more cymbals I have one and a hihat.

[banderson]

Motivation cant be taught....You either have it or you dont. The better you get the more motivated you will become.

But it sounds like you are motivated to get more motivated! So you are motivated. LOL! These guys on here give great advice....Drummerworld.com and Youtube are great tools.

[VENTGtr]

I'm sure the guys are tired of hearing this, but it's relevant as far
as approach. Friend on mine, who is a phenomanal drummer,
decided to learn more about jazz. He had a pretty big kit at the
time. Went to a jazz drummer in Germany to take lessons. First
thing the guy did was strip his kit down to the most basic setup.

Second, sent him home with Beatles CDs. Point was to start with
the basics of a song and build up, add what works when it works.

Wasn't a Ringo fan at the time but got to be.

Nowadays, he plays in Ky in a country band. He said learning
that constraint was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do.

A pocket drummer will get more work than a busy drummer
starting out.

Jas', Branderson, Calv and JimBags are all similar in how they
approach things. Along with being great players, their approach
is really tasteful; Song before "LOOKEEE ME!!!!". Most everyone,
especially when "younger", on any instrument, as they start to get
"better", tend to overplay but, in theory, get better in an ensemble
setting over time.

We had a guy audition at one point who brought in EVERYTHING
you can imagine and tried to use it all on every song. There were
times it seemed there was no beat going at all. Didn't get the spot.

Not to say you can't use a lot of gear, or play busily and do it well
(Mr. Sass, for example), just that experience teaches how. Jas
can add a ton of things when he wants, but it's always with the
purpose of filling space when needed, covering the mids during
lead stuff that I'm doing, etc.

As a sidenote, I'd point out that "Blain"'s first post seems have been
kidding. If I can offer some friendly advice, no reason to jump in with
unnecessary antagonism. Hopefully, you'll be around here for a long
time and you can learn a lot, have some great conversations, etc.
This is a great resource. Use to advantage. Best to start off on a good
foot, or kick pedal. Just sayin'.

[Blaine]

Motivation cant be taught....You either have it or you dont. The better you get the more motivated you will become.

But it sounds like you are motivated to get more motivated! So you are motivated. LOL! These guys on here give great advice....Drummerworld.com and Youtube are great tools.

Well I was not motivated to play for a long time because I had 2 bands last year both epicly failed. I am motivated now since people are giving me somewhat good advice. Just watching some videos of people playing like travis and joey helps me alot.

[Blaine]

I'm sure the guys are tired of hearing this, but it's relevant as far
as approach. Friend on mine, who is a phenomanal drummer,
decided to learn more about jazz. He had a pretty big kit at the
time. Went to a jazz drummer in Germany to take lessons. First
thing the guy did was strip his kit down to the most basic setup.

Second, sent him home with Beatles CDs. Point was to start with
the basics of a song and build up, add what works when it works.

Wasn't a Ringo fan at the time but got to be.

Nowadays, he plays in Ky in a country band. He said learning
that constraint was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do.

A pocket drummer will get more work than a busy drummer
starting out.

Jas', Branderson, Calv and JimBags are all similar in how they
approach things. Along with being great players, their approach
is really tasteful; Song before "LOOKEEE ME!!!!". Most everyone,
especially when "younger", on any instrument, as they start to get
"better", tend to overplay but, in theory, get better in an ensemble
setting over time.

We had a guy audition at one point who brought in EVERYTHING
you can imagine and tried to use it all on every song. There were
times it seemed there was no beat going at all. Didn't get the spot.

Not to say you can't use a lot of gear, or play busily and do it well
(Mr. Sass, for example), just that experience teaches how. Jas
can add a ton of things when he wants, but it's always with the
purpose of filling space when needed, covering the mids during
lead stuff that I'm doing, etc.

As a sidenote, I'd point out that "Blain"'s first post seems have been
kidding. If I can offer some friendly advice, no reason to jump in with
unnecessary antagonism. Hopefully, you'll be around here for a long
time and you can learn a lot, have some great conversations, etc.
This is a great resource. Use to advantage. Best to start off on a good
foot, or kick pedal. Just sayin'.

Thanks for the advice. I do play with a single kick pedal. I seem to mess up when I play something on the hihat and try to play something else I can't be held back by practicing I can't sit there and play what the person is saying I try but I cant I am trying to be able to do that and slowly I am doing so. I end up making alot of things up. Do you have and tips on tuning my drums sound terrible I have 2 pillows in my bass it sounds great my snare sounds great but my toms all sound very bad.

[banderson]

Something that really helped me out with tuning is called a "Drum Dial". You can get one on Musiciansfriend for about 50 or 60 bucks. The ultimate goal is to not need one and to be able to tune by ear.....But they are really useful!

I usually set my batter head at a tension of 76-78 and my resonant heads at about a tension of 73 or 75. The type of drum head plays a big part as well....I preffer clear remo pinstripes for the batter heads and remo weather king clears for my reso's. Thats all personal taste though.

Over dampening toms is not a good thing either....You wanna try and let the drum breathe. If you have a bunch of duct tape and mufflers it makes your toms sound like your playing suitcases. LOL!

[Blaine]

Something that really helped me out with tuning is called a "Drum Dial". You can get one on Musiciansfriend for about 50 or 60 bucks. The ultimate goal is to not need one and to be able to tune by ear.....But they are really useful!

I usually set my batter head at a tension of 76-78 and my resonant heads at about a tension of 73 or 75. The type of drum head plays a big part as well....I preffer clear remo pinstripes for the batter heads and remo weather king clears for my reso's. Thats all personal taste though.

Over dampening toms is not a good thing either....You wanna try and let the drum breathe. If you have a bunch of duct tape and mufflers it makes your toms sound like your playing suitcases. LOL!

I use remo/ sonor it is from the kit origionally I bought it from a rich kid for 35$. I dont have in dampening on my drums except the bass has pillows on it and I have e rings on all of my drums. I want to get a resistance tuner but I dont have the money. when I play them they sound kind of like marching band toms like the quads. They do not sound right. But when I get the money I may buy one.

[banderson]

Something that really helped me out with tuning is called a "Drum Dial". You can get one on Musiciansfriend for about 50 or 60 bucks. The ultimate goal is to not need one and to be able to tune by ear.....But they are really useful!

I usually set my batter head at a tension of 76-78 and my resonant heads at about a tension of 73 or 75. The type of drum head plays a big part as well....I preffer clear remo pinstripes for the batter heads and remo weather king clears for my reso's. Thats all personal taste though.

Over dampening toms is not a good thing either....You wanna try and let the drum breathe. If you have a bunch of duct tape and mufflers it makes your toms sound like your playing suitcases. LOL!

I use remo/ sonor it is from the kit origionally I bought it from a rich kid for 35$. I dont have in dampening on my drums except the bass has pillows on it and I have e rings on all of my drums. I want to get a resistance tuner but I dont have the money. when I play them they sound kind of like marching band toms like the quads. They do not sound right. But when I get the money I may buy one.

Sonor! Thats awesome! I always wanted to play around on a Sonor Kit. The great Danny Carrey plays Sonor...Among others of course. I guess maybe your Tom heads are too tight? I like a deep/punchy sound myself.....But thats just taste as well. Just loosening all your lugs and experimenting may provide results. Tuning drums takes a decent deal of patients and experimentation to get the sound you are looking for.

[Blaine]

Something that really helped me out with tuning is called a "Drum Dial". You can get one on Musiciansfriend for about 50 or 60 bucks. The ultimate goal is to not need one and to be able to tune by ear.....But they are really useful!

I usually set my batter head at a tension of 76-78 and my resonant heads at about a tension of 73 or 75. The type of drum head plays a big part as well....I preffer clear remo pinstripes for the batter heads and remo weather king clears for my reso's. Thats all personal taste though.

Over dampening toms is not a good thing either....You wanna try and let the drum breathe. If you have a bunch of duct tape and mufflers it makes your toms sound like your playing suitcases. LOL!

I use remo/ sonor it is from the kit origionally I bought it from a rich kid for 35$. I dont have in dampening on my drums except the bass has pillows on it and I have e rings on all of my drums. I want to get a resistance tuner but I dont have the money. when I play them they sound kind of like marching band toms like the quads. They do not sound right. But when I get the money I may buy one.

Sonor! Thats awesome! I always wanted to play around on a Sonor Kit. The great Danny Carrey plays Sonor...Among others of course. I guess maybe your Tom heads are too tight? I like a deep/punchy sound myself.....But thats just taste as well. Just loosening all your lugs and experimenting may provide results. Tuning drums takes a decent deal of patients and experimentation to get the sound you are looking for.

This is what it looks like. http://www.emoearth.com/XXXBLAINEXXX/al ... 293/195601 it even has sabian cymbals. I got a great deal on it. Yeah they are a pretty good set. The kind of music I play is anything from rock to heavy metal and I want that heavy metal presence when I play. I have tried a few times but I did get impatient but I will try to get it right it takes me a long time to do things like that. God I have a ibanez with a floyd rose and the string kept popping out and I was getting pissed but I figured that one out. lol

[banderson]

Kick Ass! Nice big toms too! I see your hi-hat is one the right....Thats definitely a unique approach.

[Blaine]

Kick Ass! Nice big toms too! I see your hi-hat is one the right....Thats definitely a unique approach.

I couldnt play it on the left but I put it over there now I changed my set all around. I switch my set around almost daily to try playing in all different ways to try to get a set up that suits me. Yeah I can not believe that I bought that for 35$ well the hihat was broke so I went out and bought a ludwig. It seems to fit right in. The only thing on the right now is the floor tom. It sounds good until i relise it needs tuned lol. Oh and the snare was broke so I had to string that up to that was a pain in the ass. I want to get a high strand for that.

[banderson]

Yeah....I'd say $35 was a hell of a deal! Its always fun to experiment.....Im the same way. Sometimes I use two rack toms and a floor....or just one rack and one floor. Im a scatterbrain when it comes to it. LOL! Lately i've been into the habit of having 1 rack, a 14'' floor tom on my right, and an 18'' floor on my left. I'd like to get a 16'' to replace either one of those sometime. Thats one of the funnest things about drums to me....Just experimenting. Its such an expensive hobby though. Or atleast i make it more expensive than it needs to be.

[Blaine]

Yeah....I'd say $35 was a hell of a deal! Its always fun to experiment.....Im the same way. Sometimes I use two rack toms and a floor....or just one rack and one floor. Im a scatterbrain when it comes to it. LOL! Lately i've been into the habit of having 1 rack, a 14'' floor tom on my right, and an 18'' floor on my left. I'd like to get a 16'' to replace either one of those sometime. Thats one of the funnest things about drums to me....Just experimenting. Its such an expensive hobby though. Or atleast i make it more expensive than it needs to be.

Yeah I had to pay another 80 for the hihat. But I am tuning my toms and they sound a little better. yeah I want to get a 3rd tom. I also want a double bass and then a chinese cymbal and a crash cymbal maybe even a splash. I would like to get another floor tom that would be nice.

[banderson]

Sweet! I hope it all works out for you. Drums can be a frustrating thing at times....But its all worth it in the end because they are also the funnest thing! A few more tuning tips if you didnt already know these...

Always tighten or loosen your lugs in a "star or atleast close to a starlike" pattern. You dont ever wanna tighten or loosen each lug that is next to the one you just did.

Also...When you are tuning "brand new" heads....You will get a "crackling" sound while tightening. The best thing to do is "gradually" (1/4 of a turn) tighten these till the "crackling" is gone. What I do is stand or press hard on the drum after so many turns and this helps get the crackling out of the way. Once that crackling is gone....your drums will stay in tune better and longer. Thats definitely the most time i ever wrote "crackling". LOL!

Have a good one!

[4_the_pocket]

Blaine,

Lots of great advice offered here.

I will echo what others have said about size of your kit doesnt matter. I agree scaling your kit down will force you to focus on the basics. You do not need more than you have currently. That includes any genre of music you are playing. There are different methods of motivation to use; private/online lessons, youtube, copping fills or grooves from a favourite drummer, expanding on your current skill set, just to name a few. Be creative. For every ounce you put into practice, you will get two ounces out of it down the road.

Tuning is a whole other animal often overlooked by drummers. CCdrums, a board member here, has a fantastic method of tuning. There is no "correct method" for tuning, but there are correct rules, ie, even tuning of tension rods around the shell. There is a whole wealth of information on the web and some of the players here are very knowledgeable, as well. Head selection is probably the largest factor of getting "your sound". Some may disagree. I personally like G2s/G1 for toms, tuned correctly these give a warm sound with plenty of attack and depth. I also like ambassadors for a more open, musical tone. It all depends on your playing situation and what the music calls for. Another common thing drummers do is tune to JAW (just above wrinkle). Drums tuned to JAW is all but a "dead" sounding drum. I understand the reasons for tuning that way because common sense would lead you to think the lower its tuned, the lower the pitch. To a certain extent that is true. BUT, if you tune perhaps an 1/8 of turn on each lug past JAW, you will hear the drum come to life and actually have more depth, punch, warmth and projection. Same applies for the kick drum.

Drums are meant to ring. I may anger some guys who use moongel and e rings, but all that does is defeat the purpose of what the drum is suppose to do, in general. You will be hard pressed to find many pro drummers who use these materials. The sound can be achieved with proper tuning. Some small amounts of moongel are ok to reduce an overly annoying or ringing drum in the studio (mostly on the snare). Moongel and e rings are great if you are trying to quiet your drums a bit for practice or in your home, but in a live situation - errrrrnk! Dont do it.

Without even hearing your kick drum, I would guess it sounds like a cardboard box with 2 large pillows in it.

Also, one last thing to keep in mind as far as drum sound. What the audience hears is entirely different than what you hear. You must tune for the audience if you are a gigging drummer. If you think I am wrong, try having a friend play your kit while you stand 20 feet in front of it. Hit a tom that is "dead" and hit one that is tuned properly and decide for yourself which one sounds better. Throw in a full band and the dead drums are going to sound even more lifeless.

Tuning is an acquired skill and it takes practice as much as developing your playing skill set. Knowing how to properly tune your drums makes you a more complete drummer too. Experiment. The more you experiment, the more you will learn what works and doesnt work for you.

Best of lcuk