Help me make some noise

Newtron

So I bought a 4 piece Tama drum kit (used) last November. I subsequently purchased drums lessons and began practicing with my teacher's advice and whatever stuff I picked up off free drum lessons dot com.

While my drum teacher has been helpful and has become a good friend, I feel like he missed a lot of the basics. He also didn't have much communal advice for me. Communal as in knowing any good drum circles, or any online drumming communities. That was no big deal at the time, as I figured I'd have no trouble scaring something up through Google.

Unfortunately, here I sit several months later. The few places I have checked out both online and off seem amateurish and more prone to useless banter like talking about "who is you're fav drummer?" instead of having any kind of meaningful discussion on technique or basics.

The most common advice I get is to just listen to the radio or my favorite CDs, and following along. I know it's about ear building exercises, but that seems like utter bullshit to me. Most of the drummers I pay attention to have gigantic elaborate kits and have years and years of drumming experience on top of furious passion. I'm supposed to just listen and play along? Most of them move so fast that I can barely pick out the bass drum half the time, let alone trying to tell the various toms apart.

I have tried that by the way, but the only thing I've been able to play along with is Clint Eastwood. Every time I listen to Danny Carey, Nick Menza, John Bonham, or Neil Peart I feel lost and hopeless. I get the whole ear developing point of things, but without actually knowing what they're playing exactly it just seems like a pointless waste of time.

To cut a potential windy rant short, I was hoping anyone here with drumming experience could give me advice on the following:

- What's a good online drumming community to pay attention to? Are there any that have competent forums analogous to PA? I'm looking for a simultaneous advice/discussion forum more than anything else.

- Do you have any advice on getting "the basics" down? Every one seems to have their own opinion when it comes to music, but there's gotta be obvious rights and wrongs when it comes to drumming. I'm talking about specifics on things like kit setup, and owning and using the right kind of drum sticks. I'm also trying to decide if I want to try another drum teacher for a while or if I want to go it alone for a bit.

- Any other general advice you might have. I've gotten my fill of which drummers rule and suck, and what kit/cymbal brands are the bomb yo, but there's gotta be stuff about aches and pains and tips and tricks. Is being perfectly precise more important than technique, or do they go together, or maybe none of the above?

I know music is subjective as all hell, and it has always been one of my weakest points. The drums fascinate me though, and I am determined as all hell to be (at the very least) competent at drumming. The kit's been sitting idle the past few months with school going on and a new full time job, but now more than ever I need a stress relief and a hobby/passion. Please advise, before my kit becomes a permanent clothes drying rack.

Thanks in advance.

Bartholamue

I've been a drummer for three and a half years, and I understand, it can be a little frustrating to find information to get better at the instrument. I know that being able to find a place to talk about them is hard, too.

If you had a teacher that didn't really teach you anything, it's probably because you got a bad teacher (*gasp* there are bad teachers?). I would probably be good to try someone else for a month, and if you can't learn anything from him, thems the breaks, I guess.

As for drum sticks, people who tell you that you're using the wrong sticks, they're just talking out of their ass. There are no right or wrong sticks you can use (heck, I started out with 5B's, and now on to H-NOB Tama sticks, which are awesome). If you find sticks that are comfortable to use and doesn't give you blisters all of the time, those are ones you can stick with.

As for basics, I would suggest doing and getting better at the rudiments. You know, single/double stroke rolls, paradiddles, stuff like that. Oh yes, and I must stress at how important a metronome is to being able to play on-time. It really helps with your timing. It's helped mine immensely.

If you want to learn more, don't hesitate to contact me. I'd be happy to lend an ear, and actually teach you some stuff if you so desire. Don't get discouraged by the sheer size of some drumkits that players play on (such as Neil Peart's), as they have been playing for damn near 20 years, and they know their way around their drumkits. Since you've only been playing for a short time, just have fun!

Space Pickle

I know it's about ear building exercises, but that seems like utter bullshit to me.

Actually, you couldn't be more wrong. Playing along with your record collection is the fastest, best way to improve. It's important to practice rudiments and stuff but that's a lifetime of study...you're never going to master every possible left/right combination. Furthermore, rudiments by themselves aren't going to teach you how to play drums in a band, you need a combination of jamming and working on the basics to improve.

Every time I listen to Danny Carey, Nick Menza, John Bonham, or Neil Peart I feel lost and hopeless. I get the whole ear developing point of things, but without actually knowing what they're playing exactly it just seems like a pointless waste of time.

Well, starting with Bonham or Peart is going to drive you nuts and be impossible unless you literally have all day everyday to practice. This is an area where your teacher will be invaluable: just take one lesson and ask them for a list of tunes that would be good for a beginner to drum along with. The goal is to try and deconstruct the tune on your own, but an excellent use for your lesson would be to come in and say "well I've figured out some parts of the tune but I'm stuck on these other sections" and then your teacher (assuming he or she is any good) can fill in the blanks for you.

- Any other general advice you might have.

Find out which bars in your area have jam nights and start hitting them up. Most places will have a house band that you can sit in with for a tune or two.

Also don't worry about sticks and stuff, there aren't any right or wrong ones. In fact, you should try out a variety of sticks/brushes so you can test out all the different feels and sounds.

tony_important

My favorite way to break into new patterns/fills/whatever is to watch videos of other drummers playing.

It's one thing to listen to a guy rip around his kit, but it's another to see him do it and understand how.

useless4

I suggest starting a band. That's the quickest way to get good is to play with other people and try to find that "human" rhythm that can only come from live jamming with real people.

Try simple music though, like 4/4 rock or punk just to get familiar with jamming. Have one or two strong beats to serve as the backbone and an impressive fill - play over and over and over and you will soon find yourself improving and improvising.

Newtron

I don't know about playing with people. I just don't feel confident enough yet.

I can barely work fills in, and feel pretty clumsy with it. There's a couple neighbors of mine that want to jam though, so I guess I'll try that one of these weekends. There's some bars here that do open mic night type things, but I don't know of any that do open jams. That said, I'm not comfortable playing in front of people yet. It's gonna be a while before I join any kind of a band.

I guess I was pretty hard on the listen-to-learn aspect of things. I've been going through all my music and trying to see what is easy enough for me to play and there's already a few songs I could mix together on a cd and try that out. So yeah, I guess I was wrong, or frustrated anyway.

I've got a metronome that I'm using, but I break away from using it and then I forget exactly how I'm supposed to use it. I'll Google for that later though.

And yeah, if you guys don't mind I might PM some of you up for specific song related stuff or if you have time to help me "hear" things.

Thanks!

Demerdar

Trust me, drummers are a rarity in the music scene, so many musicians are eager to hook up with a drummer. Even if you might suck, a shitty drummer is better than no drummer (or making your own beats.. *shiver*).

metaghost

As someone who has always appreciated his free lessons available on youtube, you might want to check out Mike Johnston's site: http://www.mikeslessons.com/

He does a really great job of breaking down complicated sounds into their rudiments, and does it in a very supportive manner, stressing the importance of patience and working within your limits.

Sir Carcass

I would suggest getting a new teacher. This is completely anecdotal, but I've found teachers from music stores and the like are generally better teachers than some dude on Craigslist.

Another thing that might help you is to get some sort of drumkit tracking software, like EZ Drummer (or I'm sure there are other free alternatives), and try to recreate songs with it. I use it for my home recording, and I learned a ton from trying to break songs down and program each individual hit. It won't help you learn to hit on the drums, but it might help you to understand how some drummers put things together.

Along that same path, another option might be Rock Band. It won't teach you technique (and quite probably will teach you bad habits), but it will teach you some basic rhythm and stuff like limb separation. If you're comfortable with the game, you could do something like turn on No Fail Mode and play your real drums alongside it, kinda like scrolling sheet music.

Bartholamue

Sir Carcass wrote: »

I would suggest getting a new teacher. This is completely anecdotal, but I've found teachers from music stores and the like are generally better teachers than some dude on Craigslist.

I would suggest this too. The teacher who I've learned from is now the drummer for Striker, and he works at a music store.

Newtron

Bartholamue wrote: »

Sir Carcass wrote: »

I would suggest getting a new teacher. This is completely anecdotal, but I've found teachers from music stores and the like are generally better teachers than some dude on Craigslist.

I would suggest this too. The teacher who I've learned from is now the drummer for Striker, and he works at a music store.

Yeah, there's a guy here in town who has a drum store and does lessons. I'm gonna give him a shot on the weekends soon. Plus maybe I can strike a deal with him if I buy cymbals at his store.

I've got a sabian hybrid crash/ride and a sabian high hat, but I'm looking for a regular crash and splash to add variety. Cymbals are disgustingly expensive though.

What's a good rule of thumb when it comes to cymbal types and brands? Do drummers use crashes more than splashes, or vice versa? I see rock kits out there with so many cymbals on them that I have a hard telling what's what. I hear sabian and zildjian are top of the line (are seemed to priced that way), but are there other trustful cymbal brands? Any I should stay away from? I learned how to not abuse my cymbals early on, but durability is still a concern.

Thanks again guys.

metaghost

Newtron wrote: »

Do drummers use crashes more than splashes, or vice versa? I see rock kits out there with so many cymbals on them that I have a hard telling what's what. I hear sabian and zildjian are top of the line (are seemed to priced that way), but are there other trustful cymbal brands? Any I should stay away from? I learned how to not abuse my cymbals early on, but durability is still a concern.

Thanks again guys.

I just play with a ride and a crash. If I played Metal, I might be more likely to want splashes and other china, but that's still fairly subjective.

I can't really think of other cymbal brands off the top of my head, but I highly recommend finding a used instrument dealer in your area and just trying things out in store. Usually you can find some fairly unique worn-out pieces that have a good variety of tone. I also recommend making sure to learn a good method for tuning your kit. By which I mean both how to execute tuning your heads properly, but also learning what pitches you prefer on your heads. It can really change your perspective on drumming if you approach your kit with a bit more melodic sensibility.

Sir Carcass

For a metal kit, I would recommend at least a ride, 2 crashes, and a china (and hi-hat, of course), and maybe a splash for variety. After that, I'd maybe add one other crash, but you should definitely have enough to get by.

I can't really comment on brands not owning a kit myself, but most of the drummers I've played with have used Zildjian and never complained. If you take care of your cymbals, they should last you for years.