hey now I know my phonemes I was just making a joke SHEESH
― Romantic style in da world (crüt), Tuesday, 25 June 2013 20:21 (ten years ago) link
:)
― Romantic style in da world (crüt), Tuesday, 25 June 2013 20:22 (ten years ago) link
When I was 10 my drum teacher used to say "Play me a roll. Now play me a bagel." It took me many lessons to realize that was a joke.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 25 June 2013 20:23 (ten years ago) link
Sounds like you hit a few clams.
― Esperanto, why don't you come to your senses? (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 25 June 2013 20:25 (ten years ago) link
that's /klæmz/
/ʃiʃ/
;)
i think i might secretly love notation systems
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Tuesday, 25 June 2013 20:37 (ten years ago) link
ok so i went to the library -- because of a municipal snag that i forgot about, i couldn't go to the library where i know most of the books are. the library i could go to had two books that seemed even remotely appropriate, one of which starts off with a series of "funny stuff" that is an entire page of jokes about why drummers are hapless losers who want to "steal your girlfriend". i did not get off on a particularly great foot with the book, but so far the advice about practicing is making sense to me -- there are various kinds (fun, endurance, learning new beats/patterns, reinforcing what i already know) and the best results can arise from combining those types of practice with actual playing of music with other people. i'm getting closer to the idea of that.
so today i tried to work on the snare and it was pretty fun. i made another recording but for some reason i can never hear the bass drum (recording on my phone, lo fi in the basement like a good 21st c midwesterner). i slip up big time around 30 sec but clearly i need to work on endurance because i get antsy after like 2-3 cycles through the same pattern.
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 27 June 2013 15:59 (ten years ago) link
what is it, the bass player gets all the girls and the drummer smokes all the weed or something? I never actually got that one, but it's a classic bit of musician "humor."
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:07 (ten years ago) link
There are good drummer jokes though.
Let me just try and think of some
http://gimp137.tripod.com/myfun.com/id18.html
― how's life, Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:10 (ten years ago) link
Q: What do you call a drummer who doesn't wear a bra? A: a male drummer
Lololol
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:10 (ten years ago) link
I have seen half of those jokes done as viola jokes
― DJP, Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:18 (ten years ago) link
God those are terrible jokes.
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:25 (ten years ago) link
IME drummers tend to be a little dorkier/geekier than the rest of the band. Maybe something about not having to be out front vibing with the audience.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:28 (ten years ago) link
also the dark heart of truth inside corny drummer jokes is that we're afraid we're not 'real' musicians
― precious bonsai children of new york (Jordan), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:37 (ten years ago) link
LL you should do up the bass pedal clamp like I mentioned the other day, then you can really wail on it and you'll hear the drum!
― Just Elevate... And Decide In The Air -- Above the Rim (dan m), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:44 (ten years ago) link
oki can hear it with my ears, just not on the recording
we're afraid we're not 'real' musiciansreally?! that's absurd.
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:47 (ten years ago) link
there are drummers who are not real musicians, but they are not the drummers you want in your band
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:48 (ten years ago) link
what are they, muppets?
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:55 (ten years ago) link
i need to work on endurance because i get antsy after like 2-3 cycles through the same pattern.
Antsy like you want to go on to something else, or antsy like you feel your hands/arms/wrists tightening up ("crab claws," a bandmate of mine used to call them) ?
― Esperanto, why don't you come to your senses? (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:57 (ten years ago) link
i think it's just that in the daily practice of playing drums, you don't deal with scales, chords, harmony, etc. so you have to make a special effort to sit down at another instrument to learn that stuff, instead of picking it up more naturally.
― precious bonsai children of new york (Jordan), Thursday, 27 June 2013 16:57 (ten years ago) link
Antsy like you want to go on to something elsephysically i have felt no ill effects from practicing whatsoever, i'm pleased to report!
rhythm is an important part of music; people who provide it are musicians imo
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:12 (ten years ago) link
LL your setup and situation looks astoundingly like mine - I bought a kit for $100 from a hippie dude in Idaho who was quitting life and as I had just bought a house it seemed like the best idea ever. I have them set up in the corner of the basement. I played a lot more a couple years ago when I had friends and a shitty band, but sort of quit for a while.
I've started playing more recently and sort of want to get better to some degree. Mostly I just play along with songs on headphones, but I'm terrible at hearing / knowing when the bass drum should be hit and not good at actually playing it quickly. What other practice things should I mess around with? I know the concept of the rudiments thing but is that super important at first?
― joygoat, Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:19 (ten years ago) link
I can't think of any activity, let alone instrument, where rudimentary knowledge isn't super important at first
― DJP, Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:20 (ten years ago) link
well obviously the drums are the most important instrument (besides voice?), and drummers are often stronger at things like rhythm, form, arrangement, feel, texture etc than other instrumentalists. but in college jazz days i still felt like the dumb guy in the room sometimes, even if no one was trying to make me feel that way.
― precious bonsai children of new york (Jordan), Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:30 (ten years ago) link
True, but I guess I mean after I still can't quite get the three (let alone four) limbs doing the necessary things at the same time at the same rhythm, so do I really need to learn the flam paradiddle-diddle or the pataflafla at this point?
― joygoat, Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:31 (ten years ago) link
Learning the standard 40 drum rudiments is a great for developing facility, independence, and endurance. That said, too much focus/over-reliance on them can result in stunted creativity down the road (but, like, years down the road). I've seen drummers (even one accompanying Evan Parker) whose fills and phrasing were essentially just quoting a handful of the standard rudiments.
And anyway, heavyweights like Sunny Murray and Keith Moon didn't learn/study them (but other heavyweights like Andrew Cyrille and John Bonham did, so who knows).
― Esperanto, why don't you come to your senses? (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:35 (ten years ago) link
i really don't think there's a good argument to be made for avoiding the rudiments, doing so certainly won't make you more creative. just think of them as sticking ideas, adding words to your vocabulary.
that said there's always time to check them out, you can work on one for a while and then go back later for another one. i don't think it's necessary to learn rudiments before working on basic drum set coordination and rock beats, which is sort of a different thing.
― precious bonsai children of new york (Jordan), Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:41 (ten years ago) link
otm. Yeah Keith Moon and Ringo immediately comes to mind. Most bands I've been in the drummer was the goofy member.
The thing about drummers not being real musicians is supremely eye-rolling. Every musician should try to make an effort to learn drums. My favorite piano/bass/guitar lines are all when the piano/bass/guitar is played like a percussion instrument.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:41 (ten years ago) link
lol, not being a drummer I didn't realize that rudiments were a concrete "thing", so listen to Jordan more than me
― DJP, Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:42 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aZPHXyGP3Y
― how's life, Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:44 (ten years ago) link
ooh that's a good one! bookmarking.
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:46 (ten years ago) link
ha, some are much more useful than others (like, some i use all the time and others i think i've never played in my life):
http://swband.wikispaces.com/file/view/The_26_Drum_Rudiments4.jpg/45465647/The_26_Drum_Rudiments4.jpg
― precious bonsai children of new york (Jordan), Thursday, 27 June 2013 17:48 (ten years ago) link
First page of stick control:
http://www.scritube.com/files/limba/engleza/music/64_poze/image008.jpg
FWIW, I have had debates about what he means by "repeat each exercise 20 times" but I think he means repeat each whole bar phrase 20 times. That makes it take a while to get through a page let alone multiple pages, which always made me wonder a little how the book is intended to be used. Nonetheless, great exercises if you can tolerate boredom.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 27 June 2013 18:04 (ten years ago) link
sorry, whole TWO bar phrase
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 27 June 2013 18:05 (ten years ago) link
alright, i printed that and can take it downstairsseems worthwhile and i like really boring things sometimes
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 27 June 2013 18:18 (ten years ago) link
yeah, there can be a zen to it, and also sometimes I do it along with music to keep it from being deadly. Focus on having a "good stroke" and don't try to play too fast.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 27 June 2013 18:39 (ten years ago) link
update: i love page 1 of that book! i taped it where i can see it and have been using it every day to get warmed up. i think i might get the rest. it's really relaxing and i feel like i'm learning by the time i get to 17-18 repetitions.
in other news, trying to read the parts of my library books about reading music, that part is pretty fun -- question: this is what my book says about the industry standard. still true? worth memorizing?
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5501/9174120845_2a1172dea3_c.jpg
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Sunday, 30 June 2013 16:08 (ten years ago) link
Yep, still true, probably worth memorizing. Also, you may see an "o" over the hi-hat which means, oddly enough, to open it for that beat:http://drumming.timsparlour.com/transcriptions/rs.jpg
― Esperanto, why don't you come to your senses? (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 30 June 2013 17:44 (ten years ago) link
yep - and one last fairly common thing you'll see is the accents that look like this:
>
that just means to play it louder than the other notes.
― Z S, Sunday, 30 June 2013 18:08 (ten years ago) link
ok, then this is what i will attempt to learni have another book (this one http://books.google.com/books?id=Q7S68Hq5nLoC&lpg=PA46&pg=PA54#v=onepage&q&f=false) that seems like it will be fun to play with once i learn how to read.
there are so many different skills involved in learning this thing! i can play 1 song now, the whole thing. beat palette keeps growing, slowly.
thank you for the advice, folks. it really helps to know that i have a place to ask questions!
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Sunday, 30 June 2013 18:15 (ten years ago) link
All those rudiments! I drilled like hell on those for an all-state competition once. I did ok -- I got a 97 on my long roll, felt like a drum ninja. But it was really years of playing before I realized how much I still depend on them for just basic physical skills.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 30 June 2013 19:27 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0tMwlcoJmM
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 30 June 2013 20:21 (ten years ago) link
I don't know about drumming but Stewart Copeland seems like the coolest person alive.
― Tottenham Heelspur (in orbit), Sunday, 30 June 2013 20:30 (ten years ago) link
Man that guy definitely needs to loosen up! Stewart otm! He rules.
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Sunday, 30 June 2013 20:45 (ten years ago) link
He's right, but more practice also can allow you to be looser, if you practice right. Develop your wrists and you don't need to tense up your shoulders.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Monday, 1 July 2013 02:23 (ten years ago) link
i.e. sometimes the tension is overcompensation
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Monday, 1 July 2013 02:24 (ten years ago) link
question
i just finished watching "Rob Carson SCV snare drum: rare footage from the 1970s!" video and am wondering:are those rudiments things that all drummers can do? i understand the stick flipping is showmanship, but the rest, is that standard issue drummer toolkit?
in other words, is Rob Carson an especially good drummer or is that what is expected of all drummers?
if it's the case that all drummers can do that stuff, i definitely need a teacher!! good god.
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Monday, 1 July 2013 16:02 (ten years ago) link
You do not need rudiments, but rudiments will make you better, and you can do them anywhere.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 1 July 2013 16:04 (ten years ago) link
I can't do all that stuff anywhere near the speeds he does it. I was never a very good rudimental drummer, and you can be a fine rock band drummer without being one.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Monday, 1 July 2013 16:04 (ten years ago) link