Here’s an interesting video that displays some challenging practice routines. Combining 8th note triplets and various 16th note patterns (single stroke, double, parradiddle…etc) along with counting aloud in 7.
This certainly would open up a world of possibilities around the kit. Something I’ll practice a bit myself.
I’ve never practised polyrhythmic patterns like these while counting out loud and recently I saw another example that kinda got me thinking about approaching practise this way.
I’m a bit inspired after watching this. What do you think??
There is alot of wisdom shared here by Liberty DeVito.
As a drummer I enjoy learning and studying techniques to allow me to express myself on my drums. And many of us do enjoy watching inspiring videos where a great drummer shows us new ways to implement different techniques on time keeping (odd meters for instance) or hand/foot techniques….etc.
But, let’s not forget that our primary purpose as drummers in the context of playing with other musicians is to keep time and support the other musicians in the song. The song’s arrangement and/or the goal of the song’s message should be #1. In that, we have a responsibility to play accordingly.
Liberty does a great job in this talk and then shows us how to deliver the goods.
Don’t clutter and be noisy. Learn different musical styles and work with the other musicians to deliver the song in unison.
If the song demands something crazy or if it demands a strong pocket groove… then that’s your job.
2 guys who’ve given me much inspiration are right here in this short clip.
Marco Minnemann really is a drumming virtuoso with incredible chops and vocabulary on the drums. I had the great pleasure of seeing him live some years back at the Montreal Drum Festival and it certainly left a lasting impression.
Tony MacAlpine is lights out. Not only one of my favorite guitar players but really one of my favorite musicians. I love watching Tony play. His technique is superb.
Also had the pleasure of seeing Mr MacAlpine play live with Planet X at the drum fest some years back and that also left a huge impression on me. I was floored at how easy he made even the most mind bending arrangements and guitar playing look so easy.
I always love listening to people talk about music. The virtuosos as well as us “normal folk”.
Recently I bought a new kit. After some debate as to what to buy I had 2 things that stuck out.
First was the quality. I definitely wanted a drum kit that had great tone, easy to tune… nice to look at. Second was price. Hey, I was working on a tight budget, what can I say?
So I bought this new Gretsch Catalina Maple kit and I must say I am much more then pleased. They are drums that sound great with my rock band, they will sound great with my jazz/funk band and I’ve even played with them with my metal band…. and they won approval in that style as well! (The guys loved ‘em)
I believe I got a great looking, great sounding, great quality kit for a great price. And I’m quite happy.
I listen to a lot of different music in the run of a week and it tends to vary a lot. I’ll go from the heavy, to blues, to jazz… etc.
One of my favorite artists and drummers is Stanton Moore. The man can just plain groove and I really do dig his funk driven phrases when he solos.
In my younger days playing fast and furious was the number one goal behind the kit. That’s what I considered “chops” to be. Nowadays, I see “chops” as being something much more well rounded.
To be able to play “good” feeling parts. To hold down a groove so that the singer, guitar player, keyboard player… that they all have room to breath. To support the music in whatever form you are playing. These parts can vary greatly from style to style. Think this tune (Knocker) as opposed to say, a Slayer tune. Dave Lombardo plays Slayer as well as Stanton plays this stuff. The music feels different. (And remember, music is more so to be enjoyed then to be compared competitively)
And then to be able to improvise or speak in whatever style you are playing. So you may use lightning fast licks from time to time…. but you may not and just dance around with interesting phrases and accents.
Stanton Moore is, to me, a fine example of a guy who plays his parts very well, can be playful and has a great vocabulary for the music he plays.
From time to time I spend some time on YouTube looking for drum videos either watching some that I’ve seen already or try to find anything at all the might spark interest.
Couple of years ago I had heard of Gergo Borlai and saw a couple of videos on YouTube. While I remember being impressed it didn’t really stick out in my mind.
Well, I’ve been watching some of his stuff over the last few months and I’m really blown away. Gergo has incredible technique and really speaks on the drum kit. In so many of the videos I’ve watched I just find that I’m always left inspired in some way.
A few videos I was floored by his time keeping skills and of course the vocabulary he seems to possess on the drum kit.
So I thought I’d share this video as I start being more active on the blog and will share more inspirational videos.
So check out this clip, a “Jazz improvisation” by Gergo Borlai.
(ps…. don’t compare…. enjoy!!)
Neil Peart has been a great influence on the drumming world. That statement alone seems as such a self evident truth that maybe it shouldn’t even be said.
Rush’s drumming master has certainly been a huge influence on me personally as I grew up and found various styles of music. They are still one of my very favorite bands today and Neil continues to inspire.
I’m sure most out there are familiar with Robb and the band from the famous documentary. I remember Anvil from way back in my youth…. that’s right. Metal on Metal…. I always remembered the album artwork. Classic.
