duggano

Hi there,

Im pretty new here and one thing that struck me is loads of you guys are really hung up on the speed you play at!! I think the most important thing is that all you guys stop thinking about the speed you play at and start thinking about how you can improve playing in your band, or how you can improve your soloing. What about rudiments? These are the most important things in drumming. They train your hands to be in the right positions when you do a fill, or even when playing a groove. Ive heard loads of people who live near me say oh man i just got my double bass pedal and now im really getting fast, but when i hear them they cant play one! Have any of you guys ever heard fireball by Deep Purple? Rumour has it that Ian Paice went into the studio and found keith moons bass drum and added it to his kit. He recorded fireball double bass. Then he went on tour with a single bass pedal. I think thats a great message, cos that guy had mastered single pedal way before he even thought of double pedal. I think over speed, its more important to be tasteful when playing bass drums. I dont think virgil concentrates on being the fastest player in the world, but to be tasteful and play what feels right. I thhnk if you sat him at one bass drum with a single pedal, he could play quite a lot of things that seem impossible on a single. I think instead of practising goin at 230 bpm on a bass , rudiments should be practised over and over again, thats how you get to be the greatest drummer afterall! Id really love to hear what everyone thinks!

Rock on guys

Dug

jimi

I don't think everyone is hung on speed, but yes there are alot of questions about it. The most that i ever say is that a drummer should forget about speed. CONTROL is the key word, and id even go as far as avoiding the word speed altogether!
I think you mentioned the right things in your post like concentrating on a band situation and being in the music. Rudiments are important, but only along with everything else, like playing for the music, understanding a band situation, etc. etc. Balance is important, but think of an acrobat. they can do all sorts of things but still have balance through all of it, doing crazy things but staying on the tight rope. In other words balance is more than just being able to walk across the tight rope!
Anyways im gona stop there before i rant on more

__________________
As your prince, I promise to rob you blind, build great monuments to myself, and have my way with your women

duggano

Hey jimi well said man

Sounds like you got it all figured out, i bet your a great drummer :-D Although i think everything is important i would still say rudiments are really tops. I mean when you think about it there wouldnt be any drums without rudiments! if i said to you play songs without rudiments then i think there would be tons of things you couldnt do but if i said play a song with out bass drum, well thats been done before. Im not being funny just saying, maybe i just love rudiments too much:-) does any one else find them selves just tapping them on their knees?!

dug

jimi

oh ya for sure! but rudiments came into existence long after drums were invented you know? they are the scales of drums, like major and minor for piano/guitar etc.
Just remember the music came first and then the theory
Dont get me wrong, i practice rudiments all the time, ok? i think you'll get me anyways

__________________
As your prince, I promise to rob you blind, build great monuments to myself, and have my way with your women

duggano

haha i hink we both know what we mean but cant put it into words:-P:-) whats your fave rudiment. Ive been doing this rudiment called a paraquin . Basically you arrange a quintuplet like a parasiddle. So its like RLRRL over and over so you get a paradiddle feel. If you accent the first R every time it sounds awesome, and combine it with toms and cymbals to get a killer sound! Haha the swiss army triplet comes a close second because of its name for me:-P How bout your fave rudiment?

Dug