Drums Online

5 Tips To Help You Be a Better Drummer – A Drums Online Lesson

A drummer (or musician, or architect) is not so much something you become and more something you are. If you play the drums a lot, you’re a drummer. If you own a drum kit, but never use it, then you’re just a person with a drum kit. Here is a list of my top 5 tips to being a better drummer.

1) Practice.

Playing anything is better than playing nothing. Just pick up your sticks, and play something. If you’re really, really stuck, just play a straight rock beat:

HH |-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-|
SD |-----o-------o---|
BD |-o-------o-------|

(HH – High hats, SD – Snare Drum, BD – Bass Drum)

Do that for half an hour every day and it’ll do you the world of good, guaranteed.

But I know you’re much more creative than that, so throw in some fills, change the tempo, add some ghost notes and generally mix it up a bit. Make a mess – it’s all good.

2) Listen

Listen to other drummers. This one’s great, because you get to listen to the music that you love and call it work – but the key is that it has to be work. You have to put some effort in to get the rewards, so don’t just start singing along. You’re not here for the melody. Focus on the drummer and see if you can figure out what she is doing, you don’t have to get it note for note – it’s more about the feel – but try to at least get an idea of the foundations of the beat. What notes are being hit every bar? That’s your foundation beat – the rest is just decoration.

Also listen for dynamics, rhythm, accents. Listen to how the bass drum fits in with the bass instruments. Ask yourself why she has chosen to play this beat at this time in this song.

And if other musicians, or your drum teachers, give you a list of drummers that you ‘should’ be listening to then, by all means, check them out. However (and it’s a big however), if you don’t like them, stop listening to them. There are no ‘shoulds’, and you’re not wrong for not liking them. Don’t make this harder on yourself – it’s already hard enough.

3) Read

As you’re listening to your favourite drummers, see if you can get some of tabs of the songs and read along. There are plenty of resources available on the internet where you can get free tabs – print off a few, or pull them up on screen, and see if you can follow along.

Even better, transcribe the beats yourself. Bar by bar. This can be an intense exercise, but it’ll really open your eyes.

4) Jam

Playing with other musicians is a must – drummers rarely play solo (and when they do, it can get a little boring). Get out to your local music shop and check the want ads – there are always bands looking for drummers. Hook up and jam.

If it works out, then congratulations – you’re in a band. If not, don’t sweat it – go find some other musos to play with. Somewhere, out there, is your perfect line up. Don’t stop until you find them.

If you can’t do this for whatever reason (mobility, access, location), there’s still hope! Grab some CDs, get some tabs (or transcribe them) and play along. If you want to get super-hi-tech, hook up with some other musicians online and get them to record some ideas that you can jam along to. With the power of the internet, bands no longer have to live in the same town!

5) Practice

Yeah, it’s here twice because how good you are is simply about how much time you put in. Wanna be an amazing drummer? Play the drums. A lot.

How To Buy A Cymbal – A Drums Online Story

I got my first drum kit when I was about 16. It was a Hohner with a steel snare and a shallow bass drum and it came with a thin ride and a some weedy hi-hats. They sounded awful but, whatever, it was my first kit and I was excited just to have it and it got a pasting

The Crash

At the time, I was a drummer who was into his heavy rock music. It quickly became clear that bashing the hell out the ride just wasn’t going to cut it. I was going to have to buy a decent crash.

Being new to the drumming world, I had no idea what these things cost. As I chirpily made my way to the drum shop with $100 in hand, I was sure that I’d be able to have my pick of the finest hammered bronze in the world.

Boy, was I in for a surprise.

The First Shock

My spirits were soundly crushed when I was shown a range of rather pathetic looking no-brand cymbals that fit my rather pathetic price range. I had heard a many great things about the bigger brands – Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste – but was disappointed to see that only a few of the Zildjians had made the sub-$100 cut. None of the A, K or Z range that I had read so much about, just one or two from the ‘budget’ Scimitar Bronze range.

Determined not to leave empty handed, I swallowed my pride and bought the 16″ Scimitar Bronze Rock crash for about $90. Then I went home to make the best of it – at least I now owned a crash.

Twelve years later, I still play it every single day. It’s lost its shine and the branding has long-since faded, but it’s an integral part of my setup and has been everywhere with me – it even made it to the Other Stage and Acoustic Tent at Glastonbury 2005, where I was fortunate to play with my then band, The Deadbeats.

I have played countless cymbals from all the main manufacturers over these past 12 years and yet I still return to this old workhorse as an example of what a crash should sound like. It is my personal definition of a crash sound – thick and meaty with an explosive yet pleasant attack and a quick delay. I love it and hope that it remains part of my kit forever.

The Ride

About five years ago I upgraded my ride cymbal. My local drum shop does not have a price on each of the cymbals that it has on display. Instead, it has a price list posted to a board which makes it very easy to ignore and which, on this particular day, I did.

I went through with my favourite sticks (Vic Firth American Classic 5As) and tried out all of the rides on offer. I was looking for something that had a nice ride twang, but also a good crash edge and a solid bell ping sound. After about half an hour, I had found it. It was another Zildjian – the 21″ K Custom Special Dry Ride – and it was beautiful. The main cymbal sound was dark and esoteric, with a solid crash edge that makes the most wonderful whooshing noise when played with soft beaters yet with a bell that shines loud and clear when hit with the stick shaft.

The Second Shock

After falling in love with it, I then checked the price list. Not only had I found the most expensive ride cymbal, but I had actually chosen the most expensive cymbal in the entire shop. $400 it cost me, but by this point I was too far go and I had to have it so I bought it and the relationship has grown stronger over time.

Together, my cheap crash and expensive ride make a killer team and are an integral part of my overal sound. I couldn’t imagine playing without either of them. However, the most important thing is the lesson that they both taught me. Sound comes before brand and price. Every single time. If you like the sound of it, it doesn’t matter who made it, what the reviews say or how much it costs – you buy it.

That’s how you build your sound.