check out lang's section on practicing on his website... www.sticktrix.com and then "practicing". very interesting.
I understand V's point...
However, many guys that come out of the corps sound just like that - very stiff & regimented...however, I like that approach, esp in rock or sometimes fusion-rock...but I also like the less stiff/structured approach of many jazz & latin style drummers AW...more groovy AOT 'stiff & even-steven'...[altho I'm not trying to take away from the importance of being 'even' in your strokes at any level]
It seems like most up & coming young drummers today come from the regimen of corps...[& don't get me wrong...I have seen many corps guys who have good feel AW]...
I actually prefer a happy medium, somewhere in between...
A guy like Sonny Emory for instance, a great contempo player BTW, seems to me to be from a corps backgrnd...
Did Tain, Deej, or Elvin come from corps?
Their playing doesnt strike me at all to be 'of this regimen'...
I know that Gadd did a stint in the Army...but was he 'corps'?...how about Jeff...did he do any corps?
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 09, 2004 03:17 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>
check out lang's section on practicing on his website... www.sticktrix.com and then "practicing". very interesting.
Good points Fuse.
Sonny totally has a nice set of rudimental chops along with a smooth implementation of these around the kit.
When I taught in the military, I saw the drummers from the Marine D & B school with unbelievable hands that sounded really stiff on the kit. It's a matter of focus and goals.
Leading and accenting with your
left hand forces the issue.
Split rudiments on the drums,
sticking part of it on one and
then the other drum or cymbal,
especially with the left-hand.
Good luck.
[img]cool.gif[/img]
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 09, 2004 05:26 PM: Message edited by: peter c ]</font>
I agree wholeheartedly with Peter we can sometimes focus our rudimental practice on the snare TOO much and also too much on the hands alone. We need to learn to apply them to the WHOLE of the kit while having an emphasis on the feet also(ala Virg and Lang) and learning to lead with both left hand and foot. Even if we aquire good technique with the hands as applied to the snare it can be a different animal applying those abilities to the whole of the Drumset.
Dig
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes and for that i think the best book is Dom Famularo : It's Your Move [img]cool.gif[/img]Originally posted by FuseU1:
It is VERY important to grasp an understanding of & get used to the feel of the Moeller / Gruber / Weckl / Smith NATURAL REBOUND - STICK 'SNAP-BACK' TECHNIQUE...& the "loose-yet-firm" grip while doing so...it is of the utmost importance to let the stick do MOST ALL of the work, guided by the fingers...learn it.
I use somewhere between that & a french grip...
Elvin I kinow played in the army marching band when he was in the service. I did corps for years from the age of 7 till 16 and play in a blues R&B band which requires very little of my corps chops. I beat Rob Carson the national champion at the time and have no use for rolls with flams at the end right now. If you know chops then that is one bag let alone the bag of being able to stretch time or actually play sloppy if you know what even is. It is funny how you never hear anyone tell the guitar player that he has to many chops and can you dumb that down and play sloppy. [img]smile.gif[/img]
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">LOLIt is funny how you never hear anyone tell the guitar player that he has to many chops and can you dumb that down and play sloppy.
Right you are, there.
Altho in today's pop & rock climate, there's no need to have to do that anyway... [img]wink.gif[/img]
watch and study vinnie's hand technique. best in the business IMO. the way he keeps his left palm pointing sideways is beautiful. mine tends to point slightly up but i'm working on it. i don't think it's necessarily bad to lean your left shoulder a little bit. vinnie, weckl and virgil all do it a little.
I based my comments on having observed the world's greatest drumset players versus top snare drummers. There is no comparison of skill set, vocabulary or control between the two in terms of hand development. Only a few drumset players are worth even mentioning - Sonny Emory among them.
My comments refer specifically to hand development - not musicality on the kit, though guided by a musical ear, there's no problem relating one to the other. Sonny, Vinnie and Virgil all manage the task quite well!
So in my opinion, it makes more sense to seek the hand development advice of the world's best snare drummers, rather than drum set oriented players, who comparatively, possess far fewer snare skills. There really and truly is a night and day difference between the two in theory, grip, methodology and execution. If you like a greasier approach, there's nothing about having a rudimental background which precludes this. In fact, it allows you to play that way (sloppy), or with the option of clean and controlled execution. It gives you more options, not less. Once again this should be guided by one's ear, taste and musicality. Vinnie, Virgil and Sonny are well aware of or have actually studied rudimental snare techniques.
I'm not saying you should play the cheese-cha's (or blushdas) around the kit. I'm saying having a rudimentally sound and strong foundation will only enable you to express your musical ideas with greater ease and control.
Brad
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