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Well I thought basic drums was gonna be easy !


Supa Reels

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Can those in-the -know give me some advise /  help via UT on playing basic drums and rhythms ... I will be moving to a detached house in the near future and I've never ventured into the field of drums .. well not real one's at the moment, as I found a deal on Ebay for an electronic yammy set .

I'm gonna have to build another sound room/recording studio and that's gonna go in the garage. I think I have everything down on soundproofing ....and it'll cost a bomb ... Plus as I have a load of gear in my old studio, that gets smaller by the shopping for toy's, it's time for a fresh start.

Anyway, as a songwriter, I would like to, eventually ,play my own beats and rhythms  ... I've got most instruments that I play Ok'ish but this is a completely new field for me, I never thought my right foot wants the bass drum to keep a beat with my right hand ! Nightmare! and I can count to four and divide ... so that's good.

Anyway this HAS to be the right place to ask.

 

Edited by Sabby Brown
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I'm not a real drummer by any stretch, but I can play a bit. 

You gotta start out reeeeeaaaaaal sloooowwww until you get the feel into your body.

At first you have to concentrate really hard on where each hand is in (time) relation to each foot and vice versa as well as with each other.  It is pretty mind blowing at first and then you start to feel it.

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What I found helped me out was to find an album (or playlist)  of 12 or so songs that are not overly complicated drums wise but has a variety of tempos and styles. Put headphones on ( so you can't hear how much you suck) and play along with it everyday from start to finish. Keep adding different songs as you progress once you've  sort of mastered the first batch.  

I found this forced me to practice for a full hour and keep in time.  It also gave me confidence to try a few rolls and fills.  

I have a set of the Yamaha digital drums and they are OK for goofing around and recording midi. But your not going to improve much unless you use real drums. What I'm going to do is build a custom kit with the Digital kit for Kick, toms and then percusion. The snare, hats and cymbals will be real.  The only digital kits worth owning are like the $ 5,000 Roland.  

Edited by John Vere
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Thanks John, I really appreciate the time and advice (How did you know I really suck😄).

My reason for the uphill struggle is that for the most part I can get achieve a result that I want with my songwriting, but there are times I want a fill that just doesn't seem to be easy to find even using the myriad of VST's to hand. I couldn't justify $5000 dollars but your idea of mix and match makes sense as it's all about the dynamics and sound ... plus a competent skins man!

Once again thankyou it's a great help and I'll try it out

 

S

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I can't really play at all and can't usually find much time to practice in the day, so being a poor sleeper anyway I decided to stop lying there awake feeling frustrated at 3am and get up and practice my drums for a few hours instead. I really think it's starting to make a difference. It also has the added bonus of drowning out my noisy neighbours who are constantly banging on the walls and screaming. Honestly, it's like some people just have no idea how selfish they are.............

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I also figured out one day that you don't even need a digital drum kit for that matter. We have drum replacer! 

All you need is a set of drum sticks ( or?) 

Mike up some cardboard boxes and play your song. Tap your foot with a mike duct taped to your sock.

Now run these tracks trough drum replacer and drag those tracks to a midi track. Edit the goof ups and assign to your favourite VST drummer. 

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I used to be a drag & draw drummer, then I got something (the SPD-20 below) that I could hit that would create the MIDI notes for fills that were impossible to figure out mathematically.  Eventually, that grew into the below (which my friend now owns).  So much fun!  I still stink at drums, someone told me they require good timing (any idea where I can buy some of that?).

06-Studio2010-04.jpg

Ok, now on to the option I probably SHOULD have taken!  Find someone who's an actual drummer and work out something where they'll create some real fills (or maybe even play the drums for the entire song) based on a basic MIDI track.

"Great!  Now can you do the trick that makes a sound like 'pea soup' 'pea soup?'"  - I've actually heard this one.  They wanted the sound you get when you use the high-hat pedal just right.  LOL! 😁

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My first instrument was drums.

Here is my advice.

First: Learn at least the first dozen basic rudiments for drums. I think there are 40 but the first dozen or so will bring you a lot. Then when you hear drummers do things, your hands will already know how.

Listen intently to drummers. My favorite are:
Hal Blaine (Wrecking Crew - the most recorded musician in history)
Ginger Baker
John Bohnam
Bernard "Pretty" Purdy

Start by stepping on the hi-hat (sock) on all the 2s and 4s of a 4/4 song. Then eighth notes on the ride cymbal, then bass on 1 and 3 and snare on 2 and 4. This will build your most basic rhythm and teach you coordination.

Then start going from there. Choose the Hal Blaine recordings first, as he is solid but never gets in the way of the rest of the band.

Drums take time. Don't try to rush, take it in steps.

Insights and incites by Notes

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From what I found in touring bands is the drummer gets the most chicks.

Fortunately there were enough who liked saxophone players.

Keyboard players got the fewest.

In the 4oqe band I was in the longest, the drummer also played trombone, so I'd sit in on the drums so he could get up front, sing and play the 'bone. We switched instruments a lot. I also played some bass and rhythm guitar. The girls would ask "How many instruments do you play?!!!"

I was young, we did college towns from Florida to Maine to Iowa and it was a great time.

Insights and incites by Notes

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