The Drum Buzz

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I know that I might be writing this kind of late since the cubicle setting most of you read this blog from has almost completely faded from memory over your holiday break.  However, maybe I’ll get lucky and those of you that follow me on twitter (why aren’t you following me yet?) will see the link to those post and read it through holidazed eyes.

This time of year most of us tend to get sentimental, thinking of our first drum sets under the Christmas tree or our favorite brand of sticks that Santa carefully places in our stockings every year.  For some, this will be the first year that you give your son or daughter the opportunity to learn how to play drums by purchasing them their new drum set, practice pad, sticks, or instructional DVD.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

This is a guest post by Courtney Brandt;  author of the books The Line, A Fine Line, and Keeping In Line

If you would have told 14-year-old Courtney Brandt how much drum line would impact and ultimately change her life, she probably would have laughed in your face. Entering high school, I was an oboist (that’s right, a woodwind player). I knew I wanted to stay with my friends who were all joining the high school marching band. One problem. My particular instrument was not of the marching variety. Now, as you probably are not aware, most oboists choose to play flute and remain safely with their woodwind kindred. Not me. I heard the drum line on our 8th grade “field trip” to the marching section of the stands one night in the fall and somehow knew I was destined for the group. I could read notes better than a lot of 8th grade drummers, and after announcing my decision to join the Line, was plonked in the Pit. That day, I began a four-year relationship with the Brookwood High School percussion section and unknowingly set in motion the foundation for a series of novels which would introduce me to a number of amazing and talented people.

But freshman Courtney had no idea what she was in store for… She had no clue the friends, crushes, heartaches, victories, losses, highs, lows, discipline and lessons that drum line was going to provide. She just liked the sound of it all – the cadences, the rudiments, the loudness of everything.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

I’ve been trying to think of the right video to create as my first video on The Drum Buzz.  I had tons of thoughts, most of which I had already seen well done by other people.  Thought of instructional videos on technique, tuning, maintaining, and the like all crossed my mind.  None of these seemed good enough for my first video post.

As luck would have it one day, instead of having a normal rehearsal my band was going to work on our new music video.  I had grabbed my video camera to use as a backup or secondary camera and while driving the thought came to me.  I wanted to give my readers an inside look on how my band, an indie band with some technological knowledge, creates music videos.

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When I first started playing percussion I never gave a thought to my hearing and how the loud noises would one day effect my ears.  At the ripe old age of 24 I now can barely hear out of my left ear and have to ask people to repeat themselves more frequently then I would care to.

It wasn’t until a year ago when I became serious about protecting my hearing.  Cheap throw away ear plugs are so cheap there really is no excuse to not use them.  I used to wear earplugs while I was in drum line.  I think think that this was mostly because, as a group, we all consented that this was  a good idea.  And since a group mentality seems to have more power then solitary though in may situations, I obliged and wore the earplugs at every performance and rehearsal.

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This is a guest post Kent Aberle who has been a mentor and friend of mine for a while – he’s also an awesome Atlanta session drummer

Merry xmas!  This time of year gives birth to many new drummers as kids all over the world walk downstairs to their first drumset under the tree.

If you are playing Santa this year and buying your child his or her first drumset, or even 2nd drumset for the teenage drummer it can be a stressful situation.  There are so many choices now at different prices.  Don’t stress!  The beauty of the many choices is that there is something for every budget.  So, the first thing to do is decide your budget.

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Ever listen to a cd or a live performance and think “Wow those drums sound so awesome I must immediately go out and buy all of the equipment that guy uses” ?  Well, don’t drag out that platinum card and jump online to order those drums just yet.  Something a lot of new drummers don’t take into account are the talents and equipment of the sound engineer.

The sound engineer has the power to make you sound crazy awesome or like a blurry, muddy mess.  This is why for live shows it helps to befriend your engineer during sound check (a tip or some drinks won’t hurt either).

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This is a guest post Omar Alvarado who runs the great drumming website – The Paradiddler

When we think of the drum kit, we usually think that all the drums are of the same brand and type.  This would be a good assumption!  A drummer wants to make sure that their drums have the same ‘timbre’ throughout, that even though the sizes differ, the drums tonally match regardless which size is struck.

A similar case can be made for speakers.  You could buy two different brands of speakers, similar in size, with identical specifications as far as watts per channel, impedance, sensitivity, etc.  But when you set them up as a left and right speaker in a stereo setting, they sound different.  Likewise if you mix and match brands of speakers in a surround sound environment, the sound difference can be quite pronounced between speakers.  This has a lot to do with the design of the drivers within the cabinet, the placement of the drivers within the cabinet, the construction quality of the drivers and cabinet, and the like.

The same can be said about drums.  If you have a 10” tom from brand A, say, Ludwig, and then another 10” tom from Tama, even if they have the same type of head and tuned similarly, they would tend to sound different.  Sometimes even if they’re made of the same material, such as maple or birch, they may sound different due to the different manufacturing process of each, thickness of the shell, etc.

So due to the above, for good reasons, drummers tend to stay with one brand of drums for the whole kit.  This doesn’t necessarily include specialty drums, however, such as mini timbales, roto toms, or Tama’s famous Octobans.  These have special sound properties (usually higher pitched) that give more options and melodic possibilities for drummers who want that flexibility.  However, there’s one particular drum in the set that, well, most drummers in the know would rather you ‘leave it alone’.

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We all have at least one drummer we can credit for being our inspiration to want to play the drums for the first time.  Over time your list of favorite drummers may change, but you never forget your first.  The drummer that I credit as my inspiration is Frank Edwin Wright III – or as most people know him, Tre Cool drummer for Green Day.

Say what you want about the band or even Tre; he has always been an inspiration in not only musicianship and ability, but also showmanship.  You can spin around up in the air on a drum riser all you want and that’s cool, but Tre knows how to shock, entertain, and captivate a crowd with little more then his drum set, sticks, and wit (sometimes a flame and some lighter fluid help too ala Woodstock).

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Last week I read an interesting article posted on the paradiddler about “neighbor syndrome” and how to try to keep peace with those who live around you while playing drums and it brought back a lot of memories of garage rehearsals at my parents house when I was growing up.

I was fortunate enough to have great parents that understood my addiction to playing drums and even luckier to have neighbors that didn’t mind the drumming or the band practices as long as it wasn’t too early in the morning or late at night.  Hell, sometimes they would come over just to check out the band.

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Maybe it’s not your ability or your nerves… it could be the way you have your drums positioned.  Are they setup to match your body?  If not, you could be doing yourself a huge disservice.  It’s always a good idea to re-evaluate your setup every once in a while also.

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