Questions about drumming, tips, techniques, etc. (Q&A for all drummers)

[glitch]

relaxation is a major factor in speed. if you are tense you could end up with sore muscles, and be exhausted....and not beable to hit the 220 bpm benchmark.

this is what ive been told to increase my speed, and it does work.

I forget the offical term for this but this is how it looks written out.

RRRR LLLL RLRLRLRL you want to do the alternating hands at double speed, if that makes sence.

do this so that you are relaxed, but just about to become tense. 5-6 minutes, then double to eight times:
RRRRRRRR LLLLLLLL RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRL.
repeat. if you really want to, you can even go to twelve:
RRRRRRRRRRRR LLLLLLLLLLLL RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRL.

Practicing rudiments the same way will help with speed. when i practice rudiments, i practice mainly paradiddles (RLRR LRLL) and doubles (RR LL). one great thing to do is to reverse these (LRLL RLRR) (LL RR) and streangthen your weak hand, so that one hand isnt rocking out fast while the other lags.

with speed, you have to be accurate. if you arent accurate, the sound that your looking for wont be there.

Everything above can be applied to your feet. with your feet, you want to mess with your spring tention on your double kick. i prefer mine a little tight, but every petal has a "sweet spot" that will work for you.

For sticks: I use vic firth 5a extremes. i reccomend these, they are a bit longer and seemed to give me a better grip and blast consistancy. anything above a 5a is to large to get a lot of speed out of, and will wear your hands out.


one last thing, STRETCH before you do this, i didnt, and i had to quit drumming for a month :(

hope this helps someone

[connelldestructo]

anything above a 5a is to large to get a lot of speed out of, and will wear your hands out.


Tell that to Flo and to Roddy, who both use sticks bigger than 5A's. (Vic Firth F1's and 55A' respectively) ;)

Mike Mangini holds about every speed record there is with his hands, and he plays a stick made out of a different wood that is made to be super heavy in weight.

I myself use Vic Firth "Metal" sticks, which are above 2B's in size, and I manage to bust some decent speed with them.

Everything else you said was some pretty good advice I think, but I see way to many players playing with TINY sticks these days.... To me speed in metal, should not come at the cost of power, and its hard to hit yr drums nice and hard when you are playing with toothpicks... Not that 5A's a bad to use, people just shouldnt be viewing it as any sort of maximum. In the end, use whats comfortable for you individually, and do your best to make good sounds with what you got.

[glitch]

Tell that to Flo and to Roddy, who both use sticks bigger than 5A's. (Vic Firth F1's and 55A' respectively) ;)

Mike Mangini holds about every speed record there is with his hands, and he plays a stick made out of a different wood that is made to be super heavy in weight.

I myself use Vic Firth "Metal" sticks, which are above 2B's in size, and I manage to bust some decent speed with them.

Everything else you said was some pretty good advice I think, but I see way to many players playing with TINY sticks these days.... To me speed in metal, should not come at the cost of power, and its hard to hit yr drums nice and hard when you are playing with toothpicks... Not that 5A's a bad to use, people just shouldnt be viewing it as any sort of maximum. In the end, use whats comfortable for you individually, and do your best to make good sounds with what you got.

ive used larger sticks, i tend to find that even if i stretch my hands hurt a lot more than if i use 5as. could just be a me thing, but i was never comfortable blasting with 2as. although it is a lot harder to get cymbals "going" with smaller sticks, if they are miced they usualy sound fine.

[s.Reinert]

roddy's stick is in between a 5a and 5b is not big AT ALL.
lord banana i cant say much about hands honestly im not sure if your looking for a get quick scheme. There arent any! practice practice practice is the only thing you can do, practicing the same thing you know wont do jack shit either. you have to practice things you dont know at fast speeds.

RRRR LLLL RLRLRLRL you want to do the alternating hands at double speed, if that makes sence.

do this so that you are relaxed, but just about to become tense. 5-6 minutes, then double to eight times:
RRRRRRRR LLLLLLLL RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRL.
repeat. if you really want to, you can even go to twelve:
RRRRRRRRRRRR LLLLLLLLLLLL RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRL.

Practicing rudiments the same way will help with speed. when i practice rudiments, i practice mainly paradiddles (RLRR LRLL) and doubles (RR LL). one great thing to do is to reverse these (LRLL RLRR) (LL RR) and streangthen your weak hand, so that one hand isnt rocking out fast while the other lags.

What glitch said is good but if your going to do it slow, theres no point in asking for advice. Also pedals your pedals tama's offest? what the hell is that?
its like a chef's quote "You cant make a great steak with a bad cut of meat."
Your pedal's SUCK! maybe your broke i feel for ya but your gonna needs better pedals. you could ask around but it all comes down to what you like best. From here i can say that if you look at the fastest drummers flo's the only one that use's elimantor and it looks like its a strap drive instead of the dual chain id love to try it ive never seen it before. Now all the other extremly fast drummer's use axis pedals i think usualy axis a's, for example:
peter sandoval-morbidangel
nicholas barker-dimmu borgir, lockup & old mans chiild
derek roddy-hate eternal(derekroddy.com)
tim yeung-independent(timyueng.com)
tony laureno-independe
Steve Asheim-deicide
jan axel blomberg- mayhem
axis a's are very good pedals an expensive there adjustable in many playce's but then again so are the elimantor's. its up to you now!

[connelldestructo]

All i said was that Roddy's current sticks are "bigger" than 5A's. and they are.

[Lord_Banana]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the help.

I know that I need to replace my pedal. It really sucks. I was thinking about buying an Axis, but I really need to save for it. I will definitely try those exercise patterns as well. I don't care if it takes a while to get my speed up. If these are gauranteed to work, I'll devote time to them. Practice, practice, practice... I know the routine. Speaking of routine, what's a good practicing routine? For ex., how many times a day and for how long?

[s.Reinert]

HA!!! good question ill get back to ya! im sure somone else will too.

[Lord_Banana]

I guess just every day! I've been practicing every day for at least 3 hours a day, and I'm pretty comfortable with that. I've been thinking about doubling the duration of the practice itself and making it every other day. This way, I can let my rebuild. I thank my 6th grade gym teacher for that.

[glitch]

I guess just every day! I've been practicing every day for at least 3 hours a day, and I'm pretty comfortable with that. I've been thinking about doubling the duration of the practice itself and making it every other day. This way, I can let my rebuild. I thank my 6th grade gym teacher for that.


i think 3 hours a day would do you a lot better. for one, your not completely exhausted after a 6 hour session! second, the more you repeat it, the better. you wouldnt be doing the patterns everyday.



hell, youve got it made. i wish i had the patience to do 3 hours of work on the drums a day. even with a junky petal.

now you said you want an axis. give that some thought and go TRY ONE. they dont hit as hard as a normal petal, but they are SMOOTH. if you wanna invest in axis, i reccomend getting two bass drums, single petals, and the triger set. if not, an Iron Cobra would be perfect, or if youd like to blow tons of money, DW 9000


My drum teacher was playing EIGHTEEN hours a day when he was younger. he was in 3 bands and practiced ALL DAY, no job, just lived with his parents. the guys insane. i seriously dont think the guy ever sleeps. he teachers music at a middleschool, and drives to portland (3 hours) to play gigs on weekends and even weeknights. hes the most incredable drummer ive ever met. he was offered to play in the allmanbrothers band and turned it down because he doesnt like touring. he sitll practices 2 hours a day, teachers lessons after school...i swear to god the guy needs to put out a DVD or something...

[Sonance]

It sounds like you need to record him in action and post it on this forum or something.

[glitch]

It sounds like you need to record him in action and post it on this forum or something.


ill try. im on 56k so i cant upload video, but my sister has it so when shes around maybe i can pop in and get him to solo a little and have it uploaded

[Lord_Banana]

Yeah, six hours seems a little much. I'll probably do about 4 hours per day and every other day like i have been. I wish I had the energy to practice 18 hours a day. I mean, I don't sleep anyway, so it wouldn't be much of a problem. However, I don't think the neighboors would approve very much.

I would take your advice on the double bass with triggers and two axis pedals, but that adds up to way too much money. I would have to save for a long time. I thought playing on a dual bass drum set was harder than playing a double pedal mainly for the angle reasons. I mean, I don't have a rack, and I'd have to get one if I wanted two bass drums and all my toms angled how I like them. I think I'd be better off finding something else until I really get some cash.

With this in mind, I was eyeing the Pearl Eliminator double pedal. It seems like a great deal. Three different cams come with it, and I think there are two extra cams you can buy separately. Plus, Flo uses these pedals, so there's my inspiration. And for under $300, it seems like a good deal.

[glitch]

two bass drums isnt harder, just different. and it is way to much money, that was my point:)

pearl eliminator was the other petal i was going to mention. i reccomend that or the tama iron cobra, the tama seems to be the most popular,a nd probably for a reason....

[Lord_Banana]

Pearl Eliminator it is! I've already set aside cash for it.

[glitch]

id sitll go try them out. im sure they are both in the same area

i just remembered, on drum-talk.com i saw an article with a picture of an eliminator that SNAPPED IN HALF. do you hit hard?

[Lord_Banana]

kinda, it depends on how fast I'm playing. I can't beleive that it actually snapped in half!

[glitch]

i think the tama iron cobra is the way to go bro, new beaters. they are in the same ballpark, but the iron cobra seems to be a LOT more popular. go read the reviews on musiciansfriend.com


speaking of beaters. does anyone have any reccomendations, ive seen a few beaters that looked sweet but i dunno. theres one thats supposedly hard hitting and light, so you can get a decent ammount of speed.

[Lord_Banana]

I'll take your advice and check out the Iron Cobra before I make my decision.

I'm gonna definitely check out the new beater thats supposed hit hard and is light. Sounds like it is too good to be true. No drawbacks. I'm guessing that it's only a one-sided beater, right?

[glitch]

danny carry uses them. i really want to get a good beater, because i have my bass drum sounding sick (EMAD with a few tricks of my own=awesome) and i bet wooden beaters or something of that sort would just make it insane.

DW makes an adjustable one, too. like you can adjust how hard/soft it is

i like those pearl double/4 sided, i have one, but i dont use it because i need to have two beaters haha

[Lord_Banana]

What other modificatoins did you add to make your bass drum more awesome sounding? I also have an EMAD, and one small pillow in my bass drum. It sounds pretty good, but I think it's time to replace the head with another EMAD. I am also using click pads and have my beaters turned with the hard sides facing the drum. It makes a nice and deep pop sound and almost sounds like it's triggered. It especially makes the bass drum sound kickass when u mic it. I have a recording with my setup like that and the kick sounds beautiful.

[glitch]

i just found an interesting ad in my MD

www.trickdrums.com

its som new petal without a chain drive, but a metal thing when you press down, it hits a leaver that pushes it back up. i dont know. might be worth a try. a lot of weird stuff in here....

[Lord_Banana]

Sounds hi-tech. I am a little skeptical about it... Who makes it?

[Lord_Banana]

I just checked out the link. that thing looks like a freakin' time machine!!

[glitch]

trick drums. they dont make garbage. if theres a left handed version i may just buy one.

[Lord_Banana]

Well if you end up buying one, make a new thread and tell everyone about it.

[glitch]

yeah, i will. i may be touring in feb so i might try to get an endorcement

[Lord_Banana]

you tour? which band(s)?

[glitch]

i *might* be in strong intention, who also has a forum on here. i have to send 1 more tape, but i dont think itll be a matter of me not getting it since i can play all the songs i need to.

[s.Reinert]

glitch lets hear your band i wanna hear you play or see for that matter.

[glitch]

well, i dont play on any of the SI cds since im not in yet, but my kinda-bands songs are up here www.myspace.com/shadarlogoth the drums arent mixed that well and they used the wrong cut of me playing so i dont really have anything of me playing to show off skill....its kinda meh....

[Lord_Banana]

hey glitch, i can definitely see the dimmur borgir and borknagar influence in this band. If you guys had something of a little better quality, I would like to buy a cd.

[DemonsDebason]

Sorry Glitch but i think your music sux big time; absolutlly nothing new and I heard stuff like that 100 times...How long did you say you'r playing drums?
It's just my humble opinion. I don't wanna be cocky but i think my music's much better. We're in studio now but i have a sample of only drums a rithm guitars, no production done. You can download it from www.geocities.com/debasedrumevil/preziratelji
PLease do so and tell me what you think about the music so far...

[DemonsDebason]

The band's name is MALFORMED, www.malformed.tk, unfortunatelly is on croatian only. I play in another band named AVICULARIA, www.avicularia.tk , but don't have any material at the time beeing...
If the link up doesn't work try at www.myspace.com/malformed

[i freebase moonrocks]

The band's name is MALFORMED, www.malformed.tk, unfortunatelly is on croatian only. I play in another band named AVICULARIA, www.avicularai.tk , but don't have any material at the time beeing...
If the link up doesn't work try at www.myspace.com/malformed
uhm, dood, you are not shit either IMO! let's not sling mud at each other, the point is to become better isn't it? no destructive criticism ever helps, and before you say it, i will ADMIT i am not where i want to be, nor EVER think i will be!

[glitch]

Sorry Glitch but i think your music sux big time; absolutlly nothing new and I heard stuff like that 100 times...How long did you say you'r playing drums?
It's just my humble opinion. I don't wanna be cocky but i think my music's much better. We're in studio now but i have a sample of only drums a rithm guitars, no production done. You can download it from www.geocities.com/debasedrumevil/preziratelji
PLease do so and tell me what you think about the music so far...

you dont wanna be cocky? that was probably the cockiest thing ive ever been told. ive been playing drums for 7 years, which doesnt ammount to shit compared to my bands. although i recently departed from this peticular project, i can guarentee that with your shitty attitude twards others that your little band isnt gonna make it anywhere.

and by the way, if you think thats "shit youve heard a million times" or whatever, you oviously have a fucking terrible sence of music and probably listen to complete garbage. sure, its black metal ish, but sorry, ive heard a million shitty black metal bands and i can guarentee that shadar logoths string section puts almost all of them to shame.


maybe you should drop the singer attitude and go concentrate on making your bands logo legable...or maybe a band name that someone can actualy pronounce.

[glitch]

and thank you lord banana, always nice to hear something like that

im not doing this anymore but you can follow the band at www.shadar-logoth.com they are supposed to have a high quality demo coming out next month (but knowing these guys itll be more like next april, heheh). maybe theyll let demonsdebaston's killer pretzel pirate band open.

[i freebase moonrocks]

am i retarded? i can't get the mp3's to play, it just says, "page cannot be found"

[DemonsDebason]

My intention was not to make enemies but friends. I didn't mean to insault you or your band, Glitch. I just said what was on my mind, if you don't like it there is nothing I can do about it. Maybe for you americans Avicularia is difficult to pronaunce because it's latin; I see no that kind of problem in the name Malformed...I dont' like black metal exept older COF, Dimmu and Immortal...I play death metal and that mp3(preziratelji tijela) is not representative. If lead guitars were done you could hear what I'm talking about. I'm sure my music is far more original than you ex-band(that's only my humble opinion).
There is no need for argues and bad blood on this forum.We are all Cryptopsy fans and that's what connects us all. Some of us play dome don't. We all have different opinions, so If you think I'm an asshole and moron 'cause I don't like your music, maybe you should think twice on who's the jerk :hangedneg

[DemonsDebason]

BTW, I didn't make Malformed logo; to me it's evil enough. When you insault my music style, you direclly insault CRYPTOPSY!
And that's a fucking blasphemy!!! :2gunsfiri

[glitch]

yeah your shits just sooo orriginal, aint it...youve got an illegable logo, like a lot of bands, a band name that isnt even possable to pronounce....gee....oh yeah and that doomy part at the beginning is definately orriginal. you have fun thinkin your bands the shit, k? i dont care if you dont like my band but, you just made it an opertunity to go "well your band sucks but mine is orriginal so everyone hceck out pirpretzelate" or however you spell it. any REAL musican knows that originality isnt what its all about. but if you can name a few bands that we are carbon copys of, by all means id love to hear them. youve basicaly made it apparent that you dont know music that well. you said you listen to three Black metal bands so...how would you know anyway?


and crytopsy is the most orriginal band. just because i think your band sucks doesnt mean i think crytopsy sucks. so thanks for smashing my band to plug your shitty little group, and have fun being in a shitty Death metal band.

[DemonsDebason]

I never said my band/s is better than yours!!!!Those are your words man.....
I don't want to fight, why can't you just stop the shit.I just said what I think and you started a fucking war.It reflects your intelect--> you don't like me so you take crap on everything I ever said...that's too sad....
You actually have no artguments(or how do you write it) to prove me wrong, everything you said, you've just proved me beeing right. :rex_r:

[DemonsDebason]

hey lord banana, u still lookin for iron cobra pedals? i have one im lookin to get rid of. by the way, Avicularia is pronounced (uh-vik-yuh-LAH-ree-uh) and it is the latin name for a genus of tarantulas found in central and south america. pink toed tarantulas. thats pretty :limpwrist to me

Yeah man, you are right!!!It really sounds gay if you are one!!!:):):)
But if you like tarantulas and find them interesting it's just another name like most of the others....
:hangedneg yourself

[glitch]

doesnt change the fact that your way to cocky and should prob. switch to vocals with that attitude

[diablero]

well, i dont play on any of the SI cds since im not in yet, but my kinda-bands songs are up here www.myspace.com/shadarlogoth the drums arent mixed that well and they used the wrong cut of me playing so i dont really have anything of me playing to show off skill....its kinda meh....

WOW dude you really shouldn't put online that BAD mix..... guitars& Vox sound listenable, but the drums suck BIG time...sorry but I expected much more from a drummer who plays for 7 years

[Evilbagua]

i dont have current accurate speed measurements sorry =(

[glitch]

you might get lucky, but if not just use two weird bass drums, fuck it, they sound the same anyways cuz of the triggers.


hell, theres one professional jazz drummer who actualy uses a20 and an 18 inch bass drum, because when he was younger he was too poor to afford a 20 inch....