YEaHHhhhh.... DruMminG HaRdd ... !!! RoCK Th3 CyMbALzZz EwAyyyyY !!
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Sunday, July 26, 2009
Playing the Hi-Hats
You can play the hi-hats either with your heel up or down, depending on what you want to do. Whenever you play the hi-hats with your sticks, you want your heel down. To open the hi-hat, raise your toes slightly and release some of the pressure on the cymbals.
How much you lift your toes determines just how much your hi-hats will open and how long they will ring when you hit them. Most of the time you want a full swish sound. To create this sound, don’t open the cymbals too much. You have to experiment to find the swish sound that you like best.
At times, you may want to use your left foot to play the hi-hat while you’re playing the ride cymbal or another drum with your right foot. In this case playing with you heel up is the way to go. This technique is pretty much the same as the heel-up bass drum stroke. You can even do double strokes on the hi-hat pedal the same way.
How much you lift your toes determines just how much your hi-hats will open and how long they will ring when you hit them. Most of the time you want a full swish sound. To create this sound, don’t open the cymbals too much. You have to experiment to find the swish sound that you like best.
At times, you may want to use your left foot to play the hi-hat while you’re playing the ride cymbal or another drum with your right foot. In this case playing with you heel up is the way to go. This technique is pretty much the same as the heel-up bass drum stroke. You can even do double strokes on the hi-hat pedal the same way.
Placing the Tom-Toms
How high and at what angle you place your mounted tom-toms determines how long your drumheads last and how easily you can reach them. Like the snare drum, you want to keep your tom-toms as close to level as possible. Place them at an angle, but make sure that the angle matches your sticks’ angle. You want your stick to hit them at a relatively flat angle so that it doesn’t drive tip-first into the head.
Choosing a Drumset
If you’ve decided on playing a drumset, the hardest part of choosing is behind you. A drumset is a drumset, at least in its basic sound and how you use it. You basically need some drums, cymbals, stands, and if you plan on hauling your drums around, you need some cases. (Cases are a tough thing to fork over money for. I mean, guitars come with cases, so why not drums?)
In order to determine what kind of set to buy, you don’t really need to know what kind of music you intend to play. But, you do need to know what your goals are. If you’re not sure how much you really want to play the drums or how long you’re likely to stick with it, you’re best not buying a professional kit, but rather opting for a less expensive student or semi-professional model. You can always trade up if you find yourself seriously bitten by the drumming bug. In this section, I try to lay out the different options so that you can make an informed choice for both your first kit and a professional one, if you get around to it.
If you’re like most people, your final choice of drumsets largely depends on how much money you have to spend. A complete professional drumset setup can cost almost as much as a decent car, so unless you want to forego driving, you’ll probably need to make some tough choices. The good news is that you can find some great-sounding drumsets that won’t cost you every penny you’ll ever earn. If you do your homework, even a budget-minded person can end up with a drumset that sounds great and is a pleasure to play.
So how much do you need to spend to get a decent drumset? Well, that depends, but plan on at least $500 to $1,000 for a compete beginner set with hardware and cymbals (without the cases). Keep in mind: You always get what you pay for. A more expensive kit has more options and sounds better than a less expensive set. On the other hand, unless you really know what you’re doing, playing on a better set won’t necessarily make you sound better.
In middle price-range kits, how you tune the drums has more impact on how good they sound than what kind of wood they’re made out of or what kind of mounting hardware they have.
Unless you’re on a really tight budget, I recommend buying a set made by a major manufacturer. This way, if anything ever happens to the drums, you can get them repaired. You’ll also find that selling themoif and when the time comesois easier. If even the least expensive set from one of the major manufacturers is still too much for you, I suggest considering a used kit. If you shop around and educate yourself, you can end up with a top quality set of used drums for about the same price as a piece of junk new kit.
In order to determine what kind of set to buy, you don’t really need to know what kind of music you intend to play. But, you do need to know what your goals are. If you’re not sure how much you really want to play the drums or how long you’re likely to stick with it, you’re best not buying a professional kit, but rather opting for a less expensive student or semi-professional model. You can always trade up if you find yourself seriously bitten by the drumming bug. In this section, I try to lay out the different options so that you can make an informed choice for both your first kit and a professional one, if you get around to it.
If you’re like most people, your final choice of drumsets largely depends on how much money you have to spend. A complete professional drumset setup can cost almost as much as a decent car, so unless you want to forego driving, you’ll probably need to make some tough choices. The good news is that you can find some great-sounding drumsets that won’t cost you every penny you’ll ever earn. If you do your homework, even a budget-minded person can end up with a drumset that sounds great and is a pleasure to play.
So how much do you need to spend to get a decent drumset? Well, that depends, but plan on at least $500 to $1,000 for a compete beginner set with hardware and cymbals (without the cases). Keep in mind: You always get what you pay for. A more expensive kit has more options and sounds better than a less expensive set. On the other hand, unless you really know what you’re doing, playing on a better set won’t necessarily make you sound better.
In middle price-range kits, how you tune the drums has more impact on how good they sound than what kind of wood they’re made out of or what kind of mounting hardware they have.
Unless you’re on a really tight budget, I recommend buying a set made by a major manufacturer. This way, if anything ever happens to the drums, you can get them repaired. You’ll also find that selling themoif and when the time comesois easier. If even the least expensive set from one of the major manufacturers is still too much for you, I suggest considering a used kit. If you shop around and educate yourself, you can end up with a top quality set of used drums for about the same price as a piece of junk new kit.
Count Along the Drum Tabs You Are Reading
Now, count along to the clicks from one to four, and then back through one to four again, and so on, like this: One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. This represents the speed at which quarter notes are played at this tempo. So, if you want to figure out how eighth notes would sound at this tempo, all you have to do is continue to count from one to four at the same speed as you did earlier, and simply add the word “and” between each number, like this: One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and. This is how eight notes will sound at this tempo.
Count Along the Drum Tabs You Are Reading
Now, count along to the clicks from one to four, and then back through one to four again, and so on, like this: One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. This represents the speed at which quarter notes are played at this tempo. So, if you want to figure out how eighth notes would sound at this tempo, all you have to do is continue to count from one to four at the same speed as you did earlier, and simply add the word “and” between each number, like this: One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and. This is how eight notes will sound at this tempo.
How to Read Drum Tabs Quick Start Tutorial
Drum Notation (or Tabs) are represented in lines that are called measure lines or bar lines, and the space between any two of these vertical lines is called a measure or a bar. The notes and rests will now be seen within a measure, like words in a sentence. A drum part (or pattern, as you’ll sometimes hear it called by drummers) is made up of a measure or a group of measures, like sentences in a paragraph.
Working with measures in drum tabs is very important when discussing specific parts of songs. You can count measures in a pattern or song and name them according to their corresponding numbers. For example, you can now refer to “the third measure’ or “measure 312,” and so on. Measures themselves vary in length according to rules that are set down at the beginning of a piece of music, called a time signature. A time signature looks like a fraction. Let’s look at a time signature:
Working with measures in drum tabs is very important when discussing specific parts of songs. You can count measures in a pattern or song and name them according to their corresponding numbers. For example, you can now refer to “the third measure’ or “measure 312,” and so on. Measures themselves vary in length according to rules that are set down at the beginning of a piece of music, called a time signature. A time signature looks like a fraction. Let’s look at a time signature:
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