Five quirky drum setups you probably *shouldn't* copy from the greats

This week's lesson began as another practice room rant.

Every time I arrive in a new practice room, whether it's my own, after a band has used it...

...or any of the myriad rooms I've used, literally around the world...

(and no, the irony that I'm touring practice rooms - not stages - around the world, is not lost on me😉)

...I find the same stupid setup mistakes.

If you're a more experienced player, you know what I'm talking about. When you arrive and find the drums setup the way a non-drummer thinks they should look, from the movies. (Including Whiplash.)

But, as I dug deeper, things got...complicated.

Because, for every asinine setup mistake I could flag, some great drummer has used it at some point.

Case-in-point: stratospheric, nearly-vertical cymbals.

Gosh, where to start?

Vinnie? Tony? Simon Phillips? How about every metal drummer in the 80s?

Ditto with everything else I could think of.

But - and some drummers who are physical therapists have already mentioned this in the comments - that doesn't mean you should set up your drums that way.

Indeed, every one of the drummers above still playing...has reverted to a more boring, more ergonomic way of setting up their drums.

So, dispensing with the great-drummers-who-you-shouldn't-copy thing...

...experienced drummers in this day-and-age do tend to coalesce around certain setups. Or at least certain rules that motivate their decisions.

Whether they can reach the drums comfortably.

Whether their posture and stick angle will be right, and easy.

It's just like real fighters versus actors playing fighters. Just as my fighter friends can tell Mark Wahlberg wasn't really Micky Ward, pros can tell Miles Teller's kit in Whiplash wasn't set up the way a real drummer would do it.

So, what are those setup quirks that flag you as an amateur (even though, annoyingly, tons of great drummers did them too)?

To learn, just watch the lesson.

Back next week with another.

Enjoy,

N

Is it ever okay to criticize people on YouTube?

As I write this, this week’s video already enjoys one of the lowest like to dislike ratios in recent memory.

Which I’m fine with. I think it’s my best lesson yet.

So: why is it rubbing so many people the wrong way?

There’s the perception that I’m fighting for my right to judge others publicly.

There’s the belief that I need to be a much better drummer before espousing strong opinions on the internet.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of making work you’re internally satisfied with, as a means to an end to stay “zen” in the face of criticism.

So: what’s this lesson actually about?

It’s one of my “soapbox” episodes, in which I take a break from rote drum instruction to advocate a position.

And that position, put simply, is that there’s an obvious downside for critiquing others in public - one incurred several times. And a less obvious downside of never criticizing anyone.

To learn how I draw the line, and hear about my real life mistakes, just watch the lesson.

Back next week with another.

Enjoy,

N

5 Subtle Ways Pros Can Tell if a Drummer's "Legit"

I remember the first time I saw a “bad” drummer with chops. It was a revelation.

He could move his hands faster than mine.

He could do impressive things on the kit, and had worked out impressive combos and stickings. He could play louder, for longer, than I could.

And yet, anybody who’s played in a band for more than a year would’ve wrinkled their brow, and - hopefully not looking right at the drummer cause that’s rude - thought “that ain’t it”.

Similarly, I saw a bucket drummer in the subway in 2019, and I knew immediately he was legit. There are tons of bucket drummers in New York, and most are…I’m sorry, but well-meaning amateurs. Hobbyists.

But I could tell that this guy had played real music.

Years later, after decades of playing with groups, in recording sessions, and sometimes with difficult music, there’s a set of things I do automatically. They include knowing where “1” is at all times, learning tunes quickly, being able to play unfamiliar kits, and plenty else.

But it wasn’t until I started asking my friends to evaluate some of these subway performers that I realized: these musical skills that pros can identify immediately…

…aren’t necessarily well-recognized among the general public.

Which is why I made a video about it. My most popular video to-date.

Curious what the skills are, and whether you measure up?

Just check out the video.

Enjoy!

Tony Williams and Mel Lewis did this - can you?

Tony/Connie/Mel Exercise

Yet another lesson has me asking "what's clickbait and what's not clickbait".

The original idea behind this lesson was simple: my How to Really Play Jazz Part 1 video was one of my most popular videos...

...but it was also getting long-in-the-tooth, at 5 years old.

Time for a reshoot.

But "the reshot How to Really Play Jazz Drums" wasn't going to fly.

And, to be fair, there's a lot that's updated this time around.

Here's the crux, and if it sounds similar to the problem I outlined in my "how not to get vibed" lesson, that's because it is.

At the time I made the original lesson, drum instruction was mute on the subject of what to practice if you wanted to do anything other than 2 & 4 on the hi hats...

...unless you were ready to play like Roy Haynes or Paul Motian.

Which was mysterious and infuriating to me, because it's not like "mixing it up" while staying relatively "straight ahead" is new.

Indeed, Connie Kay was doing it...70...years ago?

Mel Lewis throughout his career.

Tony Williams, best known for his Plugged Nickel stuff...and maybe those ridiculous clinics at the yellow Gretschs (Gretsches?)...did it.

So maybe it's not clickbait.

I'm going to show you how to do the thing Connie, Mel, and Tony did.

But I can guarantee you they didn't practice it this way.

And, to be frank, this week's lesson isn't opposite-end-of-the-map from the "how not to get vibed" one, which used Max Roach as the template to explore some "non-two-and-four-yet-straight-ahead" playing...

...but it's a different angle from which to tackle it.

And a more "in depth" approach to the teaching. Less storytelling, more teaching.

Hope you enjoy.

N