Diddles and Pu-da-das

Diddles and Pud-da-das

Stewert Copland, one of my favorite drummers of all time, is probably most vivid in my mind for incorporating and stylizing diddles and double strokes into his playing. Unique and one of a kind for that time period. It was usually on his hi-hat mixed in with the reggae feel of the sidestick and kick. The most obvious being The Police song "Walking on the Moon".

Adrian Young, Chad Smith, Carter Beauford, and Tim "Herb" Alexander are all other great drummers that brought this concept to the table for me. Chad Smith would put triplets into his playing and I remember listening closely to distinguish whether they were pu-da-das or not. "Herb" would do the same. And, I'll always remember song "#41" off the album Crash. Carter drenches the hi-hat and ride with these rudiments, but I can't imagine the song with anyone else playing.

So here's an inch of knowledge that you can take to improve your musicality in drum playing. I didn't mention much about stick control, but it plays a role for sure. It's not cool to be sloppy. Well, being loose when playing jazz is cool, but that's another blog...



Disclaimer: I exploited this idea to show a certain concept. It's not always a good idea to go wild with this concept when playing along with other musician. Use tastefully.

Rediculous

Pimp My Golf Cart?

BBC News on Rock Drummer Stamina

Clem Burke from Blondie actually did this..

"Burke was connected to equipment to measure his heart rate and oxygen uptake, and the levels of lactic acid in his blood. He found that during a performance, his heart averaged between 140 and 150 beats a minute, peaking at 190, levels comparable to other top athletes"

What a geek!

He burned 400 to 600 calories in an hour concert.. Now I can see how my first year of playing 240 shows touring with Hawk Nelson took about 15-20 lb off me.

Here's the BBC video on it.

Tommy Igoe

and THE VIC FIRTH PODCAST

If you have iTunes and have not subscribed to the vic firth podcast, you should consider it. I find interest in the different interviews from the drummers in their vast line up.

There was a contflict of interest as I was a young maturing drummer. I seem to come across arguements of crossing drum corp and rudiment elements to drum set technique, and trying to contrast all the great drummers I listened to over the years hit wall for me.

As a young player, there were rock drummers like Chad Sexton (311) who took marching techniques quite literally in there drumset playing, and then there were guys like Brad Wilk (Rage) whom I also enjoyed aspect of their playing even though they are looser in feel.

I could go on with other examples, but I'm sure I'll have more in blogs to come...

I'll embrace one more thought...

In marching band, I'd always watch great snare players get on a kit and trash the concept of groove. I'd then see an incredible jazz set player grab a pair of Ralph Hardimon signature marching stick (treetrunks to the laimen) and listen to him fumble his way through an rudiment exercise like it was his first day as a toddler trying to walk on two feet.

The truth is, you just can't expect to be trained in marching band and then go over to a drum set and be able to run autopilot with magical finess.

So instead of going on a rant, I'll let you click this link and hear some good thoughts from Tommy Igoe addressing the matter. Don't worry, he's got a sense of humor.

And if you're interested in checking out the Vic Firth Video Podcast, they've got a drumset, marching percussion, and concert percussion podcast for each.

My 24 inch Kick Drum Got A New Head

I've been waiting for this head ever since I originally ordered the kick drum. It's 24" wide and 19" in depth, thanks to OCDP shaving off an inch of a 20" long shell.

Most stores don't always have a ton of 24" drum heads in stock, especially coated heads. So I ordered a Remo Powerstroke 3. Which sounds awesome. It added some great warmth to the sound of the drum and still kept enough punch so a sound man can expose the attack he's looking for.



I've played plenty of clear heads live in the past, but when it comes to a well-rounded attack, especially in the studio, coated has been the way to go..

Stay the course of drumming

This is my drum awareness site.

To keep the rhythm world explicit.

Welcome.

-Aaron