Chill-Out and Warm-Up

If you're like me, you've probably found that the analytical brain can be swarmed by over-thinking at times.

When I was younger I was under the impression that it was just about hitting the drums as hard as I could. All the drummers I knew were 5 years older than me and 2X my mass size.

Today, I can still play aggressively, but there's something more important and steady that has to be there as a foundation for the over-thinker and over-player.

Stewart Copeland has a simple, great way of explaining it to this drummer... Hear him out.

The Click

Use it. Breathe it. Sleep with it. Smell it. Taste it.

Don't eat it.

All tempos.

Getting BIG Rock Flams

In this video I mention a small contrast between the drum set and the style of a marching drum flam. Focusing really on a simple way of getting your disciplined rudiment to 'sound like you mean it' when playing the drum set.

The general idea of a flam is when one stick hits the drum right before the other upon attacking the same beat. In fact they sound like when you say the "Fl" part of the word flams. (a sort of onomatopoeia)

They are used in most styles, and in rock they are a great extra voice and texture to your fills and sometimes groove.

I had been playing drumset for probably 4 years before I tried out for high school drumline. When I showed up to tryouts, one of the senior drummers saw me practicing a flam exercise on a pad and right a way criticized it. I had been taught decent stick control at the time, but what I was doing was lifting both of my arms way up and coming down on the pad with equal intensity in both. Like I was use to on the kit. Still young.

I was teased a bit. Those were great if you were John Bottom, maybe. But I was going to be playing a really tightly tuned drum that exposed your every attack, not to mention playing with 3-5 others, the same thing at the same time in unison.

It wasn't before too long that I learned to keep the left stick about a half an inch off the drum head and bring the right hand all the way back without lifting my arm and then viza versa when doing a right hand flam.

So here's a video to demonstrate a bit of the two, and you'll feel comforted to know that you can have BIG rocking flams like Dave Grohl and then also flams that won't be having your drum instructor telling you to hit the ground for 25+ push-ups.... That's what I had to do anyway..

At the end of the day it just comes down to having great stick control and knowing the context of what you're playing..

Freese Takes All

Halloween night I got a call from a friend who had an extra ticket to see Ninch Inch Nails at the Summet Center in Nashville, and honestly, I've been a bit of a distant fan of there's over the years, but an appreciator non-the-less.

There was no question, I was going..

Since this was a last minute thing, I was in a state of less expectancy. Oblivious in some sense yet curious. The stage was flat black, simple looking as the house lights were on and we waited.

Lights went down and the full band starts out rocking, lights flashing. The norm of what to expect from a rock show. Halfway through the second song the drummer, out of nowhere, spits out these amazing single stroke 16th note fills that were seamless. "I know that I know this drummer." I couldn't see him clear because we're in a suite on the second level..

Our friend James splirts out the drummers name... no other than Josh Freese.. Of course! He started playing with them back in 2005. Them and everyone else respectable... practically.

It just got better. And better.

What other drummer could come in and play a show like this and be this eclectic? Josh Freese ladies and gentleman. The dude has played on many modern pop and non-pop records you've heard. I'll just let you look him up on wikipedia for the mass discography.

He hit the highs and the lows of the set perfectly. At one point in the set the band plays a musical interlude where the singer is on a marimba and a mod, the guitar player on a xelaphone, there were keys, Freese had a stripped down kit with triggers and a bunch of rad sounding axilery percusion. It ruled. Not to mention that all there drums sounds kick butt.

By the end of the jam, he was playing completely around the beat, but in time. Fills were well placed. One of the best shows I've seen all year.

Drummers, musicians, live music appreciators, if you have a chance to see NIN when they come to town.. make that happen. And Drummers, Freese doesn't disapoint.

I haven't even started talking about how killer the visual aspect of the show were.

But, this being a drum blog, I'll just let you know that it is one of the greatest visual shows that I can ever remember seeing.

Totally worth it. Great band. Great drummer. Makes all the difference.

Looking for more on Freese?
You should check out this Modern Drummer issue, there's a great interview about his session work and how he lays it down for such a collective drummer as himself. Check it.