What Type Of Drumsticks Should You Use?
Lots of sticks. Source: el clinto
"I didn't realise there were so many..."
I always thought that a set of sticks were the same as any other set of sticks. Boy was I wrong... The different types that you see in your music store all have their own unique size, length, weight, feel, tip, bounce and balance point.
It's confusing if you're not sure of the difference between all of them and, to be honest, I still don't get why there is such a stupid naming system.
Just stick to the points below and you'll be fine!
Always buy a named brand
To start with, you need to buy sticks from one of the big name brands like Vic Firth. They're more expensive but there are
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The 7 Reasons Why I Blog About Drumming
It's good to drum. Photo: neate photos
A friends of mine is thinking about starting his own blog and it got me thinking about the reasons why I blog. So after a bit of reflection, here are my top 7 reasons why I blog about drumming.
I love drumming
I've been playing for 13 years now and I love it now more than ever. It's what I do, it's who I am. I love the excitement of nailing a new groove; the way my sticks bounce on a pad; that it makes me stand out from other people. I'm more excited about it now than I ever have been!
To help you out
I know what it's like when you first start out drumming; or when you've been playing for a while and you're not getting anywhere; or
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The Progress Plateau - This Is Why You Keep Giving Up
Ayers Rock Plateau. Photo Credit: Palentour
You're on top of the world
You've just learned something new, you're ecstatic, you're on a roll, you're making great progress, you're psyched to be practising every day. You couldn't be happier.
Then all of a sudden you stop getting better and you stay at the same level for a long time and then you actually start to get worse. Sound familiar? What happened? Want went wrong?
Congratulations! You just
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The 7 Things Rocky Balboa Can Teach You About Drumming
Be Like Rocky. Photo Credit: Neeta Lind
This may sound odd but...
To me, Rocky Balboa is much more than just a movie character. He is a real person. Being born in the early 80's meant I was too young for his movies when they first came out. However, that didn't stop me growing up with Rocky.
His movies were the only violent movies that my parents would let me watch. They loved Rocky. They loved the character, the story, they loved that me and my brother would be quiet and stop arguing when we watched it. For me and my brother, Rocky was who we wanted to be.
The spirit of Rocky lives inside all of us. When we decide:
- To do something with our lives, that's Rocky.
- To achieve something even though the odds are against us, that's Rocky.
- To be more than just another bum from the neighbouhood, that's Rocky.
So what can we learn from Rocky Balboa that
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How To Use The Explicit Part Of Your Mind To Become A Better Drummer
Explicit content. Photo credit: FLY2005
Sadly, there's no swearing, sex or violence in this article
It's all about understanding your psychology, hacking into different parts of your brain and using it to your advantage to become a better drummer.
Basically, your memory is split into 2 sections and each section stores different types of information.
Explicit memory
In this sense, the word explicit means to make something clear or visible. The explicit part of your brain is used for
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How To Get A Louder, Fuller Snare Sound - The Rimshot
Evidence of rimshots
If you want it, you've got work for it
Getting the sound you really want isn't just a matter of hitting your drums as loud as possible and hoping for the best. You need to learn different techniques to give you the best sound.
In this article, we're not just talking about techniques though. We are going to hack into the actual physics of your snare drum in order to get the best possible sound out of it.
The physics of your snare
Normally when you play your snare, you hit the drum head (also called the drum skin) with the tip of your stick. This makes the drum head flex downwards which in turn pushes the air inside your drum down towards the
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The 5 Reasons Why You Are Cracking So Many Crash Cymbals
Makes me angry. Photo credit: Photomishdan
It happened again.
"I just spent a week choosing a great sounding crash cymbal, paid $300 for it and it cracked." Sound familiar? This has happened to me a couple of times and it's so frustrating. The first time, it turned out that the cymbal was defective and I got it replaced free of charge by the manufacturer. The second time I wasn't so lucky.
So why does it happen? Is it the cymbal's fault? Or are you doing something wrong? I have found that these are the 5 most common reasons why you are cracking your crash cymbals:
1. Flat cymbals
Setting your cymbals up flat so that you are hitting them directly on the edge is a sure way to crack them. Set up your cymbals so that they are pointing down toward you a little. If you really like the way they look flat then
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What Is A Cover Band?
Audience. Photo credit: toddmoritz
This definition shocks a lot of people
A cover band is a band that forms to play other people's songs with the goal of entertaining an audience to make money. I have taken a lot of jokes, insults and even out-right anger from people when they find out I play in a cover band.
- "Can't you write you own songs?""I'd never cheapen myself like that"
- "You're a capitalist for making money out of music."
If you play in a cover band you've probably heard these before. I really want to hear the best insults you've had. Or the best insults you've ever given someone for playing in a cover band! Leave your replies in the comments. With this much stigma, why would you do it? Why would
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How I Got Paid $445 To Hang Out With My Best Friends At New Year
Easy Money. Photo credit: FireChickenTA99
Ok, I'm a little embarressed about the title
I'm sitting here at the coffee shop thinking that this look likes I'm showing off. Or exaggerating. Or even straight-out lying. But I'm not. It's just what actually happened. In fact, it's what being a musician is all about. You earn stupid amounts of money doing what you love, with the people you love, for the people you love. Awesome.
My band got booked to play New Year's Eve and the night of New Years Day for a venue in Scotland that's out in the middle of nowhere (sorry to all the great people who follow me on Twitter. I couldn't wish you a happy new year because there wasn't even any phone reception there!)
Here is the story: We left home about 6pm on New Year's Eve and drove to the venue with some friends and family. We set up, met new people, played a few songs, talked, ate some food, had a few drinks and generally had a great time.
I saw in the New Year on stage, sitting at my drum kit, surrounded by 3 of my best friends. That's pretty cool. The only bad thing was
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The 4 Stages You MUST Pass Through To Become The Drummer You Dream Of
Climb Up. Photo credit: Sara. Nel
The view's better at the top
...but how do you get there? How do you learn to do something? How do you learn to do anything? These are big questions. When you know the answers, you will truly be unstoppable.
Knowing how to play stuff on the drums is cool but learning new things consistently over a long period of time is what will set you apart from the other drummers that you know.
Before we look at the 4 stages, lets quickly cover some definitions that we'll be using:
- Conscious: You are aware of something.
- Unconscious: You are unaware of something.
- Competence: You are good at something
- Incompetence: You are bad at something.
So, how you do learn anything? You MUST pass through these 4 stages:
Stage 1 - Unconscious Incompetence
Put it this way: You suck at drumming and you don't even know it. You don't know what you're doing. You don't know how to get better because you don't even realise that you can get better.
Drummers at this stage are
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