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Any Drummers Here?

A

alexa roper

Well-Known Member
I just got my first drum set a couple of months ago (I'm 21), and I absolutely love it! I always felt an intense urge to learn to play the drums. I always watched drummers in bands and just always envied their abilities. I am lucky that my boyfriend is so supportive, because he sold one of his guitars in order to help me pay for my drums! hehe what a sweetie. It is so addictive and fun and my brain loooooves repeating the same beats and patterns over and over again that are required when learning how to play.

So any other drummers here? I have never actually talked to another drummer, so I'd love to hear some advice and stories from you!
 
Welcome Alexa, I prefer to listen to music as I have no rhythm. May be a aspie band is forming we have guitarists now a drummer.
 
Hi Alexa, I can play the drums badly as I've never been properly taught. But I can do a simple 4/4 beat well. I would like to learn but I sort of want to learn everything.
 
Do drumcomputers count? :p

They're not physical but programming them isn't any different than actual drumming in the sense that you're keeping track of a measure and putting beats on certain places. From a musicians perspective hardly different... though I guess drumming by itself is more energetic as an activity.

As for physical drums.. a drumkit. The closest I got to drumming was on the electronic drumkit of my friend and the occasional soundchecks when I was in a band (since our drummer wanted to adjust the volumes himself and all for his drumkit when microphones on his drumkit were involved).
 
Not sense I "drummed" with two sticks against one of my mother's soft wooden bookcases circa. 1969. :eek:
 
Ive been a drummer for about a decade. Been in like a dozen bands,have played some really big shows. The drums have been a good outlet for me. It is cathartic to hit things! the word percussion means "to hit" in latin.

If i can a younger drummer a piece of unasked for drumming advice. Learning the PURDY SHUFFLE changed how i drum forever. There are a ton of youtube videos on it. Just take a sec to check it out.

The drummer from the Greyboy Allstars is one of the best ive heard at jamming that funky shuffle. also billy Martin and stanton moore. are great drummers to check out. You might not like jazz funk though , you look like kind of a rocker in your picture.
 
I would be a drummer if I had any drums.. and more importantly, anywhere to set them up and play them. I might get an electric kit at some point, but it's just not the same.. I can play very basic beats but It usually all falls apart once I try a drum fill or change the beat too much - This would improve with practice, if I was able to do so.
 
I played drums in high school. So I haven't played in a little while except for air drumming. I'm not bad but don't have any at home cause its a unit and that would sooo not be appreciated but I plan on getting some whenever I can manage my own house in 10 years or so hopefully.
 
I love to play drums! I've used computer drums for years (and years and years, all the way back to the early 80s!!), but nothing beats (ahem) whacking things with sticks! :D Electronic drums are a great bridge between the two worlds, and I used to have a set of beat up old real drums which were great fun too!

I'm not a 'proper' drummer though, I've only ever used them when recording backing tracks for myself. I've met 'real' drummers, people who can actually do all the cool fancy bits and they're great :)

I'm a pianist/computer guy really, but give me a djembe and I'm a happy soul! :D
 
I took drum lessons for three years back in my high school days. I played in a band with some other guys at parties. I would suggest practicing stick control on a practice pad every day to build up the hand muscles as well as basic beats to get your body parts working separately. A good chain drive base pedal instead of a cheap one is much smoother too for getting the foot working properly. I haven't played much in 25 years but it's kind of like riding a bike. Once a drummer, always a drummer.
 
Wow I feel horrible for not keeping up on my own post!

GallacticGorilla said:
Ive been a drummer for about a decade. Been in like a dozen bands,have played some really big shows. The drums have been a good outlet for me. It is cathartic to hit things! the word percussion means "to hit" in latin.

If i can a younger drummer a piece of unasked for drumming advice. Learning the PURDY SHUFFLE changed how i drum forever. There are a ton of youtube videos on it. Just take a sec to check it out.

The drummer from the Greyboy Allstars is one of the best ive heard at jamming that funky shuffle. also billy Martin and stanton moore. are great drummers to check out. You might not like jazz funk though , you look like kind of a rocker in your picture.
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I will definitely look up the Purdy Shuffle! Youtube is actually my drum teacher, so looking it up is no problem at all :) I am still trying to figure out my own style as a drummer, though. I taught myself one rock song and it's awesome to just go all out and hit as hard as I want. You are right, hitting things is thoroughly enjoyable!

Axeman52 said:
I would be a drummer if I had any drums.. and more importantly, anywhere to set them up and play them. I might get an electric kit at some point, but it's just not the same.. I can play very basic beats but It usually all falls apart once I try a drum fill or change the beat too much - This would improve with practice, if I was able to do so.
Click to expand...

I started learning to play on pillows. I Youtube searched "drumming without drums" and found a good channel of a guy basically just teaching you how to drum on pillows! I incorporated other things that I found around the house to make other sounds (a folder for the hi-hat, a book for the snare, puzzle boxes for the tom toms). It definitely is not nearly as enjoyable as playing on an authentic kit, but it was a great way to get my feet wet.

I struggled for a long time on whether to get a real drum kit or an electronic one. A deal came up at Guitar Center on a beautiful white Crush drum set, so I really had no choice but to get a real drum kit. My boyfriend and I live in a one bedroom apartment, so we had to rent out a garage solely for my drums. What stinks is I live in Nebraska, and the weather is extremely crazy and unpredictable. The garage is not temperature controlled, so I was unable to play during the winter. I also imagine that I might overheat if I play for too long in the summer. SO long story short, I kind of regret not getting an electronic kit, just because it would make practicing 100000x easier. But the feeling of playing actual drums is one that could never be replaced by electronic drums.
 
Very Cool !! Rock on. Drummer girls are the shi-ot! Thats Flam-tastic. :p

Drums and apartments are a horrible combination for sure! but dont feel bad for not getting an electric kit. like you said, they have a way different feel to them. Unless you start getting into the really high end electric kits like Roland TD-8 + , i find electric kits have wierd response time to them and have trouble with dynamics. I had a yamaha electric kit for years and years, and i would play my acoustic kit anyday of the week over the electric kit. Nebraska in't too far from where i am in Colorado. You should be getting some spring weather about now for your garage. I used to play in a band in rental space in phoenix in th middle of the summer, it was all enclosed, it would get like 110 degrees + in there, I feel ya.

Practicing is great, but the easiest way to get better is to find some fellow musicians, maybe on craigslist. You got the practice space already, and chick drummers are in high demand... Little secret, drummers outnumber guitarist and bass players like ten to one. Ive never had trouble finding a band. Even if you are still learning and the band kinda sucks, the hours that you spend practicing with the bandwill help tons!

Plus, band is a great social outlet for a possibly awkward Aspie kinda person. A band is a brotherhood/sisterhood. There no other feeling that quite compares to the connection that happens when you all collectively ride the same wave of music together . The same tempo and melody all working together as a unit. Its a beautiful thing.

One more thing, and im sorry to give you all this unsolicited advice, but one thing that newer drummers do that drives me nuts, is trying to play too many notes on the snare . Keep the 2 &4 solid and put the extra notes somewhere else ie.. the bass drum. DOnt believe me, turn on the radio to any random song and see if they are playing a busy snare... ok, thats really it, ha sorry! Not trying to be a know-it-all. that is good advice from a seasoned drummer that i wish i was given when i was younger. .No more advice, I promise. :) Rock on duder!
 
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I used to play the drums when I was 5 years old because it was very natural for me and I stopped when I was 11 because I have a problem with listening to music with other people near me and receiving compliments. What I love about drumming are the repetitions and the patterns like you said.

In the future when I live on my own and have some money to get another drum kit I will start again hopefully. I do still play the drums with my fingers, my feet or even my teeth.
 
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I have drummed for about 5 years with a Japanese Taiko drumming group. I'm no longer a member and have purchased an electronic drum kit (due to noise restraints) but it's really different and I have trouble consistently practicing. I will endevour to though as I love drumming. It feels like a natural way to express myself.
 
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