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How to become a good timeplayer?

A lot of drummers feel that their timeplaying isn't good, and they often hear it from their bandmembers or from the conductor. Fear not. If you feel lousy in comparison with your favorite drummers, do not forget that there's a big chance they've been close friends with their metronome for a long time.

The most important thing to remember is that we all learn from experience. And there's a hell of a lot of things you can do to improve your timeplaying.

1.

Listen to your favorite band and try to play with them (CD or MP3). In this way you will get up close and personal with the groove, as well as you will be forced to follow the tempo on the record - and not the other way around. The more experience you get, the more your "internal clock" will harness inside. Of course it is important to listen to a band with a good time keeping drummer. But most professional bands today are excellent timekeepers.

2.

The use of a metronome is a good way. I often use the metronome in various tempos for improvisation on top of the beat. It is very important that you hear the beep (by the use of a headset or something). If you just watch the red light it's easy to become inaccurate with the tempo. On many metronomes you're able to choose what kind of beat you want to hear, and practising in 5/8, 6/8 or 7/8 is a good way of learning time as well as expanding your horizon.
According to the fabulous norwegian drummer Erik Smith, you can gain much better timing by setting the tempo as slow as possible. He talked about this on one of his clinics, and mentioned that with a slower tempo it is easier to get aware of innaccurate playing.

3.

Play-a-long CD's, where the drums are not present, are good for your timing and has been vital for my practise sessions. If you also have the equipment to record yourself with the cd, you'll soon find out where you're increasing or deceasing the tempo. If you don't have that kind of equipment available, use a tape-recorder and record yourself. You'll learn much from that. I've got a sequencer with grooves where I can set the tempo, and also remove percussion. I use that to e.q. practise salsa grooves in a slow tempo (salsa is a common description of LatinAmerican/Cuban grooves). Slow tempo is the key to good timing! In that way you get the technique right, and you develop good control. Remember to practise in different volume levels.

Step-by-step guide to tune your toms.

There are primarily four reasons a drum is out of tune:

• Top head is not in tune with itself
• Bottom head is not in tune with itself
• Bearing edges are not right
• Top and bottom are not in tune with eachother

There are several ways to tune a drum, and many of these methods are solely based on personal preferences. Nevertheless, there are good ways to achieve a clean and punchy drum sound with good tone. The following is a step-by-step guide to get the drumsound you want.

1:

Remove both heads from each drum. If your bottom head is fairly new you can reuse it. Take a damp rag and wipe the bearing edges and the inside of the drum. Tighten all the screws on the inside that hold the lugs, loose screws rattle like crazy!

2:

With the heads off, place the drum on a flat surface (i.e. table of glass, parquet floor). Try to rock the drum back and forth. It should not be able to rock. Then try slide a piece of paper underneath it. If the drum budges or you can easily slide the paper through the bottom, the drum is seriously damaged and you should contact a professional drum repairshop to fix it. A damaged drum will not get in tune until it is repaired.

3:

Next grab a hold of your bottom head (one by one) with the metal ring facing away from you. Move your thumbs around the head to loosen the glue around the edge of the head. Place the head on the bottom of the drum and finger tighten all tension rods.

4:

Use your drumkey to tighten all the lugs on the bottom head on full turn at alternating lugs. If you start at 12 o'clock then your next lug would be 6 o'clock. If 1 o'clock then 7 and so fourth.

5:

Repeat the process above one more time. Then use the palm of your hand to push down the center of the head with the drum on the floor. This stretches the head and seats it properly.

6:

Repeat step 4 and 5 with the top heads.

7:

Place the drum on the floor. Tighten the bottom head lugs another 1/2 turn on the bottom head. Get hold of a drumstick. Tap the head near each lug and listen to the tone. Try to make every lug produce the same tone. Feel free to tightening/loosening the head until each lug makes the same tone.

8:

Repeat step 7 with the top heads. When done, place the drum on it's stand and hit it. Listen to the sound. It's probably not perfect yet, but stay tuned! Now tighten the top head to the tension you prefer when you're playing. Make sure it still is in tune with itself. When this is done the rest can be achieved by tuning the bottom head.

9:

The final approach is applied to the bottom head only. Tighten/loosen the lugs as you wish, but remember this: If there are too much ring (when you hit the top head) - the bottomhead is too tight. And vice versa: Too dead, the bottomhead is too loose. If you hear strange overtones, one of the heads are probably out of tune with itself. Keep experimenting and you'll get it right!

How to tune the snaredrum?

BOTTOM HEAD

1) Finger tighten down the tension screws while pressing lightly on the drum rim with the other hand.

2) Using a drum key, tighten each tension screw 1/2 of a turn at a time, until the head feels "firm". Press with your thumb about one inch from the edge of the drum. If it feels "spongy" or "soft" tighten it until it feels firm when pressing with your thumb.

3) Now tighten or loosen the tension screws as needed to bring all of them to approximately the same pitch all round.

TOP HEAD

1) "Finger tighten" down the tension screws while pressing lightly on the drum rim with the other hand.

2) Using the drum key, turn each tension screw 1/2 of a turn, until the head feels moderatley tight. Press the head with your thumb. It should "give" a llittle but not too much. It should not feel "spongy".

3) Tap at each tension screw with a drumstick or drum key one or one and a half inches in from the edge of the drum. Tighten or loosen the tension screws as needed to bring all of them to approximately the same pitch all around. Remember that to have the same pitch all around the head is extremely important in order to achieve a responsive and musical sound.

How to get good at improvising?

1.

Improvisation is a fun way to come up with new ideas or do solos. The idea behind improvisation is to present something which is created in the moment of its' presentation. In other words: something you've not practised in advance.

Listening to other drummers has been vital for my understanding of improvisation. The concept behind improvisation is very vaguely defined, and a lot of mucians characterize it for being the voice of their soul. I'm not getting into that, but let's say you want to play things from the heart and at the same time making it sound cool. Ironically, you can practise improvisation.

Let's elaborate on one of the methods behind improvisation. This method has been valuable for my own development, and this is what I call "improvisation over theme".
First you need some kind of sequencer, midi or music program. Create a bass/piano part with a light rhythm. Get behind your drumkit and connect a headset to your bass/piano source. Listen to the rhythm you created earlier. Spend some time getting to know that particular rhythm while playing an easy groove over it. It is essential that you emphasize any unison hits or syncopes. When you've become fairly familiar with the rhythm, do the following:

• Adding/removing beats from the groove.
• Playing paradidles over the theme while accenting unison hits.
• Play a groove for 3 bars and do an improvised fill in the 4th bar.
• Accent the hi-hat on every off beat while maintaining the base groove.

This is the basic idea. When improvising over a theme you learn to pay attention to the mutual phrasing in the music while enhancing your musical expression. There are no rules governing the improvisation process, so you can basically do whatever you want to do (check out my audio-example over 7/8). However, mutual phrasing (unison playing) sounds very cool if you ask me.

2.

Think more like a singer ,
adlib just like a singer,
let your adlibs make sence to you,
play your rudiments like you are singing.

How to increase speed playing on the bassdrum?

I use a double pedal and I've played (still play) a lot of metal oriented music. I've learned a few things that made me develop quicker legs...

1.

Position yourself the right way! I used to sit with my legs in a ninety degree angle over my pedals. This caused me to consume more energy and eventually I got tired and unprecise. Today I sit a few deegrees higher, I play more precise and I get a lot more power. Higher position is also better for your back.

2.

Learn to play a double beat roll! A lot of drummers learn to take the double-beat roll with their sticks when they start playing drums, and in that way they develop a high speed that can be useful later on tom-toms or on the snaredrum. In the beginning this is very awkward on the bassdrum, because your right foot has a lot more technique, power and stamina than the left foot. You've probably played with that foot in many years, and there's a great difference between your feet. Focus on training your left foot for some months to bring it up at the same level as your right foot; naturally you do this by only playing with your left foot.
How to practise: When you start practising rolls with the double/twin-pedal try to get a relaxing move with the left foot. Work on incorporating the same double beat technique you've previously played with your right foot, and do NOT forget to listen. When I started playing drums, I naturally began playing with my heal followed by the toe in every double beat. The double beat roll is not an easy task. It takes time to get a fast, fluent and consistent roll, but with dedication and determination anyone can do it.

There are principally 3 different ways to play the double beat.
1# 2 beats with toe, heels up. Having the heels off the board.
2# 2 beats with heel down, having the whole foot stay on the board.
3# 2 beats with heal/toe. 1st beat with heal, 2nd beat with toe.

3.

Shorten the distance for the beater to hit the bassdrum! Mount the beater closer to the bassdrum. This will lessen the time it takes the beater to strike the head, thus more beats per minute for you. There is however a backside to this method. Shorter distance means less power. Experiment to find the perfect balance for yourself on this method.

4.

Practice with a metronome! Start off playing 8th notes with alternating feet in a slow tempo. Play for 16 bars. Increase the tempo. Continue this process until you've reached a tempo that you're unable to handle. Feel that you are completely pushing yourself to the limit! Repeat this exercise every time you practice. You could also change by playing ONLY with the right foot slowly for 16 bars, and then change to left foot. Every 16th or 32nd bar you increase the tempo by 5 BPM. The ability to practise in a slow tempo will be a great advantage when you are ready to practise fast rolls and it also enhances your abilities to play correctly in time.

5.

Attach some weights to your legs and play for long periods of time. This will increase your strength and stamina which are 2 very important aspects when it comes to endurance. Practise this exercise with basis in number 4.

6.

Cycling or Running: This is very valuable both for good health and for endurance and speed on the bassdrum. I usually do gym exercises 3-4 times every week, and it doesn't take long until you notice the advantages behind the drumkit.
Virgil Donati (Planet X) and Raymond Herrera (Fear Factory) do gym exercises, and they are amazing with their pedals!

How to prevent damage to your equipment?

Here's some tips to help you make your equipment last longer. This is intended for drummers who travel a lot and need to bring their drumstash with them.

1.

Dismount all your hardware and stands down to their smallest possible size. This eliminates the possibility of breaking them, and the chance of them falling onto your drums. Dismount all cymbals from their stands. Cymbals are very vulnerable if they fall down, and a little scratch on the edge may become twice as huge once you start hitting it.

2.

Invest in shell cases and cymbal bags. Cases and bags protects your equipment from heat, moisture and falling damage. It's pretty comfortable and time saving too.
Also try to get a case for your pedals. Stands are, however, not easily destroyed, but it's pretty practical to carry them in cases.

3.

Get hold of those "fragile" stick-on labels if you are travelling by plane or train. Glue them to the cases and the cymbal bags. This assures you that the loading crew will handle them with care (according to the flight companies).

How to increase the speed on the tom toms?

Here are some very useful tips I learned from the Virgil Donati "Power Drumming" video (buy that video, it also has some great solo material there). Start off by playing 4 beats on every drum and cymbal in a slow tempo with your right hand for 8 bars. Afterwards, use the left hand. Then, increase the tempo. Repeat the process with both left and right hands. Push yourself absolutely to the limit. Continue doing this with 2 beats per drum in the same way. And end with 1 beat per drum. I found this very useful, and in this way I increased the power and stamina in my wrists, hands, and arms. This is very useful for drummers into fast genres.

The image example above illustrates 4 beats with one hand on every drum (4 bars), one bar break, and then 2 beats with one hand on every drum.

How to do a really cool ending fill?

A lot of drummers end their tunes or show with a "show-off-lightning-fast-ending-fill". Know what I'm talking about? But do you know how they do that? Don't panic; it does not require extreme technical abilities. I've divided this into 3 procedures.
1) 1 beat right hand, 1 beat left hand, 1 beat foot. Sortof triplet feeling.
2) 1 beat right hand, 1 beat left hand, 1 beat left foot, 1 beat right foot. 16th feeling.
3) 4 sixteenth notes hands: 1 right, 1 left, 1 right, 1 left. 2 beats with feet.

There are no limitations to this, you can basically do whatever you want; i.e. 2,3,4,5 beats with the hands and 2,3,4 beats with the feet.

How to repair a cracked cymbal?

If you've experienced a small crack on the cymbal that doesn't go all the way to the edge, you can actually prevent the crack from getting bigger. Drill two holes on both sides of the crack. When the crack meets the holes on both sides, the round edge in the holes stops the crack from expanding.
I don't know how to fix a totally smashed cymbal, if you do - please enlighten me.

A "cool" way to use your broken cymbals: Place a broken cymbal on top of another broken cymbal or healthy cymbal. Voila! A brand new great and powerful crash/china/cutting sound. I have done this several times and it adds originality to your drumset.

Cymbals are expensive. If you're not supported by a great sponsor deal or have extremely wealthy parents, you probably know this. I practise a lot. I suspect my cymbals for not taking great pleasure in my beating them. But the last couple of years I've actually not thrown away any broken cymbals. I use my cracked crash cymbals when I practise alone, and it works fine. The sound isn't perfect, but I don't need a perfect sound when I'm doing exercises or practising a new song. My wallet is especially fond of this procedure.

How to achieve a better technique?

The first step in achieving a better technique with your hands and feet is to be focused on the learning process. Technique doesn't come for free. Super technique requires hard work, sweat, dedication and determination. On the other hand; you don't need super technical skills to play the drums. Technique is only (from my point of view) a tool to help you express yourself as a musician. With better technqiue comes more possibilities and a wider horizon. A few exercises every week will get you started, and I guarantee that you will experience progress by the end of the year. Better technique might also enhance your ability to play more dynamically and groovy.

Whenever I am practising my drumset, I often go through the same sets of exercises. This has helped me develop a greater all-over technique with the hands and feet. You should get hold of the 26 Standard Exercises, which are available all over the net. Here I've provided 2 different sets of exercises. The 1st - from the book "Master Studies" by Joe Morello, and the 2nd - My own set of "warm up" exercises:

Above: 1st set of exercises. Taken from the book Master Studies by Joe Morello. Buy this - It's worth it!

Above: My own set of warm up exercises.

What books/videos I recommend!

Here are some of the books/videos I've been using to improve my technique, stability, flexibility, afrocuban- & brazilian styles, progressive concepts, speed, etc. I highly recommend these books and videos. Check out the review section for details...

1) Book: "Master Studies", Joe Morello

2) Book: "Advanced Concepts", Kim Plainfield

3) Book: "Up Close", Steve Gadd

4) Video: "Power Drumming", Virgil Donati

5) Video: "Private lesson", Gregg Bisonette

6) Video: "The next step", Dave Weckl

What computer software I recommend!

There are a great deal of nice computer software out there. I'm gonna elaborate on a few programs which has been closely attached to me during my practise sessions.

Fruity Loops Studio - Great program for making quick bass loops, odd time rhythms and making musical sketches. < download here >

Band in a box - Midi based program with tons of different styles. Great for improvising over different settings. You can remove any instrument, change the tempo, and lotsa more. < download here >