What are the different types of skins on the drum?
What’s the main diference between a drum you play by hand and a drum you play by stick?
What are those sticks called, is there a more technical term than drumsticks?
Have you learned any drums by hand?
Drummers carry the…er, the rhythm, that’s right. Do you ever have a hard time and start following the melody instead?
What would you recommend someone who’s been taught to follow the melody who now wants to switch over?
“I use a Ludwig with Zildijan cymbals.”
Couldja translate that for those of us who know nothing? What’s a Ludwig, some kind of brand I assume? Is it a good one? What’s the difference?
If the OP doesn’t mind, I can tackle these questions.
There is no more technical term for drumsticks. That’s what they’re called.
Since a drummer is not playing musical notes, it’s impossible to stop following one thing and start playing another. We never have to consider the melody vs. the harmony, that’s the job of the people playing other instruments. They are supposed to be following the drummer, not the other way around. I know what you’re talking about, though. I’ve heard several people in my time who were unskilled enough as singers that they could easily lose the harmony and start doubling the melody with someone elase. Then everyone has to stop to browbeat the person into singing their own part, not someone else’s. The drummer and bassist provide the foundation upon which the rest of the parts are built.
Ludwig and Zildjian are brand names for drums and cymbals, respectively. They are universally respected for their quality. Sales of Ludwig drums went astronomical after Ringo Starr began to appear internationally, playing kits with the Ludwig logo at the top. Other brand names of drums are Tama, Slingerland, Pearl and Yamaha. Other cymbal makers are Paiste and Sabian.
The differences in drum brands lie mainly in the construction of the drums and the application of the hardware. Different sized drums have different tonal characteristics. Whether a drum is one-ply or two-ply (layers of wood that make up the body of the drum) affects its overall tonality and projection. The type of wood used is also a consideration. Maple seems to be the most highly-regarded material. Other woods may not be as dense and may not offer quite the range of tonality, but they would be less expensive. Drums are also made of poplar, birch, a combination of birch and basswood, and mahogany. And then there were Fibes, which were made of clear fiberglass, but those are history now. They worked, but weren’t that great.
[ul]
[li]Which drummers do you consider to be the best in terms of technical ability? Speed? Who are the worst (commercially successful) drummers in your opinion?[/li][li]What other criteria do you feel determines a drummer’s overall abilities?[/li][li]Which recorded drum soloes do you like? Do you like listening to them or do you consider some of them to be little more than percussive masturbation?[/li][li]How do the death/speed metal drummers play so damn fast? I listen to them playing but I rarely take the time to watch any videos and I don’t go to concerts. I know they use double-kick bass drums. What other tricks do they use to get in more beats per second? Do they have more than one drummer in the band?[/li][li]Is there any term to measure a drummer’s speed? That is, can a drummer’s performance be rated by how many “pieces” (or whatever you call the individual drums, symbals, etc.) he/she can hit per second?[/li][li]How many female drummers do you know?[/li][/ul]
There will be others who will offer the conventional rock wisdom to this question and reply with **Neil Peart **- and he is great.
But nobody comes close to Max Roach, the jazz drummer who innovated with bebop alongside Parker, Gillespie, Monk, Powell, etc. Legendarily, he could play one rhythm (say 4/4) with one hand, while play another (say 6/8) with his other hand while doing other rhythms with his feet. He could outplay most drummers on just a high hat while they played full kits.
Not really much of a contest, although I would be interested in percussion’s (or other pro/semi-pro drummers’) POVs…
Why is it that when people ask “who’s the greatest drummer” no one says Keith Moon anymore? Was he all just showmanship but not that great of a drummer?
What’s a Ludwig, some kind of brand I assume? Is it a good one? What’s the difference?