How to Be a Jazz Drummer

So you have decided that you want to be a drummer but is at a loss as to which genre of playing style you want to master. Have you considered learning how to be a jazz drummer?As you probably know, jazz is one of the most artistic and intriguing genre of music and especially so for the jazz drummer. Playing jazz music gives the drummer the opportunity to exhibit his amazing technical drumming skills and capabilities. However, most drummers choose not to take the time to learn how to play jazz drums properly which is partly due to its wide range of technicalities unlike most other forms of music.

Although jazz drumming seem to look very complicated, in reality, it is not that difficult to learn. The main difference is that most drummers are used to the 4/4 tempo of drumming where jazz is played with plenty of triplets and has a different feel from most other types of music. So the drummer may have to relearn some drumming techniques. Furthermore, most jazz pieces are relatively fast in tempo and thus most drummers also need to make improvements on their stick speed.

The first thing a new drummer needs to learn when playing jazz pieces is the basic jazz swing tempo or sometimes called the “swing groove”. A jazz drummer’s main role is to keep time for the rest of the band just like in any genre of music. The drummer should never overpower the rest of the band unlike when playing rock songs. To do this, simply use your hi hat and ride cymbal.

Ok. Let’s start with your hi-hat stepping on the 2 and 4 count to a piece of swing music. It is critical to keep this count over top of everything else that you play. Next, add ride the cymbal with a triplet tempo and feel. Practice these moves to perfection before going further with your drum lessons.

Now that you have mastered how to keep the swing tempo with the hi-hat and ride cymbal, let’s move on to the bass drum or sometimes called the kick-drum. Jazz drumming techniques are sometimes very subtle and because of this, the bass drum should not be too dominant. So do make sure that you do not play the bass drum too loudly. This again is unlike most other form of drumming. A good technique for this is keep your heel down when playing the bass drum. In this way, you are more in position control the strength of the kick more easily. A technique jazz drummers often use is the feathering the bass drum. This is done by lightly tapping the bass drum on the quarter or eighth notes.

You will probably know that is highly common for the bass drum to follow the bass guitar player. So you may need to know what kind of rhythm progression the bass player is playing and try to follow him. The bass drum should be played with more of a feel rather than powerful thumping like those in rock music.

The snare drum can be used to help as an accent for the band or can be used to play straight quarter notes.

Another common rhythm in jazz music is the shuffle and every jazz drummer must also master this form of drumming. Furthermore, since jazz music usually have musicians doing solo runs, the jazz drummer must also learn how to play drum solos. By developing these common jazz drumming styles, you will be playing jazz drums like a pro pretty soon!

: article by Chris Chew

Drums – A History of Brands

Whether you are a beginning drummer or an old pro you may be thinking about replacing your old drum set. But, have you decided on a specific brand?Since there are many different drum manufacturers on the market, choosing a new drum set can be a little challenging. Here’s a little background and history on some of the most popular drum brands on the market today…

Yamaha

Yamaha first manufactured drums in 1968. Early Yamaha drum equipment borrowed concepts from from Ludwig drum set models. But Yamaha soon acquired a place among the top drum manufacturers and led the industry with innovative shell construction and finish techniques.

In 1993 Yamaha came out with the Yamaha Enhanced Sustain System, known as YESS, for mounting drums. YESS hardware minimizes shell to mount contact, allowing maximum drum resonance. Additionally, the mounting hardware is attached to the shell at its nodal points where the shell’s vibrations are of the lowest amplitude. In 1995 the RC 9000 Yamaha drums were reintroduced, enhanced with the YESS.

In addition to making acoustic drum kits and hardware, Yamaha is also a major manufacturer of best selling electronic drums. Popular Yamaha electronic drums, in order of increasing cost, are the Yamaha DTXpress, Yamaha DTXpress Special, and Yamaha DTXreme.

Tama

Tama manufacture first focused on drum hardware, whose demand was increasing due to the rise of rock music, which required sturdy equipment for loud playing. Tama led the industry with rugged double braced 36 inch tripods, and introduced the first boom cymbal stand in production. Tama also made the first multi-clamp hardware, letting drummers easily extend their drumsets.

In the late 70s Tama was further solidified as a brand name by the introduction of the Octobans. The Octobans are sets of six inch diameter tubes with tunable drum-heads that can produce an octave range pich. Octobans were extensively used by Stewart Copeland, drummer of the Police, within his Tama Imperial Star drumset during the late 70s and early 80s.

DW

Drum Workshop, or DW for short, is the leading new American drum company and offers a large variety of snare drum shell materials including aluminum, copper, steel, brass, brass/maple combination, a great selection of lacquered finishes, and various types of rims.

In 1980, DW patented the chain and sprocket bass drum pedal drive system, which is the industry standard today. The first chain and sprocket model was the 5000CX, which was followed by the addition of a stabilizing footboard on the 5000T Turbo model, and an offset sprocket for quicker action on the 5000A Accelerator. During the 1980s Drum Workshop also led the industry in manufacturing of double bass pedals based on their 5000 series.

Drum Workshop followed their accomplishment in pedal making with great success in their drum manufacturing effort. Today, DW is a leading custom drum manufacturer.

Ludwig

The Ludwig company was established in America by two German-born brothers, the older William F. and the younger Theobald Ludwig. Working as a vaudeville drummer in Chicago in 1908, William Ludwig became dissatisfied with the clumsy foot pedals of the day. He began designing pedals capable of fast tempos and high power, and had them made out of wood by a cabinet maker. The Ludwig & Ludwig company started out by mass producing durable metal version’s of William’s pedals.

Ludwig drums were selling strong throughout the 1920s, but the invention of the talking movie, which decreased demand for live percussion, and the US market crash in 1929 severely curtailed Ludwig sales. William Ludwig then sold his company in 1929 to the GC Conn Manufacturing Co. of Elkhart, Indiana, which by now also owns Leedy drums.

Ludwig continued working under GC Conn until 1937, when he became dissatisfied and left to start a new drum manufacturing operation with his son, William F. Jr. They name their new company William F. Ludwig Drum Company.

In February of 1964, Ringo Starr appeared on the Ed Sullivan show playing a Ludwig drum set that he picked out at a central London location of the Drum City store. The words “The Beatles” were centered on the bass drum, with the Ludwig logo printed above. This exposure gave Ludwig instant recognition and it became the number one drum manufacturer in the world until Japanese manufacturers started making major headway in the early 70s.

Pearl

Pearl drums, manufactured by the Pearl Instrument Company, are the most widely used drum kits today. Katsumi Yanagisawa, the founder of Pearl, started his company in 1946 in Tokyo Japan. He did not start out by making Pearl drums and drum kits, but music stands.

In 1966 Pearl introduced the first professional drum kit under the Pearl name, the Pearl President. Until then Pearl drums were sold under their distributors’ labels.

Pearl then became the first Japanese drum brand to penetrate the United States and UK. The boom in Japanese manufacturing increased the cost of production in Japan, and in 1973, Pearl moved a great deal of its manufacturing operations to Taiwan. Today pearl drums are manufactured in the United States, Taiwan, and Japan, with a corporate headquarters in Chiba, Japan. Pearl drums are also among the most widely copied models among drum manufacturers.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the most popular drum brands on the market. There are also many others such as Gretsch, Slingerland, Sonor, and more.

Choosing a drum set is really a personal preference, and choosing one can be rather confusing. The main thing is to choose a drum set with a good reputation and one that is pleasing to your ear.

: article by Danny Brown

Everything You Need to Know About Drums

Everything you need to know about Drums. “Surely it can’t be EVERYTHING?” Nope, everything. History of the drums, famous drummers, makes of drums, the best drums, everything. Drums actually have a very important role to play in music. Not only are they the entire structure and foundation of rap and hip-hop, I’m pretty sure that if you listened to your favourite rock or pop song without the drums, it would sound rubbish.The drums have been around as far as anyone can remember. They appeared as far back as 6000BC – pretty incredible for a modern musical instrument. Drums are membranophones – instruments which create sound when beaten with some type of object. Common myth is that the body of the drum creates the sound – but it only acts as an amplifier. The membrane stretched across the top actually produces the sound. (vibrations). Drums have always been used for more than just music. Religious purposes, Tribal celebrations, in War, Warnings, and messaging.

Drum KITS, as in a group of various toned drums and symbols, were first seen in marching bands and parade bands in New Orleans. Double drumming was a term used for drummers when they played more than one drum at once – something very common now. Early designs has cowbells and wooden blocks, and then in the 1930’s the standard drum kit took shape. The standard drum includes:

- A bass drum and foot pedal – Snare – Tom toms – A Hi-hat cymbal – Large hanging cymbals.

In the 1960’s rock band drummers began to change this, by expanding it. An extra bass drum, more symbols – people had gotten skilled enough to require more thing to play with. Electric drums were created, and it is arguable that this is where modern synthesized drum beats used in songs originated from. What’s next for the drum? Who knows. Maybe it’s time to start adding more. After all, the sky is the limit.

Famous drummers are rather well recognized. Ringo Star, Neil Peart, John Bonham all belonged to famous bands and are now recognized as legends. Some have great drum solos which are also recognizable. My favourite drummer? Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But it’s not my opinion that mattters – the greatest drummer of all time according to polls is Neil Peart. His drumming is unbelievably fast, and he is rhythmically strong. He’s maybe not as strong with the beat as John Bonham but is he is faster. The strange thing is that Neil Peart was inspired by 2 people – Keith Moon – and John Bonham.

I’m not saying Neil Peart is definitely the best drummer of all my time – like i said, my favourite is Chad Smith – you can make your own decision.

In terms of famous makes of drums, you’re looking at Yamaha, Remo, Tama, DW, and Premier. Again, there are more but these are some of the biggest.

So the drums have come a long way and have a long way to go. They’ve around since the dawn of man – and they aren’t leaving soon, considering they are the foundations of most songs. They are more that just instruments – they can be used as a variety of things. And with these aspects of the drums in mind there have been some serious masters brought up and seen.

Without drums music wouldn’t be what it is today – try listening to your favourite song without drums, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

: article by Mark James