Sam-Y

^ Thats the reason I love what I do, and you put it very nicely. At the same time however, as a drummer, I always felt the need to have the "power" to produce melodies also. I felt limited in another sense since you can only produce beats with percussion while most musicians can produce everything else. I love drumming, but I guess this had more to do with me than with drumming only.

Freebase Dali

But you have to know that drummers have the power to make music out of drums. Look at Rush. Neil Pert stole every bit of that spot-light and he deserved it. Danney Carey of Tool, etc.
I'm not saying the rest of the band is obsolete, I'm just saying that drummers have the opportunity to make their instrument more than some cylindrical objects that produce various thuds.
If you can create a vibe with your drumming, then you're accomplishing more than a guitarist creating a vibe with notes.
Look at it that way.
We drummers are often underrated...
But most of us aren't really tapping into our potential half the time.

It's more than a rhythm section, man.

__________________

Sam-Y

You have a good point. In a sense, drummers can do more if they produce that "vibe" you're talking about (they makes beats, and in a sense melodies). We are definitely underrated by those who know nothing about producing music, only listening to it. They think we just bang around because it looks simple to the untrained eye. Anybody who plays music better show some love lol. Man I miss my beauty, I don't have a kit no more .

Kamikazi Kat

You can produce melodies with drumming. Drumming is not only about creating beats, its also about crafting unique sounding and textured sounds and rhythms. Of course "melodic" drumming is different from melodies produced from a guitar, but I believe there is much more to percussion then just "keeping the beat," even when you are the one that is the rhythmic backbone.

I understand what you mean though when you have a desire to create the sound more heard and recognized in a band, especially when the kind of music you guys most likely play is rock where the drums "keep the beat" attitude is very strong.

For a portable drumming alternative, you could beat box .

Neapolitan

Why are most songs in 4/4 time signature?

Because four is the highest number drummers can count to [pid dat dat - crash]

VEGANGELICA

Hi, Sam-Y,
You wrote about the limited power of drums to produce melodies. As a novice drummer I haven't had a lot of experience playing, but for the few songs I've played (during home recording) I've tuned the drums so that they make the notes that match certain parts of the song. For example, right now my high tom is D, my mid tom is B, and my floor tom is G. So, when I play with the melody I do feel very much part of it and I am helping to create it (beyond just the rhythm, which is of course important). I am going to try to adjust the tuning to match additional songs and see how that works. I wondered if you do this with your drumming, too?

I am envious that you get to play with a band at all! Since I'm doing home recording, my band usually consists of Me Me Me and occasionally one other person. The advantage of this is I get to play a lot of instruments, and so can compare how I feel about them (violin vs. electric guitar vs. drums vs. electric piano, for example). I do like the electric guitar because of the versality others mention, and the feeling of power combined with sensitivity, but in actuality when I play the drums (with earplugs in), it feels very cathartic and I can understand drums being your passion. I like the fact that you interact with the drums with your whole body (feet and arms).

I also agree with others that the drums are the backbone and they provide the basis of a lot of the drive in rock music: the sense of the heartbeat, which can be subtle or intense, but always is very much of the primal draw of beat-based music. The drums are cumbersome to move them around, I agree. Piccolo players have it a lot easier.
--Erica

Sam-Y

Synth drummer eh? That counts. After all, you are still trying to produce beats...maybe you'll have an upper hand when it comes to producing "melodies" with the synth drums.

It is definitely possible to take drums to the level where you can play solo and produce melodies in a sense. The problem is, like you state, when you play in a band (especially with rock music), you won't have that freedom because you'll be labeled "fancy" and plus, it might not even work out. I'm starting to conclude that as a drummer in a band, you are limited as opposed to just a drummer. So you said it lol.

Beat box? If you're going to beat box, then you might as well put the beats on the drums .

I hate you. lol

I agree, when it comes to making songs as a whole, everybody plays an equal part. I'm glad a lead guitarists feels our pain lol.

Tuning the drums is a lot harder than tuning a nice neatly packaged portable instrument like the guitar lol. Welcome to drumming. I must say that I'm envious that you get to play at home lol. I like how you play several instruments, as a musician, you are very versatile and can find different ways to express yourself. Now that you have picked up the drums though, you'll find that you can't express yourself the same way with both instruments. Sometimes the drums will be the best form of expression, other times your guitar. Completely different feelings. As a drummer, I always wanted to know what it feels like playing a guitar. I must say, it is different.

Kamikazi Kat

Never tried that before. When I think of melodic drumming I think less about notes and more about texture and feel. Its hard to explain, but there is that vibe that Vertical was talking about that you can hear in a good drummer. I think creative drumming is more having a sort of sense and feel, and less of something that can be explained.

A few drummers that have that feel and texture that I'm talking about:

Listen to the song colony of Birchmen by Mastodon. I can't find the actual track on youtube, but there is a drum track only video (I'm assuming there are copyright issues with the full song). The drum part goes great with creating a heavy and almost earthy feel in the actual song: Mastodon - colony of Birchmen (Drums Only). The drums kind of mold into the guitar part and help create the feel of the song.

Hella - The Things People Do When They Think No Ones Looking. A very tame sample of Zach Hill's drumming. His drumming may be considered inaccessible and too crazy for some, but his drumming is very unique and abstract, especially in his other work with Hella without the vocals.

Mike Johnston - John Legend Play Along. Another example of drumming with great feel and sense. Maybe these all aren't examples of melodic drumming, but I'm just giving examples of a few that expand past the boring "time-keeping." Drumming does get much more interesting once you obtain the skill to be able to pull this kind of stuff off and develop that kind of sense.

VEGANGELICA

Hi, Sam-Y,
Yes, the electric guitar is nice (and it actually is my favorite instrument, even more so than the violin which I've played for over 30 years). I often say that if I loved things, I would love the electric guitar and playing it, because I always wish I could play it much longer than I can. I agree it is fun to work on playing many different instruments. I think playing different instruments is perhaps like speaking different languages: for example, when I speak in German, I *feel* like a different person, somehow. I don't feel quite the same when I play electric guitar as when I play violin, or drums. I'm glad you've had a chance to find out what it is like to play the guitar as well as the drums.

Thanks, Kamakazi Kat, for the links to those excellent drumming clips. The Mastadon "Colony of Birchman" drumming has a lot of variety, and the drumming is so fast it sounds like fluttering. I like all the syncopation. Zach Hill's drumming was also super speedy (and the song quite quirky :-). I don't think I'll ever be able to play that fast, one issue being that I have carpal tunnel synrome and don't want it to flare up (I actually wear garden gloves when playing the drums if I am going to practice more than 10 minutes, to try to help absorb the shock!). The drum lesson was useful (practicing to music is a good idea). I especially enjoyed seeing how the player gets so into the drumming. It is a very revealing instrument...you can see the person's emotions, his interest and involvement, so clearly.

--Erica

Sam-Y

Alright. So I have left the drums aside for now (since I don't have a kit) and have picked up the guitar. So far I have progressed decently but I don't find playing fun (I do like the idea of playing the guitar and being very good at it, but this is irrelevant). I just hope it becomes more fun as I learn more, so far I feel the more I learn, the more bored I become.It could just be personal taste but I just want to hear if any of you went through the same thing I'm going through. If not, maybe I should pack things up and leave it to you pros lol. I was hoping you could share your journey with us.