On drums...

I happened to catch Jimmy Cliff on an edition of Austin City Limits on Saturday evening that reminded me how much I like seeing / hearing a good reggae drummer.

Pulling that stuff off well, with a real natural feel is harder than it seems to be.

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

Video or it didn't happen

Hi Guys,
Only get to the kit a couple times a week, but Reggae has eluded me. I find it SO difficult to play; the rim click with the bass drum on 3 just kills me. I still try it for a song or two with my iPod, but usually move on to something else. I found Latin stuff challenging 10-15 years ago, but nothing like this.

That said, due to various reasons, I've been forced to take an extended break from serious playing. I'm trying to get more time behind the drums, but am encountering a certain amount of "suck factor". Any tips on how to surmount this?

Cheers,
Brian

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Drums and No Money will get Me through Hard Times better than Money and No Drums!
-A Recovering Drum Addict

By "suck factor," you mean as in "I suck"? If so, I've been there so many times I can't tell you, and I am content that I will always find myself considering that reality.

However, there are certain things that make it worse:

1) Not playing with other people
2) Getting tired of what I have been playing and see no way to improve on it, resulting in boredom, lack of focus, general self-disparagement
3) Life is in a rut, particularly spiritually

The solution to #1 is obvious although not necessarily simple. What I have done about long periods of drought is to start working on technique, to prepare myself for the next time I might meet musicians I'd like to play with. That gives you something external to work on and hope of something to work for. As far as #2, I have been on a three of four year shift in technique, drumming skills, and musical styles, while at the same time as it becomes physically harder to move equipment and general aches and pains begin to work against me. But I continue because I think it is worth the time. I am the last person to rave about my abilities, and am always surprised when I can do something I didn't know I could; I am always shocked (pleasantly) when the music sounds great to my ear.

I am in no position to advise on #3, except to say that playing music is an act of generosity, an offering by the musician that serves the audience. So if all I'm doing is clicking a stick together on 2 and 4, my perception of the value of my playing depends on the purpose I bring to it.

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Gregory

I would say just throw on the headphone and play along with some tunes you really love. It will get you back in the groove and you can go from there. Works for me

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

Guys,

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to this. Thanks for all your kind replies.

Gregory, you hit the nail on the head on all three. I haven't been playing with other people in a long time. I just got tired of playing with folks whose only motivation was commercial success. I'd love to just play for the joy of making music. Being involved in a band or project seemed to reward the time invested with a sense of purpose that I can't seem to find alone in my roomful o' drums.

After I stopped playing in bands, I stayed active for a while taking lessons and participating in several recording projects. While I really enjoyed lessons, they seemed to stifle my creativity. After a while I found myself questioning my creative decisions. I found teachers that had a way of stringing me along to the price of fifty bucks a week.

On a physical level, I feel tense and loud behind the kit.

On a spiritual level, I'm pretty beat. I lost my father after a long illness, and while we weren't close, it wasn't because I didn't want us to be. He just never grew up. His toys were more important than being a parent. One of my sisters stole every last thing he had, and left him to die.

I'm sure I will get out of this rut I'm in, I just need to give it a little time.

I think I'm just going to load some straight ahead rock on my iPhone, and play some backbeats for a while.

All the Best,
Brian

_________________
Drums and No Money will get Me through Hard Times better than Money and No Drums!
-A Recovering Drum Addict

Brian,

I'm with you... nothing soothes my soul like playing some backbeats. After being a stressed out pain in the ass, my ex-wife used to say, "why don't you just go and bang on something"?

Music has amazing healing qualities, even when we feel like our playing is in a rut. Sometimes just letting a solid groove sink in just helps you feel centered again. I'm not really a big "energy-chakra" kind of guy, but I think there is something deep about it.

I also agree that trying to play reggae for those of us who grew up on American back-beat music, is like trying to eat left-handed. It is SO challenging, but a really great diversion and something to get you thinking differently on the drums. I love playing along to the Zappa tune "Lucille" from Joe's Garage where Vinnie Colaiuta laid down an awesome reggae groove.

- D.

I'm doing that same thing for a couple of months. Gigs are rare, and work is through the roof.
So, all I'm left with is an hour or less, twice a week. I just go there and try to "let it all out"...


Hang in there Brian............

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Goki - short from Goran

Let the good drums roll!!!

Right on, Dude. I found an odd motivation to get on the kit tonight. Audrey and I typically try to have "Dinner and a Movie" every night in our living room. While we had a great dinner, the movie was just awful. Audrey asked me if I wanted to find something else to watch; I told her to keep watching if she wanted. I grabbed my iPhone and my Sennheiser -29dB full headphones and went down to the drum room. I initially chose The Beatles, but the only stuff I had on my phone was from their Hamburg days, which isn't what I wanted to play along with. I then looked for The Rolling Stones, but I didn't have ANY on my phone. For my worldwide friends, in the US, we've been having the same "classic rock" tunes shoved into our ears for the last thirty years. Radio has eaten away my appreciation for the music I learned to play drums to by playing the same top 40 hits continuously, while completely ignoring all the other great album cuts. Fortunately, I have a great source of new music. My co-worker, who I've known for 10-12 years, shares a lot of music with me and turns me on to stuff I never would have been fortunate enought to hear.
Back to finding stuff to play along to, I've been listening on and off to an artist known as Rodriguez who, as it turns out iis a testament to how crazy life can be; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixto_Rodriguez While I mostly enjoy listening to heavier music, this guy (with the exception of a song or two) has me hooked. Unfortunately, I only had one of his tunes on my iPhone. Going down the list, I found I had a Red Hot Chili Peppers album and played along with 5 or 6 tunes. I had inadvertently had doubled the album, so I had two of each track. So, what I did was ride on the edge of my seat, playing along with each tune, and then refined my approach to each tune on the second pass. Audrey, who usually finds my drumming "busy" ( Guilty as charged) when just noodling behind the kit, was ecstatic. I am a lucky guy; I have subconsciously felt intrusive when I went down to play drums after dinner, but it was all in my head. I've learned that she really enjoys when Ienjoy playing my drums; and she can distinguish when I'm putting my heart and soul into my playing versus just going through the motions.

I had a GREAT time playing drums tonight.


Yeah, the Chakra thing always sounded pretentious coming out of a white boy's mouth to me, but I hear where you're coming from. Until tonight, I've felt a bit lost. Drumming has been a key to my identity for a very long time. When I had nothing else going for me, playing drums (or wishing I even had drums) was the dream that kept me hopeful for the future.

While I am trying to wrap my head around what I'm trying to express, I feel like I'm working on a breakthrough here; In the back of my mind, I've been concerned with the artistic process of playing drums. While I haven't studied this, I spent many years listening and, (at least to me) emulating what I liked the most of what I listened to. Looking back to all the various projects I've been involved in, I've been wondering/worrying to the point of obstruction; Have I've just become a self-educated monkey with a vocabulary limited by the music I have listened to, or have I found my unique voice that has been influenced by what I like to hear? I look back at some of the bands I have been and wonder (regardless of my value to that band) "Was I just acting?" Was I just a charlatan, or have the combined value of self teaching and lessons of listening yielded an individual voice? As I get older, I'm becoming aware that there are more things I haven't learned than I have. And as I get older, my tastes are evolving; I'm becoming less sure that the skills I'ved developed will apply to what I may want to involve myself in musically.

While all of these questions had seemed to cause a creative roadblock, I had a really good time tonight; my conclusion is that as accompanests, we reflect and respond to who we are playing with and the type of music we are playing.

I guess I just need to shut up and play!



-D. (Is it David? ) You've crystallized my thoughts eloquently. On the surface, the bass guitar seems to define Reggae, but, when I listen to one of my favorite bands, "John Brown's Body" the drummer just NAILS that groove! He makes the groove flow, while I just feel stiff as a zombie trying to play it!

I forgot all about Joe's Garage; That was my first Zappa album. I bought it on eight track in 1979! Going to listen to Lucille now!


Thanks to ALL you guys for not letting me disappear; Goki took the time to call me from Cliff's place while he was here in the US. One of the many things we discussed was how i didn't feel that I had much to contribute on the forum, because I hadn't been playing drums much. We had an incredible conversation!

Cliff; Please forgive me for hijacking this thread!

All the Best,
Brian

_________________
Drums and No Money will get Me through Hard Times better than Money and No Drums!
-A Recovering Drum Addict