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Sappy

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thought there should be a thread for drummers! here feel free to discuss drumming techniques, styles, etc. or talk about your drums!

I personally have a cheap brand, Pulse. raspberry red (not that appealing :P ) 5 piece set. I bought an extra cymbal stand that's pretty nice, I also have a broken china cymbal that still gets the job done. I have a double bass pedal, but im a lefty drummer, so I haven't figured out how to get that to work correctly, without having to switch my feet over, but that would make it harder to reach my high hat pedal. I have two crash cymbals and that one china.

any other lefty drummers? preferred brands? preferred type of sticks?

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I've been playing drums for eight years!! :D My current kit is a piece of shit, but I'm hopefully buying a new one off my friend's dad. It has less pieces than mine, but it doesn't matter because I only use one rack tom anyway. It's a shame that my kit is in such bad condition, because it would be worth a lot of money. It's an old Blackhawk kit from the 80s that's been discontinued If my step-dad had kept it in good condition for the 20 years before he gave it to me, I would have been able to sell it for a decent sum of money. :lol: Or actually play on it without sounding like shit.

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Another drummer checking in right here. I've been playing for 7 or so years at this point.

I mainly play rock music, but some swing stuff too. I used to play in a Big Band, but right now I'm in a Poppunk/Skatepunk/Funpunk band and a Punk/Metal kind of band.

My kit is a Tama Superstar with a Mapex Black Panther snare and a bunch of Zildjian cymbals at this point, so I really can't complain, I'm pretty happy with my stuff. I actually just broke a crash cymbal the other day :(

I have a double bass pedal, but im a lefty drummer, so I haven't figured out how to get that to work correctly, without having to switch my feet over, but that would make it harder to reach my high hat pedal. I have two crash cymbals and that one china.

any other lefty drummers? preferred brands? preferred type of sticks?

Did you ever consider playing open handed? I'm trying to get my left hand to do some hihatwork since I got a double pedal because the hihat just is so far away :D

I prefer Zildjian cymbals, for drums I don't really care what brand it is as long as they sound nice. I've also been playing Vic Firth 5B and 5B Extreme for ages and I'm pretty happy with them.

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Another drummer checking in right here. I#ve been playing for 7 or so years at this point.

I mainly play rock music, but some swing stuff too. I used to play in a Big Band, but right now I have a Poppunk/Skatepunk/Funpunk band and a Punk/Metal kind of band.

My kit is a Tama Superstar with a Mapex Black Panther snare and a bunch of Zildjian cymbals at this point, so I really can't complain, I'm pretty happy with my stuff. I actually just broke a crash cymbal the other day :(

Oh man, I love playing swing music! I was in my school's jazz band last year (and I will be again this year once it starts up) and jazz/swing is so much fun!! I'm not as good with the jazz improvisation as I am with hip-hop or rock improv (I usually tend to make my own little drum remixes to songs instead of just, y'know, playing the song) but it's still one of my favorite things to play. Probably because it's challenging, and I feel like I've kind of hit the wall with rock music, y'know? I mean, after a while, there's only so much you can do with rock music until you've played most of the beats and you just end up speeding them up and slowing them down to change it up, haha.

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Oh man, I love playing swing music! I was in my school's jazz band last year (and I will be again this year once it starts up) and jazz/swing is so much fun!! I'm not as good with the jazz improvisation as I am with hip-hop or rock improv (I usually tend to make my own little drum remixes to songs instead of just, y'know, playing the song) but it's still one of my favorite things to play. Probably because it's challenging, and I feel like I've kind of hit the wall with rock music, y'know? I mean, after a while, there's only so much you can do with rock music until you've played most of the beats and you just end up speeding them up and slowing them down to change it up, haha.

Hehe, it was my schools bigband too, but we had a great teacher so it really was fun and not just an easy A for me :D.

I really enjoy swing music because it is so different from what I usually play with my bands. There, it's about hitting hard, playing fast and some showmanship too, while swing is just different.

Still, I have so much to work on even with the most simple and broken down rock beats (internal volume, consistent rimshot backbeat, stronger kick drum foot and more) that it won't get boring for the next few years.

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Another drummer checking in right here. I've been playing for 7 or so years at this point.

I mainly play rock music, but some swing stuff too. I used to play in a Big Band, but right now I'm in a Poppunk/Skatepunk/Funpunk band and a Punk/Metal kind of band.

My kit is a Tama Superstar with a Mapex Black Panther snare and a bunch of Zildjian cymbals at this point, so I really can't complain, I'm pretty happy with my stuff. I actually just broke a crash cymbal the other day :(

Did you ever consider playing open handed? I'm trying to get my left hand to do some hihatwork since I got a double pedal because the hihat just is so far away :D

I prefer Zildjian cymbals, for drums I don't really care what brand it is as long as they sound nice. I've also been playing Vic Firth 5B and 5B Extreme for ages and I'm pretty happy with them.

I have considered open handed.. but I really feel comfortable playing it with crossed arms, and I've been playing for a year almost two so I just like that feeling. I think it's dumb that there aren't lefty double bass pedals! I can't be the only one in this predicament lol.

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I have considered open handed.. but I really feel comfortable playing it with crossed arms, and I've been playing for a year almost two so I just like that feeling. I think it's dumb that there aren't lefty double bass pedals! I can't be the only one in this predicament lol.

Enjoy.

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I have literally never been able to find one, neither did my parents that's why we got a right handed one... next time I'll search via British Google lol. man, I wish I would have saw this before I got it for Christmas lol

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I have literally never been able to find one, neither did my parents that's why we got a right handed one... next time I'll search via British Google lol. man, I wish I would have saw this before I got it for Christmas lol

I used US Google for your benefit :P I just searched for "left handed double kick pedal."

But yeah, that's quite unfortunate!

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I have considered open handed.. but I really feel comfortable playing it with crossed arms, and I've been playing for a year almost two so I just like that feeling. I think it's dumb that there aren't lefty double bass pedals! I can't be the only one in this predicament lol.

Every big manufacturer has lefty pedals, you just have to look for them.

Sell your pedal on Ebay and get a fitting one for your kit. Some pedals also offer the option to reassemble them to be a double pedal for the left handed drummer (Iron Cobra and maybe also the Pearl Eliminator? I'm not sure). What kinda pedal do you have right now?

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I don't have my own drum kit, but I do learn drums. I have a nasty habit of hitting the floor tom when I am supposed to hit the ride cymbal (yes, I am quite bad at drumming). Any tips to help me stop hitting the floor tom?

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I don't have my own drum kit, but I do learn drums. I have a nasty habit of hitting the floor tom when I am supposed to hit the ride cymbal (yes, I am quite bad at drumming). Any tips to help me stop hitting the floor tom?

There are two parts to hitting drums and cymbals well:

- You need to practice your technique, both on a pad and on the kit, look at the drum/cymbal you want to hit (don't forget the snare should usually be hit in the center unless you're playing a Blaykey shuffle or loads of ghost notes or something)

- But you also need good posture and a good setup/drum and cymbal placement to comfortably and effortlessly play well. Start by just sitting an a comfortable height with your feet where you'd like the pedal at a comfortable height, then add maybe haln an inch to that to compensate for the pedals. Next, place the pedals, kick and snare. The ride cymbal should get the best place to reach, place everything else where you can easily reach it.

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Eh, I'd like to keep this thread more active, look at all those guitar players over there, we can do that too! :D

Any suggestions?

- What's your setup (picture?) and what are the thoughts behind it? Plans for future setup changes?

- Who inspires you as a drummer? Why?

- Are you in a band? Original songs? How do you write your drum parts?

- Tips for playing live - having a set of multiple instruments can prove difficult at times because it's a lot to carry and takes a while to setup. Also, stuff has a habit to break just in time for the big gig :D? Anyone have cool stories?

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There are two parts to hitting drums and cymbals well:

- You need to practice your technique, both on a pad and on the kit, look at the drum/cymbal you want to hit (don't forget the snare should usually be hit in the center unless you're playing a Blaykey shuffle or loads of ghost notes or something)

- But you also need good posture and a good setup/drum and cymbal placement to comfortably and effortlessly play well. Start by just sitting an a comfortable height with your feet where you'd like the pedal at a comfortable height, then add maybe haln an inch to that to compensate for the pedals. Next, place the pedals, kick and snare. The ride cymbal should get the best place to reach, place everything else where you can easily reach it.

Thanks : )
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Eh, I'd like to keep this thread more active, look at all those guitar players over there, we can do that too! :D

Any suggestions?

- What's your setup (picture?) and what are the thoughts behind it? Plans for future setup changes?

- Who inspires you as a drummer? Why?

- Are you in a band? Original songs? How do you write your drum parts?

- Tips for playing live - having a set of multiple instruments can prove difficult at times because it's a lot to carry and takes a while to setup. Also, stuff has a habit to break just in time for the big gig :D? Anyone have cool stories?

My set-up is (was, I guess, as I live in an apartment and can't play on a regular basis anymore :( ) was pretty simple. I had my hi-hat, crash cymbal, and snare on the left of the kick. Kick drum was in the middle, which had one 12" rack tom on it. I don't like having two rack toms, because it makes it harder for me to do quick rolls and I really only like the sound of 12 inch ones anyway. Then on the right of the kick, I had a 16" floor tom, ride cymbal, and China cymbal.

Tre Cool, Tommy Ramone, and Keith Moon inspired me to start playing drums when I was eight. My step-dad had an old kit in the garage from when he and his friends were in a band back in the 80s, so he just let me go at it, haha. I took lessons for around a year and then quit, 'cause my instructor was fired from the place I was taking lessons from and the other instructor was an asshole. So I kind of taught myself and did stuff on my own for four or five years, and then I started taking lessons from another guy, 'cause I wanted to learn how to jazz and play stuff other than rock and punk, y'know? I've stopped taking lessons now since I'm so busy with school and the school band, which kind of sucks, but I'll probably start up again over the summer.

I was in a band once, and it sucked. I was good, the bassist was good, and the guitarist was good, but the singer sucked and didn't know how to sing or how to stay in time. I just kind of make up my beats based on what the guitarist and bassist are doing, y'know? Like, if they're playing fast, upbeat major chords I'll just play a fast rock/punk beat and add in rolls when I think they fit, but if it's a song in minor chords or it's slow, I usually use the floor tom for the 8th notes or 16th notes that are keeping the main rhythm (like the hi-hat normal does) and then just go from there. The band broke up back in July, 'cause the singer moved to Kentucky. The bassist, guitarist, and I are thinking of starting up another band this summer, 'cause the guitarist sings as well (and she's much better than the other singer was), so we can just have heard sing, y'know?

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Wow, starting at 8, I'd be so good now, I only started playing with 13 or 14 years.

12 and 16 is a solid setup, I prefer 13 and 16 inch toms, but I only have a 12" rack tom aswell so there's that.

Just give it a go with the guitar player singing, it might sound great.

On another note, I'm playing a gig in two weeks and they claim to have a complete drumkit with snare and cymbals. I'm still gonna bring my cymbals and stuff, house kits almost always suck. I'm not going nuts, but I hit hard and I don't want the snare head to break during our set.

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Wow, starting at 8, I'd be so good now, I only started playing with 13 or 14 years.

12 and 16 is a solid setup, I prefer 13 and 16 inch toms, but I only have a 12" rack tom aswell so there's that.

Just give it a go with the guitar player singing, it might sound great.

On another note, I'm playing a gig in two weeks and they claim to have a complete drumkit with snare and cymbals. I'm still gonna bring my cymbals and stuff, house kits almost always suck. I'm not going nuts, but I hit hard and I don't want the snare head to break during our set.

Yeah, I like 13" toms a lot but I can't really afford to buy a new tom shell at the moment. :P As soon as I fix up the hardware and replace the heads on my kit, I'm definitely going to look into getting a 13". I also had two different kick drums at one point - one 20" and one 24". I ended up giving the 20" away, because the shell was warped and it had a really poor quality sound, no matter how many different heads and tunings I tried. It sucked though, because I prefer the sound of a 20" than the sound of a 24". The 24" does relatively well, though it is a bit bigger and harder to navigate around the toms than I would like.

The guitarist has a really great voice so yeah, we're hoping it will work out well. She writes and sings her own songs on guitar, so we already know she can sing and play at the same time, so it shouldn't be a problem. :lol: We're looking forward to getting stuff started this summer. She lives in the apartment building next to mine, so we can hang out and write songs together whenever we want. The hard part will be finding a place to practice in where I can play drums, but our bassist has a pretty big basement that we could probably use during the day if we wanted to.

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Yeah, I like 13" toms a lot but I can't really afford to buy a new tom shell at the moment. :P As soon as I fix up the hardware and replace the heads on my kit, I'm definitely going to look into getting a 13". I also had two different kick drums at one point - one 20" and one 24". I ended up giving the 20" away, because the shell was warped and it had a really poor quality sound, no matter how many different heads and tunings I tried. It sucked though, because I prefer the sound of a 20" than the sound of a 24". The 24" does relatively well, though it is a bit bigger and harder to navigate around the toms than I would like.

A warped shell sucks, unsalvageable most of the times. My problem with 24" kick drums is that quick parts tend to become kind of muddy with them, a 20" or 22" has a clearer sound, so I prefer that.

Also, picture time, as the rehearsal room is pretty clean right now:

Note the box with about 5 years of old sticks :D

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A warped shell sucks, unsalvageable most of the times. My problem with 24" kick drums is that quick parts tend to become kind of muddy with them, a 20" or 22" has a clearer sound, so I prefer that.

Also, picture time, as the rehearsal room is pretty clean right now:

Note the box with about 5 years of old sticks :D

Yeah, that's why I preferred the 20". The 24" is fine and it's not warped, which is good, but it gets kind of a boomy, unarticulated sound when playing fast beats, and since I play a lot of rock and punk, that's pretty much the only sound I ever got out of it. :lol:

Your set up looks almost exactly like mine! Except you have one more cymbal than I do, and I don't use double kick pedals or two floor toms, haha. I thought about getting a second floor tom, but I decided to focus my money towards getting new heads and fixing hardware instead.

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I've been playing drums for about four years now. Also, I got new drum heads yesterday they look pretty sweet. :toocool:

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I would have been playing for about 8 years now but a few pieces of my kit broke a while back and I haven't been able to play since. There isn't any room for it in my new house anyway, so I'm considering selling it. :( I'd love to start playing again one day though.

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Your set up looks almost exactly like mine! Except you have one more cymbal than I do, and I don't use double kick pedals or two floor toms, haha. I thought about getting a second floor tom, but I decided to focus my money towards getting new heads and fixing hardware instead.

The double pedal and the second floor tom are "nice to have"s, but don't you dare take my second crash :D

I've been playing drums for about four years now. Also, I got new drum heads yesterday they look pretty sweet. :toocool:

I hope they sound better than the old ones, too!

I would have been playing for about 8 years now but a few pieces of my kit broke a while back and I haven't been able to play since. There isn't any room for it in my new house anyway, so I'm considering selling it. :( I'd love to start playing again one day though.

Some stuff can very easily be replaced. What's missing at this point?

I wouldn't sell any instruments unless I really need the money, you'll always regret it later on.

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  • 2 months later...

What's up guys (and girls), long time since someone (me?!) last posted here.

My band has 2 gigs coming up for the next two weeks, so that's nice. Also, one of my crash cymbals decided not to take the abuse anymore, which sucks pretty badly since I can't afford a new one until after the gigs. One of them is goind to be recorded for our EP, so I really hope the sound won't be to bad.

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What's up guys (and girls), long time since someone (me?!) last posted here.

My band has 2 gigs coming up for the next two weeks, so that's nice. Also, one of my crash cymbals decided not to take the abuse anymore, which sucks pretty badly since I can't afford a new one until after the gigs. One of them is goind to be recorded for our EP, so I really hope the sound won't be to bad.

One time I split my crash in rehearsal the day before I was supposed to play something. That was an incredibly fun show (not). :lol:

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