Greg's general guide to rock drums for NEWBIES!

[Greg_L]

Damn, you got to that one before I could bust balls.

Do you mind giving a rundown of what each cymbal is and the size from left to right, starting with the hihats? I only know about the 20" RUDE.

They all Paiste 2002s.
15" Sound-Edge hats
16" Medium Crash
18" Medium Crash
20" Medium Crash
20" RUDE Crash/Ride
22" Power Ride

 

[NotThatBright]

They all Paiste 2002s.
15" Sound-Edge hats
16" Medium Crash
18" Medium Crash
20" Medium Crash
20" RUDE Crash/Ride
22" Power Ride

Thanks. Christmas is right around the corner.

I always thought the angle of my rack toms was too severe (the heads pretty much pointed straight at my face when I sit down). After looking at yours I figure fuck it, I'll change them now. I start screwing with the brackets pretty half-assedly, and boom, boom, boom, my 12" has just fallen and bounced off the kick drum, a cymbal stand, the statistics book from my freshman year of college that holds down the mic boom stand, and finally the concrete floor. Then I did it the right way and had no problems. Story of my life!

 

[Greg_L]

I think your post and these pics give me a really good idea of what of the approach. I had everything pretty close, but I think the overheads I didn't really pay close enough attention too and the kick placement I did needs refinement.

But I think I am ready to go after again. Thanks again, really helped.

Cool, glad to help.

With the the overheads....you need to find which placement technique works best for where your drums are in your room. I used to use a Recorderman style, then I moved my drums to a different spot in the room and it wasn't that good anymore. For where my drums sit now, the spaced pair works best to me. Your situation may be different. Try them all, and try different heights, and then fine tune. It takes some effort but when you get it right it's worth it. Don't get hung up on which mics to use, do get hung up on where you put them.

The kick mic placement can vary a lot though, depending on the mic. A good kick mic will work almost just about anywhere inside or outside the drum. A less good kick mic, or a mic that isn't really suited for kick drums at all can work, but it's going to be a lot more sensitive to placement. And don't neglect the beater and beater contact spot. All that wonderful kick attack is a lot easier to get with wood or plastic beaters. Felt, not so easy, but it can be done. A well worn in felt beater can sound really good. I regularly switch between felt and plastic beaters depending on the sound I need. If you decide to go with plastic or wood beaters, use a falam patch. Those beaters will make short work of demolishing a drum head.

 

[Greg_L]

Thanks. Christmas is right around the corner.

I always thought the angle of my rack toms was too severe (the heads pretty much pointed straight at my face when I sit down). After looking at yours I figure fuck it, I'll change them now. I start screwing with the brackets pretty half-assedly, and boom, boom, boom, my 12" has just fallen and bounced off the kick drum, a cymbal stand, the statistics book from my freshman year of college that holds down the mic boom stand, and finally the concrete floor. Then I did it the right way and had no problems. Story of my life!

Lol. I used to have an old Rogers kit that didn't have jack shit for adjustment. I had to play that thing with semi-weird tom angles. It works, but it's not very good for proper drummer posture or technique. I'm no pro classically trained drummer or anything, but I know that good posture, good hand technique, and smartly placed drums and cymbals goes a very long way towards speed, stamina, and consistency. Look at my tom heads. See the stick marks? They could be better, but they're fairly decently concentrated towards the middle of the drum. Not to mention keeping the potential for injury at bay. A lot of drummers develop wrist, elbow, and shoulder problems from playing like a mongo. That stuff matters. That girl drummer from The Donnas had to retire at 20-something because she developed bad wrist problems from basically playing underhanded. Flatten them drums and cymbals so you're hitting down on them instead out towards them. It's better for you, and believe it or not, the sound projects better that way..

 

[NotThatBright]

Lol. I used to have an old Rogers kit that didn't have jack shit for adjustment. I had to play that thing with semi-weird tom angles. It works, but it's not very good for proper drummer posture or technique. I'm no pro classically trained drummer or anything, but I know that good posture, good hand technique, and smartly placed drums and cymbals goes a very long way towards speed, stamina, and consistency. Look at my tom heads. See the stick marks? They could be better, but they're fairly decently concentrated towards the middle of the drum. Not to mention keeping the potential for injury at bay. A lot of drummers develop wrist, elbow, and shoulder problems from playing like a mongo. That stuff matters. That girl drummer from The Donnas had to retire at 20-something because she developed bad wrist problems from basically playing underhanded. Flatten them drums and cymbals so you're hitting down on them instead out towards them. It's better for you, and believe it or not, the sound projects better that way..

Thanks. I'll actually adjust them a bit more now. I hadn't thought about it before, but I agree that the angle I had probably does lend itself to bad posture... whenever I noticed that I was having trouble sounding decent on the kick in particular, I would sit up straight and it would get better. But sitting up straight made hitting the rack toms properly difficult. The angle was my problem.

 

[NotThatBright]

Nothing hotter than a chick on drums! I'm not going to google her to see what she looks like so as not to spoil my fantasy.

 

[Greg_L]

Thanks. I'll actually adjust them a bit more now. I hadn't thought about it before, but I agree that the angle I had probably does lend itself to bad posture... whenever I noticed that I was having trouble sounding decent on the kick in particular, I would sit up straight and it would get better. But sitting up straight made hitting the rack toms properly difficult. The angle was my problem.

It's all personal taste, but there are mechanical things with the human body that make some ways of playing better than others. For just standard old rock drumming adjust your throne so your thigh is parallel with the floor. Adjust everything else accordingly. Keep everything in reach and at a comfortable distance. You know when something doesn't seem or feel right. Fix it.

 

[Greg_L]

Nothing hotter than a chick on drums! I'm not going to google her to see what she looks like so as not to spoil my fantasy.

Yeah she's alright, but check out their guitar player.

 

[NotThatBright]

It's all personal taste, but there are mechanical things with the human body that make some ways of playing better than others. For just standard old rock drumming adjust your throne so your thigh is parallel with the floor. Adjust everything else accordingly. Keep everything in reach and at a comfortable distance. You know when something doesn't seem or feel right. Fix it.

Thanks. Now that I adjusted the rack toms everything feels pretty natural. No more having my wrists bent back toward my face when hitting them.

 

[NotThatBright]

Yeah she's alright, but check out their guitar player.

I was going to say, "That makes me want to learn chords," but if I'm not mistaken, she's playing a power chord. Now that's a woman!

 

[Greg_L]

She's a pretty solid player. Not great, but good. She has a great sound. Very rock and roll. And she's hot.

 

[NotThatBright]

She's a pretty solid player. Not great, but good. She has a great sound. Very rock and roll. And she's hot.

Since I never listened to them before, the last one is good enough for me.

 

[Greg_L]

Since I never listened to them before, the last one is good enough for me.

I like em. They're good. They are now unfortunately on indefinite hiatus.

 

[NotThatBright]

Last thing off topic. I know this isn't the place.

I saw Nashville Pussy open up a while ago for Motorhead. Although their lead guitar player is (at least was) hot as hell, the coolest thing was that the singer had a skullet. If I ever go bald, I will never have the balls the wear a skullet. I have the utmost respect for anyone that does.

Secondarily, they turned out to be a pretty good band.

 

[NotThatBright]

I like em. They're good. They are now unfortunately on indefinite hiatus.
[video=youtube;vkV0D8tniMs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkV0D8tniMs

"Do you want to hit it!" I was never a big fan of girl bands, but I make an exception if they have slutty lyrics. Glad I didn't google the drummer, though I appreciate the hair flying all over the place. They sound ok.

 

[Greg_L]

"Do you want to hit it!" I was never a big fan of girl bands, but I make an exception if they have slutty lyrics. Glad I didn't google the drummer, though I appreciate the hair flying all over the place. They sound ok.

The Donnas started out as like a female Ramones wannabe band. They even each called themselves "Donna" and then whatever their last name initial is. Like Donna A, Donna R, Donna C, etc. Lol. They were rough in those early days, but they got better and adopted a more glam rock 80s sound. They were good fun.

I always liked this one.

 

[Greg_L]

And this one.

 

[NotThatBright]

Yeah, they're not bad. I remember them from at least one of the Epitaph comps from years ago. My problem is that whenever I listen to a girl singer, no matter how badass she sounds, I find myself thinking more about nailing her than the music itself, and really, they deserve better than that. Not that I really care.

I like "I don't wanna go to school". Definitely Ramones rock. It raises a question and a statement from me:

- What is "chiva"? When Zeke sings about it, I'm pretty sure they're talking about smack. This sounds a little lighthearted for them to be talking about that. I'd have to assume pot here.

- I don't know if you ever saw "Mr. Nanny" with Hulk Hogan, but Buster Poindexter (or whatever the hell his name is, the guy from the NYD) is the bad guy and there's about a 10-second part in the movie as a scene changes and a song is playing with him singing "I DON'T WANNA GO TO SCHOOL, WHY DO I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL..." and it's over. I thought it was awesome and I looked for the whole song after that, and it was impossible to find. I was hoping this was going to be a cover of that. In reality, this one was probably a better song, but it reminded me of my failure to find this awesome Buster Poindexter song about 20 years ago.

 

[Greg_L]

I think it's "cheeba" and as far as I know it's dumb hippie slang for weed. I don't know, I'm not a pot head. I'll shoot smack straight into my jap's eye and do blow off a dead hooker's taint, but weed does not interest me in the least.

Another awesomely bad David Johansen movie is "Car 54 Where Are You?" Real bad, in a good way. I love the NY Dolls, and he was one of them, so I'll watch his movies.

 

[NotThatBright]

I think it's "cheeba" and as far as I know it's dumb hippie slang for weed. I don't know, I'm not a pot head. I'll shoot smack straight into my jap's eye and do blow off a dead hooker's taint, but weed does not interest me in the least.

Another awesomely bad David Johansen movie is "Car 54 Where Are You?" Real bad, in a good way. I love the NY Dolls, and he was one of them, so I'll watch his movies.

I remember him from the classic Emilio Estevez movie "Freejack". He should have gotten more screen time in that one. He plays a good lowlife.