“Hey look he’s doing something cool”

When it comes to technical skill, non-drummers respond differently than drummers.

Audiences generally won’t pick up on specific technical details, any more than the uninitiated will pick up on specific details about gymnastics or ballet. I can’t tell you that one dancer or gymnast is better than another because he ‘extends his line further’, or because he didn’t miss that tiny step between the 2nd and 3rd beat of the bar. But we can tell if the overall effect is sharp and clear and if the movements are flowing and graceful. We can tell if a group’s movements aren’t properly synchronised, even if we can’t identify the exact points of difference or which ones are out of step.

Most listeners don’t know what a paradiddle roll sounds like, but they do know what slow, sloppy, or uneven stickwork sounds like. We can recognise tightness, we can recognise speed, and we can recognise sharp definition.

In any field, skill tends to shine through, even to the uninformed. A master craftsman will always make their prescence felt.

And audiences react to a show of skill. We respect mastery of a craft, any craft. So if you’re a drummer, don’t be afraid to throw in a solo sometimes … you may feel like you’re being a bit forward but the audience will enjoy it. You do want us to enjoy it don’t you?

Even though there is much more to being an artist than technical skill, it does matter to listeners, and it can mean the difference between liking a song and being extremely impressed. Much as I love a drummer with ears, I do like it when they have wrists.

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”  - part one

Fast drumming can sound brilliant. Plus if a drummer can play extremely quick notes and rests as well as the standard ones, it allows for greater diversity in the construction and intensity in the dynamics. More light and shade, if you aren’t yet over that expression.

A friend of mine was taught to use a sabre by a Romanian fencing master, amazing old guy. He said the key to speed was to make each movement very small, so the point of the blade has less distance to travel. The further something has to move in space the longer it takes in time. Only amateurs wave their arms around wildly. This old Romanian shuffled along and seemed barely to move his hands, but his sword passed through his opponents’ guard as though they were standing still.

I think even the least-informed listeners realise that drummers don’t get fast without years of practice. So the respect factor for fast hands is always high. We recognise the skills.

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”  - part two (click to see part one)

Obviously there are lots of clinic types who hold records for speed, but this is an art site so they don’t make it in. Speed is not art; read this to see why (http://www.luzifer.at/world’s-fastest-drummer.htm).

Here are some drummers who know how to move fast and also know WHEN to move fast …

‘I wouldn’t if you didn’t’ by The Dillinger Escape Plan. Like all DEP fans I wondered if new guy Billy Rymer could possibly live up to the wealth of artistry shown by his predecessors, but I never doubted he’d have wrists. As indeed he does.  (We’ll get to the other stuff later.)

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/option-paralysis-special-edition/id350329864

‘Wax simulacra’ by The Mars Volta. Blow up your speed camera.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-bedlam-in-goliath/id272250200

‘Unity’ by George. Such great hands.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/unity/id361419151

‘Sulphur’ by Slipknot. Yeah, okay, here’s some Slipknot …

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sulfur-single/id326632480

“Even flow”  - part one

Graffiti is sort of associated with disrespect, so it’s probably a strange choice to illustrate one of the skills I have most respect for. But graffiti artists work with a difficult medium - cans of paint that spray everywhere. And their problem isn’t just controlling the flow, it’s doing it fast so they can get the hell out of there.

Most artists use a hand-held device that has to be controlled in some way. The thing about drummers is they usually have two hands, so there is that added pressure to keep the left and right strokes perfectly even.

Ever noticed that some drumrolls are made up of perfectly identical, evenly-spaced notes, whereas others sound sloppier and inconsistent? Some drummers have an amazing degree of control over their sticks and others … not so much. Unevenness is particularly noticeable in rolls and fills.

It’s not just timing either. The sound that comes out of a drum depends on how the drum is struck, so stick control also translates to a more uniform tone. 

I think this is a technical skill that’s appreciated on a more subconscious level than something like speed. Better control makes for finer and more distinctive music but it isn’t so flashy. Yet once you start noticing, there’s an obvious difference between drummers with refined, unwavering stick control and those that are kind of all over the place in the way they hit. Personally I rate stick control even more highly than I rate fast hands.

“Even flow”  - part two (click to see part one)

Always in control … 

‘All is quiet’ by Directions in Groove (D.I.G.).

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/dig-live-1999-milton-theatre/id435550533

‘Heal me’ by Lior.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/corner-of-an-endless-road/id394182565

‘One day like this’ by Elbow.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/the-seldom-seen-kid/id275747296

‘Oran mor’ by Jakob.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/solace/id202869535

‘Spasm’ by Meshuggah from the original version of ‘Nothing’. Is the man half machine, or is the machine half man? Depends if it’s drumming on the 2002 version or programming on the 2006 re-release. Either way, Tomas Haake is a precision instrument.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/nothing/id192093853

“Laser cutting”  - part one

I’ve heard these words of praise several times in relation to Buddy Rich and Billy Cobham: ”no matter how fast they played, you could always hear every note”.

That right there is the most important technical skill a drummer can have. Not just speed, but sharp definition. And it’s so rare.

Stickwork that isn’t clean and tight gives an almost out-of-focus effect. But if a band has precisely defined drumming it’s like seeing an image snap into sharp focus.

As Debussy tells us, music is the space between the notes. So if the notes are clearly separated and distinct, the space between them becomes clearly defined. And that means more room for the true artistry. Defining the spaces lets the music breathe. It also allows for intricate but strong patterns, sharp edges, and rich detail. Precise definition is the mark of a master craftsman.

“Laser cutting”  - part two (click to see part one)

‘Fire’ by Jimi Hendrix. These drums aren’t just clearly defined, they elegantly avoid entanglement with some of the most intricate guitar playing ever.

• http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/fire-the-jimi-hendrix-collection/id374896813

‘When good dogs do bad things’ by The Dillinger Escape Plan. Razor sharp and just … scary.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/irony-is-a-dead-scene-ep/id272860957

‘Red Baron’ by Billy Cobham. Crisp and chilled.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/spectrum/id50268989

‘That old car’ by Asa Broomhall band. Beautifully clear.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/revelry-road/id323603641

“Powerdrive”  - part one

The most basic job of a drummer is to drive the beat along. Yet drummers who can provide genuine power drive, instead of just playing along, are surprisingly rare. Some even let themselves be lead around by the nose, which gives no sense of force behind the music. Drums should take the lead. The music always sounds a bit wimpy if they don’t.

Power isn’t about how hard the drums are hit. It’s how well that energy is focussed. Any amount of force that is precisely timed and controlled will pack a huge punch.

It makes a massive difference if the chops are crisp and each note is perfectly timed, because the more tightly defined the edges are, the more impact each note will have. The same thing is seen in these Picasso sketches - the cleaner and tighter the lines, the greater the sense of force. 

“Powerdrive”  - part two (click to see part one)

‘Immigrant song’ by Led Zeppelin. Bonham was the best at giving a powerful driving force behind the music, but beyond that there was always this sense of wild excitement in his drumming, like something alive and barely contained. For me it was those qualities, more than anything else he did, that put him in a class almost entirely his own.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/led-zeppelin-iii-remastered/id267651222

‘Midlife crisis’ by Faith No More.

• http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/this-is-it-the-best-faith/id309580926

‘Pistolero sleep’ by Pigmy Love Circus. DC always says drummers should be leaders. No argument from me. He sure lays down the law in this one.

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/the-power-of-beef/id301237621

‘Electromagnetic induction’

Terepai Richmond is a drummer’s drummer. More specifically, he happens to be my idols’s idol. So I was keen to see him live and see how that technical expertise translated to a general listener.

This is what it’s like hearing Terepai play live - imagine a series of invisible lightning rods strategically placed across a drumkit, so that each strike finds its mark unerringly and with explosive force. It’s like an orchestrated electrical storm. His stick control is so precise it’s scary. The snare has such a hard, cracking sound - it has so much attack but somehow preserves a rich tone. And he’s fast. Despite looking as relaxed as only a jazz drummer can, those hands can move.

He also has an electrical storm’s unpredictable rhythmic pattern - the groove is always shifting and evolving, all kinds of different riffs are woven into a deceptively simple beat.

As a listener, I’d rather hear a simple part played to perfection than the most complex efforts of a drummer who hasn’t mastered the rudiments. In the same way that I’d rather see a single leaf photographed in perfect focus than a whole festival photographed by a dodgy mobile phone camera.

‘Bassick inSync’ by Directions in Groove (D.I.G.)

• http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/clearlight/id470803032