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Thread: What makes a good drummer? Opinions

  1. #1

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    Default What makes a good drummer? Opinions

    I have always felt and continue to feel that what makes guys like Bonham so great is not so much their technical skills but their natural sense of groove and rythym. I know guys that can read and write music blindfolded and have great technical skills. They can also copy almost anything most drummers do.
    However, what they lack is that natural creative ability to come up with those catchy sounding grooves from scratch.
    If you look at some of the 80's metal bands, they were'nt the best musicians but they had that creative ability to come up with creative and catchy sounding songs. I think thats what a lot of guys dont understand, its the natural sense of rythym.
    Even a guitar player. Many guys can play the riff of mean streets by van halen but eddie just has that natural sense of rythym to be able to come up with those cool sounds we all love so much.
    Dont know if what i said makes any sense but that's always been how i felt.
    Last edited by Lexer; 06-14-2016 at 09:14 AM.

  2. #2

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    You make very good points. "Good" is a very subjective term and relative to the listener's standards. I like a good musician but if he overplays or underplays, I don't care for him as much. The same with bands. I don't want to hear 'just another band'. I want to hear something special when I go out to hear a group. So, other people might consider them good but my standards are higher. I think it depends on your individual standards.

  3. #3

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    'Good' is.... I want to be thoroughly entertained watching the drummer. Has to be an element of course of skill/technical abilities of course but also someone who is a showman and leader (from the back!).

    Hence why one of my favorite drummers is Mike Portnoy.
    TAMA HYPERDRIVE BIRCH (rare champagne sparkle finish), TAMA hardware and SABIAN cymbals

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by spikeithard View Post
    'Good' is.... I want to be thoroughly entertained watching the drummer. Has to be an element of course of skill/technical abilities of course but also someone who is a showman and leader (from the back!).

    Hence why one of my favorite drummers is Mike Portnoy.
    I hear you 100%

  5. #5

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    Being a drummer, I tend to loose my objectivity when I go support an act and pay to see a performance and the "bar" is pretty high and I expect it to be met (like watching a "Portnoy" type drummer). Having said that, I force myself to look beyond the musician(s) on stage and look at the overall picture to see if it reached me in any emotional way. If it can move me, mission accomplished, whether if it's a full symphony reading off of sheet music in a concert hall or an improv jam at a park with a "tip" jar, it's all good to me.
    Last edited by late8; 06-14-2016 at 06:00 PM.

  6. #6

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    For me it is a drummer who can keep a solid backbeat, not over or under play (as noted above), someone who is in the groove with his/her bass player, and someone who can keep it "tight" throughout the show regardless of how fast or slow a song it.
    Six Piece Mapex Saturn V, Five Piece DW Performance Series, NOS Slingerland Snares, Centent Ardor and Emperor Cymbals


  7. #7

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    Just remember, "keeping it tight" is everyone in the band's job. "Tightness" is an ensemble issue.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by noreastbob View Post
    Just remember, "keeping it tight" is everyone in the band's job. "Tightness" is an ensemble issue.
    This is true, but I have seen some drummers who were with bands who could keep it tight, but they ruined it because they wanted to make it all about them. At the same time, that could be said about some guitarists, bass players, keyboardists, etc.
    Six Piece Mapex Saturn V, Five Piece DW Performance Series, NOS Slingerland Snares, Centent Ardor and Emperor Cymbals


  9. #9

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    I'm less about skill and more composition to me. If music moves me in some way at the emotional level I like it whether it's two chords or a hundred. I know it's odd coming from a drummer, but I'm not really all that ga ga over drummers.

    all the best...

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by spikeithard View Post
    'Good' is.... I want to be thoroughly entertained watching the drummer. Has to be an element of course of skill/technical abilities of course but also someone who is a showman and leader (from the back!). Hence why one of my favorite drummers is Mike Portnoy.
    Quote Originally Posted by late8 View Post
    Being a drummer, I tend to loose my objectivity when I go support an act and pay to see a performance and the "bar" is pretty high and I expect it to met (like watching a "Portnoy" type drummer). Having said that, I force myself to look beyond the musician(s) on stage and look at the overall picture to see if it reached me in any emotional way.
    You mean this goofball ?
    This photo is from a show at a local bar where I saw The Winery Dogs.
    All three of those guys exceeded expectations.............especially the drummer.
    And yes, when needed, he was a leader and a showman............but the musicianship never suffered. MP has the speed I wish I had but what makes it SO IMPRESSIVE is that the power never fades............he delivers both without effort.............and it mattered not that this kit was one-third the size of his gig with DT.


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  11. #11

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    Another overly simplistic example of a creative rythym was clive burr with " run to the hills" intro. Very easy to do but its a very cool intro and most guys never would of come up with that. Everyone knows that intro, even non musicians.
    Other examples are " the rover" by zeppelin and of course " the groove to " dont stop believing" by journey ( steve smith). Although dont stop believing is a bit complex.
    I guess another important point is the band as a whole making the drummer. Look at guns n roses, steve adler is ok but his style was perfect for guns.
    When you talk about a creative ability to come up with cool/ catchy sounding grooves i think of how so many great musicians also have some artistic ability as far as painting a so forth. Lots of great musicians paint or sculpt. Thats something i never realized.
    Last edited by Lexer; 06-14-2016 at 04:16 PM.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lexer View Post
    I have always felt and continue to feel that what makes guys like Bonham so great is not so much their technical skills but their natural sense of groove and rythym. I know guys that can read and write music blindfolded and have great technical skills. They can also copy almost anything most drummers do.
    However, what they lack is that natural creative ability to come up with those catchy sounding grooves from scratch.
    If you look at some of the 80's metal bands, they were'nt the best musicians but they had that creative ability to come up with creative and catchy sounding songs. I think thats what a lot of guys dont understand, its the natural sense of rythym.
    Even a guitar player. Many guys can play the riff of mean streets by van halen but eddie just has that natural sense of rythym to be able to come up with those cool sounds we all love so much.
    Dont know if what i said makes any sense but that's always been how i felt.
    It makes sense because it's true. A person can be taught how to play drums but they can't be taught natural talent. But that aside if the song as a whole makes me tap along with it then it really doesn't matter to me who or what the drummer is.
    RDM/Damage Poets
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  13. #13

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    It's easy to identify a BAD drummer, but being "good" has unlimited facets. I can find something I like in the playing of almost any drummer. What's interesting is finding out which of their peers famous drummer (or guitar players) admire. Many times, it's not always what or who you would expect.
    -Brian

    "Too many crappy used drum stuff to list"

    Play the SONG......not the DRUMS!!!

    "I think that feeling is a lot more important than technique. It's all very well doing a triple paradiddle - but who's going to know you've done it? If you play technically you sound like everybody else. It's being original that counts." ~ John Bonham

  14. #14

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    Timing

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ricardo View Post
    You mean this goofball ?
    This photo is from a show at a local bar where I saw The Winery Dogs.
    All three of those guys exceeded expectations.............especially the drummer.
    And yes, when needed, he was a leader and a showman............but the musicianship never suffered. MP has the speed I wish I had but what makes it SO IMPRESSIVE is that the power never fades............he delivers both without effort.............and it mattered not that this kit was one-third the size of his gig with DT.


    Sweet picture.. did you take it?

    Yea cant take my eyes off of MP while he is playing because you dont know what crazy thing he will do next.... now that is 'good' to me.
    TAMA HYPERDRIVE BIRCH (rare champagne sparkle finish), TAMA hardware and SABIAN cymbals

  16. #16

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    A drummer might be able to play the notes but can he play music?

  17. #17

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    I was listening to a drummer Q&A and a guy in the audience asked what is the difference between a good drummer and a bad one. The drummer replied saying"the difference between a good drummer and a bad one doesn't exist it's the way the drummer approaches the music". I thought that's interesting so I started thinking like an audition. If I were to play a track with just guitar and bass I believe no 2 drummers will play to the track the same way. Does that mean they're bad drummers? Or good drummers? For example, Steve Smith was talking about don't stop believing. When he came up with the beat he said he could have laid down a simple 4/4 and the record company would have been satisfied . But he wanted to incorporate the toms and the ride bell. Now if I laid down a simple 4/4 to don't stop does that make me a good or bad drummer? Neither it's the way I approached the music.

  18. #18

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    Default Re: What makes a good drummer? Opinions

    Not sucking.

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