DRUMS WEEK 2025: Drums are often unfairly considered to be the poor cousin of the band. Cue the joke, ‘what do you call a person who hangs around with musicians? A drummer!’

But drummers have had the last laugh for quite a number of years. With the advent of drum machines and electronic kits, many sensible beatmakers, took to programming the machines and loops themselves. Why? Because they were the people that understood how patterns and grooves really worked, and that's long before we get into the topic of drum fills.

For 99.9% of all commercial music, the drums represent the core engine of a track. It's the element that drives the song along, and also the element that all musicians will listen to, in order to lock in to a groove.

Think about this logically; it’s the drummer that’s dictating the feel, and everyone else should listen and take note!

It's also important to stress that this sense of compliance is just as important at the DAW level, as it is for live work, but for producers and composers, having a basic understanding of how a drum kit actually works is invaluable to creating better drum parts and grooves.

The core components

Drum kits come in various shapes and sizes, and if we widen this to the world of production, we have many different colours and timbre-ranges for each instrument, along with a considerable number of elements which could be considered percussion instruments.

For our purposes, we’re going to keep things basic, distilling the drum kit down to 3 of its main components; the bass drum, the snare drum, and the hi-hat.

The bass drum (aka the kick) is the large drum which sits on the floor, and is played using a beater, connected to a pedal (usually played with the drummers' right-foot).

The snare drum consists of two drum skins above and below the drum (aka heads), with a set of springs (snares) which are stretched across the bottom drum head, creating that bright ‘rattly’ sound.

These two drums are thought to represent one of the most basic humanistic elements, used to create the rhythm of life! In this context, the kick represents the stamping of feet, while the snare reflects the clapping of hands.

If we bring this up-to-date and place it within the construct of a traditional musical bar of music, we end up with a kick drum on beats 1 & 3, and a snare drum on beats 2 & 4.

Conveying this to a drummer, notes are presented in notation form, through a specific form of drum notation.

Each line and space on a drum score stave, corresponds to a particular drum or drum kit element. Furthermore, drum kit notation uses a mixture of conventional and alternative note-heads.

The kick is written on the bottom space of a drum clef, while the snare drum is notated on the third space up. Importantly, the stems for these notes should go in a downward direction, while also using a conventional note head.

This basic construct is the absolute cornerstone of the vast majority of drum patterns. There are almost too many derivatives to cover in one article, but these can vary from adding further beats and accents, to displacing beats.

Even so, the drums will always be the element that sets up the basic feel and groove of your track, stemming from the kick and snare, in the first instance.

One easy and identifiable derivative of this basic pattern is to add the kick on all four beats of a bar. We could also add additional kick beats, or displace where the kick plays, as you can see in our example.

The third important element of the drum kit, subdivides the kick and snare patterns.

A physical hi-hat is made up of two cymbal-like components, that close together to form a unit. In this closed state, they produce a high and bright sound which is both percussive and relatively short.

Thanks to the use of a pedal system, which is normally operated by the drummers left foot, the two cymbals can be opened slightly, to create a sizzling sound, which is longer and more sustained. These two variations of sound are predictably described as closed and open hi-hat.

In its closed state, the hi-hat can provide a sense of drive and impetus, as it generally tends to play faster rhythms, sitting on top of the kick and snare patterns.

Interestingly, the type of pattern and speed, is often dictated by the style of music.

Similarly, certain styles of music rely heavily on the open hi-hat; it became very popular in the seventies to use an open hi-hat on the off-beats of a drum pattern, for disco and dance-based tracks. This influenced the dance culture of the 90s, and is still a drum staple today.

Switching the hi-hat part from an 1/8th-note pattern to a 1/16th-note pattern, will create quite a different feeling.

At certain points in musical history, it has become fashionable to place accents on certain beats, such as an accent on every third 16th-note, in the late 80s, or the classic funk grooves of the 70s and 90s. (In fact, many of the 70s grooves infiltrated the 90s by way of being sampled!)

Dictating your requirements for a hi-hat on a drum score is not complex, but it is important to be exacting.

Firstly, the hi-hat adopts a position which is just above the top line of the drum stave. In much the same way that the kick and snare note head stems go in a downward direction, the hi-hat stems must go in an upward direction.

This keeps the stems out of the way of each other, making it easier to read. However, it is also vital that when writing a hi-hat part, you use a ‘X’ as a note head.

This instructs the drummer to play the hi-hat, whereas using a conventional note head would indicate playing a tom instead.

By default, it will be taken as read that you want a closed hi-hat, but you can indicate your preference through the addition of ‘+’ and ‘o’ icons, above the note heads themselves.

The ‘+’ sign tells the drummer to play a closed hi-hat, whereas the ‘o’ indicates open, unsurprisingly!

One of the reasons that drummers became so involved in programming drum machines is because they understand the instrument, and it is a pretty safe bet that as they only deal in rhythmic matters, they will be far better placed to advise and help create a worthy groove.

This also extends to drum fills, which are the exciting bit you tend to hear at the end of every 8 or 16 bars, before you head into the next section of your song.

For this reason, it's become commonplace to provide a drummer with a basic score and concept of your requirements, before writing ‘slashes’ on your drum score, which indicates that the drummer should just get on and repeat your idea.

But when it comes the drum fills, just write the word ‘Fill’ above the drum score, where you would like your fill to be placed. In terms of fills, lose the shackles of the score and let your drummer have a little fun before returning to the fixed beat.

DRUMS WEEK 2025: Electronic drum sets offer the best in space-saving convenience, quiet practice and a diverse set of sounds right at our fingertips. But as a famous East Coast rapper probably once concurred, with mo’ features comes the potential for mo’ problems.

If you’ve got a head-scratcher of an issue that’s spoiling your enjoyment of your e-kit, check out our breakdown below where we detail some of the most common causes – and hopefully solutions – to your electronic drum kit problems.

Issue 1: “When I hit a pad, I hear other sounds coming from the module”

This is one of the most common issues with electronic drums, but thankfully it’s very easy to solve. ‘Crosstalk’ occurs when the sensors inside your pads pick up vibrations coming from striking another pad. The fix can be one of a few things. The first thing to check is that all of the pads are physically isolated. The chances are you’ll be able to hear which unwanted sound is triggering by mistake, but take a look around the kit and make sure none of your pads are touching each other. Likewise, vibrations can travel through your rack and mounts and cause other pads to trigger. Double-check that everything is mounted securely and all of the mounting hardware is sound.

If the problem is still occurring, it’s time to get under the hood with some module settings. Many modules have built-in crosstalk elimination controls, which will help the module to determine between an intentional strike and unwanted vibrations. Experiment with different degrees of crosstalk filtering and you should find that the problem goes away. However, depending on your sensitivity settings (see below) for each pad, you might find that one or more of your pads is set to register a strike at very low velocities.

Issue 2: “I have to hit the pads really hard to get a full sound, everything sounds like ghost-notes!”

When playing acoustic drums, we govern how loud a drum or cymbal sounds simply by hitting it harder or softer. The same is true for electronic drums, but our strikes are converted into an electronic scale rather than air pressure. Because of this, an electronic kit is likely to respond differently to any two players. Sometimes that could be subtle, or more extreme, but to combat this effect many modules are equipped with controls to help tailor the response to your playing. The sensitivity control is a great place to start, and can be adjusted to make the pad more or less sensitive to your stick striking the playing surface. You’ll need to dial it in to maintain dynamic response (so that you still get a variation between hard and soft sounds).

As well as the sensitivity setting, many modules are equipped with multiple velocity curve controls for each pad. This setting determines the power required from the player to transition between the softest soft and hardest hits, and can have a big impact on how your kit responds. Common velocity curves include: linear, logarithmic and exponential.

A Linear curve gives an even scale from the lightest to hardest strike, and is a typical ‘universal’ starting point. Logarithmic velocity curves tend to lend themselves to softer hits, requiring less effort to create a higher velocity strike. Conversely, an exponential velocity curve sees the jump from soft to harder strikes jump steeply. The result of this is that soft and medium-level hits are easily achievable, while the maximum-volume sounds will require more effort. An exponential curve is great if you’re a hard hitter and find yourself constantly triggering your pads at maximum velocity.

Issue 3: “Everything keeps moving!”

There’s nothing more frustrating than hitting a pad and watching it rotate with every strike. To fix this, give all of the fastened parts of your electronic drum kit a good check. Be careful not to overtighten things - you don’t want to break any of the mounting hardware, but it should be firmly secured. Some rack clamps include a finger-fastened bolt, as well as fixings that will require tightening with a drum key. If you’re setting up your kit for the first time, it’s worth spending a few minutes making sure that the frame is securely fastened. This includes checking that all of the supporting legs and crossbars are flat, even and level, and that the clamps are fixed in place with enough grip that they won’t rotate or slip when you’re ready to start hitting the pads.

The same applies if your kit has recently been moved, or has simply been left set up for a while without being checked. Get the frame solid at this point, and it’ll make your playing experience much more enjoyable.

Issue 4: “I’m not getting any sound from one of my pads!”

The first thing to check are your connections - your drum pad will most likely only have one socket for connecting to your module, so first, make sure that the cable is plugged into the pad properly. Still not working? Try swapping the jack from a pad that is to test it (be aware, the pad that you’re testing will now create the sound from the pad you’ve borrowed the cable from). If you hear sound, then you probably have a broken cable.

Some kits use individual jack cables to connect the pads to the kit. In this case, you can buy a new trigger cable and your pad will be back up and running. If your kit uses a cable loom or ‘snake’, the good news is that it’s replaceable, but the bad news is that you’ll have to replace the whole cable loom (these are available as replacement parts).

Alternatively, if you’re handy with a soldering iron, it’s possible to locate the break-point, cut the cable and attach a new one. We’d only suggest the latter if you (or someone you know) are confident in basic soldering, otherwise you risk damaging the other cables in the loom.

If testing the pad with a known-working cable doesn’t help, then unfortunately the pad itself might have developed a fault which requires repair, or worse, complete replacement. In this instance, it’s best to contact your kit’s manufacturer.

Issue 5: “My pedals are slipping around on the floor”

This is a common problem with electronic and acoustic drums, but when it comes to e-kits, the solution will depend on the type of hi-hat controller and bass drum pad you’re using. With an acoustic-style hi-hat stand, you should have rubber feet which are designed to grip the floor surface. While a hi-hat controller pedal will most likely be equipped with some short spikes to help it stay put. The same goes for your bass drum tower or shell. If you’re playing the kit on a hard floor, we’d advise placing your kit (or at least the pedals) on a rug, this way you won’t ruin your flooring. You can extend the spikes by turning the thumbscrew if you require a little more grip, just be careful not to go through the rug into your hard flooring, and remember that the spikes are there if you need to move the pedals. They’re unlikely to do major damage, but are often sharp enough to hurt and possibly draw blood if you grip them with your hand!

Issue 6: “My housemates complain about the noise, even though I’m wearing headphones!”

Noise is perhaps the drummer’s worst enemy, and while this might come as a surprise, hitting things with sticks and stomping on pedals is inevitably going to result in making noise.

Electronic drums go a long way to improve this, particularly if your kit is equipped with mesh-headed pads, but even then, you run the risk of annoying those around you by hitting pads hundreds of times just to play along with a song.

All is not lost, though. The first thing to work out is exactly what the problem is. If it’s simply that you’re playing at a time of day that causes irritation to your friends, family or even neighbours, a simple, cost-free solution could be to work out a better schedule.

If that’s not possible, though, there are a number of solutions. With the actual drum sounds confined to your headphones, it’s unlikely that it’s the sound you’re listening to is the problem. Rather, the airborne sound of your sticks hitting the pad, or the vibrations being transferred from your bass drum and hi-hat pedals and the kit’s rack are the culprit.

Airborne pad sounds tend not to travel too far, but can be reduced by using rubber stick tips, or possibly even dowel-style sticks to reduce the noise.

Vibration transfer is a slightly larger problem, particularly if you’re playing in an upstairs room. A popular DIY solution to killing the thud from your pads is to place your kit on a ‘tennis ball platform’. This requires building two platforms from wood, with tennis balls sandwiched between them to stop the vibrations reaching the floor.

If you’d prefer a pre-made solution, products such as Roland’s Noise Eater range are designed to absorb the vibrations from your stand and pedals, while its KDB-200 and KDB Quiet beaters can be fitted to any bass drum pedal, providing a reduction in impact noise.

Issue 7: “My pad has two zones, but I want different types of sounds on each, how do I do it?”

With a dual-zone pad, you’ll have a head and rim zone. These are completely separate, but share the same output, using a TRS (stereo) connection. Just because the pad is one physical unit, though, doesn’t mean you have to treat it as one.

Now, in the context of an acoustic-style drum kit preset, these zones are usually assigned within the module to give appropriate corresponding sounds. So, if it’s your snare drum pad, you’ll get a centre hit of the snare drum on the head zone, with a rimshot assigned to the rim zone. But, you might want (for example), a snare drum on the head zone and a hand clap on the rim. This is easily done, and it’s a case of telling the module which sound to play on each zone. Hit the zone you want to assign, then scroll through your module’s instrument list until you find the correct one. On Roland kits, you might need to unlink the Head and Rim - this feature is designed to pair different articulations of the same instrument to all zones on a pad, but in this case we want them to be treated like two individual single-zone triggers.

Issue 8: “How do I connect my electronic drum kit to a computer?”

First, it’s important to understand that there are two types of ‘recording’ when it comes to hooking your electronic drums up to a computer: Audio and MIDI. Audio is the recording of the sound that you play and hear in your headphones, while MIDI is captured as data which can be used to play back sounds from other equipment or software.

Depending on your kit’s module, you’ll either have a built-in interface (in the form of a USB connection) that can transmit and receive audio signals as well as MIDI, MIDI-only (over USB), or MIDI sent and received via traditional five-pin DIN sockets.

The first example means that you can take the correct USB cable, plug it into your module and connect the other end to your computer. From here, your kit will be recognised by DAW software such as GarageBand, Logic, Cubase, Ableton Live etc. as an audio and MIDI device. You’ll be able to send the sound of your kit into the software for recording, while also hearing any other tracks recorded in the software in your headphones while you play.

A MIDI interface built into your module will allow the transmission and receiving of MIDI data, so, you can play your kit, and the software will recognise the notes you’re playing along with controller data (for example, from your hi-hat pedal). MIDI is not sound, it’s a stream of instructions for MIDI-equipped musical instruments. So, instead of recording your playing as an audio sample, the software will use the MIDI information to play a plugin instrument, or back to your kit’s module. From here, the instrument receiving the MIDI data will interpret it, and trigger the corresponding sounds, which you will then hear in your headphones. This is how drummers are able to play impressive sampled sound libraries such as Toontrack Superior Drummer and BFD from affordable electronic drum sets.

If your kit is a bit older, it may not have a USB connection, and instead, MIDI will be provided via MIDI in/output sockets. In this case, you can still connect your kit to a computer, but you’ll need a little help from a third-party Audio/MIDI interface (we’d suggest looking for one that does both). This will allow you to record your sound straight out of your module’s audio outputs, while also giving you the facility for capturing MIDI if you want to play and record your performance as data for use with software sound libraries.

Issue 9: “How do I add more pads to my kit?”

Expanding your electronic kit is easier than you might think - in some cases, such as many Alesis electronic drum sets, the kit is shipped with a cable snake, which provides connections for all the included pads. But, a quick look at the back of the module will reveal additional sockets for adding extra pads. In these instances, it’s as simple as looking at your module, and hunting down the corresponding pad to connect. Alesis makes an all-in-one solution for its Nitro Max, which includes an additional tom and cymbal pad as well as the cables and mounting hardware you’ll need to add it into the kit.

A key point when it comes to adding pads to your kit (regardless of the brand) is the number of additional trigger inputs your module has, and how many zones they offer. It’s also a good idea to check the manual for your module (these are usually available on the manufacturer’s website) to confirm which pads are compatible with your module. In the case of digital pad-equipped Roland modules, it’s important to realise that any digital trigger you have connected to the module overrides the corresponding analogue trigger input. So, if you have Roland’s fantastic PD-140DS digital snare pad, you won’t be able to add another pad connected to the analogue connection labelled ‘snare’.

Issue 10: “How can I jam to music from Spotify with my electronic drum set?”

We should point out that this tip isn’t just for Spotify - it will work with any sound that your playback device is capable of generating. If your module has Bluetooth, you can hook it up wirelessly to a phone, tablet, computer or any other Bluetooth audio player. The method for this will be different depending on your module, but usually you can begin pairing the module to your device via a Bluetooth button, or if not, switching Bluetooth on in the module’s setting.

Next, you’ll need to go into your playback device’s Bluetooth menu and allow the connection. Once it’s setup, you should hear the music in your headphones which are connected to the drum module.

If you don’t have Bluetooth, there’s every chance that your module has an auxiliary input. These normally use a 3.5mm mini-jack connection, so you’ll need to buy a cable.

Look for a stereo connection. Assuming you’re plugging it into a phone, tablet or headphone output from your laptop then you’ll want a stereo mini-jack cable. Remember that little adapter that came with your phone? You’ll need that, as most phones don’t have a dedicated headphone output, and instead can send audio through the charging port. For hifi’s or CD players, check your output options - it might be that you need an RCA (phono) to mini-jack cable.

DRUMS WEEK 2025: One of the greatest things about getting your first drum beats and fills down is being able to play with other musicians, or even simply jamming with recordings of your favourite songs.

Listening to the way drum parts are crafted in context with the other instruments in a band setup is a core skill for any drummer, and not only is it a lot more fun than drilling exercises (although you should do that too), it’s also an excellent way of developing strength, stamina, timing and more without even realising you’re doing it!

There are many iconic drum anthems out there, and we’d certainly encourage you to push yourself to try and learn things that are currently just beyond your ability level.

But if you’ve recently picked up the sticks and are looking for some relief from having a metronome as your sole musical partner, you might want to start somewhere a bit simpler.

Below, we’ve picked out a number of well known songs featuring drum parts that are within reach of those who are just getting started. By learning these, you’ll get a good grounding in playing across multiple styles, and best of all you’ll do it within a musical context.

We’ve explained how to play the songs, included accurate lesson videos for each track, plus the drumless backing track so you can play along. Happy jamming!

4 key skills you’ll need to play these songs

Timing

We can’t stress this enough - if you aren’t already, you should be practicing with a metronome whenever you sit at the kit; whether that’s a standalone metronome, an app, or click built-in to your e-kit module. Many of the songs we’ve selected below were recorded in the pre-click era, but if you’ve already spent time playing with a metronome, it will have helped develop your inner clock. This translates to a more confident approach when playing along with recordings or other musicians without a metronome.

Limb coordination

“I’d love to learn the drums, but I don’t have the coordination. I can’t even rub my belly and pat my head!”. Those words have been the roadblock to countless would-be drummers taking up the best instrument of all, and they’re simply not true. Some people may possess a better level of coordination between their limbs than others, but coordination is also learned, rather than gifted.

With a bit of focus on the individual components of a drum beat, some practice and building the part up - one limb at a time if necessary - you’ll be playing along to your favourite songs in no time. Yes, it can be tricky at times, but the reward is in the jam!

Understanding note sub-divisions

In order to play the songs below (or any drum pattern, for that matter), you’ll need to understand the difference between different note values. These songs are all in 4/4, which means each bar contains four quarter note pulses. An eighth note is half as long as a quarter note, which means you’ll play two even eighth notes to every quarter note pulse. Some of the songs feature partial or groups of sixteenth notes, meaning you’ll play four even sixteenth notes to every beat.

Basic rudiments

For the most part, the songs we’ve chosen are made up of simple eighth-note grooves, and the fills contained within them are based around eighth or sixteenth-note rolls played as single strokes [RLRL]. However, getting to grips with single-stroke rolls, double-stroke rolls and paradiddles is an essential part of the first steps in drumming. They’ll help you to develop your understanding of sub-divisions, build your hand and finger technique, and give you a more versatile vocabulary when playing parts around the kit.

Best beginner drumming songs

1. AC/DC - Highway to Hell

“Play eighth notes on the hi-hat, kick on one and three, snare on two and four and you’re playing AC/DC”. That’s the story of many, many drummers’ first drum lesson. While Phil Rudd might well have applied the same beat to lots of AC/DC songs, he’s hit on a winning, mid-tempo formula that makes his parts a lot of fun to play. Highway to Hell is essentially this (with some additional bass drum notes here and there), but the magic is in the groove and feel.

Simple as it might be, there are still some dynamics to look out for - keep the hi-hats closed, but with a hint of slosh for the verses. There’s a stop and fill coming into the second verse, some simple stabs before the guitar solo and a delicious pause in the final verse. Don’t forget the crashes that outline the chord changes in the choruses!

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

2. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

Billie Jean once again shows us that simple doesn’t need to mean boring. Yes, it’s kick on beats one and three, snare on beats two and four with the hi-hat playing eighth notes, but here it’s played with a much tighter, funkier feel, almost like a drum machine. Talking of drum machines, there are some additional electronic/percussion sounds played over Leon ‘Ndugu’ Chancler’s drum beat, most notably in the chorus. To play the overdubbed toms will require whipping your hi-hat hand over to the floor tom, or playing the extra hit on the rack tom with your snare hand while your other hand plays the backbeat on the snare. Work up to this, though, and get the main groove down first.

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

3. Nirvana - Come As You Are

Dave Grohl has spoken multiple times about how Kurt Cobain’s ethos was to make Nirvana’s music as simple as possible, comparing the strong sense of melody and rhythmic simplicity to nursery rhymes.

Come As You Are typifies this approach - the bass drum pattern largely follows the guitar riff while you keep time on the ride, making this an intuitive song to learn when you’re just starting out.

Grohl rides on the crashes during the choruses, which also include some straightforward 16th-note single-stroke rolls on the snare drum, ending with 16th notes split between the rack tom and bass drum.

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

4. Queen - We Will Rock You

The iconic ‘Dum-Dum-Bat, Dum-Dum-Bat’ from Queen’s We Will Rock You is a drum hook in its most primal form. So primal, in fact that on the recording, the intro wasn’t even played on a drum kit (instead, the band recorded themselves stomping and clapping in the studio).

When it comes to the stadium, though, Roger Taylor plays it on the kit. Play the bass drum, lowest rack tom and floor tom for the first two eighth notes, then hit the snare on beat two with a flam and repeat to complete the bar. The brilliant thing about We Will Rock You is that anyone can do it, so if your cohabiters complain about the noise, just ask them to join in and pretend you’re at Wembley!

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

5. Metallica - Enter Sandman 

Metal and ‘easy drumming’ don’t tend to go hand in hand. But on Metallica’s biggest hit there are no double-time thrash freak outs, no double-pedal flurries and no odd time signatures to contend with. In fact, Lars took the AC/DC, less-is-more approach, proving that great songs can still sound heavy with a well-executed but relatively easy drum part, and barely moves beyond eighth notes throughout. Instead, the interest lies in the arrangement with the pounding toms, pushed crashes at the turnaround of each riff cycle and breakdown in the middle.

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

6. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama

There are a few inevitabilities in drumming - you will drop your sticks, you’ll probably break a drumhead at some point, and if you’re intending on jamming with other musicians one day, you’ll end up playing Sweet Home Alabama.

Bob Burns’ groove on the Lynyrd Skynard country-rock anthem is addictive, and while it’s a bit beyond Lesson One, it’s still very much achievable early on. The most difficult part is the addition of a sixteenth note bass drum pattern, but don’t let that intimidate you. Sweet Home Alabama also gives you the opportunity to practice playing a cross-stick on the backbeat, and integrating open hi-hats into your playing - master it and you’ll also have the makings of Aerosmith’s Walk This Way.

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

7. Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars)

As with many of the songs on this list, Uptown Funk has become a modern classic that’s likely to feature on most weekend setlists, but even if you’re not gigging, this groove will give you a grounding in playing simple disco/funk beats. The bass drum plays four-on-the-floor (every quarter note) and once again the snare sticks largely to beats 2 and 4. The eighth-note hi-hat part is simple too, with plenty of lifts to keep it interesting. What’s most important, though, is keeping watch for the various pauses and variations to the beat, as well as the 16th-note stabs which align with the brass section.

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

8. Stereophonics - Dakota

Every now and then a song comes along that dominates the airwaves so unanimously that it becomes an evergreen covers band classic. Dakota is one such song, and the good news is that you should be able to start playing this early on. The easy bass drum pattern mirrors We Will Rock You, but at a much higher tempo. It’s loop-like in its discipline, breaking only for the snare fill on beats ‘3-and’ and four every eight bars. When it gets to the chorus, the bass drum pattern remains largely the same, but the snare now plays on every quarter note while you keep time on the crash cymbal. Get these parts down and you’ll have the whole song nailed in no time.

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

9. Rolling Stones - I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction)

The story goes that Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards wrote the riff to (Satisfaction) in his sleep, and Charlie Watts’ classic soul/RnB beat is almost easy enough for you to learn it in the same state. You’ll be able to tap your way through the entire song by simply playing quarter notes on the kick and snare, and filling in the gaps with eighth notes on the hi-hats. Keef might be The Human Riff, but here, Charlie’s rivalling Ringo’s reputation as The Human Metronome, and it’s one that requires discipline and a bit of stamina. Once you’ve mastered it, you could consider adding the quarter-note ‘3-&-4’ tambourine parts if you want to make it more interesting.

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

10. The Beatles - Twist and Shout

“Ringo? But he’s not even the best drummer in The Be…” Silence! On your first listen, Twist and Shout might appear to be a classic, easy “dum-cha-cha, dum-cha” ’60s beat. But ironically, Ringo’s part is one of the busiest on this list, with plenty of sixteenth-note fills in there to get your teeth into, as well as the full-band accented parts. Watch out for the build-ups too, which switch between four bars in the intro, and a slightly less natural-feeling six bars during the middle section. Of course, there’s also Ringo’s distinctive ending, played as eighth-note triplets.

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Drumless version

11. The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

Nothing starts an argument faster than questioning Meg White’s drumming abilities. But the debate is moot when you consider Seven Nation Army’s perfectly-orchestrated drum part. Pounding-out quarter notes on the floor tom and bass drum is all that’s required during the verse. The chorus moves to keeping time on the crash cymbal, while every third bar features an additional bass drum note and displaced backbeat, following the syllabic rhythm of the guitar riff. Haters may well hate, but Meg White’s part fits perfectly, and adding the left foot (right foot if you’re left-handed) hi-hat throughout adds an extra layer to this play-it-anywhere belter.

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

12. Amy Winehouse - Valerie

Producer Mark Ronson enlisted New York soul revivalists, The Dap Kings as the backing band for Amy Winehouse’s version of The Zutons’ Valerie. The groove is an up-tempo take on the original’s plodding half-time feel, with drummer Homer Steinweiss employing a swinging, soulful skip against the Bo Diddly/3-2 clave of the bass. The main priority here is to keep the tempo constant, even during the rests and drop-outs. Get the groove down and you’ll have unlocked the feel for many-a pop song.

Watch the lesson
Drumless version

13. Earth, Wind & Fire - September

Earth Wind & Fire’s September is a disco classic, and as such features the classic four-to-the-floor beat. Before that though, we’re back in Billie Jean/AC/DC territory as the band kicks in. Once the verse starts, you can add the bass drum on beats 2 and 4. The key here is to keep the groove going, and that’s reflected in the fills. Most notable is the flammed snare that occurs halfway through the verses, plus the stabs on ‘3-&-4’ leading into the choruses. Fred White plays variations on the latter throughout, but the first time, it’s played in unison with the rest of the band.

Drumless version

Related content

• Best online drum lessons: tuition platforms for new to advanced drummers
• Best drum practice pads: sharpen your chops with our pick of pads

What is it?

After 30 years of success crafting both acoustic and electronic drums, Millenium Drums has released its first educational book, aimed to cater for absolute beginners and more advanced students alike. Written by Nuremberg-based session drummer Peter Söltl, the book is available in both English and German languages.

As Millenium is one of Thomann’s many in-house brands, Legendary Drumbook is available exclusively through its online store for £18.90 (at the time of writing).

Content

Chapter one

The Basics starts with an in-depth comparison of e-drums vs acoustic drums – weighing up pros and cons in regard to feel, size, volume and other important considerations. There are then step-by-step walkthroughs (with loads of images) on how to set up acoustic and electronic kits. The chapter also covers tuning, choosing the right sticks and headphones, posture, hand technique, foot technique and practice tips.

Chapter two

First Steps, is split into two age-dependent options. For under 13s, there is a stripped back and colourfully illustrated lesson which works though building basic co-ordination and grooves through a simplified image-based notation system (a paw for hi-hat, heart for snare drum etc). These pages are recommended for 6-12 years, while the alternative First Steps section is for older kids and adults. Despite this more grown-up portion working through a more typical notation standard, the patterns themselves are actually exactly the same.

This is a well-thought-out feature of the book which should make mastering the basics a little less daunting, and more fun for very young students (my five-year-old daughter certainly appreciated some of the drumming cats artwork).

In-depth content

Once the basics are covered, the book goes on to cover a massive amount of content including tons of grooves, fills and specific styles including blues, reggae, swing and Latin. Each exercise in the book is accompanied by a QR code which when scanned will open audio examples or video demonstrations.

Verdict

Legendary Drumbook does a remarkably good job of balancing the almost impossible task of pitching a book at such a broad ability range.

It does seem somewhat peculiar to conceive a book that introduces basics like ‘how to sit at a kit’ or ‘how to hold a stick’ (not forgetting the kids section littered with pictures of cats), yet also covers advanced concepts such as half-time shuffles, samba co-ordination and permutation studies. Needless to say, these are worlds apart.

Some might consider this to be a little too much to pack into one book, whereas others will consider it good value for money. Whichever side of this particular fence you fall, it’s worth considering that for the average student, this book represents at least a decade of dedicated practice.

The book is well presented and incredibly in-depth. There are detailed explanations of every concept plus additional notes with key terms throughout. It starts at a leisurely pace through the beginner parts and then ramps up in difficulty level fairly quickly when 16th notes are introduced.

The media content is also well organised and will undoubtedly be extremely useful in helping bring the pages to life. On that note, we thought that the video accompaniment for the kids' section could have matched the playful tone of the book more closely.

Hands-on demos

Millenium Drums

Alternatives

Specifications

Once again the tuition masters at Drumeo have been able to pull the strings and secure some prime time with one of the drum world’s biggest names.

Now, making his return to the Drumeo studio stoll is Chad Smith who’s chosen beat for his next installment is none other than the deceptively simple boom-bap of Wu-Tang Clan’s Wu-Tang Ain’t Nutin To F’wit.

An obscure choice for the man in the Red Hot Chili Peppers hot seat? Not at all. Smith, of course, has form with the track having being the provider of its distinctive beat on a 2000 cover version featuring members of the Clan themselves, alongside Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello. The track was released on the Loud Rocks rap/rock crossover compilation.

And, given his performance on video for Drumeo, it’s safe to say that it’s a track that still lives large in Smith’s affections.

And if you were wondering how come Smith’s enthusiasm never fades and he never looks any older, eagle-eyed Drumeo watchers will note that Smith is wearing the same Judas Priest T-shirt and And Los Angeles Lakers 59/50 hat (with the sticker still on the peak) from a year earlier, when he appeared on his famously magical previous session playing along to The Kill (Bury Me) by 30 Seconds To Mars, a track that he’s never heard prior to the session.

“It’s some kind of emo thing… I don’t know what the f__k it is. I feel violated…” he commented before giving the track his brilliant fresh slant in a video that’s been watched over 23 million times.

Perhaps Smith’s Wu Tang take was recorded on the same day and Drumeo has sat on it until now? Or perhaps he just loves that shirt and hat a little more than he should too?

His Wu-Tang rework is a splashy, crashy affair, shuffling the boom-bap beat and tossing in insane cymbalwork and hi-hat skills and more than a little stick twirling, before winding up with a slick low-impact fake fade out.

When it comes to rock rap, Smith has got this beat down.

Be sure to check out Drumeo for more drum mastery.

Mike Portnoy is, of course, one of the world’s greatest drummers so having him play on your track would, of course, be a huge deal. Unless, of course, you’re Taylor Swift, an artist that the technically dazzling sticksman has no knowledge or appreciation of.

Nevertheless that’s the intriguing premise for a new video from drum tuition master Drumeo, which invited Portnoy to show his worth on one of Swift’s most famous tracks.

Portnoy appears in the studio with Brandon Toews, Drumeo’s content director, in the control room. Keen to allow Dream Theater’s backbone to flex his creative muscle, Toews plays the legend the lead vocal and BVs of Swift’s Shake It Off, the lead single from the star’s multi-platinum 1989 album.

However, things do not go as planned and Toews is - doubtless along with anyone watching - surprised to find that Portnoy is completely nonplussed by what he’s listening to.

Portnoy's Complaint…

“I don’t know this,” confesses Portnoy. “You don’t… You don’t know this?” stammers a disbelieving Toews, before Portnoy, like a guest in an altogether hairier episode of ‘Kids React To…’ begins to interpret what he’s hearing in an unusual and entertaining way…

And it’s pure gold.

After analysing the track for mere moments Portnoy’s keen ear and mind pick out its rhythm and he begins enthusiastically jamming along with a breakneck calypso shuffle beat that, while the perfect accompaniment to the song, is pretty much as far from what anyone familiar with Swift’s track could possibly have ever imagined.

Fortunately, Portnoy quickly gets further into the groove and, via trademark cymbal and tom work, injects the track with a frenetic new feel that’s all his own. Repeatedly tempted by shuffling sidesticking, Portnoy steps through all his gears, magically sensing the song’s chorus and heralding its arrival with a prog rock tom flourish that’s as brilliant as it is inappropriate.

Best of all, both he and Toews (and laughing engineer in the background) are all smiles throughout, and clearly having a blast - especially in the track’s breakdown when Swift announces the arrival of “this… sick… beat…” and Dream Theater’s sticksman instead uncages a sidestick paradiddle with all the power of George Formby’s washboard.

Picking out time signatures that untrained brains would never have spotted and even dialling in a half-time dubstep groove at one point, he brings the track to a crashing conclusion with a single plaintive tap of a tiny china cymbal.

“What the hell was that?” questions Portnoy, again stressing his non compliance. “Mike, you actually don’t know what that was?” reaffirms a baffled Toews. “Sounds like something out of Disneyland in Japan,” confirms Portnoy.

“Is that something that’s popular?” probes Portnoy.

“That song has 3.3 billion views,” informs Toews. Ouch.

Fortunately, later takes are much improved. While still injecting embellishment where no-one expects or wants it, Portnoy plays a blinder, even keeping time through the track’s ‘sick beat’ “talking solo”, inexplicably emerging perfectly on time on the other side. But by now the game is up.

“Who is it? What is it?” demands Portnoy.

“That’s Taylor Swift,” informs Toews.

“Oh. My. God. Only the biggest artist on earth!” exclaims Portnoy… “Taylor, I’m really sorry. I would play with you in a heartbeat and I swear I wouldn’t do that… My daughter is going to get a kick out of this. I’m sorry I ruined your song!”

Interestingly while Portnoy has no knowledge of Swift’s biggest global breakthrough hit he IS aware of Toni Basil’s breakout smash Mickey from 1981, a song which, rhythmically at least, Shake It Off owes more than a nod to. Portnoy sings Basil’s classic when finally confronted with Swift’s track in full.

We wonder if Portnoy is familiar with Oukast’s Hey Ya or Mariah Carey’s Oh Santa, both of which he could similarly ruthlessly improve with the same double kick drum embellishments?

Most wonderful of all is the fact that Portnoy himself comes across as an affable, self-deprecating and obviously highly-skilled and genius drummer throughout and is clearly playing up to his role as “a prog metal guy playing odd time signatures”.

“I prefer the Mike Portnoy version,” compliments Toews at the session's conclusion. We’re not sure we feel the same way but next time Portnoy is on the channel we’ll be there with the popcorn.

Talk to any rhythm section player from a band, and they might start to use a number of adjectives to describe a performance. One word that often enters the musical vernacular is ‘groove’, but what is it, and how do you get some?

The truth is, in its most desirable form, groove is an incredibly complex business, and one that takes many years of instrumental practice and listening to past-masters.

As with so many aspects of commercial music, much of this extends outwardly from the drum kit, or if working in the realms production, your drum and percussion tracks.

It is the drums that you should be listening to when comp’ing instruments over the top; beginning with the bass, guitar, and keyboards, and extending to peripheral elements such as additional keyboards, a horn section, or even a vocal (and especially backing vocals!)

We can at least try to reduce groove to a lowest common denominator, and that’s ‘note displacement!’

The degree of displacement is informed by the style of music that you are playing. Music that is influenced by styles such as Latin or funk, use subtle and small degrees of displacement, but if you are playing a full on blues shuffle or a form of swung jazz, the displacement will be greater. But which notes do we displace?

This is fairly consistent. In music theory, we often talk about duplets, which is a pairing of small notes, such as a pair of quavers or semi-quavers (8th notes or 16th notes).

Regardless of which note value we are referring to, we leave the first note of each duplet on the beat, where it would normally be.

Then, we play the second beat, making the note subtly later, while ensuring that when we come around to the next duplet, we play the first note in the pairing, on time.

If we take a genre such as funk, you only have to listen to how to a master musician, such as guitarist Nile Rodgers, operates. His riff on Daft Punk's Get Lucky is a classic example of a funk riff, where the second of each 16th-note duplet is slightly delayed.

That's the displacement in action, but there is a little bit more to it than that! (There would be, wouldn’t there!)

You might also note that there is a complexity to the playing, where sometimes the chords are muted across the strings, whereas other times, there is a degree of accent.

Placing an accent on certain offbeat notes, such as the displaced note in a duplet, will also add to the groove and feel, although you may want to use this sparingly.

If you are an electronic musician, who works solely within a DAW, you may have noticed that within the quantise section of your software, there are levels of quantise that are described as 'swing', often with reference to either 8th notes or 16th notes.

If you try these, all your DAW is doing is delaying the second note of a pair of duplets, exactly as we have described here.

You can often apply a heavier degree of swing, which merely delays the second note even further. Take it too far, and it’ll be far too heavy, but keep it subtle, and it could make your track groove.

Groove is a very difficult thing to quantify, especially when dealing with a DAW, because it is subtle and complex and also organic and human.

But armed with a basic knowledge, you can at least set off in the right direction. Everybody needs a little bit of groove in their heart, right?

RECORDING WEEK 2024: Recording our drums has never been more accessible, at least when it comes to getting our hands on great drum sets, drum mics, and audio interfaces for the job. But as you might have found out, the gear is only part of the equation: what you do with it is the important bit.

artofdrumming.com has been busy producing tutorials on how to recreate some of the most iconic recorded drum sounds - from The Beatles and Toto to Metallica, Nirvana, Blink 182, and more - and the results are Very Good Indeed.

What’s more, the focus here isn’t on sample replacement or augmenting. The videos cover shell sizes, head choice, tuning and muffling, as well as an overview of the types of mics and placement to recreate the sound.

Here are a few examples from ArtOfDrumming’s YouTube channel. Like what you hear? Check out more by visiting the channel and subscribing.

Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight

Phil’s evergreen air-drumming anthem is like a boomerang that we don’t ever want to stop coming back. It had a resurgence last year, but as well as that unmistakeable fill and tom-laden beat, the track is the perfect example of an iconic drum sound, one that Phil helped invent and would go on to change the sound of recorded drums forever.

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

Much has been written about Dave Grohl’s drum sound on the album that made Nirvana the biggest band in the world, including Grohl’s recent admission that he took inspiration from disco with his drum parts on Nevermind.

Sound-wise, there’s the Tama Bell Brass ‘Terminator’ snare, massive rack toms, bass drum tunnel and mixer, Andy Wallace’s apparent use of ambience samples to beef-up the body of the kit. Here, we learn at least two valuable lessons: you don’t need a crazy-expensive cast snare drum to get close to the sound, and, if you have a decent room, you won’t need the samples either.

Metallica - Enter Sandman

Metallica fans might have scoffed at the band’s stylistic left-turn for the Black Album, but thrash or not, there’s no denying that the drum sound is anything short of incredible.

The slower tempos gave space for the thundering drums, which are now unmistakeable for their sharp attack and deep sustain. As demonstrated here, if you can’t afford to decamp for a few months months in an LA studio with Bob Rock, there’s still hope for an almighty drum recoding!

Toto - Rosanna

We know, you’re already tapping out that halftime shuffle on your knees at the mere mention of one of Jeff Porcaro’s finest grooves. But, as well as the perfectly-placed subdivisions and smoothly executed ghosted snare notes, the magic of Rosanna lies in the pristinely recorded drum sound.

With a busy groove, tuning and muffling is everything, and in this video you’ll discover how to get the pitch, attack and sustain just right so that all you have to concentrate on is placing those notes as impeccably as Jeff.

The Beatles - I Wanna Hold Your Hand/Come Together

Like all things Beatles, Ringo’s sound evolved quickly. In this video, ArtOfDrumming shows the contrast in the open, natural sounds captured on I Want To Hold Your Hand, as well as the more experimental, heavily-dampened and close-mic’d sounds from Come Together. Spoiler: you’re going to need some tea towels.

Blink 182 - All The Small Things

Travis Barker took somewhere around eight hours to record his drum parts for Blink 182’s commercial breakthrough, Enema of the State. Not bad for a day at the office considering it almost instantly cemented his place as not only one of the most exciting drummers in punk, but would lay the foundation for him becoming one of the most influential drummers of the last two decades.

Here we find out how to cop some of Travis’s sounds from Enema…and how his seemingly extreme cymbal/tom placement actually helps create part of the sound in the studio.

• Get more recording stories and features at Recording Week 2024 here!

Melodics has announced the launch of its all-new Acoustic Drums program, which brings the popular interactive drum lesson software to the widest audience ever.

Until now, Melodics has focussed on teaching people to play the drums via electronic drum sets and electronic drum pads, but with its Acoustic Drums course, Melodics is now available to drummers on all kits.

In a statement released by Melodics, the brand describes its new Acoustic Drums course as the “first of its kind” which “combines a mix of high-quality guided lessons, practice exercises, play-along songs and real-time feedback to help aspiring percussionists begin their journey towards playing drums.”

Melodics Acoustic Drums allows users to calibrate each part of their kit to the software, and from here, Melodics will provide “instantaneous” feedback on your progress with timing, technique and all-round drumming abilities via machine learning and Melodics’ advanced sound detection technology.

As well as the built-in lessons, curriculum, and the ability for users to choose their own preferred learning path, Melodics also contains a number of songs for you to jam along with.

 "We are thrilled to extend our renowned e-drums experience to acoustic drums for beginners," said Sam Gribben, CEO of Melodics. "Learning to play the drums can be challenging, and our goal is to make it accessible and enjoyable for everyone. With our app, beginners can learn at their own pace, practice anytime, and receive instant feedback to help them grow as musicians."

Melodics Acoustic Drums is available now via the Melodics app for Mac, PC, iOS and Android. Subscriptions start at £8.33/$10.99 for  the Standard plan or £10.99/$14.99 for Melodics Premium. 

Monthly and Annual billing plans are available, to find out more or start a free trial, visite the Melodics website.

Have you ever attempted to learn a song and wished that you could hear the drum part more clearly? Perhaps you want to jam with music or record your own drum cover without the original drum part masking your playing? 

Well, what used to be a Back to the Future-style pub conversation that started with, 'Imagine if…" is now a pretty high-quality reality.  We may not have hoverboards (yet), but in 2023 it’s possible to deconstruct pre-recorded, stereo mixes into individual isolated tracks, and what’s more, it doesn't have to cost you anything.

How does it work?

You’ve probably become very aware of AI over the last couple of years, but as well as threatening our jobs and writing our music for us before it inevitably overpowers the human race, for now AI can also be employed in a more useful way.

That’s exactly what makes this possible. While making The Beatles’ Get Back documentary, Peter Jackson and Giles Martin used custom AI software to ‘de-mix’ the original master recordings, but for those of us who don’t have access to Hollywood budgets, all is definitely not lost. 

Of course, there are plenty of places to find songs with the drums removed or isolated (as with the two examples shown here from YouTube). But what if you want to do it for yourself, or can't find the song you're looking for?

There are plenty of AI software tools that can deconstruct an audio file and split it into stems -  Moises, LALAL.AI, Bandlab Splitter, Voice.AI and more. For this tutorial, we’ll be using Moises which has been around for a few years, is easy to use and works on your PC/Mac, iOS or Android device. Crucially, Moises offers a free plan and can deconstruct a song, display the chords, transpose the audio and more.

Without paying, you simply sign up and you’ll be able to upload five songs per month. Moises will split each stereo file into a two-stem (vocals and instrumental) or four-stem (vocals, guitar, bass and drums) file for you to re-mix. 

If you want to upload more files, split files into a greater number of stems, add more comprehensive smart metronome functionality or download your separated tracks as .wavs rather than .mp3 files then you can take out a paid-for plan.

Before we get started, there are a few caveats: you’ll need to own the stereo file. Moises can import audio from your music library, phone, computer or cloud storage locations, but it isn’t compatible with streaming services. So, you can’t just point it towards your streamed Spotify or YouTube playlists. It’s also worth noting that the free plan is limited to five-minute tracks (increasing to 20 once you start paying.)

How to create drumless jam tracks or isolated drum tracks of your favourite songs using Moises

First you need to sign up. To create a free account, all you need to do is visit the Moises website if you're working from a desktop computer, or download the Moises app for iOS or Android. Create your account, select the free plan and you can get started immediately. You can upgrade to Premium or Pro tiers at any time if you find the free functionality isn’t enough.

As mentioned, you’ll need to have access the file that you want to split into stems. Here, we’re using the Moises desktop web app to upload a track from our iTunes library stored on our computer, but you can do the same from the mobile app. If your library is stored in the cloud, you can input a link for Moises to download the audio from.

With the file uploaded, you'll be able to choose the number of stems. For our purposes, we want all the instruments to be isolated, so we've chosen four. 

Give the software a moment to process it. We’ve found it to be faster using the desktop app, and if you take out a paid subscription the processing times are quicker.

Once the track has been analysed, you’ll be presented with a screen displaying the separated tracks. Here you can solo, mute or adjust the volume levels and panning. The free account allows you to apply a click track, complete with count-in, but it will only work for the first minute. Solo the drums for an isolated drum track.

If you want to make a drumless track for jamming, simply mute the drums. Now, it’s not always 100% accurate. The results will depend on how the song was recorded, mixed and processed during its production in terms of the artefacts and separation. However, we’ve tried multiple songs from multiple eras and it’s impressive. Once you have your mix configured, you can download the track(s). Witchcraft? Nope, it’s just robots.

It’s safe to say it’s never been easier to learn to play an instrument. With so many amazing learning platforms out there, you really have no excuse to live your dream and become the musician you’ve always wanted to be. Now, if it’s drums you’re looking to learn, then Drumeo is the answer – and luckily, there’s a pretty epic deal on a yearly subscription for Cyber Monday.  

Drumeo currently tops our list of the best online drum lessons and it’s easily our favourite platform for budding drummers of all ages. In our 5-star review, we praised the hundreds of hours of lessons and courses and the quality of the guest teachers.

Right now you can save 38% on a full Drumeo yearly membership, bringing the cost down to only $150! And if that wasn't enough, you'll also bag 10 free bonuses worth $1272.94. 

What’s more, there are also thousands of song transcriptions and hundreds of jam tracks to play along with. We truly believe that Drumeo has something to offer for drummers of all abilities and styles. If you’re looking for quick inspiration but with detailed, high-quality instruction on-tap, you’ll find it here.

Need a kit to get started or looking for an excuse to upgrade? Below you'll find our pick of fantastic electronic drum kits, that just so happen to be on sale right now. 

RECORDING WEEK 2022: Heading in to the studio to lay down drum tracks? Take heed of these ten pieces of advice to ensure that the whole process goes smoothly.

1. Skins, sticks and beaters

It's much easier to get volume, clarity and brightness from a new set of drumheads. If possible, get them on, tuned and 'played in' a day or two before the session.

 Different types of head give different types of sound: single- ply heads are bright with less sustain (jazz/ pop); two-ply heads are deeper and more controlled (rock/metal); coated heads are warmer in tone (disco/70s). 

Your choice of sticks or hotrods and felt or wood kick drum beaters will also have a big effect on the sound of the kit. Get close to the sound you want before you think about microphones!

2. Tune up

This should be the drummer's responsibility. Here are a few tuning tips and things to check if you're having problems:

• Check that the head diameter is exactly right (fractionally larger than the drum) and that it's mounted perfectly centrally
• Always make tension adjustments in opposite pairs to avoid forcing the head off-centre
• Seat the head by applying gentle pressure with your palm to the centre, then tune out any new wrinkles that appear

3. Bottom heads on toms

Wherever there are two heads, there are three possibilities. If you tune the bottom (resonator) head of a tom to the same pitch as the top (batter) head, you'll get a purer tone with more sustain - perfect for jazz and its derivatives. 

If you tune the resonator lower, you get a slight pitch drop-off and less decay - great for rock. 

Tuning the resonator higher shortens the decay further, which can be great for close miking. A good starting interval for the difference in pitch between heads is a minor third - ie, three semitones either way.

4. Front head on the kick or not?

The front (resonator) skin on the kick drum is important for creating a good, meaty tone. Jazzers love it, and most rock/poppers have a hole cut in it to allow microphones and dampening material (a small blanket, say) to be placed inside. 

For metal styles, where you're mainly looking for click and thud, you may as well just remove the front head so that you can get a mic right in on the beater point.

5. Tighten the kick drum

It's possible to create a little kick drum chamber using, blankets, duvets or even a coat. These are draped over the kick drum, and any microphones are placed in and in front of it. Use a couple of small mic stands to hold the blankets up. 

The chamber prevents spill from the cymbals and snare getting into the kick drum mics, making it easier to boost the high frequencies at the mix stage and thus enhance the 'clickiness' without adding harshness from the cymbals.

6. Playing to a click

If you're tracking to an existing recording, you may need to be able to play to a click track. The best drummers are able to sit exactly on the click, but tend to flow around it in order to create a better feel. Recording to a click makes it much easier to edit between drum takes at a later stage. 

If the whole band is tracking together, it's best if only the drummer gets the click. Using a little beatbox or percussion groove usually makes a better 'click' than an actual click, and will also spill over into the microphones less.

7. Prepare the click for gaps

Prepare for stops and gaps in the song by automating the level of the click in the headphones. During the stops, lower the volume so that there's no click spill into the drum mics from the headphones. 

If you're recording the whole band, it's also a good idea to send a click to the other players at that point, so you don't have to count everyone back in. This will save lots of painful editing and remedial work later on.

8. Get a crappy mic

Tape recorders used to come with built-in condenser or electret microphones. Put one of these old machines into record/pause mode and take the output into your DAW for an exciting, super-crunchy sound. 

Sometimes, rubbishy old battery-powered mics can sound good too. Put these types of mic in a place where they can hear the whole kit. The corners of the room can offer interesting results - experiment!

9. Record without cymbals

Recording a kit in a difficult space without ideal equipment can be a fruitful and rewarding experience, but you might still feel that your results sound amateurish. 

One of the classic drum sound problems is too much cymbal spill. This happens in the best of studios, and when it does, the pros just record the crashes afterwards. That way you can bring up all the exciting roominess of the drums themselves in the mix, then blend in perfectly recorded cymbals afterwards. 

As long as they share the same buss compressor no one will ever know (although drummers will hate playing without cymbals).

10. Essential gubbins for a trouble-free drum session

Here’s a handy checklist of accessories you might want in your bag for drum sessions...

• Moon Gel, for damping
• 3-in-1 oil, for squeaky pedals
• A drum key, because the drummer will forget theirs
• An adjustable spanner, for rattly stands
• Gaffer tape, for holding stuff
• Masking tape, for attaching damping materials and the like
• Empty cigarette packets and J-Cloths, for that '70s sound
• Blankets
• Stage weight or sandbag
• Japanese cooking chopsticks - great for tom parts!

‘Playing for the song’ is great, but sometimes the song requires busy 16th-note bass drum parts, and in all honesty, who doesn’t enjoy playing fast, busy parts from time to time?

Recently, German drummer and educator, Anika Nilles sat down with Evans Drumheads to film a demonstration/lesson on how she achieves fast 16th notes with a single pedal using a technique she calls the push/pull.

Similar in concept to the heel/toe, Anika’s push/pull is all about getting more efficiency out of a bass drum stroke, turning a single movement into two notes rather than one - much like the stick technique of the same name.

As Anika demonstrates, it starts with a heel-up stroke played with the toes. From here, the rest of the foot is then dropped onto the footplate, creating the second note. 

Anika explains, it’s important to get a feel for your pedal’s footplate and the way it rebounds when executing the first part of the technique. She goes on to note that the push/pull technique is a tool for playing fast notes - both in terms of creating the type of movement to the pedal’s footplate and the requirement for efficiency.

Anika recommends practicing with both feet creating the same motion on the bass drum and hi-hat in order to make time-keeping with your left foot easier when you’re playing the push/pull along with a ride cymbal. 

Conversely, she suggests working both feet in opposite movements is also a good idea so that you’re comfortable with playing the bass drum in odd-number groups (3/5/7) against the even-number time-keeping of your hi-hat foot.

She then goes on to demonstrate a groove incorporating some speedy 16th-notes before the video's outro kicks in with 16th-note triplets played using the same technique. it might take a bit of time to really get the feel down, but it’s a great technique for single-pedal players who want to increase the number of notes they can play. 

There was once a time where the only way to learn the drums was to personally seek out a good teacher. Nowadays the answer to any percussion-related question is just seconds away online and often accessible in the palm of your hand. Does this modern method of online learning completely replace the need for a traditional drum teacher, or is there no substitute for good old fashioned face-to-face learning? Each method comes with its own list of advantages and disadvantages which we’ll be discussing within this online drum lessons vs face-to-face article. 

It’s worth noting that we’re classing online tuition through Skype or Zoom with a private instructor as ‘face-to-face’. Online drum lessons could also include free content through social media platforms or YouTube, but also more specialist subscription services such as Drumeo, Mike’s Lessons or Drum Channel.

1. Cost

With online drum subscription services offering fixed monthly rates for unlimited access to lesson content, online is pretty much guaranteed to be the cheaper option here. Most also offer a free trial period to help you decide if it’s the platform for you before you shell out. 

Aside from the thousands of tuition videos available for free on Youtube, even a paid service such as Drumeo will cost less per month than taking a single 60 minute private lesson (based on a one hour lesson costing between $40 and $60 vs a $29 monthly Drumeo subscription). An in-person drum tutor naturally won’t be able to compete with these prices, although costs can be kept down somewhat by block-booking or taking group lessons.

On the subject of free online tuition, while we understand that the lack of cost will appeal, it’s often much harder to find the right content with the right structure to fit your needs as a player when you go down this route. We would always recommend seeking out a paid-for option. As the old adage goes, you get what you pay for. 

2. Interaction

One potential downside when it comes to online drum tuition is the often one-sided nature of video lessons, due to the lack of personal interaction with a tutor or even other students. Let’s say you decide to learn the drums through YouTube videos - other than perhaps leaving a comment on the video, there really is no opportunity for a conversation with the person teaching you. That said, spending a little cash on a premium online service opens up the potential for more interaction through tailored messages, videos and feedback on your playing. Taking face-to-face lessons is not only better for building a rapport with your tutor but also opens up the possibility of meeting other like-minded people through their student network.

3. Feedback

Regular feedback is a core part of learning any instrument and without it bad habits are easy to fall into. You’d be hard pushed to develop bad habits whilst under the watchful eye of a private tutor as they are able to provide real-time feedback on aspects such as technique and timing. Online learning can mean a lack of opportunities for this valuable feedback. That said, many online services allow students to submit videos of themselves performing to receive written or recorded feedback. Mike Johnston’s mikeslessons.com and Dave Weckl’s Online School are great examples of this.

4. Convenience

There’s no doubt that one of the reasons drummers are drawn to learning online is the ability to map their learning to their own schedule. With pre-recorded lesson content there’s never a wrong time to pick up the sticks and develop your skills (as long as the neighbours don’t mind). This could be beneficial for someone unavailable during normal lesson times or perhaps lacking the time to commit to regular lessons altogether. Having the ability to hit pause during a lesson is a welcome addition too, although with a good teacher you should be able to work at your own pace without feeling rushed or pressured.

5. Community

Many in-person lessons are run through music schools or music shops, which means signing up for lessons comes with the added bonus of joining a local community of musicians. Many music schools will create opportunities for cross-discipline students to meet and form bands. This gives us drummers the chance to meet guitarists, bass players, singers and more - in some cases forming our first bands. 

Teaching establishments will also often put on live performances which is an invaluable experience for budding musicians. This is a perk specific to having a local teacher that won’t necessarily come with Zoom/Skype lessons and will seldom be available through an online platform. That said, we are starting to see platforms like Drumeo and Mike’s Lessons hosting in-person drum camps for their online students. We’ll likely see more of this in the future.

6. Progress

It’s hard to say which method will allow a student the most progress as it will largely boil down to the amount of time spent learning and practicing each week. However, we can draw comparisons on progress tracking which is an incredibly important part of taking lessons. Even vicfirth.com, which has a fantastic (and free) education area, allows tracking of the 40 rudiments via bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond medals for each rudiment. 

Paid online services focus largely on goal setting with opportunities to track progress. But, in our opinion, face-to-face tutors have the win here as they can not only help set and achieve personal goals but also provide detailed feedback on progression.

7. Beginners

For someone picking up a pair of drumsticks for the first time it can be a daunting world of information. As we discussed above, searching the internet for ‘how to play drums’ or ‘beginner drums’ might be the first port of call for many. With so many considerations of posture and technique, starting out on an instrument is the most likely time where bad habits are going to be created. So, with this in mind, we’d recommend either paying for an online subscription to a dedicated platform with a well thought-out, sensibly structured beginner program, or seeking out a tutor for at least one or two face-to-face lessons in order to grasp the basics.

8. Access to famous names

One of the incredible things about learning drums online is the access to big name ‘celebrity’ drummers; many of whom don’t even teach in person. Look no further than the legendary Ringo Starr who, quite incredibly, has a Drumming and Creative Collaboration video course available on masterclass.com. On the same website you can also find Shelia E. Teaching Drumming and Percussion. 

Drumeo is another brand that attracts regular ‘celebrity’ tutors, enabling you that rare opportunity to learn from your heroes. There are many big name drummers that teach face-to-face lessons (particularly since the pandemic), although finding one in the local area is somewhat unlikely. Skype or Zoom lessons would likely be the best way to go in order to enjoy that one-to-one face-time with your drumming heroes.

9. Lesson quality

Quality of lessons is something that can vary enormously regardless of whether they are online or face-to-face. In terms of digital delivery, production values are incredibly important - where multiple camera angles and high-quality audio have become the most basic of requirements - not to mention decent lesson content! 

In-person tutors don’t necessarily have the same concerns here, although providing the necessary equipment is important for quality of lesson delivery. The phrase ‘all the gear and no idea’ comes to mind here as of course it’s equally possible to appear convincing through a polished, professional appearance but have little experience or knowledge to back it up.

10. Credentials

For some, merely being able to play the drums is qualification enough to teach the instrument. The reality is, a completely separate skillset is required to be able to pass on knowledge effectively and equip students with the tools they need to progress. Sometimes the downside to online tuition is that you don’t necessarily know the person teaching you. This is particularly pertinent to free content on sites like YouTube, which is why we’d always recommend a paid-for subscription. Who are they, what is their background and how reliable is the information they are giving you? The same could be said for face-to-face tuition, where it’s even more important to check out their credentials before signing up.

Drumeo review: What is it?

For the purposes of conducting this review, Drumeo granted us full access to the Drumeo Edge platform.

Conventional wisdom says that musical instrument lessons are best carried out in-person. However, we’ve never been at a better point in time in terms of our internet connections and audio and visual quality. What that translates to is greater detail when it comes to the content we consume online, whether it be streaming TV shows, or drum lessons.

Over the last couple of years, doubters of learning online have been forced to either join in, or miss out altogether meaning that perceptions of taking drum lessons online via paid-for subscriptions have changed massively.

One such platform is Drumeo. With over two million subscribers to its YouTube channel, over one million Facebook fans, and (at the time of writing) around 850,000 followers on Instagram, you’ve probably sampled Drumeo’s free content already. But if your experience ends there, you’re missing quite a large piece of the picture.

To call Drumeo Edge ‘Netflix-for-drummers’ is perhaps a bit of a disservice, but it does sum-up the concept. You pay your monthly subscription fee, and in return you get unhindered, all-you-can-eat (and live and breathe) access to its absolutely massive library of drum instruction ranging from core drumming skills through to technically advanced and encompassing pretty much every style of playing you can think of.

The lessons are taught not only by an expert - but in many cases a well known or even legendary drummer. With over 100 names to choose from currently, if we say Billy Cobham, Dennis Chambers, Stanton Moore, Benny Greb… you probably get the picture. Plus Drumeo has announced sessions with Aaron Spears, Slipknot’s Jay Weinberg, Simon Phillips, Cindy Blackman Santana, Steve Smith and many more for 2022.

As well as the pre-recorded lesson courses, there are over 3,000 play-along songs (complete with transcriptions), regular live sessions with current regular Drumeo Coaches (Kaz Rodriguez, Larnell Lewis, Michael Shack, Todd Sucherman and more), quick tips and a number of non-lesson/drumming-related entertainment videos.

A big criticism of online lessons is the lack of accountability. How do you chart progress, or overcome problems when you’re learning from a recorded video remotely? Well, Drumeo offers its Student Focus service, where subscribers can send videos of themselves playing for tips from Drumeo coaches, plus there’s an active community where users can post questions and receive answers from other members and tutors.

A subscription to Drumeo costs a regular price of $240 a year, however it does run offers at various points in the year, including discounts and additional gifts in return for your sign-up. That price is an annual payment, but you can pay on a rolling monthly basis at $29 per-month. You’ll obviously be paying nearly a third more, but you do have the option to cancel at any point. If you’re not sure, there’s the option of a 30 day free trial that's exclusive to MusicRadar before you go all in.

Drumeo review: Performance & verdict

Once you’ve signed-up for your Drumeo Edge subscription, you simply log in to access the content. This can be done via a browser on your computer, or by downloading the app for your tablet or mobile from your app store.

Where you are in your drumming journey may well govern how you choose to navigate the lessons and content on offer, but it’s laid out in a few basic categories to help you find what you’re looking for.

Drumeo Method is a 10-level course (with each level comprising a number of videos) aimed at providing a complete curriculum which takes you from absolute beginner subjects including setting up your gear and playing your first beats to advanced concepts such as odd-time signatures, metric modulation and polyrhythms.

You can also discover lessons by choosing a course or coach, or simply typing a subject (‘double pedal’ or ‘jazz’ for example) into the search box if you’d prefer to learn something more specific.

The first thing we noticed is just how much there is to digest. There’s breadth and depth to it too rather than simply being Rock Beats 101 and some big names dazzling you with their chops.

Want to learn the heel-toe foot technique? There’s a 72-minute video with 10 notated examples and multiple camera angles for that. How about an independence and coordination lesson from Thomas Lang? Or a ska & reggae masterclass from Gil Sharone? Maybe jazz comping with Peter Erskine?

That’s just a few, but needless to say there’s everything from an overview of a style through to some very pointed topics for you to get into the weeds with. You’re unlikely to run out of inspiration in a hurry.

The lessons and supporting notation are all downloadable to your computer or device too, which is perfect if your kit is located away from your internet connection. It also means that you aren’t going to suffer drop-outs of any kind if your connection is less than great, or if you want to put your phone on ‘do not disturb’ for the duration of your lesson time.

Another section of Drumeo that it would be easy to overlook the value of is the song play-alongs (not to be confused with the 400-plus Play-Along in-the-style-of jam tracks). There’s everything from AC/DC to ZZ Top, and it’s not just limited to rock. Now, in reality these aren’t bespoke backing tracks or drum-less versions. The way it works is, you choose your artist and pick a song, then you’re presented with an embedded video of the track’s original audio (including the drum track).

Obviously, if it stopped there we’d be disappointed, but the track is just the starting point. Because Drumeo has provided interactive transcriptions for every song on the list (there are over 3,000). Press play and a cursor scrolls along with the notation, and you can jump around by clicking on the score, which in turn sets the video to sync with your cursor’s position.

Further options include playback speed adjustment, an additional click track, looping and stave appearance (multiple lines, linear horizontal, full-page). Obviously, not all music was created to a metronome, so we did experience some sync issues between the click and the original audio, however there is also an option for listening to a synthetic programmed version of the drums only.

Not only does this line up perfectly with the click, but gives you a better idea of what the drums are doing if the original mix is tricky, or if your reading isn’t up to the level of the score.

There’s a huge amount of value in the song transcriptions alone. While the speed change function is essentially the YouTube speed control - expect the audio to start glitching/chipmunking if you go too far either way - the looping feature is fantastic if you’re trying to work out a tricky part of a song. As we type this, we’re looking at a number of printed transcription books on our shelves, each of which cost around the same price as a month of Drumeo Edge, don’t include reference audio, and didn’t come with lessons from the world’s finest players to boot!

There’s a lot to dig into with Drumeo Edge. Your first instincts might be to baulk at the price. At its highest, $29 may seem expensive for ‘just a streaming service’ particularly when you consider the Amazon Prime account that you’ve binged dry. But compare it to one lesson a month with a teacher (and we’d suggest that you’d probably take double that number of lessons as a minimum), and suddenly Drumeo is really quite a bargain.

Is it a replacement for in-person lessons? That will depend on you, the way you like to learn and the things that keep your attention. The benefits of a great teacher, instructing and guiding you one-to-one cannot be underestimated. The online method of learning requires an amount of self-motivation to ensure you put in the time, and are honest with yourself about your progress. But with Drumeo’s support systems, you can get help with tracking your progress and any problems you’re encountering.

The ideal scenario will always be a combination of in-person lessons and regimented self-education, but not everyone has access - either geographically or financially - to a great teacher, or a schedule that allows for lessons. The benefit of learning online is that you can make that time work around your schedule.

The sheer volume of learning materials on offer is a great deal - almost to the point of choice paralysis, so we’d definitely recommend that if you’re starting out and this is your only source of instruction, you follow the Drumeo Method curriculum to ensure some structure.

Intermediate and advanced players will love the flexibility of having detailed lessons on a whole range of subjects to hand when the moment strikes, and we dare say that everyone from beginners to gigging drummers will also get a lot out of the song transcriptions too.

Overall, it’s very difficult to fault Drumeo Edge because it covers so much, we’d highly recommend making use of the site’s free trial, or even signing up for a month to help you decide. We’re pretty confident that you’ll be hooked.

Drumeo review: Hands-on demos

Brandon Scott

Drumeo review: Specifications

• Cost: $29 per month, or $249 billed annually
• Free trial: 30-days with this exclusive MusicRadar link
• Format: Web browser, iOS/Android apps
• Features: Over 260 courses from some of the world’s leading drummers and educators, 2,500-plus lessons, 3,100 song transcriptions
• Styles covered: Rock, funk, jazz, blues, electronic, soul and more
• Contact: Drumeo

Ask 10 different sound engineers the best way to capture a drum kit in stereo, and you’re likely to get 10 different answers. 

Drum kits, above any other section of a standard rock band can be the most difficult to capture: first up there’s tuning, playing and the environment you’re recording in, and that’s before you consider the bleed and subsequent phase relationship between eight or more microphones.

But it wasn’t always this way. Before unlimited tracks and entirely overdubbed performances, engineers and producers had to be economical with their mic techniques. 

Glyn Johns’ work with Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles (although additional mics can be seen in Abbey Road studio sessions), The Eagles and many, many more gave us a simple-yet-great-sounding way of capturing the whole kit, with an even balance and practically foolproof phase coherency. 

However, as musical and studio polymath, Rick Beato explains in his tutorial above, the technique was actually born by accident after Johns forgot to move a mic back into position while tracking Led Zeppelin’s debut album.

The basic principle consists of three microphones: one on the bass drum, an overhead placed above the centre of the kit and a side mic placed slightly above the floor tom pointing at the snare. 

The overhead and side mic are positioned an equal distance from the snare drum, keeping the stereo image of the kit intact, while also ensuring that the sound hits both mic capsules at the same time, while the bass drum mic adds the low end of the kick drum. 

The result is a natural snapshot of the kit with minimal fuss, as long as you get the source sounding great to begin with.

In the video, Rick Beato demonstrates just how you can apply Johns’ famous technique yourself, with the option of adding in a snare mic (something that Johns often records but doesn’t always use). Of course, this being key to the early Zeppelin sound, Beato has placed his mic setup over an appropriately Bonham-style Green Sparkle Ludwig.  

• Capture the perfect take with the best drum mic kits

"What's your favourite John Bonham beat?" is a question that drummers are unlikely to ever stop asking or answering. Now, thanks to Drumeo and veteran rock session drummer/Drumeo coach, Brian Tichy, you can learn 10 of Bonham's greatest grooves for free.

Breaking Down The Grooves of John Bonham is one of Drumeo's most popular courses, featuring 10 iconic Bonzo beats and licks including Good Times, Bad Times, Immigrant Song, Rock and Roll and more. 

Founder of the Bonzo Bash, Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne and many more), guides you through the parts, complete with notation, on an amber Ludwig Vistalite replica of Bonham's kit, demonstrating and explaining how to recreate the grooves as Bonham played them.

Drumeo's Jared Falk says, "If you're wondering, 'Uh, why is this free?', the truth is, this has been one of the most popular lessons inside Drumeo for the past two years.

"And after thinking about it for a while, I decided everybody should have the chance to study John Bonham's legendary drum grooves. So now it's totally free."

Now, there's no such thing as an entirely free lunch - you will need to enter your email address on Drumeo's website, which will sign you up to its mailing list. But we think that's a very small price to pay for some of the best pro-shot drum tutorials on the web.

To access your free Breaking Down The Grooves of John Bonham course, simply head on over to Drumeo, enter your email address and await your confirmation email.

• Read our full Drumeo review
• Explore our pick of the best online drum lessons

We've covered the potential minefields surrounding the tuning of bass drums and toms elsewhere, and now it's the turn of the all-important snare drum. While it too offers up a number of hazards, the snare does give us the best opportunity to experiment with different sounds.

So let's have some fun, test our tuning skills to their limits and avoid those pitfalls. Here are the 14 simple steps to tuning your snare drum…

1. Understand your drum

Firstly, let's split the shell types into broad groups: wood, metal, synthetic (acrylic, carbon fibre, etc) and others (paper, glass and other bizarre materials) and try to understand the key properties of these types.

For instance, metal-shelled drums tend to produce more ring and volume than wood, but even then the spectrum of sounds across the different types of metal is quite wide. Aluminium will normally produce a much drier sound than brass, and steel is very different to copper.

2. Don't eliminate ring completely, tune without wires

One of the biggest villains in tuning drums is the obsession many drummers have with eliminating ring. In live situations in particular - even when miked - some ring is healthy, as long as it's even and not discordant. Removing it will make your snare sound boxy to the audience, especially if you are playing at a moderate/loud volume.

Most of the ring will be absorbed by the rest of the band. Tune the snare drum without the wires at first (except in a gig situation). Why? Well, how can you really know if the drum is in tune if you have this other sound going on? The setting of the snare wires is also very important and a fundamental part of the snare drum's sound.

3. Start with the resonant head

Start with the resonant head with the snare wires and batter head off the drum. Bear in mind that the resonant (snare-side) head is generally very thin, weaker than other heads but light enough to seat itself (without pressing). Make sure that it is installed in a centred way and use the two-key method initially to settle it into place…

WARNING: Be very careful not to over-tighten as it is possible (albeit unlikely) to pull the head out of its hoop!

4. Begin to tune

To begin tuning, start from finger tight. You should have wrinkles between the lugs either side of the snare bed. Rather than removing them by tuning the rest of the head really tight, use two keys (one either side) and tension enough to remove wrinkles.

5. Hit it, use your ears

Now, take each lug (except the lugs either side of the snares - more on that later) up by quarter-turns until they are fairly tight and the head starts to produce quite a tinny or toppy sound with a little ring. The head needs to be evenly pitched and, in the case of the snare, we have to be even more fussy than usual.

The pitch you choose is up to you, but in most cases the drum will work at its best if the resonant head is pretty tight, regardless of size. We're talking much tighter than we've had before on other drums, but ultimately always use your ears to determine the point at which you stop.

6. Now the batter head…

Turning to the batter head, seat the head using the same method described for toms and bass but tension the batter head very tight using the two-key method described before and, if possible, leave the drum overnight so that the head really forms to the drum.

Take the batter head back to finger tight and using the two-key method take the tension up in half-turns around two or three times depending on the drum's diameter. Check to make sure the head is evenly tuned across the drum and continue on with smaller turns. The main focus of the batter head is to get the feel right but think about the amount of ring you want (or don't want) from your drum.

7. Tune the top head lower

To get the best all-round sound, it's usually effective to tune the top head a little lower than the snare side. Some drummers aim for a pitch difference of a third or fifth. You can simplify that approach by listening out for a pleasing and obviously harmonious pitch difference. - mute one head while tapping the other and adjust as necessary.

8. Don't fiddle with the resonant head

When making adjustments at this stage, it should almost always be on the batter head. Drummers often complain of too much ring and put gaffer on the head. Try to think about the 'out front' concept (your audience will hear it differently).

9. Follow the checklist

If you still think it's too much, it usually means one of the following three things:

A. The batter head is too tight
B. You have an inappropriate head for the drum and style
C. You have the wrong snare for the sound you want

10. Return to the wires

Having lower tension either side of the snare wires is effective because it allows the wires to sit better on the head. It also stops them from rattling by being half on and half off. A similar effect can be achieved by tightening the resonant head more than 'normal', pulling the skin down over the snare beds.

Some argue this approach increases sensitivity, but it does over-stretch and unnecessarily distort the already thin head to gain a result that can just as easily be achieved without doing so.

11. Set up the wires (carefully)

Replace the snare wires and make sure they end up dead centre, both across the width of the drum and square to the shell. Attach them initially so that the wires sit slightly nearer the butt end, so when you make the final adjustment with the release lever, the wires will be pulled to centre.

Loosen the snare release mechanism to its loosest working tension and place the lever in the 'on' position. Important because snare wires stretch over time and you'll need to build in some scope for taking up the slack.

12. Play the drum (finally!)

Now play the drum. If it rattles (too much), tighten the adjustment knob on the snare release a little at a time (quarter or half-turns), playing the drum between each adjustment. Never crank up the snares too much. If you have to make the snares really tight, you've probably tuned the drum badly and you'll end up choking the drum.

13. Follow the checklist #2

Two key give-aways to over-tight snares:

A. Tap the centre of the batter side very softly. If there is no clear snare sound, the wires are too tight
B. When putting the release into the 'on' position, a snap of the wires occurs some way before the lever reaches its fully on position. It shouldn't happen before the lever reaches its final position

14. Eliminate buzz

If you have a six-lug drum (such as a 10" snare) you will need to start by applying even tension to all lugs and tuning evenly all round. Complete the method as described above, but if you do experience buzz problems (less likely with smaller snare drums) either when you strike the drum, or in relation to your other drums (this is known as 'sympathetic vibration'), try loosening each pair of lugs either side of the snare wires on the bottom head by a tiny amount (a quarter-turn should do it).

Compensate for tuning of the whole head by tightening the remaining lugs by a similar amount. This should do it. If you still get sympathetic vibration from other drums, you've probably matched the pitch of the snare too closely to another drum (often the smallest tom). So, retune one or both offending drums.

Liked this? Then try:
8 simple steps to tuning your toms
7 simple steps to tuning your bass drum
The 17 most outrageous drum kits on the internet

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The word ‘downtime’ clearly doesn’t enter into Virgil Donati’s lexicon regularly. A drummer since the age of three years-old, Virgil’s wider emergence came in the early 90s after leaving his native Australia for the US, quickly becoming recognised as one of the driving forces in progressive drumming. Virgil has been prolific in his musical output ever since, as well as constantly striving to evolve and grow as a drummer. 

When he hasn’t been busy behind the drum kit for his own compositions and projects with some of the world’s most revered technical instrumentalists, the Australian powerhouse has delivered hundreds of clinics and masterclasses, as well as educational materials such as his book, Double Bass Drum Freedom and Power Drumming - the classic instructional video that cemented him in the minds of drummers for the past three decades.  

His most recent album, Ruination was released late in 2019, and is testament to his un-ending search for development of his craft, combining a career of learning across jazz, fusion, metal and prog to create a diverse, yet highly-listenable cocktail of modern progressive music.     

We spoke to Virgil, who was generous enough to offer us his top tips for developing speed, finding your own voice and the importance of improvisation, as well as unveiling a brand new play-through video of Pinprick from Ruination.

Choose your grip

“I guess we’ve got to go back to the beginning. When I started playing it was back in the 60s. I was barely three years old and the exposure I had to drummers at the time were all playing traditional grip. In those days it was very common. So as a young boy I didn’t even question it, I thought that was just the way you had to play drums, I just copied what I saw and what I thought was the way to do it. 

Over the years I became obsessed with developing my touch and technique that way, so then even when I realised you could play matched-grip, I just persevered. I’d made a choice, it was feeling good to me so I just stuck with it. I think over the years I developed it to a point where I was able to be quite flexible with it. 

So I could use traditional grip in any context, even some pretty hard playing. I played in a lot of hard rock and metal bands when I was much younger and I felt that I’d developed the ability to get what I needed from traditional grip. So it wasn’t necessarily that I thought it was the only way, I just became obsessed and decided I wanted to refine it as much as I could. 

I want to be honest - just because I do it doesn’t mean I think it’s the best way to do it. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that if I were to start all over again, I’d play matched grip. But I’ve put too much time and effort, too many years into developing a touch, feel and sensitivity with that left hand. 

The fact that I don’t have to rely on flipping the stick over in order to play powerful backbeats means that I don’t find the need to have to change. But having said that, it was a long road to get there, and it takes probably a lot more maintenance than my right hand. So in that regard it makes sense to follow the matched grip. 

But it was mainly getting out and playing the gigs. Growing up in Australia, it was a very fertile place when it came to the number of gigs, I was playing six or seven nights a week for many years, and that was really what knocked my hands into shape. That and the practice that I’d do during the day. So it was a combination of being put in those situations where you had to play to a high level and with power. I went through about 6-12 months of blisters when I was 15/16 years old, then all of a sudden that wasn’t an issue anymore, and I felt like I had the capacity and endurance to play through a gig.

Develop control

I think you have to consider all of the different possibilities when practicing. I think there’s a lot of attention paid - and a lot is said - about finger control. But playing with your fingers is important, sometimes I think it’s over-emphasised. But I think there needs to be more attention paid to wrist control. Because essentially on a drum kit, rather than just a snare drum or a pad, we’re dealing with different surfaces and tensions and different potential for rebound. The rates of speed that we require to move around the kit, I feel that we really need to rely more on wrists than fingers. That was really made apparent to me back in the 90s when I had the good fortune to meet Rob Carson, who at the time was the rudimental champion in the US. Those guys really drill their hands to an unbelievable level. I had some lessons with him and he confirmed my suspicions. A lot of that information I’m still passing on now at my masterclasses and workshops. It’s a great way to develop that horsepower that you need for today’s styles of music. 

The drum core stuff has an advantage because they’re just playing the one drum and it’s a very, very tight surface. They’re getting so much back from the drum, but at the same time they’re putting that energy to extreme use in terms of endurance and speed. But a lot of their endurance is coming because of the fact that they’ve got a wide control between each element: they can cross over between fingers and wrists far more effectively and deeply than say, the average drum set drummer could.

So, because I’ve worked on that, I can use my wrists from slow to very fast tempos before my fingers are going to need to kick in. Whereas perhaps, if someone hasn’t worked so much on their wrist control, they’re only going to get to a certain speed before they lose control. The control factor is the biggest issue when it comes to speed and playing from your wrists. It’s important to address that because otherwise at some point you’re going to sacrifice power for speed if you don’t have that control.

Different strokes

The first thing to do is to just isolate the two techniques [wrist strokes and finger rebounds]. Obviously, if you haven’t explored much in terms of playing from the wrist then the way to do that is to use what’s called a ‘locked grip’. In other words, to stop your fingers from influencing the stroke, you just lightly hold the stick against the palm of your hand with your fingers. Don’t allow your fingers to come away from the stick, and that way you’ll be using your wrist for every stroke.

A great way to practice that is to start one-handed. Start with your left or right hand and do accent patterns. The one I like to do is a triplet exercise with a strong accent on the downbeat, starting with the stick in a high position. Then the two un-accented notes are played from a very low position, still from the wrist even though they’re played a lot lower position. The other concept behind this is that you’re developing control from the wrists, you’re not just bashing with every note. You have this contrast, and that starts to also build that control.

It’s the only time I’ll really recommend doing an exercise from slow to fast. Start slowly, concentrating and scanning everything to make sure you’re doing everything with control. Then you gradually speed up to the point of challenging yourself, where you’re out of your comfort zone. The one thing that I always like to recommend is to not ignore the fundamentals. The basics of hand technique and rudiments. Rudiments are basic hand-to-hand patterns that each you basic independence, so don’t approach them too flippantly. They require some work. If you spend time working on sticking patterns, and do it intelligently - look at your hand and observe the movement and arc of the stick - are your hands relaxed? Is the fulcrum in the right place? You keep working on that and over the years you develop a sweet spot. You can talk about it, but it’s hard to put your finger on what the elements are apart from nuanced details.

For a while I did basic exercises where you go from one finger to the next and try and get control over that. But really, in your general playing, it’s all about a feel - it becomes a combination of these techniques, including arm strokes where you’re using a part of your arm pivoting as well for bigger accents. Ultimately it’s a combination of those two elements, but by isolating and strengthening both your fingers and your wrists, you improve your overall technique. For your fingers, I’d probably do combinations of exercises between your hands. Maybe three right, three left, six right. Then three left, three right, six left. Come up with variations of those types of patterns to draw them out longer, just to help get the endurance with your fingers.

Rudiments aren't just for your hands

"I guess the rudiments on the feet stemmed from my approach, my concept of playing double bass drums. It came from more of a rhythmic approach than a rigid metal single stroke approach. What I was interested in was to create rhythms and play ideas with double bass drums and grooves. 

So anything I practiced with double bass drums, I’d do it with my hands playing some sort of groove or time along with it. I never really isolated my feet. I wanted to play rhythms, not just see how far I could push a single stroke roll.

To that end I used to experiment with different combinations of singles: three-stroke singles, fives, sevens and combining them in different patterns. Then I did the same with inserting various 32nd-notes in-between 16th-note combinations, and that creates some really nice patterns. 

I experimented a little with flams as well, and then ultimately got into double strokes. I thought ‘That could be and interesting way to play long, continuous rolls’, in lieu of single strokes. Single strokes tend to have that really rigid sound about them I thought that with double strokes you’d probably get this really nice, rolling effect. Because you’re going to get variations between each stroke. There’s no way you’re going to get every note 100% even in terms of velocity. So that in itself creates a nice alternative feel to playing single strokes.

So I explored that, and I wasn’t entirely sure of the potential of where you could take it. This was back in about 1991 I think. I just experimented with it for about a year until I got it to a point where I thought, ‘Ok, this really works, you can really build some speed with this’. Around that time was when I did my second instructional video - Power Drumming - that was the first time I played those double strokes publicly. So now that’s remained part of my arsenal."

"I haven’t explored all options with bass drums, I basically stick to the fundamentals which is just pivoting at the ankles. I never really explored the heel/toe thing. Everything just comes from a combination of my leg and pivoting at the ankle. So you can compare that to the wrist and finger techniques, its kind of analogous to that. 

The only thing that does occur is when my doubles get to a certain speed, there’s a kind of sliding. I think it’s kind of a natural mechanism that kicks in, your feet just start to slide forward on that second beat. That may look a bit like the heel/toe thing, but it’s not. I think it may have something to do with the body’s mechanism to keep energy circulating, to stop tension from building. It’s not a practiced movement, it just unconsciously kicks in.

If I find some time one day, maybe I’ll give the heel/toe technique a try, but I’m not sure I have the patience at this point in my career to sit down and learn a totally different technique! I think I’ve been well-served this far, the way I’ve done it."

Develop your weaker foot

"I think perhaps just playing with the left foot. Play exercises - if anyone gets the chance - I wrote a book on bass drum technique called Double Bass Drum Freedom. It’s out there and it’s basically got everything I’ve ever worked on, but the first chapter addresses the issue of getting your weaker foot to move when it hasn’t done nearly as much as your other foot. 

The first thing is getting some feel and movement into that foot. But another thing to try is to do everything you do with your main foot with your other foot. If you’re working on grooves, swap feet while you’re practicing. This is what practice is for - to work on problem areas and weak points - so that’s what I would recommend."

Speed comes slowly

"There’s got to be a balance. You’ve got to deal with the fundamentals. It depends on where you are in the timeline of your development: if you’ve just taken up drums in the last six months, I’m not going to tell you to push yourself to any extreme. But in a nutshell, just work out the fundamentals. 

Work on the hands, do it with control and with patience, then at a certain point you do have to start pushing your limits. Now, that’s dangerous because in the hands of someone who doesn’t quite have a grasp on their technique, or the control and awareness to play things as they should in terms of sounding even, they perhaps need some guidance from a teacher. 

But at some point, you do need to start pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone because it’s the only way you get to see what’s on the other side. But do it with understanding. Go to a point where it’s really challenging, it may even hurt a little bit, and then just pull back. Now you’ve got your point for where you need to get to. You can practice for six months or a year and that will become part of your comfort zone, then you can go to the next level. 

I guess you can draw analogies to athletes, or a workout in a gym. How do you build muscle? You push yourself a little. You go to the point where it might challenge you, but you get stronger for it. It’s very similar."

Trust your instincts

"I spoke about not bypassing the fundamentals. That gives you a strong foundation, but from there you need to be prepared to work hard and develop a unique voice. In order to achieve that, you need to have an amount of trust in your own vision. Don’t allow yourself to be dragged around and become disillusioned by other people’s opinIons. We can all get sidetracked by that - and they are only opinions.

At some point, you’ve got to have faith in yourself, be true to your convictions and just forge that path for yourself. And always remember that nothing worthwhile comes without unrelenting effort. You’ve just got to work for it, and that’s my ultimate advice for younger drummers.

It takes years for the creative process to evolve, so you’ve got to have patience. You’re going to be confronted with your mechanical challenges, but also the musical and rhythmical challenges. And then you’ve got to learn how to interact with other musicians. So it’s a drawn-out process. For me right now, it’s about finding the balance between feelings and ideas. Ideas are great, they’re pre-conceived. But the ability to be able to sit down at a drum kit and be able to unite those qualities of ideas and feeling, to me it’s the apex. Where you can just sit and improvise and create something beautiful."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9XdPjxReDc 

Feel can be learned

"That kind of freedom comes from the work that you put into your rhythmic expression on the drums: your ability to express yourself, exploring rhythmic possibilities in your practice, becoming comfortable with each unit of every beat, understanding where you are within the pulse, counting. 

Becoming deeply intimate with rhythm so that it becomes part of your feel. It’s your inventory of options. Your brain is storing all of these possibilities and this ability to hear things and understand them, and being able to call upon them in the moment - that’s what improvisation is.

So when we talk about feel, it sometimes seems like people might have this idea that feel is just this thing that exists in us that we draw upon - just a natural thing that you can’t tamper with. 

But no, feel is something you have to develop too. You can feel what comes naturally to you, only as far as your limitations are. So you need to enhance that, so that you can ‘feel’ more things. That sounds a bit deep, but it’s true! The important thing is to keep striving, that’s the beauty of art."

Virgil Donati's latest album, Ruination, is out now.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, you’re most likely already familiar with Mike Johnston. The online educator and clinician has developed a reputation for creating some of the best drum lessons on the web, and now's your chance to sample why for free!

Mike has been delivering free live lessons via Meinl’s Instagram page every Saturday during lockdown, and today he’s returning with his latest instalment to help drummers everywhere improve their hand speed.

As mentioned, the lesson takes place on Meinl’s Instagram, starting at 17:00 UK time (10:00am PST/18:00 CEST). Be sure to tune in, as these lessons are live - once they’re gone they’re gone!

As the whole world enters a period of lockdown, many teachers are turning to the internet to keep their lesson schedule running smoothly. If you’re new to it, we’ve prepared a guide on the easiest way to start delivering instrumental lessons to your students. Below you’ll find the answers to the basics of the gear and tech you’ll need, and we’ve enlisted the help of some experienced educators who have been delivering lessons online for years.

Gabor Dornyei is an international touring session drummer and educator. As well as this, Gabor is a faculty member at ICMP-London (The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance) and is former Head Of Drums (2014-2018) at DIMEO-ONLINE (Detroit Institute of Music Education). He has performed online clinics to Drum Channel and Drumeo in North America. When he’s not touring or teaching at music colleges Gabor gives lessons and records from his ‘Gabbey Road’ studio in London.

Dave Major has been an online educator for the past five years. His site offers a range of drumming courses from beginner to advanced, and as well as teaching his pre-prepared courses, Dave offers in-person and remote live lessons over the internet. Dave has performed at numerous clinics across the UK, sharing the stage with some of the world’s leading drummers.

AJ Rousell is the author of The Drummer’s Odyssey and The Field Manual For The Church Drummer. He regularly performs at drum clinics in the South West, and also organises the annual Drummer’s Odyssey Camp which is now in its third year. AJ teaches at the University Of West Of England (UWE), and has been delivering online lessons to his students for the past few years.

Teaching musical instrument lessons online

The guide below covers everything you need to get started with online lessons

Internet connection

It goes without saying that in order to teach your students online, you’ll need to be able to connect to the internet from your teaching room. Depending on the speed of your connection,  you may experience a latency (delay between your computer and your student) over Wi-Fi, so where possible, it’s best to use a hardwired LAN cable. For some, this might not be practical due to the placement of their router, however there are many solutions available which use your building’s electricity cables to effectively deliver a high-speed, wired connection. These ‘powerline’ kits usually come in sets of two, one to take the signal form your router, while the other is placed in the room where you’ll be teaching from. Your computer is then hardwired into the connection using a network cable, delivering a fast and reliable connection. You can check out our sister site, TechRadar.com's guide to the best powerline adapters, here.

Dave Major: “Latency is always going to be an issue, but you just try to have the best to get the best internet signal possible. A wired ethernet connection is always better than using Wi-Fi if possible.”

AJ Rousell: “[Internet speed] can be an issue. Sometimes you just need to work with it and ask for something to be repeated. You have no control over the connection at the student’s house, so it is a case of adapting and working with what they/you have. I’ve yet to have a connection so bad that a lesson wasn’t doable.”

Gabor Dornyei: “I’m not going to deny, that it will take a little getting used to - that your students are not going to be able to play in sync with you, because what they hear from you is already delayed by a couple of seconds. But once you recognise that you’re good to go. It’s really easy to overcome that if your students use a click which you can hear too- so that way you can hear and double check whether they’re understanding and playing the right rhythm and whether they’re in time.”

Your computer

Next up is the computer. Obviously this will work regardless of whether you’re using a desktop or laptop, but a laptop with a built-in webcam will allow for easier placement to get a decent camera angle. If not, then you’ll need a webcam that is capable of decent video quality, and can connect to your computer from your teaching setup. Again, a hardwired connection is preferable to avoid drop-outs, and a wireless camera will most likely become your bottleneck when streaming to your student. Position the computer so that your student can see you, as well as the instrument, and while you don’t need to be too fussy about lighting, try to make sure that hand placement and detailed parts of the instrument (strings, keys etc.) are visible, in focus and not over exposed/shadowed. A straightforward, clear picture of what you’re attempting to demonstrate is key.

AJ Rousell: I just use the webcam that is built into the computer, and most of my students use the same on their end. As long as it is positioned so you can see their hands then I am usually fairly happy with that. Remote teaching is a very different style of teaching, and involves having to really watch what’s happening and also regularly ask the student about what they are playing.

Dave Major: “ I position the laptop where is convenient and then move it around to get the best results. In my current situation I am working with existing students so I already have a good idea of their technique.”

Gabor Dornyei: “I use an overhead camera to give full spectrum with my methods and exercises to my students, but they really don’t need to have one. Occasionally I’ve asked my students to put their laptops/iPads down on the floor behind them, if I (or even them) felt, they’re struggling with their foot techniques.”

Sound advice

If you’re teaching instruments that aren’t overly loud (piano, acoustic guitar) or have volume controls (digital pianos, electric guitar and bass) then you may find that your computer’s on-board audio hardware - while not sounding like a studio-quality delivery -  will get the job done with minimum fuss. With some adjustment of your built-in microphone to avoid nasty clipping, you should be able to make sure that the sound within your room (including your voice) is being captured clearly.

However, if you’re teaching drums, you may find that the volume of your kit is simply too much for the computer’s microphone to comfortably play without distorting. Likewise, if your instrument doesn’t feature speakers, you’re going to need to find a way of getting both your voice and the output of your gear into the computer for your student to hear. That’s where an audio interface and microphone(s) will come in.

AJ Rousell: "I have set up my studio to be able to teach on an acoustic drum kit, and I have an electric kit at my house which I also use for online lessons. I use the same interface for both scenarios; for the acoustic kit I use a talk-back mic and an overhead mic, and for my home set up I use a talk-back mic and a ‘line out’ from my electric kit. Using practice pads is still a great tool for online lessons! 

When I first started teaching remotely, all the lessons were done solely using a practice pad and you can still make them engaging and beneficial lessons for the student. The AudioTechnica AT2020USBi mic was a huge game changer when I started remote lessons! It is a condenser microphone that can be plugged straight into your iPhone, so the option of teaching even while touring or traveling is an option!" 

Dave Major: I teach on an acoustic kit using external mics and an interface. With acoustic drums being so loud I think you need something like that. However, I have taught lessons using a practice pad, and in that case I’ll just use the in-build mic on the computer.

Gabor Dornyei: “I've been using the amazing Roland TD-30 KV for my online lessons. Not only does it feature an endless array of unbelievable sound options, but the convenience of being able to play with comfortably while turning the volume down: the student can enjoy a brilliant drum sound without distortion and still hear me talking over my own playing. Maintaining an enjoyable sound is crucial and an absolute winner, particularly if you have a good-busy long day of 8-9 hours of private lessons.”

Interface time

Chances are, if you’re already making a living from music then you already own an interface and possibly a microphone too. If not, you can pick up some affordable solutions, including USB microphones that eliminate the need for a separate interface. How far you go with this will really be down to the equipment you already own, or how much you want to invest.

Most interfaces are two-in/two-out, meaning that you can plug-in two sources with independent control over their levels. Look for an interface equipped with at least one mic pre-amp too, and if you’re struggling, check out our guide to the best audio interfaces, here. 

The minimum setup will be a single microphone positioned so that it can clearly pick up the sound of your instrument in the room as well as your voice. If you need a line-level input from a digital piano/line-out of an amp, you’ll be able to get by perfectly well with just a mono connection, leaving your interface’s other input free for a microphone for speech. The next option is to use a dual-mic setup: one microphone for talking into, and at least one for capturing your instrument clearly.

Mic choice

Again, we’re talking about delivering lessons here, rather than making a conceptual opus. But there are some considerations that will improve your (and your students’) overall experience when it comes to choosing a microphone. A dynamic mic is less sensitive than a condenser, doesn’t require phantom power to work and are generally more affordable and robust. However, a condenser microphone will give you greater high-end detail when placed on harmonically-rich sources such as acoustic guitars, pianos, or a drum kit.

That said, as the old saying goes, the best mic for the job is the one you have. So don’t worry if you only have specific mics. As with picture quality, above all we’re aiming for a clean audio signal that will allow you to communicate your lesson clearly.

Hear today

Next you’ll need to be able to hear your student. We’d recommend using good quality studio headphones plugged into your audio interface, as monitoring the other person over speakers could cause the sound to bleed into your microphones, creating some endless feedback loops that sound great for lo-fi dub, but less useful for your weekly rudiment workout. 

Closed-back headphones will keep the sound contained to your ears, or for a less visually intrusive method, in-ear monitors will also do the job brilliantly.

The student’s setup

Your setup as a teacher is one thing - you’ll hopefully spending a large amount of time using your investment to help further or maintain your business. But it might be a big ask to expect all of your students to be able to mirror this. So, be prepared for their setup to be less professional than yours. 

Potentially, this means anything from them using a phone or tablet with to connect to the lesson over Wi-Fi, with no additional audio or visual hardware. In this case, placement in the room will most likely be a compromise. 

If they are using a computer, make sure you know which operating system (Mac OS vs Windows) they are running, and how you can help them with adjusting their audio levels to avoid having your ears blown-out with distorted audio.

AJ Rousell: “The most I tend to advise is for students to use headphones rather than the laptop speakers. It’s true that the majority of students don’t have the capability or equipment needed to link interfaces, microphones and speakers up to their laptops; so I try and counteract that by making the visual and audio look as good as I can on my end.”

Dave Major: “It does take some adjustment in terms of ensuring nobody is playing and talking at the same time. But after a few minutes you’ll get used to it.”

Gabor Dornyei: “Some of my students have more advanced electronic gear, but some of them just play their acoustic kits. It's all fine with me, because I'm plugging my MacBook into the same PA system that I plug my ROLAND V-Drums kit it, so I can adjust separately at my end via a little Behringer mixer. If they want to hear my voice while they’re playing they either plug their laptops into speakers or they’ll wear headphones.”

What App?

There’s no shortage of communication platforms available to use for free, but it’s important to make sure that you’re making things easy for your student too. Devoted Apple fans may well love FaceTime, but what if your student isn’t part of the orchard? Skype is the best-known and longest-running video call app, and as such isn’t going to intimidate potential technophobes when you ask them to download the software. Some apps, such as Zoom are cross-platform, and also allow for conference calls if you’re teaching in a group (bandwidth permitting). Some options offer recording functions, so you or your student can capture the lesson (with permission) to recap until your next lesson.

AJ Rousell: “I initially started using Skype when I was giving lessons on a Practice Pad, which worked great. With the current Coronavirus situation I have tried to move onto a full drum kit for online lessons. 

The problem with Skype is that it doesn’t take more than one channel on an interface and I wanted to use two microphones; one for a talk-back and one as an overhead for the drum kit. There are ways around it, but I found switching to ZOOM as a platform was an easier decision. It’s free and takes whatever signal is sent from the interface (including multiple channels), as long as you disable the ‘suppress background noise’ feature so it doesn’t gate the drum kit audio.” 

Dave Major: “ I use Skype at the moment, but I will look into better options if there are any out there to allow me to keep my lessons as high quality as possible.”

Gabor Dornyei: “I have tried multiple platforms and applications in the past - particularly when I was the Head Of Drums/Author 2014-2018 at the Detroit Institute of Music Education (DIME-ONLINE) but so far always returned to Skype.” 

Prepare to adapt…

Your online lessons may not be quite the same as being sat in the room with your student, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be successful and fun. Send any teaching materials that they might need in advance of the lesson so that they have enough time to print them out or display them clearly while your lesson is taking place. If your students are minors, make sure that you have explained the premise of online lessons to their parents, and gained their permission first-hand. If needed, invite them to sit-in on the lesson to make sure that they are satisfied with the quality instruction their child is receiving. 

Dave Major: “Teaching remotely will never replace the in-person experience but it is great for covering wide distances. I have had lessons with my favourite drummers via Skype and it’s always been beneficial. The technology really comes into it’s own in a time like this. Hopefully I will be able to continue my lessons and keep most, if not all my students.The challenge is ensuring the student gets the best out of it and can get the help they need without the technology getting in the way.”

AJ Rousell: “The benefits of teaching remotely is the knowledge that a student is studying with you because they value you as a teacher and your material, not just because you are geographically the closest teacher to them. It eliminates the issue of travel and location, and is one of the most flexible ways of teaching which can also reduce the need to pay for room hire! There are challenges: it is a very different style of teaching, and it can be tricky teaching topics such as technique when you are not in the room with them. Internet connection can be a struggle if there is not a decent signal on either end, and not being able to play along with the student can slightly limit some engaging teaching options. But overall, I would say all the challenges of remote teaching are simple enough to overcome, and it can open a huge door to growing your list of potential students, and therefore your business.”

Gabor Dornyei: “In my opinion, nothing is ever going to change the amazing feel of being in the same room with a real master of their art. But...reality, travel & accommodation costs - not to mention visas or damned global viruses - can easily change the scope from the student point of view. From the teacher’s point-of-view, I find the challenge can be remaining engaged and presenting the lesson with the same enthusiasm and excitement to a laptop screen like it was a keen student. It’s a slightly different vibe. The massive benefit can be- once you get your reliable set up going- that if you have the international profile and requests for lessons,  it’s fairly easy to operate and maintain your gear and lessons and you can work from the comfort of your home.”

Pass the test

It’s common sense that before you offer your services in exchange for money, you know for sure that your new web teaching rig is performing as it should. Get yourself set up, and test everything out before you enrol your first student. Try calling willing friends or family and see how the experience works in the real world. Is there a lag? Can they hear you talking and playing? Can you hear them in your headphones? Some basic checks now will avoid you having to postpone or abandon lessons later.

After getting to grips with some essential grooves it can be time to focus on developing some of the embellishments and variations heard in the playing of more experienced drummers. 

So in our next level groove series, we're lifting the lid on some of the concepts that you may have heard in the playing of your favourite drummers and offering some ways for you to take your own grooves to the next level.

Crashes are frequently played on the first beat of the bar, however, there can be exceptions, where the crash is played earlier giving an anticipated or ‘pushed’ effect. 

Here we look at maintaining steady time whilst incorporating these different crash options.

1. The crash is set up by an open hi-hat on the ‘&’ of beat three

The most frequently encountered anticipated crash is the ‘&’ of beat 4. In this two-bar example the crash is set up with a simple open hi-hat on the upbeat eighth note of beat 3.

2. 'Feeling' in sixteenth notes will help place this crash correctly

A more syncopated anticipated crash is the last 16th-note of the bar. In order to execute this accurately it’s important to be feeling the 16th-note rate whilst playing the preceding time.

3. The crash is moved to the sixteenth note straight after beat four

Example 3 features another 16th-note based anticipation, this time falling straight after beat 4 on the second 16th-note.

4. Maintaining the groove while playing multiple crashes is important

Occasionally, we may be required to play several crashes and it can sometimes be effective to maintain the groove whilst doing so. Example 4 shows a typical example of this, where the backbeat on beat 4 is played in between the syncopated crashes.

After getting to grips with some essential grooves it can be time to focus on developing some of the embellishments and variations heard in the playing of more experienced drummers. 

So in our next level groove series, we're lifting the lid on some of the concepts that you may have heard in the playing of your favourite drummers and offering some ways for you to take your own grooves to the next level.

By definition linear drumming is where no two limbs are played simultaneously (don’t worry the linear police won’t stop your gig should this occur) creating a unique and broken sound, often allowing the hi-hat to state its own rhythm when used in the context of a groove.

The following examples illustrate some ways in which short bursts of linear playing can be added to grooves.

1. The hi-hat/snare/bass drum pattern is a common linear phrase

One of the most frequently encountered figures in linear playing is the right/left/foot combination and in terms of time playing this would normally be orchestrated between the hi-hat, snare and bass drum. However, for the figure to be most effective the left hand note played on the snare would usually be played as a ghost note. This figure can be seen in the middle of Example 1.

2. Accent the second 16th notes of beats one and two with the hi-hat

Linear playing often allows the hi-hat to state a rhythmic pattern independent of the bass drum and snare and in Example 2 it can be seen playing the second 16th-note of beats 1 and 2.

3. The paradiddle lends itself to linear patterns, as seen from beat 3

Example 3 blends some linear playing with a rather familiar sticking in the shape of a single paradiddle on beats 3 and 4. The linear move in the first two beats utilises double strokes to both maintain a steady quarter note but also move the backbeat of 2 a 16th-note earlier.

4. The R/L/F combination from example one adds a polyrhythmic feel when repeated

We return to our right/left/foot combination in Example 4, where it’s played from beats 1 to 4. Notice how the hi-hat now states a 4 over 3 rhythm as it scans across the first three beats.

Arejay Hale co-founded hard-touring, fast-rising heavy rock outfit Halestorm with his sister Lzzy Hale while they were still at school, and have been paying their dues since securing third-place in a local talent contest when they were 10 and 13 respectively.

Here are Arejay's hard-hitting hitting hard tips.

1. Learn technique

"I believe my drums sound way better when I hit them really hard. One thing I learned growing up though was proper technique, the Moeller technique, which is playing in a whipping motion. You want to start from your shoulder and build from your arm to whip so you can hit hard. You don't just push your arm down into your drum, you want to use your entire body and throw your weight into your hits and your kick drum."

2. It's not just strength

"For a rock band, I think rock drummers sound better if you're hitting hard and you're using your instrument to its full potential. There's more to it than strength though. I'm a skinny, weak dude! It doesn't take muscle strength. You can get a lot of power from using proper technique and using your body weight to your advantage."

3. Follow through

"I relate it to a golf swing or a footballer, when you hit you follow through with your kick. When I hit the snare I won't just stop when I hit the drum, I'll try to follow through to the floor with a good wind up and a good swing. That helps get a good crack."

4. Think dynamics

"It takes its toll on heads and sticks. But it's worth it because it means you're hearing the real sound of the drum. We don't play with tracks or triggers, everything you hear is real. It's easy to get a consistent sound if you're triggering, but I prefer the natural dynamics of the drum. It's important to know when to hit hard and when to back off. You need good dynamics."

5. Warm up

"A good warm-up is important. I'lldo some single and double stroke rolls. I'll start soft, get loud and then play soft again.I might do a double-stroke roll into a single stroke without changing the sound. That is really good for consistency and also timing between hits. We come out swinging so I need a good warm-up because hittinghard is very physical and it does take itstoll on you."

Was your resolution for 2020 to start learning an instrument, or to get better? Hopefully you’re well underway by now, but if you’re struggling to find inspiration, the latest sale from sheet music specialists MusicRoom could be right up your street.

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Whether you play guitar, bass, piano, ukulele or drums, and regardless of your skill level, MusicRoom has a wealth of books available to help you get better at your instrument, providing years of learning – from song books to help you learn tracks by The Beatles, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Ed Sheeran and Jimi Hendrix, to step-by-step tuition to help you reach new levels.

• Best online piano lessons: top piano lesson software, apps and websites

When tuning drums, the general approach should be to promote tone, resonance and projection. Unfortunately, tom tuning seems to provide the biggest headache for the vast majority of drummers… until now.

• How to tune a snare drum
• How to tune a bass drum

Here's how to tune your toms to perfection, in eight simple steps…

1. Seat the heads

Once again, we're going to begin by seating the heads, a process that is arguably more important on toms than on any other drum type. Take your new head and place on the drum, refit hoop and tension all rods to finger tight. Press firmly in the middle (vary the amount of hand you use depending on the drum size) and look out for those wrinkles.

2. De-wrinkle

Work round the drum a little at a time (remember, we don't need to use the criss-crossing method) until all the wrinkles have been removed. Give the head a good stretch by pressing against it quite firmly a few times. Once you have done this, press in the middle again and check to see if any wrinkles appear (they quite often do on larger toms) and adjust the rods as necessary.

3. Tension in half-turns

To complete the seating process fully, take two drum keys and, working in opposite pairs, tension the head in half-turns, taking it up to a level of tightness that would be way above what most players would use. Quickly check that the head is roughly even all round and then leave for several hours. Overnight is good if possible…

4. Loosen up

Loosen the tight head by detuning the tension rods in opposite pairs in the same way as we tightened them in the first place. Now make them all finger tight again and you are ready.

When tuning, it's a good idea to start with both heads detuned back to slack, regardless of which head you're replacing. Why? Because the chances are that the bottom head will have detuned slightly since we last checked it, and if you are putting a new batter head on, it will be slightly different from the previous one, even if it is the same model.

5. Start at the bottom

On toms, the bottom head is the most important one. The vast majority of drummers don't seem to realise this and can spend hours tweaking away at the batter head. The problem is, this very rarely solves the problem in question, or means that the drum never sounds as good as it could.

Focus on optimising the sound of the bottom head (after all this is the head that affects tone, sustain and projection) and if you get this right, tuning the batter head almost takes care of itself.

6. Match your heads

Make sure you pick your bottom head wisely - thin resonant heads (7 mil) are not a particularly good idea in most cases, despite being widely supplied on kits. For maximum resonance and sustain, try matching the weight and thickness of top and bottom heads appropriately.

For example, if you are using a two-ply batter head, a thin (7 mil) resonant head will often appear to choke the tone of the drum. If that's specifically what you want, cool. If not, go with a standard medium weight single-ply head (10 mil) and you'll soon hear the improvement in sound.

7. Make it sing

Once again, press the centre and, moving round the drum, one lug after the other, tighten and remove all the wrinkles. Check that the head is of even pitch. At this point we can stop pressing in the centre and start using our ears. Continue in even smaller turns and notice how the head starts to sing.

What we are looking for here is a nice tone that, after tapped lightly, decays with a smooth, even note. The pitch you choose is up to you, but in general, a nice even tone is a good place to start. In the case of most toms, you will find that there is a place where the head will suddenly spring into life and sing evenly and openly all across its surface. If you are lucky, your drum may have two or more levels at which this happens.

8. Turn to the top

Contrary to what you may have heard, try tuning the batter head of your toms 'in situ' - in other words attached to their stands, bass drum, whatever. That's how we play them and that's where they should sound their best. Make sure all rods are finger tight, remove any wrinkles and move round the drum as before, only this time use very small turns - maybe a quarter of a turn, or even smaller.

Each time you turn a rod, tap the centre of the drum and check the sound. Keep doing this until you get the sound you want. Always go for pitch and sound first, then feel.

Now read 7 simple steps to tuning your bass drum

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Getting that left (or right) foot working is so important as a drummer. We can give so much to the music by learning how to employ it outside of simply stepping time and using it to open and/or splash the odd hi-hat. 

We're not talking extreme independence, we're just talking about simple ways of using it to great musical and rhythmic effect by just thinking slightly outside the box.

This month we're looking at developing this concept in the context of double pedal work, but not from a metal perspective - gone are the days when the double pedal was something synonymous with metal - this is purely about Augmenting the groove, and it could be any groove in any genre. This is about adding to the music or the song with great effect but without getting in the way of it all.

Make sure you get the groove cooking first and if you haven't focused, technically speaking, on what your feet are doing before, start by making sure that as you develop the idea your foot isn't flying off its respective pedal; it should remain in contact with the foot plate and you should aim to remain balanced, central to the kit and relaxed - from the tip of your toe to the last hair on your head - at all times.

Watch the lessons below.

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Playing the drums involves the whole body - hands, arms and shoulders, the legs and core all need to have good strength and mobility to ensure they don't impede our creativity.

All too often players reach a physical ceiling before they reach a creative one - this is where our focus on technique in practice steps in, and good range of motion and mobility in our muscles and joints is critical. Here James Hester, session drummer, Head of Drums at BIMM Bristol and triathlete gives his advice on preparing physically for a practice session.

"Warming up before we play raises the heart rate ready for work, focuses the mind and allows us to hit the ground running. Taking some time to warm up will prepare the muscles by bringing them up to temperature and increasing blood flow and nutrients to the muscles - this will help prevent injury and will also psychologically help you get 'in touch' with your body.

"Which of these stretches you choose to do is dependant on the intensity of your planned session and what's required of your body, but do them after spending some time using a snare and bass drum pad doing rudiments and simple co-ordination exercises to warm up.

"Start slow and with low velocity and build up tempo and volume. Once your heart rate is up and your mind focused, perform these stretches."

1. Shoulder Blade Squeeze

Sit or stand with a straight back and pinch your shoulder blades together. Imagine you have a £50 note between your shoulder blades and don't want to drop it. This is a great stretch for aligning the back and opening the chest area. This is one you can do a few times a day without needing to warm up.

2. Fist Stretch

Make a fist with your thumb over your fingers and grip fairly tightly - then open your hand out as far as it will go - do this four or five times with each hand. This not only works the hands but also the forearms too.

3. Rotator Cuff 1

Put your arms out at 45° in front of you, palms down - then roll your shoulders so your palms are upwards - do this as many times as you like to increase the circulation. You can move your arms upwards so your hands are at the same height as your shoulders and also try beginning with your arms 45° to your side and do the same thing.

4. Rotator cuff 2

Arms out to the side parallel to the floor and elbows bent at 45° - as if you're holding something above your head. Rotate from the shoulder until your palms and forearms are horizontal, parallel to the floor. You can also start with your arms pointing downwards and rotate them upwards.

5. Seated Hip Flexor

In a seated position, lift one leg up and place the outside of the ankle on the opposite knee and sit up straight. This will stretch your hip flexors but you can get a deeper stretch by gently pressing down on the knee of the raised leg. Do this on both sides.

Plus, try yoga…

A more holistic approach may be to investigate the art of Yoga for strengthening your body, increase your suppleness and give you time to focus your mind.

Radiohead/Portishead's Clive Deamer tells us, "I started practising Ashtanga Yoga around 2005. If done regularly it provides many physical and deeper psychological and spiritual benefits. In the context of drumming, the most obvious being a strong back and a daily gradual increase in bodily strength awareness and flexibility.

"Yoga also develops your ability to relax. This feeds into good playing and practising technique, you notice the difference between excessive muscular tension compared to focused and engaged work."

Progression is important in any career, and Northern Irish sessioneer Gerry Morgan reveals to us that he’s been working hard to stay ahead of the curve. 

The drummer got his first major career break when he joined forces with a little-known musician called James Bay around five years ago. His old-school approach to sound, style and playing for the song suited Bay’s soulful guitar pop down to the ground and their live shows were a triumph. 

Once the cycle for Bay’s Grammy-nominated Chaos And The Calm album ended, Gerry’s services were quickly sought by fellow Irishman Niall Horan for his first solo outing following the 2016 hiatus of pop colossus One Direction. 

As musical director, Gerry recognised that Horan’s music needed more than just a killer live band to make an impact. To give the music – and his own CV – a boost, Gerry ploughed into the world of programming, MIDI and triggers to bring sonic magic to the stage. 

Despite initial reservations, he quickly learned that using technology within music wasn’t rigid or soulless. Rather, it was a tool that enabled him to be creative, organic and dynamic in the live arena, from the drum kit and beyond.

Returning to the road in 2018 for James Bay’s eclectic 2018 album Electric Light, Morgan was armed with new skills to deliver the album’s big sounds and to take Bay’s live show to the next level.

We spoke to Gerry on the phone from Munich, covering topics ranging from his long-term tenure with James Bay, his enlightening, musical foray into the world of technology and why it’s never too late to learn something new.

You teamed up with James Bay after his debut album had been tracked. Did you record any drums on Electric Light? 

“I did, although I wasn’t around for the whole time James was tracking because I was on a different tour. James did a lot of the drums himself and then anything where a full performance was needed on drums I came in and put it down. 

“A lot of the record was done by the man himself. He’s a little bit of a genius when it comes to music.”

Which tracks did you play on?

“The singles, including ‘Just For Tonight’ and ‘Us’. It was three or four tracks. We recorded in a church in London. We did some sessions in Abbey Road Studio 2 as well. 

“It was funny, we were working on a thing for Rod Stewart. Rod couldn’t make the session with me, James and bass player, Tom, so we ended up tracking one of James’ tracks instead! 

“We were working with Giles Martin that day, which is nice. I’ve gone on to work with him since then. We did a Faces kind of thing with him in the studio before that. 

“Then I went on to do some of the soundtrack for the Elton John movie [Rocketman]. I ended up doing that with Giles and a couple of boys from Jamiroquai and Tom Jones’ band at Air Studios.”

Did James have a good idea of what he wanted from the drum parts or were you bringing your own ideas?

“It was a bit of both. I was coming up with my own parts that worked. He would go, ‘Gerry do your thing.’ We’ve been playing for quite some time now and he knows what I get up to and how I sound, so I think he trusts me on that side of things. 

“Or he would have put down a scratch and I would embellish on his scratch ideas and represent what he was thinking, servicing his original ideas and performing them as a drummer would.”

Do you have go-to gear for the studio?

“I have a large collection of vintage drums. I usually take a few different options to the session, so I have different tuning options and different tuning ranges on different kits. 

“Sizes and dimensions will also dictate that. I often take some of my Slingerland, Ludwig and Gretsch stuff. I’ll bring a few bags of cymbals – different sizes of hats, rides, crashes and effects cymbals. 

“The kits [I end up recording] are a mixed bag of my favourite Gretsch tom, my favourite Ludwig kick and my favourite Slingerland snare or something. I play what’s going to sound good on the record.”

It’s important to be able to offer a range of sounds for a session?

“Yeah, I’ve got this one 60s Slingerland and every time any engineer (live or studio) hears it, they just immediately want it on their record. I’m very happy to have that kit. But sometimes that just doesn’t cut it so you need a different size, for example. 

“The reason why I buy these drums is because whenever I’m travelling around the world I’ll go to vintage drum shops, collectors or dealers, and if it sounds great I’m gonna have to buy it. 

“It’s part of my job to supply people with the best tonal sounds and colours possible. You need your arsenal as a musician, a recording artist or live performer.”

The reception to Electric Light has been great and the shows have been getting much bigger. Has your approach to playing with James evolved too?

“When I joined James it was just a two-piece. The first gig we did was in Glasgow to about 30 people. I was on percussion, piano and backing vocals. 

“Then we’ve gone on to do arena tours and some stadium gigs. The development of sound and technology within the live production has honed my skills in terms of working with technology, with MIDI, with triggering, MIDI mapping, having my samples change throughout a verse and chorus, beat by beat if I want it that way. 

“I’m just trying to recreate the sound of the record. The second record had distinctive sounds that had to be recreated and represented in the live arena. The only way I could do that for the second record was to make use of samples, Ableton, triggers and pads. 

“The first [James Bay] record was much more roots-y and organic. That was cool because that was me and that still is me. That still is James and his whole sound too, but as he moved I had to move with him. 

“It’s definitely given me so much more knowledge, so much more possibility and so much more to give as a drummer.”

You’ve always struck me as more of an old-school drummer. Did you embrace the technology reluctantly or was it something you knew was required for the job?

“I went in kicking. I think I was naive, uneducated and maybe a bit frightened by the new technology. Once I got a sniff of the possibilities then there was no looking back. If you can get your head around the likes of Ableton or the Roland products, you can use them in such a creative way.

“But you can also use it in an organic way. I’m not just taking samples from loop libraries or anything. I’m creating my own loops, I’m recording my own samples. 

“You might hear a snare drum sample, but that’s one of my beautiful snare drums with a lot of my percussion that I’ve collected from my travels. It’s all me, but because I can’t play all those instruments at one time I layer things. 

“It’s still organic, but it’s just allowing me to do so much more than is humanly possible.”

How did you go about learning to use the technology? Did you just start experimenting?

“Yes. I was working with QLab and the Roland SPD-SX and triggers. That started when I got a new job with Niall Horan from One Direction. That tour was his first outing. 

“I think Niall really enjoyed the drums on the James Bay gig. He’s a big James Bay fan and it turns out he was a fan of what I brought to the table. He wanted to keep things natural and organic, which is cool, but as soon as the songs started to be serviced to me I knew that we needed to run a programmed track. 

“I started sampling the sounds from the record as well as adding in my additional instrument collection at home. It was about experimenting, it was about failing, getting it right and growing once I got it right.

“When I went back into the James gig, I was doing exactly the same thing but we were using Ableton instead of QLab. 

“At the moment I’m on the road with Snow Patrol, opening up the show with a new artist from Warner called JC Stewart and I’m using a lot of MIDI mapping and I’m running my tracks off Ableton. 

“I’ve been going in very deep so I can control keyboard patches as well as my drum triggers. My samples are changing with verses and choruses. 

“They’re setting off samples, but they’re also setting off loops, so I could be playing a 6/8 groove but I might have half the bar cut up into my kick drum pattern, and then the other half of the bar cut up to my snare pattern so that there’s simultaneously two grooves happening. 

“Importantly, they have a humanistic feel because I’m setting them off. I’m trying to get more musical with my approach. It’s really interactive.

“When I went in deeper I got help off Si Francis who is a lovely programmer and bass player for the likes of Ellie Goulding and Kylie. He sat me down and got me up to speed. I’ve a lot to thank him for.”

You must have felt the pressure to get it right for a major artist like Niall Horan?

“It has to be of a stadium standard, whether it’s in a small room or a big room. The production has to be like a big-boy show. It has to be 100 percent professional. 

“That involved making live arrangements, making the actual show sound good, creating a show, rearranging for medleys for TV shows and awards shows, working with different artists for duets, working their songs into Niall’s songs. 

“There were a lot of changes happening and a lot of my creativity within the show, which was good. It was a great challenge and I really enjoyed it.”

You’re currently musical director for JC Stewart. Why do you think drummers lend themselves to that role?

“Because they don’t take guitar solos! No, maybe it’s because the drummer’s always the driver. You can push and pull the feel of a song, you know where a song should sit live because tempo and feel is very much a part of your upbringing and understanding. It’s the backbone of what you do. 

“I think as musical director you need to know where songs sit live. If you’re always thinking about the big sounds from behind your kit, you can do that in pre-production with tracks and arrangements and sonics. 

“I think anyone can do it, maybe drummers just want to take on that extra responsibility. I also want to show that I understand harmony and melody. 

“I studied music at university, so I studied my jazz harmony and arrangements; I like to use those skills.”

Do you enjoy the added pressure of being MD?

“I think the pressure has gone. There used to be pressure, but I enjoy the responsibility. 

“I get a kick out of that and visualising something in my studio with all the tracks, and then arranging it and programming the parts and the instruments and I enjoy translating that to the live arena.”

How early does that process start?

“It depends on how much material we’ve got to work with. It depends if you want to service the songs as they are on the record, or whether you can go in and really recreate something live, structurally making it different, making cool intros, cool outro sections. 

“Every gig is different. I could be there working for a week, chilling out and working through the day with gigs at night, or I could be doing them on the road. 

“If there’s a new song that comes in, you can be working on your mobile studio on the road. I’ve recorded additional guitar parts in a trailer backstage before the set because they’re just needed for the live sound, it needs a little more drive. 

“You record them, line in, make them sound good, bounce them down and stick them on the track. You just need to be ready to go.”

Do you get a kick out of that off-the-cuff stuff?

“Yeah. It’s organic. That’s how I like playing music – getting in the room and jamming with someone is all about spontaneity. Just because you’re working on a predetermined sound that’s locked in on a playback system doesn’t mean it needs to be rigid. 

“You can have different sections if you’re using Ableton; you can go round choruses another time if you want. It’s very interactive. Technology isn’t scary. I’ve learned that it can be organic as well.”

You have a new Gretsch kit for this tour

“I went for the USA Custom. It’s so versatile. On the tour I’m playing one up, one down. We’re playing arenas on this tour. 

“It’s finger-tight tuning and just slightly above that with the key. I can just play one or two notes on a fill and leave space and let the drums sing out in the larger rooms. It just sounds so fat. I’m really happy with it.”

JC Stewart’s music sounds huge with plenty of space between the notes...

“Everything counts with JC Stewart. His production is impactful, bombastic. It sounds like it’s made for a large room. 

“You know, I really enjoyed planning this set for the large arenas, because it kind of sounds like it’s where it belongs. This music is all about making statements. And I like to make statements with tones. 

“It’s so enjoyable to play a really sparse fill and then just let the room do the work. Creating space with your playing, letting the decay happen, letting reverb ring out and letting the drums just sing in this space. 

“You can say so much more with one hit on a crackingly-tuned drum. Whenever people test a drum kit out they don’t sit down and play a 32nd-note chop, they hit it once and go, ‘That’s sick.’”

In your earlier years as a musician you immersed yourself in music of a myriad genres, playing every gig from orchestra, to jazz band and theatre. Do you feel that that upbringing gave you the versatility to be able to do what you do now?

“I really do believe that my upbringing did help because I was trying to do as much as possible in a wide variety of genres, and playing different instruments. 

“I have to say that I’m very glad that I’ve left my violin playing behind though. I think it would have been very unlikely that I would have gotten employed in any musical situation! 

“But it was great for learning how to pick four strings. I love strings, I just couldn’t play them very well. But my theory and my knowledge of how the instrument works is all there.

“Also, can I just make it clear that if you’re reading this and you’re 17 or 18 years old, that really doesn’t mean that you’ve lost out. Just get stuck in now and you’ll be fine. You know, it’s never too late to learn another instrument.”  

Gerry’s gear

Drums

Gretsch USA Custom in Espresso Burst finish – 22"x14" bass drum, 13"x9" rack tom, 16"x14" and 18"x16" floor toms (latter not pictured), 14"x6 " chrome over brass snare

Cymbals

Zildjian – 14" K Light hats and a set of 50s 14" Constantinople hats, 20" Constantinople ride (used as a crash, sizzled), 22" Kerope main
ride, 20" Constantinople Bounce ride
(used as a crash)

Plus

Remo heads: coated Emperors on toms, Powerstroke 3 on bass drum and Controlled Sound Coated Black Dot on snare. Vic Firth SD10 Swinger sticks. DW 6000 flat-based hardware (Gerry also uses DW 9000 series). Ableton software. Roland SPD-SX and triggers. LP percussion. Porter & Davies BC2

Now I’m Here is taken from Sheer Heart Attack - Queen’s third album, and was performed on every tour between its release and Queen’s final shows in the 80s. More recently, Now I’m Here makes an appearance in the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. The song itself having been written about Queen’s experiences supporting Mott The Hoople in the US. 

• Step it up with our pick of the best online drum lessons

Intro

The drums first enter with the familiar choked cymbal crashes on the ninth and thirteenth bars after the vocals enter, before Roger’s anticipated crashes and fills around the kit kick things up a gear.

Here the crashes fall on the last eighth-note of the bar while the fills are mostly single-stroke sixteenth-note based and move from high tom to low. After eight bars a crescendo, played as a double-stop between the toms, leads us into the main groove.

Main groove

Roger Taylor lays down a driving eighth-note hi-hat based feel embellished with his signature open hi-hats on the backbeats. This is a sound that appears on most of Roger's hi-hat based playing and was perhaps something developed to increase the impact of the snare against the loud amps and poorly amplified/monitored drums of the time. 

To replicate this accurately the hi-hats are closed almost as soon as they're opened which, in conjunction with different bass drum patterns, can require a high degree of independence.

Verse/chorus

In short the piece then moves around the verse/chorus, played with the eighth-note hi-hat based feel, and the fills of the intro one more time before heading to the bridge and eventually the guitar solo, both also played over essentially the same eighth-note feel.

As well as the aforementioned hi-hat move, one of the other essential elements in Roger's performance on this track is the size of the drums. Throughout his career he's always favoured large shells, with this kit most likely featuring a 26" bass drum and 13" to 18" toms. 

Playthrough and backing track

Once you have each part of the song down, we've provided a complete playthrough video so you can see how it all fits together. And finally, there is a drum-less backing track of the whole song for you to jam along to yourself! 

Some sampled loops are instantly recognisable, but there are very few that have shaped entire genres: the 'Amen Break' is most certainly one.

The Winstons were a funk/soul band from Washington DC who are best known for their track ‘Amen, Brother’, which was actually a B-side to their 1969 hit ‘Color Him Father’. However, it was some years later, in the 80s, as digital sampling technology developed, that ‘Amen, Brother’s popularity gathered pace thanks to its drum break. 

The piece itself is an instrumental cover and it features an uptempo 16th-note based funk feel with a horn section. The drum groove features groups of two 16th-notes on the bass drum while the right hand plays eighth-notes on the ride and the left plays a ‘2’ and ‘4‘ backbeat along with filling in some 16th-note ghost notes. 

Even at 132bpm the pattern already sounds like the seminal drum’n’bass groove it would become. However, it’s the four-bar break, which appears mid-way through the piece that was the target for early DJs and producers. 

The Amen Break video lesson

Now widely known as the ‘Amen Break’, the four-bar break is a drum solo with the first two bars featuring the same groove as appears through most of the piece. However, bars three and four feature a displaced feel in beats three and four, which sees the final backbeat of the bar played an eighth-note later, not dissimilar to the effect used in James Brown’s ‘Cold Sweat'. 

The appeal to breakbeat pioneers was the fact that these four bars feature just the drums so sampling allowed the drum part to be lifted out and manipulated, perhaps chopping the pattern up or changing its tempo. 

Along with the wonderfully funky playing of drummer Gregory C Coleman, the track’s drum sound is worth noting as it’s of the period, relatively tight and crunchy. It’s also this sonic quality, especially once sped up, which gives the Amen Break its unique sound and has helped make it one of the most widely used and perhaps the most influential eight seconds of drumming ever.

There are few rock drummers with a sound and approach as unique as Alex Van Halen. But, while there are plenty of moments to choose from as highlights, the breathtaking, herta-fuelled, toms-and-double-kick shuffle intro of 'Hot For Teacher's' is as good as it gets. 

Here, even in the usually reverb-soaked ’80s, he avoids the new larger-than-life digital processing in favour of something that as a result still sounds fresh.

Then there’s the drumming which displays some serious speed and fluency but blended perfectly with originality and creativity. Okay, we’d heard double-bass rock shuffles before; on Billy Cobham’s ‘Quadrant 4’ and Simon Phillips’ ‘Space Boogie’ for example. 

But on 'Hot For Teacher' Alex used it in an up-tempo rock context with punishing accuracy. The result was something that had the rock drummers of 1984, before the widespread use of double pedals, pulling two kits together to emulate the sound. 

• Step it up with our pick of the best online drum lessons

Van Halen 'Hot For Teacher' drum intro part 1

Van Halen 'Hot For Teacher' drum intro part 2

Alex gets plenty of use out of hertas, played over the barline during the intro. The ride pattern played during the intro and guitar solo is also worthy of note as Alex plays the first two partials of the triplet on ‘1’ and ‘3’ and since the feet are filling in the third partial, the ear is fooled into thinking the ride is playing triplets. 

From a time when it’s hard to tell many rock drummers apart, with generic four-piece kits and digital recording homogenising their performances, Alex always stands apart – his sound and playing exemplify the benefits of pursuing your own identity and defying convention in order to allow something truly unique to be created. 

Stewart Copeland is undoubtably one of the most influential rock drummers of all-time. His captivating mix of rock and reggae demands the attention of drummers everywhere, and the influence is heard in everything from Deftones to Bruno Mars. 

Not only that, but incorporating some of Stewart's accents and embellishments into your own grooves and fills is fun, and extremely addictive! Here, we take a look at seven of Stewart Copeland's often-used concepts to get you started.

Hi-hat embellishments

Possibly the key drum kit voice in Stewart’s playing is the hi-hat where his touch and use of accents and embellishments make it a highly expressive part of the kit. The examples in the three bars below shows a Steppers groove. 

First is a simple accent which just lifts the end of the bar. Next is a sixteenth-note right/left/right sticking. And finally the third bar shows a sixteenth-note triplet right/right/left/right figure. 

Splash Accents

From the very early days of The Police Stewart made use of splash cymbals and octobans. And whilst the two sounds didn’t appear on many of the band’s mainstream hits Stewart would frequently incorporate them live. 

This four-bar example is similar to how Stewart approaches the verse of ‘Spirits In The Material World’ live, alternating between the splash cymbal and octoban.

Cross-sticking

Stewart’s playing would frequently utilise the cross-stick sound, interestingly sometimes played lifting the hand completely off the drum to slam it hard into the drum for a stronger sound. These two examples show two related cross-rhythmic patterns where the left hand plays a dotted eighth-note rhythm.

In Example 3A the right hand continues to play eighth-notes, whereas in Example 3B the right hand fills in two sixteenth-notes between each cross-stick.

Melodic Tom Parts

Two of the The Police’s biggest tracks feature Stewart playing a melodic tom part during the verses. On both ‘Roxanne’ and ‘Message In A Bottle’ the left hand plays an almost Mambo-esque tom pattern which moves between the mid-tom and high-tom to create a two-bar pattern.

Bass Drum Placement

The reggae-esque nature of many of The Police’s tracks allowed Stewart to get creative with his grooves, often omitting the bass drum from the beginning of the bar or simply using it very sparsely to create spacious sounding grooves but ones which still conveyed the essence of the pulse. 

Example 5A is similar to the verse pattern from ‘Roxanne’ with the bass drum falling under the snare on beat 2 but playing nothing on beats 3 and 4. While Example 5B is similar to the verse groove on ‘Walking On The Moon’ with the bass drum unusually playing beats 2 and 4, notes that would typically be the ‘skank’ or upbeats in a reggae feel.

Ride Bell Accents

Stewart sometimes uses the bell of the ride cymbal to punctuate the backbeat, quickly moving right hand off the hi-hats over to the ride cymbal just when the snare drum is played. Example 6A shows this approach in a groove similar to that which appears towards the end of ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic’. While Example 6B is like the build-up towards the end of ‘Message In A Bottle’.

Hal Blaine, one of the most revered and prolific session drummers of all time has died, aged 90. This article originally appeared in 2014 as part of Rhythm's classic drum sounds series.

Some drum sounds transcend the hitting of sticks on skin, or even sound hitting microphone and then vinyl. 

The vibrations of Hal Blaine’s drum intro on The Ronettes hit ‘Be My Baby’ are still being felt now, with bands mimicking the drum intro, the production and attitude, all of which emanates from one of the music world’s finest, quirkiest and pioneering of characters. 

Without Phil Spector’s eventual free rein to experiment in LA’s Gold Star Studios, culminating in the ‘Wall of Sound’ production, we wouldn’t have had Brian Wilson’s groundbreaking production on Pet Sounds and therefore Sgt Pepper wouldn’t have sounded as it does. 

Whilst this is quite well known in music circles, what isn’t so well known is that the echo on Spector’s records wasn’t made electrically. the secret to gold Star’s huge success (search for the list of hits recorded there) was the two 20ft specially-built rooms designed and built by studio partner David Gold.

Gold was an innovator that deserves more recognition – even going as far as building the studio console and an am transmitter so mixes could be checked on nearby stereos. 

Of recording the classic track, Blaine recalled “My memories of a Phil Spector session are just the greatest. Not hard, but it took a lot of stamina because Phil did not like to take breaks. Through the years, ‘Be My Baby’ obviously had a major influence on drums and drumming and rock and roll. 

"For some reason 
I really did not remember anything about a drum part that was written out. We may have been rehearsing with a straight backbeat on ‘2’ and
‘4’ the entire song. But, the red light goes on and I counted off and I dropped a stick on the floor! 

"All of a sudden I’m not playing on the ‘2’. Playing the ‘4’ with my good hand that’s still working as I’m reaching for another drumstick out of my trap case! When you’re in the studio, if you make a mistake, do it every four or eight bars. It becomes part of the arrangement. So, they seemed to love it and it worked great. Leave it the way it is. We did a number of takes with Phil; 28, 29, something like that. It was an amazing time.” 

How we recreated it

We were keen to use as much of our studio space’s natural reverb to recreate ‘Be My Baby’ as possible. The kit was tuned as close to Hal Blaine’s bass drum and snare as possible but, with reverb plastered all over the track, the tuning and type of drum almost becomes irrelevant – although we did opt for quite a dead snare and used a couple of Moongels. 

The actual sonics of the room were a little harsher than Studio A’s chambers at Gold Star, meaning the initial hits of the bass drum and snare were a little more defined than on the original. The pure room sound was huge so all of the sound comes from just the two overheads and room mic – the two close mics were fed to an auxiliary plate reverb channel that was pushed quite hard, the mics themselves aren’t in the mix at all. 

The mix

The most surprising thing when it came to mix the track was how critical the percussion (tambourine, hand claps, shaker/cabasa and castanets) were to the sound – without them, it just doesn’t sound right. I overdubbed the percussion at my studio and fed them to the plate reverb to sit them in sonically. 

The mix was quite straightforward in terms of balance as the room mics were effectively the reverb channels too – it was just a case of balancing them against the plate channel. I EQ’d the master channel to dial out some mid-range and make it sound a little more ‘tape’-like. 

It’s hard to tell how much of the overall sound of the original is due to all of the musicians playing in that room and so much of it being sent to the echo chambers – getting just the drums to sound like the final product is a sum of all the other instruments being involved too. 

Mic Check

Bass drum
Mic: Sontronics DM1B – pointing at the resonant head with a blanket over the bass drum/mic

Preamp: Universal Audio 4710D (valve) 

Snare
Mic: Sontronics DM1S 
Preamp: Universal Audio 4710D (valve) 

Overhead/room mics
Sontronics Sigmas used as overheads 15ft away in XY position through a Focusrite 428 and the Sontronics STC-3X in a figure-eight pattern facing the kit as the ambient mic 

Whether it's suffering from a weaker hand, a lack of dynamics and creativity or difficulty developing independence between the limbs.

In this lesson Rhythm tutor Pete Riley presents a lesson on developing independence between your limbs.

It's time to fix those drumming weaknesses! 

Whether it's suffering from a weaker hand, a lack of dynamics and creativity or difficulty developing independence between the limbs.

In this lesson Kyle Cullen looks at building hand speed at the drum kit.

It's time to fix those drumming weaknesses!

Whether it's suffering from a weaker hand, a lack of dynamics and creativity or difficulty developing independence between the limbs.

In this lesson Drumeo instructor Dave Atkinson presents a lesson on developing your dynamics.

RECORDING WEEK: Like any instrument, drum kits aren't always set-up for the perfect recording. An experienced drummer will have evolved their kit: found a favourite snare or two, collected a few good cymbals and will have set it up so that it feels right to play live.

A drum kit will sound different in any room, and any song will call for a distinct drum sound, so for every session you will need to fine-tune the kit and the room for that specific demand.

Every aspect of the kit has to be addressed and what follows takes you through all the issues that should be worked at prior to hitting the record button, leaving no stone unturned.

There's no substitute for experience but this guide should help to ground you in the basics of the drum session, speed up the learning process and give a feel for how to get the kit toned and tuned so that its sound wins through in the final mix.

Choice of Kit

As with any instrument, the quality of manufacture has a huge impact on the sound it makes. Any drummer worth their salt will have evolved a good fettled kit around them but their playing ability might occasionally outstrip their ability to pay for a good one. Generally you won't have a choice over what kit you're recording, you'll get what you're given. But it may be the case that a studio has it's own kit which is better than the drummer's own, especially for recording purposes which differs from the demands of live work.

The better recording kits include Gretsch, Ludwig, DW and Yamaha, and some makers are famous for individual drums, for example, Noble and Cooley snares, Ludwig kick drums, Zildjian cymbals. The Ludwig Black Beauty snare is a timeless classic recording snare. A good drummer will have a selection of snare drums and cymbals and the choice will be determined ultimately by the track you're recording.

It's the producer's job to make that choice based on how they want the end result to sound. Ask yourself questions like does the song need a deep fat snare or a high snappy one?

Drum heads

Drum heads should always be new or thereabouts for a recording session. Skins soon lose life after repeated beating so make sure the drummer has spare heads with them. Undoubtedly the drummer will have their favourite heads but as a general rule coated heads record better - their tone is warmer and they still have a good 'skin' attack. And although always a personal choice, two-ply tend to sound better than single-ply. Clear heads tend to be overly bright and without body on the top side but work well for the bottom resonant heads where thinner is better.

Sticks

Choice of sticks is determined by the song and weight of playing required. A drummer should carry a selection of weights and varieties of wooden sticks and they should have a feel for which stick is required but it pays to experiment with different ones and deciding after a playback. A softer track may even require brushes or mallets. An in-between solution are 'hot-rods', a bunch of thin sticks lashed together which make a more diffuse but clear hit.

You could even arrive at a combination solution with a stick in one hand and a brush or hot-rod in the other.

Starting your recording

Get the drummer to hit each drum individually for a while. First of all consider whether you're hearing the drum at its best. Does it sound the same as it does in the room? Could the mic position be bettered?

Dial up a rough record level bearing in mind they'll hit it a lot harder during a take. Use EQ to improve the tone once you're convinced the mic's in the right place. This can be done on the way to 'tape' if you're blessed with good EQs but otherwise generally better on the playback side. The same goes for compression - you can't undo bad compression so unless you've got racks of Urei 1176s, LA2As and Fairchilds, leave it to the playback side.

Once you're happy with the individual drum sounds, get the drummer to play the whole kit. Check levels and balance the kit for monitoring purposes. Make sure there aren't any odd noises and the whole thing feels consonant. Record a bit of their playing and let them hear it so you can discuss the sound and its merits for the track you're about to record. Be prepared to make changes to any of the above factors. Now is the time to experiment and evolve the sound. It's unlikely to come good just like that.

Click track

Click or no click is always a big point of debate. The decision should take into account the needs of the song, the drummer's ability and the feelings of the producer and the band. The results are always very different so the decision shouldn't be taken lightly.

Using a click track always makes editing so much easier but that shouldn't have a bearing in the debate. If you decide on a click, establish with the drummer the best sound for them to latch onto, the interval (1/4 note, 18th note etc) and level of accents for downbeats. You don't want to be hearing the click in the control room so route it out of a discreet output.

You also don't want to hear strains of click spill on the drum overheads as the cymbals decay at the end so always try to map the click with automation, turning it down in quiet sections and off on the last beat. That means making sure the drummer always starts at the same point on the click. For example, tell them to hear one bar of click, stick hit the next and come in on bar three.

Guide tracks

The drummer's going to need something to drum along to if you're not doing a full band live session. For getting the best performance you can't beat playing along with other people, ideally with a visual connection.

With other players in the drum room you have to think about spill. If you can screen them off, great. If they're playing electric instruments you can DI them. A guide instrument on the room and overhead mics is a no-no. Fine up to a point if you're doing live takes but not for something that isn't going to be in the final mix.

You can always resort to just an aural connection and have other players in another room and everyone on headphones If you're using a click track you can always record the guide parts initially in the room with the drummer and then re-record the drummer overdubbing to those guides. Not ideal for performance but it works well.

Headphones

Headphones necessary evil unless you go all out for a live style recording with PA and wedges and embrace the spill. While this certainly bigs up the excitement and has its place in some recording situations it might not always result in a hi-fidelity sound and your mix options will be limited.

Most drum sessions will be done using headphones and to avoid spill they should be the closed-cup variety. The long time classic studio headphone is the Beyer DT100, they're hardy, they're not too bright for high volume listening and they take high spls. There are better sounding cheaper headphones to be had, particularly from Audio-Technica.

Foldback balance

Set up a foldback mix for the drummer by listening on similar headphones in the control room. Undoubtedly they'll want it a lot louder than you can bear and the click level will be deafening, but go with what they want and always keep checking that they're happy.

Establishing tempo

The best way to do this is to get the band to play free until you have the right feel and capture the tempo from that performance. You can usually do this on the tempo counter of your DAW but if not there are plenty of phone apps that do it.

If the natural playing speeds up and slows down through sections you'll have to carefully program the click to do likewise. This is the sort of thing that would be best worked out in rehearsal because it can take time. Above all rehearse and settle into your performance before you begin recording. Good luck!

Recording Week is brought to you in association with Universal Audio. Check out the Recording Week hub page for more tips and tutorials.

In this series, UK Big Band drummer Pete Cater presents everything you need to know to become an authentic Big Band drummer.

Pete covers everything from the history of the genre and key players like Buddy Rich, 'Papa' Jo Jones and Gene Krupa, to the quintessential Big Band drum sound and key techniques every drummer should know.

In part 4, Pete talks through the essential techniques required to perform an authentic drum solo with a Big Band.

Tommy Lee, Buddy Rich, Travis Barker, Keith Moon: these legendary drummers are known as much for their dazzling showmanship as the musical output. 

Their secret? Having the vision to see beyond the boundaries of what’s possible with the instrument (plus the odd upside down solo). Inspired by skateboarding, parkour and slam dunking heroes, Aric Improta of post-rockers Night Verses and post-hardcore band The Fever 333 took the baton from these drumming titans to evolve into the most creative showman of his generation. 

Aric’s razor-sharp playing speaks for itself, but it’s the boundless energy, limitless creativity and astonishing moves that he brings to the kit that have earned him such a fierce reputation. At any one time you might catch him pulling off a 360-degree spin on his drum throne mid-solo, backflipping between two kits or climbing the venue rafters halfway through a song (check out Aric’s YouTube channel: seeing is believing). If ever there was a rulebook, Aric shredded his copy years ago. 

But with Aric it’s not all style and no substance; the music he creates pushes boundaries too. Following the departure of vocalist Douglas Robinson in 2017, Night Verses pushed forward as an instrumental three-piece and the new arrangement quickly bore fruit with the Copper Wasp EP. The music is atmospheric and intense, and the sound powerful thanks in part to production from metal royalty Will Putney and a formidable Tama Bell Brass snare drum. 

“Will doesn’t over-think things, he just says, ‘What’s the best tone I can get out of the snare, when does this part need to be heard?’” reveals Aric. “There are so many details that need to be heard on this record it was really refreshing to get to work with somebody that had that mindset.” 

A full album is due this year. We grabbed a rare sit-down moment with Aric to dissect his unique approach to showmanship, learn why he rarely takes inspiration from drummers and to discover why the sky is the limit for his crazy ideas...  

1. Think like a frontman 

“As far as what I actually do on a drumset, my influence didn’t come from any other drummers, it was watching bands like At The Drive-In as a kid and being jealous that I had to sit on a seat and couldn’t be standing on an amp or flailing a guitar. There were so many times in my youth that I thought I needed to switch instruments because it was too limiting to be sitting down the whole show. Then I thought, if anything this is probably an advantage, because most people in this position haven’t tried to find ways to get things going on the drumset in the way that I liked watching bands play.”  

2. Look beyond drums and music 

“[In the early days] most of the things I was doing [on the drums] were coming from skateboarding and basketball, or going to hardcore shows and being in the mosh pit. Even though there are occasional times where I’ll spin a stick or something, I try to be conscious to not just learn all the showmanship tricks that have been done. I don’t watch Tommy Lee regularly, so even though I think it’s sick and [his tricks] are a great representation of who he is, I never thought, ‘I want to learn his moves’, I just thought,  ‘I want to feel the way he felt when he did that the first time’. The 360 spin on the throne came from growing up watching Kobe Bryant doing 360 dunks. The 360 Shove It on the throne came from watching skate videos and jumping out of my seat was from going to punk shows as a kid and seeing the guitarists jumping off amps. I knew I needed to figure out a way to do that on the drums.”  

3. Go with your gut

“I’ll watch about 20 minutes a day minimum of skate videos, a surf video, breakdancing, whatever. If there’s a moment where I get any kind of physical reaction - whether it’s a slam dunk, or a backflip or something - if I feel my body react to that I try and take note of what it is and find a way to do it on a drumset. It might be the way that [American basketball player] Russell Westbrook’s arm looks when he dunks a basketball - I want to figure out a way to create that same feeling on a drumset.”   

4. Innovate, don’t imitate 

“Imitation, especially when you’re beginning your instrument, helps. You get to figure out the different techniques that make you feel a certain way when you hear them the first time. When I became an adult I felt like I wanted to take that and turn it into something that was my own. 

“If all you listen to is John Bonham, all you want to be is John Bonham and you learn his moves, you’re not going to be the next John Bonham because he already did it and you’re just replicating. I try as hard as I can to not pull any influences from drummers. Even when I see a drummer that I’m blown away by - someone like Eloy Casagrande who plays for Sepultura - I purposely try not to watch his videos because I want nothing to do with it. I just admire that he’s doing his own thing.”  

5. Showmanship is an art form 

“Brian Eno was once asked the question, ‘Why don’t you do more work that mixes science and art?’ He said it’s because it creates bad science and poor art. His explanation was that even though the mindsets are very similar, scientists want to know about pre-existing worlds and they want to spend a lot of time understanding things like how the body works. Artists want to create their own world. It’s about saying what would the world be like if it was this way. I feel like there’s this transition where, whether they realise it or not, people pick one of these routes. A lot of people are content learning all the things that other people have done. People on the other end of the spectrum have learned all these things and then said, ‘Cool, what can I do with it?’”

6. Trust your own voice 

“When I did the [2012 Guitar Center] Drum-Off it was the first time I’d seen anybody do gospel chops and a bunch of different styles. I was like, ‘God, I can’t do this.’ It’s not that I can’t do it eventually, it’s just that it was so outside of my realm. 

"I needed to find my own place. After getting to the finals and meeting the judges, who were on a much higher level and had nice things to say about what I was doing, I realised you can make your own way. You don’t necessarily need to look at the people that are already successful and mimic them to get there. You can take the skills that you have and the influences that you have, even if they’re foreign to the industry, and find a way to have a voice that matters. That made me move on and not worry about boundaries.”  

7. Create memorable moments 

“I was always interested in doing things I hadn’t seen. Even as a kid I liked watching [skater] Rodney Mullen because he was inventing trick after trick, or watching someone like Danny Way drop into a halfpipe from a helicopter, or go off a ramp over the Great Wall of China; these things stood out to me. Even beyond being good they were creating these conversations. When I talked about skateboarding with my friends I could mention, ‘and then he did this’. Even Peter Frampton using a talk box, or Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire. I feel like a lot of my friends who are amazing musicians, they kinda lose sight of that. They get into fusion and they go down that amazing wormhole of information, but they forget why they started drumming. I never wanted to lose sight of that so I always noted that those moments were really important to me.”  

8. Start with a blank canvas 

“Creating a moment could be making a sound that’s never been heard on that instrument. It could be doing a stick trick that’s never been seen. It could be changes to your setup, where all of a sudden you have your cymbals 10 feet above you. Just try doing something that you haven’t seen; that’s when someone leaves your gig and they’ve experienced something they’ve previously never seen or heard. It’s not that it’s easy to figure those things out and not everything you come up with should be done, but the point is to aim for those things, if [showmanship] is your goal.”  

9. Live dangerously

“[The backflip] was something I hadn’t seen and that concept to me is really exciting. Drums have been around for a long time at this point and it’s kind of mind-blowing that so many people are okay not trying things they haven’t seen. I’m not saying everybody should try a backflip, but in general that to me is the most exciting part about art or creativity, the fact that you are free to do whatever you want. I get it, there’s risk involved and with the internet you can be ridiculed for trying something new, but that all should become second to what you want to do. There are so many rules in your life, whether it’s what you have to do at your job or in sports. That’s the reason that art has been so exciting for so many years, because it’s a space to try anything you want.”  

10. Be safe but embrace spontaneity 

“[How much I plan] depends on the project. On the backflip I really couldn’t afford to be spontaneous because I had a massive tour coming up eight days later. I measured it out and worked on it in my backyard in a safe way using trash cans. It’s more difficult than people realise. It’s not hard to just clear a drumset, but you have to go up enough to clear it and then land close enough to not have your feet hit your seat. So it’s this weird up and then straight down motion that took me a long time to figure out. The first day I went to try it I was like, ‘No, this isn’t happening.’ But it was bothering me too much to not figure it out. Playing live, if I see a rafter and I have a gap in a song to get up there and swing on it before I drop down, obviously, there’s no planning for that, I just see it the day of the show and it happens. Sometimes, it doesn’t happen exactly as smooth as I’d hope, but I don’t ever want to leave a show feeling like I could have done something more exciting and I didn’t because I was worried about what was going to happen.”  

11. Risks can pay off 

“The first time I played the Seoul Drum Festival was the first time I’d ever tried to do an actual full 360-degree spin on my seat. The first day was 7,000 people and I’m performing by myself. I know that if I fall it’s probably going to be in the top three most embarrassing moments of my life. But I also know that means that if I land it’ll be that much more satisfying. A lot of that stuff is about perspective. I’m not in Korea to try and get a gig or to impress a band leader, I’m absolutely there to create something that I won’t forget and that those people won’t forget. Those are the times where the risk is really worth it.”  

12. Your body is a tool. Use it or lose it 

“Since I was a kid, if I saw a set of stairs I would just run and jump it. It didn’t matter if people were there to see it. I’m pretty conscious of the limitations that life provides. I know that when I’m 40 I won’t be able to do the same things I could do when I was 30, or 20. I need to take advantage of these things while my body can still do it. Any type of prep to stay in shape is just so I don’t run into those problems early and start losing those physical abilities. I do yoga pretty often.” 

13. Get on camera 

“The thing I’ve found to be most beneficial [with video] is setting a goal like when I decided to post one video a day. I don’t know what it’s going to be that day, but I know that I wouldn’t put something up unless I was content with it or at least it’s a new idea. That’s a great way to push yourself, because it’s something substantial, it’s a permanent look at where you were that day. As far as feedback goes, I wouldn’t worry about what other people think too much, but you can use it as a barometer for how much someone connects with what you’re doing.” 

14 Go big or go home 

“I have two ideas in my head. The first one I would totally love to do but it would require so much funding and planning. Obviously, I’ve seen people like Buddy Rich and Travis Barker turning their drumsets upside down. I always thought that was totally sick, but I never wanted to do it identically. I would love to play upside down suspended from a helicopter, so it’s flying around with me upside down. I’ve talked to a couple of companies about it. It feels like something I would need Red Bull for. For anyone reading this, by the way, really don’t copy this idea, but I also had this idea that it would be cool if there was a drumset that was attached to the ceiling the whole show. It’s just stuck up there and I have to climb up into it and play it. Those are the two big ones for me. I don’t even know how hard it is to drum upside down!”

In this series, UK Big Band drummer Pete Cater presents everything you need to know to become an authentic Big Band drummer.

Pete covers everything from the history of the genre and key players like Buddy Rich, 'Papa' Jo Jones and Gene Krupa, to the quintessential Big Band drum sound and key techniques every drummer should know.

In part 3, Pete talks through more essential techniques required to play with a Big Band, looking specifically at timekeeping, fills and solos.

In this series, UK Big Band drummer Pete Cater presents everything you need to know to become an authentic Big Band drummer.

Pete covers everything from the history of the genre and key players like Buddy Rich, 'Papa' Jo Jones and Gene Krupa, to the quintessential Big Band drum sound and key techniques every drummer should know.

In part 2, Pete talks through the essential techniques required to play with a Big Band. From the basic jazz ride pattern, to comping and feathering the bass drum, it's all here.

In this exclusive video series, UK Big Band drummer Pete Cater presents everything you need to know to become an authentic Big Band drummer.

Pete covers everything from the history of the genre and key players like Buddy Rich, 'Papa' Jo Jones and Gene Krupa, to the quintessential Big Band drum sound and key techniques every drummer should know.

Here in part 1, Pete talks through his drum set-up, explaining the detailed nuances of the Big Band drum sound and what you'll need to get your drum sound in full swing

Vinnie Paul co-founded metal legends Pantera with his brother, Dimebag Darrell. Amongst other things, he now plays with Metal supergroup Hellyeah. He knows what he's talking about, so listen up.

1. Listen to Bonham

"Playing along with badass records is how I developed my groove. John Bonham always had the best groove ever, and he had the best feel. Phil Rudd is another amazing groove drummer - he just laid it down and made it simple.

"I'm a rock drummer. I couldn't sit down and pretend to be a jazz drummer. You should listen to the people that you like and that do something for you."

2. Lock in

"I don't ever have any bass in my monitors at all; I instead like to lock in with the guitar.

"I know the bass player has got to be locked in with the drummer, but to me, metal music is about the guitar and drums locking in and operating like a machine together.

"I played with my brother forever, and we were magically locked in together."

3. Develop your internal clock

"You have a natural groove inside of you, but the more you practise, the more comfortable you will be with your instrument.

"A lot of people have issues speeding up and slowing down. If you play with a metronome, you can sort that out. But bands that play with click tracks live never develop that dangerous element.

"It can be perfect and right on the money all the time, but then a band like Van Halen have Alex Van Halen, who might by the end of a song be doing 10 beats a minute faster than at the start - but it's amazing."

4. Don't be rigid

"There can be little fluctuations, but that is what it is all about. Your heart doesn't beat the same every day. Music should flow.

"Nobody wants everything to be sterile and sound like a click track. Sometimes there is too much emphasis put on perfection."

5. Don't overdo it

"A lot of young drummers have a tendency to really overplay. Sometimes simple is better, and the notes that aren't played between the spaces are bigger than the notes that are.

"You've got to be really tasty. It's all about the groove of the song. I like a drummer to shine when it's their turn to shine.

"But most of the time it's about the singer and the melody... and we're carrying the whole thing along."

The internet is awash with drumming videos, all vying for our attention and ‘likes’. 

But it takes something genuinely special to stand out amongst the online clutter. For many, the last time lightning struck was back in 2015, when a soulful live performance from Seville’s Tam Tam drum festival began circulating. 

The drummer was one-man machine Josh Dion and the song was A Vision Complete. The track was underpinned by a filthy 4/4 groove. Normal enough, but Josh was playing the drums exclusively with his left hand, while the right danced across the keys of a bright yellow synth perched between his bass drum and floor tom. 

In a final twist, Josh had a staggering singing voice too. It was a confounding display of dexterity, balance and, above all, feel. 

Quite rightly, Josh’s career has been on an upwards swing ever since. A Vision Complete was lifted from Josh’s funky, psychedelic duo Paris_Monster, an act he formed years prior with long-time creative partner Geoff Kraly. 

In addition to a catalogue of great songs, the band thrives on improvisation and free expression. There’s an album on the way and the band has just announced a UK tour in September. 

Despite the viral video, Josh’s story is far from an overnight success. Following a musically rich childhood, Josh began to really mould his musical approach in his late teens. Moving to New York, he discovered jazz and cut his drumming teeth gigging constantly around town. 

Determined to find his ‘thing’, keys and vocals soon came into the frame. Josh started writing songs and Paris_Monster became a reality. Such an individual talent doesn’t materialise all that often, so we took the opportunity to pick Josh’s brains about his somewhat unorthodox set-up, his approach to improvisation and the impact of that video... 

Was there a lot of music in the home when you were growing up? 

“Yes, very much so. My dad is a drummer and my older brother taught me a lot about music when I was young. Growing up, it was all about listening to records, asking questions and playing drums. I had a drumset my whole childhood, but no lessons really. 

"My dad would teach me stuff and I learned rudiments, but it was really my own world. I went to college for music and there were all these talented people finding their ‘thing’, their direction. For me, I was searching. Once I discovered the vocals and drums I feel like I found my ‘thing’. Then I started to write songs and tried to lead a band and get into that kind of stuff.”  

You moved to New York. Is that where you fully developed as an artist? 

“Yes. When I was about 17 I was getting into the jazz scene. I bought a small jazz kit with an 18" bass drum and I was checking out Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Elvin, Tony. 

"I was hanging with a whole crew of guys. They taught me standards. They taught me how to hear the chords, how to understand what the melody is, how to play melodically over and within that. The blues, the church and classic rock, that’s my roots. But jazz was something that I discovered myself.  

“I took every gig - blues gigs, weddings, children’s music. It was good for me to work. I’m a dedicated student because I have a beating heart, but I’m not a dedicated student in terms of working on s**t. I learned on the gig.”  

When did it evolve into developing your own thing, your own music?  

“I was touring with a band called Ulu, around 2003. It was my first touring experience. It was young guys who wanted to freak out and jam, play in odd time signatures. They already had songs, kinda like a Herbie Hancock Headhunters thing. It incorporated the funk stuff, but it was open, like anything could happen. That was a good experience. 

"The keyboard player and other people around me were writing songs. I started to keep a journal and write. That instilled in me this thought of figuring out what I wanted to do - to have a sound, have a band, write songs. Now 15 years later, here I am.”   

At what point did playing keys come into the frame? 

“When I was about 10 years old I had an amazing music teacher in my public school who taught me how to play keys. I’m so glad because she saw something in me. I was a hotshot drummer and she completed the spectrum for me. I could kind of play, especially with my right hand. 

“When I was at William Paterson college in New Jersey, I used to duo with drummers a lot, playing piano. What I played was rhythmic and fairly simple because I’m a drummer. After my first band disbanded my lady says, ‘You should start a band with Geoff [Kraly, the other half of Paris_Monster] where you play keyboard and drums.’ I said that was stupid! But lo and behold! We tried it at a festival. We improvised most of the set, or played songs we kind of knew and it was a really good show.”  

It seems that improvisation is a key element of Paris_Monster? 

“It’s cool because the keyboard completes my set-up. I can kinda go in any direction. I could just play drums, I could play songs, I could improvise, I could sing, I could play keys or do the whole thing. I think that there’s so much to be explored with it. 

"There are some musicians whose improvisation skills are just so inspiring. They’ll get up onstage for 45 minutes to an hour with a bunch of synths and they’ll just make music.”  

Have you always felt comfortable improvising or is it a skill you’ve had to develop? 

“You’re constantly learning about the choices you make, how to make an impact and how to listen to others. Sometimes we think that improvisation has to be this thing that’s beyond anything, but really it can be anything or it could be nothing. It’s about finding something and committing to it. It can be conceptual. 

"That’s the thing about music that’s so beautiful. You could take somebody on a journey, you could write a whole tune right there. I just think the more you work on it and the more you put yourself in that situation, the more comfortable you get.  

“Within Paris_Monster, even though there are songs, I feel the need to constantly be dancing. It could go anywhere. If it’s verse two and I want to go to the very top of the keyboard and play one note and I want the beat to be turned around, that’s my idea and, boom! I’m doing it. 

"I’m going to sing the verse the same way and see how it feels. That spontaneity, it’s all energy. If you’re doing that with someone else and the music is moving, the audience is going to feel that.”  

Did your unique drums/keys/vocals set-up take time to master? 

“It took some time. I had some really bad shows. With drums you’re hitting harder. It took me a while to learn how to touch the keyboard right with the drums. But I figured it out. Tempo-wise it really helps to work with a metronome and to feel the push and pull of what it is to do that. 

"Your balance can be off because you’re not laying into the hi-hat, so it’s a dance. My left foot has to be a voice with the hi-hat to make it all work. A lot of the time the keyboard is doing whole notes. I put the release up all the way on the keyboard. You hit the note and then it just continues to go. Then I can play two-handed drums.”  

You often play drums with only your left hand and rhythmic parts on the keys with your right. Do you treat the synth like an extension of your kit? 

“That’s totally the approach. I’m not a true piano player. My chops are in my right hand. I use that little keyboard and it’s like the ride cymbal or a clavinet, or synth bass. It’s a rhythm, but I’m playing the notes.”  

Groove seems to be at the root of your playing with Paris_Monster, too? 

“Obviously, we get psychedelic, but a huge part of the band is groove. It’s something I want to get even more into… you have to sometimes remind yourself that a really cool groove is enough. There’s so many ways to make it cool and to find new things, new territories.”  

Your drum sound is beautifully warm and open. Is there anything specific you do to achieve that? 

“[When I request gear for a show] I want two one-ply coated heads and a 20" bass drum with nothing in it. I don’t want a hole in the front if I can do anything about it. If I want to manipulate that sound I want to do it myself with a little blanket or something, but there’s something about feeling the full bottom of that bass drum - a fully functioning, ringing drum. 

"I want all the drums to have one-ply heads for the most part, so that they can ring and I can tune them, then if I want to dampen them I do it from  that perspective.” 

Many people will have first seen you in the video for A Vision Complete live from the Tam Tam Drum Festival. What have been your personal highlights since that video blew up? 

“You know how people always recap on New Year’s Eve and they say, ‘It’s been great year’. I’ve never felt the need to do that, but I will say that last year I could have done that, because so many cool things happened. The Paris_Monster recorded a full-length album. I toured with Esperanza Spalding, which was inspiring improvisation-based music. 

"I played multiple amazing gigs on Monday nights in New York with the Jim Campilongo trio and I started to play the Wayne Krantz gig, which is something I always wanted to be a part of. Since Tam Tam it’s been a life change. 

"I don’t care about money, but it really comes down to the fact that when you do actually start making money doing the things that you undeniably love to do musically, you feel a certain freedom. 

"I know that playing drum festivals and clinics has made me think more about what I do, what I believe in and what I want to stand for musically.”

Before leaving the UK for New England back in 2000, Dave Mattacks was one of the UK’s top session drummers, known for his musically sensitive way with backing up a plethora of singer-songwriters from Joan Armatrading to Richard Thompson and Paul McCartney. 

Dave is back in the UK for his annual spring jaunt with Feast Of Fiddles. Fronted by six top fiddlers, it’s the collective’s 25th annual UK tour, as they roam from traditional folk through contemporary folk-rock with the odd curveball thrown in. A swing arrangement of a film score perhaps, or a sly segue into Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir. 

Although atypical, the latter is the perfect vehicle for DM’s economic, strong and fastidious drumming - his unlikely old 1970s mate Bonzo would certainly approve. Mattacks’ folk connection traces back to his breakthrough with UK folk-rock masters Fairport Convention in 1969. 

From this platform he built a wide-ranging session career, culminating in appearances on five Paul McCartney albums. His CV lists hundreds of albums and artists including George Harrison, Elton John, Nick Drake, XTC, Jimmy Page, Brian Eno, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rosanne Cash, John Martyn and Jethro Tull. 

As the session world diminished in the UK he found himself drawn to the north-eastern USA. Thus from 2000 he has carved out a new scene in the Boston area where he’s still very much active with live and recording work. His special talent for making singer-songwriters comfortable owes to his multi-faceted ability to play piano and bass, and with a huge thirst for furthering his musical and drumming knowledge, he also now produces and arranges.  

DM, what was the first kit that you ever owned? 

“I started with just a snare drum - a truly awful Gigster - and added to it when I could afford to. A whole set, predominately Premier, gradually emerged.  I distinctly remember when I graduated to my Ludwig 400: ‘Ahh! That’s what a snare drum is supposed to sound like!’”    

Did you take lessons or were you self-taught? 

“I had some lessons early on from Johnny Joseph, a Southend-based drummer who was playing in the London ballrooms. He got me started with the basics of reading and showed me various rhythms, such as the foxtrot, rhumba, etc. It was all very helpful.   

“Around the same time, Johnnie Richardson, who was my boss/manager when I apprenticed at London’s Drum City, taught me so much about music and the instrument. I had a lesson a few years ago with Dave Hassell - a humbling experience, I can assure you!”     

Who did you look up to as a young drummer? 

“Initially it was the original Shadows’ drummer Tony Meehan, then Kenny Clare, who was a big influence. Kenny’s approach, and especially his sound, really had a big effect on me. Getting to meet and subsequently know him later on was a big thing for me. ‘Discovering’ him was followed rapidly by learning about and hearing Buddy, Ringo and all the other great jazz and rock drummers from that era.”    

What was the first song that you learned to play? 

“Elvis Presley’s Her Latest Flame. I did a great job on a pair of bongos with my mum’s knitting needles. By the time the almost-complete kit was in place, being able to play Shadows tunes was a real badge of maturity.”    

How did you develop your drum sound? 

“By both listening and playing a lot, trying to understand the instrument. It’s still very much a work in progress. I used to think of the recording studio versus live as the big differences when trying to get a sound. I’ve since learned that acoustics, tuning, touch, the type of music and the musical line-up -  from a trio to a big band - are the more pertinent factors. Having a handle on different genres has its advantages too.”     

What is the key to your playing style? 

“It’s difficult not to be subjective, but I’d say economy and, hopefully, doing something musically appropriate. However, every musician feels that way about their playing, certainly regarding the latter.”   

What has been your biggest career highlight? 

“In terms of people I’ve been fortunate to work with, that’s reasonably well documented, but getting to play Ronnie Scott’s Club for the first time - in the mid-1990s I believe - with Liane Carroll was definitely a high point. 

“Although I’ve been lucky to work alongside some wonderful people over the years, my live work with Richard Thompson - with various line-ups – has always held a particularly special place in my heart.”  

What do you think is the key to longevity as a musician? 

“A love of music and a desire to make it selflessly with like-minded people. It’s a real cliché, but I’m simply trying to make the singer, the band and the music sound good.”  

What is the best advice that you have ever been given? 

“Stop trying to ‘play’ everybody else’s instrument. That came from Johnnie Richardson. In other words, just because you can ‘hear’ what they’re playing, you don’t have to always pass it back to them. There’s a fine line between too little and too much interaction in all musical genres.”    

What is your biggest strength as a drummer? 

“Again, it’s hard to be objective, but I do have a fairly good harmonic knowledge. The piano came before the drums, by the way. You know, as much as I love them, when I start playing, the actual drums are the last thing on my mind. I’m much more tuned-in to the shape and harmonic construction of the piece I’m playing - the lyrics, the feel, what the players are ‘saying’, etc. I’m certainly not thinking licks! Again, nothing particularly new here, I know I’m not alone in this attitude.”    

And your biggest weakness? 

“By contemporary standards, I’ve no technique to speak of. I’m also working on improving my time and getting more ‘grease’ into my playing.”     

Who would you most like to take a drum lesson from? 

“When he was with us, I would have loved to have spent some time with Paul Motian. I have to add that hearing a favourite musician ‘in-the-flesh’ and in situ with a band is always truly illuminating.”  

Dampen the kit or let it ring? 

“Big cymbals or small ones? Matched or traditional grip? Whatever works… For quite some time, the ‘this is my sound, so deal with it’ approach feels like selfishness to me. If I have to damp-down, or liven-up my drums or cymbals so they fit the music better, so be it.”    

What is the one piece of gear you couldn’t live without? 

“A drum stool. I should add that I’m also very happy with the way the multi-rods and brushes thing has grown over the last 20-plus years. There are now so many more sonic options at our disposal.”    

Who do you see as an underrated drummer? 

“That could easily be a very long list, but depending upon who you talk to, Jack Bruno, Joey Baron and Jim Oblon spring to mind.”  

Dynamics is the volume at which you’re playing your beats and grooves. That’s not just the overall volume that the audience hears, but the individual volume of each drum, cymbal in the drum kit and each limb that you’re playing. 

When you’re playing a song, say a rock track, you want to make sure you’re playing that feel or style correctly. Rock is a very high-energy, aggressive, loud style so you want the overall dynamic level to fit.

But what about the dynamic level within your own grooves? When a drummer is too heavy on the hats, or too quiet on the snare, you get an inconsistent mix that will stick out and could throw the whole groove off. 

If your bass drum is too quiet it’s not going to punch through, if your snare drum isn’t loud enough your backbeat won’t have the impact, if your hi-hats are too loud they will drown out everything else. You have to be in control of your own internal dynamics.

If you’re playing a beat with a lot of snare drum ghost notes, if your ghost notes are almost as loud as your backbeat, you won’t get the feel you’re after where the ghost notes are felt but the backbeat still cuts through. Played with good dynamics, your ghost notes will really improve your groove.

Developing dynamics

So how do you change your approach to dynamics? A good starting point is to take any drum or cymbal, isolate it and try and play different dynamic levels on it. You can get many different sounds from a snare, but to start with focus on three different dynamic levels: really low, medium volume and loud. Do a single-stroke roll at those three dynamic levels. You’ll get a feel for how much velocity you’re going to need and where on the drum you can get the best sound.

At different dynamic levels the stick heights also change. This really matters when playing different dynamics. Get a feel for your own dynamic range and work out what you need to do to get those volume levels happening. Do the same with your kick. Once you’ve explored the possibilities you can work on some personal mixing within your beats. Play a simple rock beat and individually change the dynamic level and volume of each kit voice in turn. It’s not easy but it makes for really good practice. This will help with your dynamic independence too.

Hi-hat groove

You can get a really good sounding groove if you throw some dynamics into your hi-hats. Try the shoulder/tip exercise. Play the first quarter note on the hats with the shoulder of your stick, then the second note with the tip using a push/pull motion. Now you’re not just getting static notes, you’re injecting some life into it. These dynamic changes on the hi-hat help create groove. 

The final challenge is to pick a beat that you already know how to play and bar-per-bar play it at different dynamic levels. This will help you see how it sounds and also allow you to feel the change when you play between high and low dynamic levels. Timing and speed shouldn’t change here, just the volume. 

Dynamics is a really broad topic, but these exercises will give you a foundation to help you control and manipulate your own dynamics. Your grooves will sound so much better as a result.

Dan Searle's dynamic, powerful style was a key component in the rise of British Metalcore menaces Architect - and 50% of that is down to his extremely expressive feet

1. Think on your feet

"Always keep your right foot on the beat and on the '&'s and keep your left foot on the 'e's and 'a's ('1e&a2e' etc). This will help you develop more interesting, off-kilter rhythms.

Work on your weak foot, do some exercises that focus on working the 'e's and 'a's. The strength in that leg/foot is vital. And stay balanced! No one likes a weak left."

2. Don't obey the guitarist

"Don't write something you can't play! I see countless bands playing double-kick patterns they are simply incapable of playing. And worse, some trigger so every little mistake is laid bare.

"I suppose a lot of guitarists write songs and just tell their drummer 'do that', but just say no, or practise it until you've nailed it. Sloppy double-kick is the worst!"

3. Leave space

"For a band like Architects leaving room is vital. The dynamic is so important in almost all genres and the dynamic is so reliant on how the drummer approaches a song.

"The space you give a song is also what gives it its power when it gets going."

4. Experiment with your pedal...

"When it comes to pedal tension everyone is different and it depends on what kind of speed you hope to achieve. I currently don't have to play consistent 16ths on my kick at anything over 180bpm so I have my pedals extremely loose because I like the weight I can get behind my hits.

"As you tighten your pedals you'll get less weight on your hits but your pedals will do more work for you and as a result, with practice, you will hit higher speeds. See what works for you.

"My drum tech hates the way my pedals are set up!"

5. ...and heads

"Both batter and resonant heads play a part in the response of your kick drum so experiment with them too. It's a bit of a give and take between the tension on your pedals and the tension on your heads."

One of the things a lot of drummers don’t work on much is how to hear and work with the various ‘off-beats’ instead of the ‘downbeat’. One of the great things with Garage is that there are loads of great ideas for us drummers to explore 

within the style and a lot of them are very syncopated. There are loads of cool grooves and feels within this genre, so take this as a bite-sized introduction.

You’ll see from the notation that we’ve stuck with a theme but spiced it up a bit as we move through the ideas. The key with this kind of playing is to get that note placement correct, if you don’t it won’t sound right – a little  ‘lumpy’ – and it won’t sit well. 

Once you’ve developed this concept, it’ll really add to your playing. In the process it will also develop your ear to be able to pick out those notes more comfortably, as well as develop your ability to hold onto some of those more tricky note placements in the grooves. 

Watch out for the exercise with the stepped hi-hat, it needs to be really accurate or you’ll create an open-hat sound where you don’t want one. Really take your time with this: it’s so important to get those note placements right! 

• Step it up with our pick of the best online drum lessons

1 - Our basic hand pattern – all the following examples are based around this so really get this sitting with the click.

2 - Adding the bass drum to form our first groove.

3 - Sticking with the theme but adding a stepped hi-hat on beat one and subdividing the first note of bar two into two 16th notes.

4 - Exploring putting bass drum notes on a couple of different 16th note subdivisions. These are a bit more awkward than the ones we’ve worked with up to this point so make sure that they’re placed accurately.

If you’re just getting started with electronics, it can sound like a confusing and potentially expensive investment, but in actual fact, adding a couple of electronic sources to your drum kit is very easy. 

So, following on from our gear primer last week, next we'll be thinking about how to actually use the kit in the most effective way possible.

There are plenty of products already available aimed at doing exactly that, and if you have an electronic kit, you might already own everything you need to get the job done! The basic principles of using pads and triggers is the same, regardless of how straightforward or complex your set-up is, but for a start, we’ll look at how to put together a simple two-sound hybrid set-up.   

Think about your sounds 

The first thing to decide is why and what you need to trigger. For example, if you’re playing in a function band, chances are that you’re covering a lot of songs that will require layered snare/handclaps, electronic bass drums or effect-type sounds. 

These types of sounds are found in pretty much every drum module, and the good news is that your triggers or pads can be reassigned for every song, taking you from cowbell to 808 in an instant!  

…and how you want to play them 

Once you know the types of sound you’re looking to create, you’ll need to decide how to trigger them. For example, if you’re layering a sound to occur alongside every hit of your acoustic snare, an acoustic drum trigger will be much more efficient. 

However, if you want to use sounds that occur independently from your acoustic kit, a separate pad is likely to be a better option. Roland’s BT-1 Bar Trigger represents a great halfway house, in that it can be mounted to the rim of your drum and played alongside or independently of your acoustic sounds.

All about the bass (drum) 

The most common way of triggering a bass drum is to use an acoustic trigger attached to the rim of your kick. As we only have one fundamental sound source on our bass drums (the beater against the head) bass drum triggers are single-zone. 

The acoustic trigger can then be used to generate an additional sound to your acoustic kit, or replace it entirely. 

A good example of this is metal drummers who require consistency in order for fast double- pedal playing - which can often get lost in a mix due to room acoustics/tuning/mic placement - to cut through. 

The sound from the module is sent to the PA, and will punch its way through a wall of loud guitars and bass. 

The placement 

With a small hybrid set-up, placement is key. By now, you’ll have an idea of what sounds you’ll be making, and the method of triggering them, so think about the grooves you’re playing, where the triggered sounds need to occur within the part and place your pad(s) accordingly. 

This will most likely be governed by your current kit placement, and the nature of the sounds. Just like any part of your kit, you’ll want to be able to reach it quickly and comfortably, without accidentally triggering your sounds when you don’t want to. 

Putting it all together 

Using electronics may sound complicated, but in the case of a basic set-up, it’s as simple (or simpler) than your guitar player’s pedal board. Your triggers or pads come with the cables you need to connect them to your module, which is then sent (usually via jack cables) to your PA system either in mono or stereo. 

In this instance, we aren’t running a click track that we need to keep away from the audience’s ears, so you can send the signal back to your standard stage monitor, or if you’re playing smaller, quieter gigs, rely on the main PA speakers to hear the sounds you’re triggering.

The intermediate hybrid set-up

Once you’ve got to grips with the hybrid concept, you’ll start to see more and more opportunities to integrate electronics into your kit. 

In this set-up, we’ll be looking at using more pads, and how you can start using your own custom sounds to add even more sonic colour to your live set.  

Check your brain 

Chances are, your module is capable of accepting more than two trigger inputs at once, even if it only has two inputs. For example, modules like the Roland TM-2 or Alesis SamplePad (and many others) have two inputs, but they’re dual-zone. 

This means that for each input, the module assigns a potential of two sounds, so you can have up to four single sound-sources at your disposal. This is done by using a stereo-mono ‘Y’ cable to split the trigger input in half. 

The Y cable plugs into the stereo trigger input on the module, then divides into two mono jacks for you to plug your pads or triggers into. Do this twice, and you now have four assignable inputs!     

Start listening 

In order to take your hybrid sounds further, it’s important to start listening actively to the sounds you want to recreate. This isn’t too difficult, as you’ll soon start noticing similarities and trends. 

Familiarise yourself with classic electronic sounds and textures and try to train your ear to identify the differences between sounds. Is it a handclap or a crunchy finger snap? A TR-808 or a LinnDrum? 

It’ll make selecting and processing the sounds within your module quicker and easier if you’re starting with the correct source.  

Then start editing

At the very least, your module will include the ability to change the pitch and tonality of your sound, but many modules include more fully-functioning effects processors to help manipulate your sounds. 

Reference the sound you’re trying to emulate while you edit in your module. Adjusting the pitch, applying filtering or distortion and other effects can help get you closer even with a fairly limited set of sounds. 

Or make your own!

Many modules and multi-pads from the likes of Roland allow you to import your own custom samples as .wav files, and trigger them in exactly the same way as the internal sounds in your module.  

Find a sound 

There are lots of commercially available, royalty-free samples available from sites such as timespace.com and loopmasters.com. There are also many free resources available including our own MusicRadar-hosted collections: bit.ly/sampleradar