How to become a much better "virtual" drummer

Mark Blair · Post by **Mark Blair** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:40 pm

I've done two things recently which have given me a better perspective on drumming: 1) I got a Yamaha DTXpress IV Special e-drum kit, and 2) I've been practicing playing the drums a fair bit. I think I'm getting a much better idea of how a drummer "thinks", and I think this will add a lot to my Jamstix drum "programming".

Out of curiosity, has anybody else gone to similar extremes to kick out better drum tracks, and has anything that you'd care to comment on been particularly successful?

Finally, I can recommend the drumming website called http://www.studydrums.com . Even though most of the good stuff is free, I decided to spend the $45 to get everything that he offers. Great stuff! It turns out that he's got a great strategy on how to learn drums without even having an actual drumset! And even though I'm really glad I got the e-drums, I honestly wish I had visited this site first.

By the way, I used Jamstix to kick out the drums for three of the four songs on my "quirky" http://iWorkforaJerk.com website (which I'm currently using to showcase of a few songs) -- but I decided to get more into drums to see if I could get better at adding more "dynamics" to my drum tracks (like knowing when to have sparse drums, and knowing how to best alter the groove during various sections of a song). By the way, the drums on these songs were done way before getting my e-drum kit.

Anyway, if anybody has a successful strategy for adding more dynamics and variation to their drums -- without attracting too much attention to the drum track itself -- then I'm all ears...

notringo · Post by **notringo** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:25 pm

Thanks for the link Mark!

Mark Blair · Post by **Mark Blair** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:31 pm

You're welcome!

And I think everybody who uses Jamstix could probably become a much better virtual drummer by checking out that http://studydrums.com website.

By the way, I'm not an affiliate or anything like that, and I get nothing in any form whatsoever by promoting this website (which I've only done here in this post).

Even if someone doesn't want to explore "real" drumming to get better at Jamstix (which I'm dabbling with now [real drumming]), I think at least having a clue about how real drummers do real drumming can only help. And it's really neat how this website points out a strategy to do this without actually owning a real drum kit.

And I'd be really curious if Ralph has any thoughts on this (whether it's worth the effort to explore how real drummers work to help us kick out better stuff with Jamstix)...

Post by **Ralph @ Rayzoon** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:59 am

Understanding the way real drummers work will definitely help with using Jamstix to its fullest extent.

GregHolmes · Post by **GregHolmes** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 12:50 pm

And that's true of any instrument. Orchestral composers, for example, must study all instruments in the orchestra - not necessarily to play them, but to understand their ranges and abilities.

Mark Blair · Post by **Mark Blair** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:27 pm

Excellent point! I'm not trying to suggest that everyone go out and buy a set of drums (or e-drums, as I did). However, I think all of us who are using Jamstix should know a bit about how a real drummer works.

And, as I mentioned above, I was happy to find a resource that presents a strategy for becoming familiar with drumming -- but without actually having to own a drum kit!

I didn't even realize until 7 weeks ago that: 1) the left hand usually plays the snare drum, 2) the right hand usually either plays the share or the hi-hat, 3) the left foot determines whether the hi-hat is open or closed, and 4) the right foot plays the kick (bass) drum! And I didn't realize the difference between the hi-hat (plays mostly groove), ride (plays mostly groove, but usually during chorus as opposed to the normally "quieter" verse), and crash (provides mostly an "accent") cymbals.

Bottom line: I may never become a great "real" drummer. However, I'm now confident that: 1) I can kick out better Jamstix grooves, 2) I know more about how the groove should "vary" during different sections of a song, and 3) I can kick out (using my e-drums) custom fills that mesh really well with a particular song bar.

DaveElson · Post by **DaveElson** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:53 pm

Thanks, I've bookmarked the site.