I know this could be construed as a bit of a lazy question, but what are your favourite kits/drummer combinations for a straight rock sound? And why?
Apologies if this has been done to death before, but a quick search didn't bring anything up - feel free to point me in the right direction if I've just been dim!
I kind of like Charlie for his no-nonsense drumming, but hearing other people's choices of both drummer and kit may help me expand my drumming horizons (I have no knowledge of actual drums/styles at all )
As I was musically "socialized" by the POLICE, my favourite drummer has to be Stewart, of course.
Great rock drumming and inventive use of syncopated patterns and bells & whistles (i.e. hihat and splash).
It's all interesting to me as I'm not terribly good at identifying different drumming styles - given that I'm a guitarist rather than a drummer, perhaps.
I'm also aware that I feel 'safer' with less complex drumming as I can tell a kick from a snare, but not much else
I've just been reading Bill Bruford's autobiography,and the thing that really resonated with me was when he said about the youth of today wanting songs that go from melody to rhythm,and leaving out the harmony.He had a drumming class and asked all the students if they could could play a simple ditty,anything,how about Happy Birthday anyone? Not one,loads of guitarists in the the room with all their gizmos,ready with all their licks and chops...Same thing with drummers.You can check You Tube out and see some brilliant young drummers showing extraordinary techniques,not realising that when it comes to say rock music that they'll be required to keep rigid beats between 90 - 130 BPM MOST OF THE TIME.I highly recommend the book as it has taught me a lot about drums that no drum book has.
Just a quick bump for this thread as I'm after the same sort of advice really. I've not used Jamstix for a while as I get frustrated with the results I've been getting. I've decided to give it one last go and bought the Bonzo/Jamcussion expansions to give some more options.
I'd like some suggestions for more basic classic-rock and power-pop styles. I used to use "Charlie" almost exclusively but would like some variations. I'm finding that there's not much in between the simplicity of Charlie and the complex, funky drummers (Carter, Stewart etc.). The "John" model is good but so distinctive that I find it too specific (and not general enough) for my needs, if that makes sense.
Cheers
Brendan
PS: Maybe one day we'll be able to build our own virtual "Frankenstein- drummers". I like the idea of being able to create a twisted hybrid from Meg White, Prairie Prince and Jaki Leibezeit!
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