How do drummers like Dave Grohl relax when they're playing so hard? Not that I'm a fan of how they play but it seems like a lot of rock drummers nowadays play very hard and I don't get how they can stay relaxed, maybe they don't?
I think you can be relaxed and still play really hard. Relaxation is not necessarily a low-volume, low-energy output kinda thing. Obviously, you're not going to be 100% at rest when playing at FFF volume in a rock song. It's more about focusing your energy in such a way that your playing happens automatically, and from a non-doership, kind of zen place. It's the difference between being in an open, loose, and flowing state, as opposed to a closed, tense, and confined one.
Think of the relaxation it takes to break a board, like in a martial arts setting. All the energy must be channeled into the act of punching through the board. Other muscles not involved in the punch, should be at rest. If there is any hesitation or lack of commitment in the act, it's not going to be the board breaking but the hand! Ouch...
With a loud musical note, I think of the same thing. Confidence and total commitment. The kind of confidence that comes from having played the drums for years and having developed an awareness of how to hit the drums and how the drums will respond, to the point where it's second nature.
And you might wanna dance when you play and that's ok, so dance. Or if you wanna scream, scream. You don't want to audit yourself while playing. On the other hand, you want to audit the hell out of yourself when practicing so that you learn proper technique, muscle memory, to facilitate playing correctly and injury free. But in the moment of performance you just commit and go for it. The more correct practice you've done, the more free and relaxed you'll be to play, whether it's loud or soft, intense or laid back.
It's a tough subject to articulate. But still a very interesting one. I think it comes from the ambiguous nature of words like, relaxation, mastery, effortlessness, meditative, and others. They can have many meanings that are not so absolute and often seem in contradiction. Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter? Please share.