New open handed concept...

tbmills

Gold Member
thursday night i went out bar hopping and caught the dave matthews tribute band. the whole time i was there i couldnt stop thinking that i could make them sound better.

it got me thinking about how i would setup my kit if i played "carter" all the time. carter does alot of tom work while riding his hats. that is the problem i have found is the hardest to accomplish using a traditional set. hitting toms under your crossed hihat arm is just difficult...

i have also wondered, for a long time now, why we all play a similar looking setup. being drummers, we have the unique luxury of the complete freedom of setup. we can put any piece wherever we feel is right.

as most of you know, i am a proud lefty. i recently had the idea of putting my hihats to the left of my snare, under my ride, using a remote with my right foot. this would allow me to play open handed and use my toms with my right, snare hand whenever i want. i could setup a 12" tom were my hats used to be and a floor tom on the other side of my former hats.

check it out. first is my current setup then the concept.
let me know what you think...
 

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Absolutely. This has been on my mind for a long time, it's exactly how I would do it if I had the money for a remote hihat stand...
 
Hi tb,

I have seen quite a few kits set up the way you are exerimenting with and I think its a great idea for a more accessible and even approach. One question, why don't you set up your kit as a righty and keep your ride on the left side near the hats? Wouldn't that accomplish what you are looking for? Though, the look you have now is a bit more visually appealing :)
 
Hi tb,

I have seen quite a few kits set up the way you are exerimenting with and I think its a great idea for a more accessible and even approach. One question, why don't you set up your kit as a righty and keep your ride on the left side near the hats? Wouldn't that accomplish what you are looking for? Though, the look you have now is a bit more visually appealing :)

my bass drum...i dont have the touch with my right foot
 
Oh, so your a strict lefty. Fair enough, I thought you just played lefty. Have you been working with the new kit concept yet?

ok, i AM right handed, but i learned on and currently play a lefty kit.
my right foot does wonders for me on my hats, but i cant switch my feet.
im not looking to relearn the drums, just rearrange them more efficiently...

working with the concept?, not really...
mainly i dont have remote hat stand. but to fulfill the setup in the pic id also need a 16" floor.
it would be cool though to have a truly unique setup.
i might see if gc has one and i can setup this way and try it out.
 
It seems like you are at a crossroads my friend. Either move forward or you can keep rearranging the toys in the monkeys cage for amuzement hoping he will find inspiration.

Work on your weak limbs tb. Don't sell yourself short my friend. If Carter is an inspiration, put in the work. I don't wanna come across as a jackass... I know things can be read wrong on forums.

You have found inspiration in a drummer that many people can't even begin to think about approaching. That speaks volumes buddy! You appreaciate his skill. You can't mimic and adapt that skill properly without hard work. You can't cheat it. You can't fake it. You watched a faker when you watched that D.M.B. cover band. You watched a guy try to fake it... and you noticed you could do better.

So do it better. Not by faking. :)
 
It seems like you are at a crossroads my friend. Either move forward or you can keep rearranging the toys in the monkeys cage for amuzement hoping he will find inspiration.

Work on your weak limbs tb. Don't sell yourself short my friend. If Carter is an inspiration, put in the work. I don't wanna come across as a jackass... I know things can be read wrong on forums.

You have found inspiration in a drummer that many people can't even begin to think about approaching. That speaks volumes buddy! You appreaciate his skill. You can't mimic and adapt that skill properly without hard work. You can't cheat it. You can't fake it. You watched a faker when you watched that D.M.B. cover band. You watched a guy try to fake it... and you noticed you could do better.

So do it better. Not by faking. :)

ok, we are getting philosophical now.

i appreciate the comments. i needed some support here. so, thank you.
but id like to start by saying that my limbs really arent that weak, its just my left foot (bass) IS my bass foot and my right (hats) IS my hat foot. im not saying that cant change, but, a lot of things i do when i play are unconscious.

and, for the most part, the carter phase has passed.

my journey as a drummer so far started with lars ulrich, then carter, now its steve jordan and stanton. in the 9 years or so that i have been playing those are the guys i have look up to, carter being my biggest influence.

------------

this begs another question. do i want to be a cover drummer or use their influence to be better at what i want. i thought i was was better than the dmtb dude because i thought i understood carter better. i feel like i thoroughly understand the nuance of his playing. remember that grey street thread? its not about matching him lick for lick. its understanding, and applying that understanding to your own ideas for what is tasteful and called for.

in the past month i have pondered on what direction i want to go in.
steve jordan - pocket/blues?
stanton - jazz/funk?
bonham - rock?

this carter thing has thrown me off...
it has just made me think. "is the setup im playing, the way i want it to be? is it the way it should be?"
 
ok, we are getting philosophical now.

i appreciate the comments. i needed some support here. so, thank you.
but id like to start by saying that my limbs really arent that weak, its just my left foot (bass) IS my bass foot and my right (hats) IS my hat foot. im not saying that cant change, but, a lot of things i do when i play are unconscious.

and, for the most part, the carter phase has passed.

my journey as a drummer so far started with lars ulrich, then carter, now its steve jordan and stanton. in the 9 years or so that i have been playing those are the guys i have look up to, carter being my biggest influence.

------------

this begs another question. do i want to be a cover drummer or use their influence to be better at what i want. i thought i was was better than the dmtb dude because i thought i understood carter better. i feel like i thoroughly understand the nuance of his playing. remember that grey street thread? its not about matching him lick for lick. its understanding, and applying that understanding to your own ideas for what is tasteful and called for.

in the past month i have pondered on what direction i want to go in.
steve jordan - pocket/blues?
stanton - jazz/funk?
bonham - rock?

this carter thing has thrown me off...
it has just made me think. "is the setup im playing, the way i want it to be? is it the way it should be?"

Cool, I get where you are comming from. Only you know what you are going after. I truly hope you find what your looking for when it comes to your drumming. I'm glad to see your not limiting yourself to genre specifics.
 
thursday night i went out bar hopping and caught the dave matthews tribute band. the whole time i was there i couldnt stop thinking that i could make them sound better.

it got me thinking about how i would setup my kit if i played "carter" all the time. carter does alot of tom work while riding his hats. that is the problem i have found is the hardest to accomplish using a traditional set. hitting toms under your crossed hihat arm is just difficult...

i have also wondered, for a long time now, why we all play a similar looking setup. being drummers, we have the unique luxury of the complete freedom of setup. we can put any piece wherever we feel is right.

as most of you know, i am a proud lefty. i recently had the idea of putting my hihats to the left of my snare, under my ride, using a remote with my right foot. this would allow me to play open handed and use my toms with my right, snare hand whenever i want. i could setup a 12" tom were my hats used to be and a floor tom on the other side of my former hats.

check it out. first is my current setup then the concept.
let me know what you think...

I have thought about this, an thought it was a really good idea, but I found a drawback:

Bloody Sunday came on the radio and it had the distinctive Larry Mullen Jr. beat, two handed 16th notes with the snare, and I think that would be a great deal harder to do. And you sight Carter as a reference, I haven't seen live but on the recordsit sounds he does a lot of two handed quick fills right back to snare that would be plausible, but also more difficult.

Otherwise, I think this idea is wonderful and that should go for it if you A) don't use this technique often or B) can make the adjustment, which you probably could.
 
Cool, I get where you are comming from. Only you know what you are going after. I truly hope you find what your looking for when it comes to your drumming. I'm glad to see your not limiting yourself to genre specifics.

thanks guy, i appreciate it.

oh i see youre from FL...
are you a UF or FSU fan (or miami)?

im am in the process of trying to transfer to FSU. i dont meet all of their requirements but i feel like i can still be an asset to their school. i am tired of the attitude people have in tuscaloosa and would love to start over in a new place. everyday, i am getting more anxious about the possible move. i love being in florida and want, more than anything right now, to be there. my two best friends already live there, and i already have a job and a place to live all i need is for their admissions to let me in...
 
oh i see youre from FL...
are you a UF or FSU fan (or miami)?...

Niether. More of a USF fan. USF is much more relaxed. They have a great campus and it's not held to any pre-concieved university stereotypical mundane wanna-be I'm a beer drinking guy who's parents are paying for my education that I'm failing at and my friends are just as much of a loser as I am crap.

Cheers :)
 
I have thought about this, an thought it was a really good idea, but I found a drawback:

Bloody Sunday came on the radio and it had the distinctive Larry Mullen Jr. beat, two handed 16th notes with the snare, and I think that would be a great deal harder to do. And you sight Carter as a reference, I haven't seen live but on the recordsit sounds he does a lot of two handed quick fills right back to snare that would be plausible, but also more difficult.

Otherwise, I think this idea is wonderful and that should go for it if you A) don't use this technique often or B) can make the adjustment, which you probably could.

im not sure what your talking about... particularly the bit about carters recording.

i dont think theres anything i wont be able to do on this setup compared to what i currently have.
 
Niether. More of a USF fan. USF is much more relaxed. They have a great campus and it's not held to any pre-concieved university stereotypical mundane wanna-be I'm a beer drinking guy who's parents are paying for my education that I'm failing at and my friends are just as much of a loser as I am crap.

Cheers :)

thanks for ruining my dreams. ha.
actually im leaving alabama for that reason. the people i know in tally are amazing people.
 
thanks for ruining my dreams. ha.
actually im leaving alabama for that reason. the people i know in tally are amazing people.

Actually, there is nothing wrong with FSU. I just enjoyed the atmosphere that USF has. We don't even consider Tallahassee to be Florida becuase it's filled with transplants... lol :)
 
I've seen a few kits with this style set up. I've only seen them right handed, but I don't see why that would make a difference...hats in the middle are becoming more common (though, when I say that, I'm not saying they are common yet). It's a cool concept.
 
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