Canadiandrummer25
Senior Member
I have been trying to do them for ages, but they always sound too loud.
What are some tips to actually make them quiet?
What are some tips to actually make them quiet?
I have been trying to do them for ages, but they always sound too loud.
What are some tips to actually make them quiet?
Practice out of "Patterns" by Gary Chaffee and you'll get with the ghost notes, stick heights and all of the other goodies David Garibaldi learned or mastered from him.Yep, what they all said!
David Garibaldi talks about the 'two level concept' which is a nice simple way of laying it out.
You have two levels of strokes, say full strokes and tap (ghost) strokes. The tap stroke is the light stroke from 1" above the head described by Boomka, and the full stroke is the normal backbeat-type volume.
Practice playing some beats that involve a combination of full and tap strokes, and try to emphasise (or even exaggerate) the difference between them. Practise slowly at first to get the coordination right before speeding up.
Right on. It's like exaggerated moeller whipping motion, with the end result being a catch and release after the ghost note.Try to exaggerate things. Get the backbeat really loud with misled and add arm motion then leave the stick as close to the head as you can and just barely tap the head.
I employ a tactic where I hit almost all the notes on the snare fairly soft, except the backbeat. I use the rim for the backbeat and no rim for the rest of the ghost notes. The beauty part I found is I don't have to whack the backbeat any harder than the ghosts. Flattening my stick angle so it catches the rim is enough to double the volume of the backbeat. It also changes the tone to where the backbeat sticks out tonally, compared to the other notes, the goal. Without me having to hit any harder. That's the whole point right there. It's all about the rim for the backbeat, taps for the ghosts. Employing the rim alone for backbeats creates the dynamic tonal and volume difference with very little effort, the goal.
My band doesn't get real loud so this works for me. We're not a quiet band, but we don't blow you out either. So I guess we're a medium volume band. I depend on this tactic throughout the night.