Sum yourself up

I'm an intermediate-advanced rock/alternative/punk/metal drummer.

Because I haven't been playing for a long time (only 4 years), I'm not a theoretical expert, nor is my technique fantastic, though it is fairly good. I can best describe my style as 'grabbing the audience by the balls, and not letting go until my set is over'. When performing, because I love being in front a crowd, I create a spectacle, which is not always a good thing, as it can draw attention away from my band-mates.

When practicing, I tend to focus a lot on playing through songs. I should probably work on rudiments and technique more, but I enjoy playing through songs. Currently, I have a repertoire of over 100 covers memorised.

When playing with my band, or writing drum-parts, I like to infuse a bit of a funk into my beats.

While I enjoy grooving around at a moderate speed, it's not my favourite speed. My favourite speed is somewhere between 'Fast' and 'Insane'. I tend to model a lot of my drumming off of Tre Cool so high-speed 8ths, syncopation, and machine-gun speed fills are generally what I strive for.
 
I suck...plain and simple! Started 2 months ago after a 40yr hiatus....I'm 56. Started in grade school with a few lessons and trip marching in the parade with a snare on my hip. Scrounged up a kit around 14-15 yrs old but drugs,alcohol and women came along about then and traded the drums for a motorcycle. Anyways....no real training or time put in during the early years.....so basically starting over fresh.

Been watching a few videos, banging away on the pad with "Stick Control" and spend some time on the kit everyday. Probably practice between pad/kit 2-3hrs a day (blues and some rock) and happy with progress so far. I've gone from really sucks to just sucks but I'm having a blast and look forward to my 1 yr anniversary next Jan and hope to move up to just plain bad......????
 
I have very strong opinions about my playing. I'm the opposite of larryace or Bermuda on this one. I don't get my sense of worth as a drummer from others at all.

While I think it's cool and gratifying to receive compliments from bandmates and the people who come to our shows or listen to our recordings, it can also be a little disconcerting and awkward. My first instinct is to point out the flaws that they may not have noticed, but I think it's in poor taste to make someone feel ignorant for paying one a compliment. So I keep my thoughts to myself and say "thank you".

Fortunately, my best friend of 30 years is also a drummer and gives me a lot of honest feedback. He tells me if I killed it or stunk up the place, or fell somewhere in between.

And if ever I need a reality check, all I have to do is hang out at the nearest drum shop or college music building and I can find drummers with better "chops" than me in almost no time at all. I never went through a rigorous program of drum study (lessons) because it didn't seem that fun to me.

Also keeping me grounded is the fact that the tape doesn't lie, and when I hear myself not quite capturing the spirit of a song, it makes me feel very insecure. When I hear micro-timing errors that I didn't realize that I was doing at the time, it makes me feel like I don't have a good handle on my playing. That kind of stuff happens often enough and it's my mission in life to not be content as long those issues are still out there.

I'm really only interested in original music because that way each song is a blank canvass that I get to put something onto and I don't have to copy someone else's drum part. My goal is then to find that certain something that's both unique and cool, and that really should be in the song. When I find that holy grail of a part and execute it with conviction and accuracy, it's the best feeling in the world and I start to think I'm my own favorite drummer!

When I struggle to find that part or execute it poorly, I'm my own worst nightmare.

I tend to think that I'm either one of the very best lousy drummers, or one of the very worst really good drummers.
 
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Good enough to have made a living at it, but nowhere near good enough to leave any kind of enduring legacy. Just a good, reasonably skilled all-around drummer. I always got the job done without any complaints. Guys like me are a dime a dozen.
 
me:
trying to make a career of it. i try to play whatever i'm asked to play, so hopefully i'm flexible and versatile. i love grooves that are just the perfect choice for a song, the right notes at the right time i think is the greatest thing to be able to deliver and is pretty much my entire focus.

hopefully publishing something this year. regular studio drummer is probably the dream.
 
I'm probably one of the crappiest drummers ever. I suck to the extreme! I've been playing for a little more then half a year and I've never taken lessons, I've never attempted to learn how to read sheet music or play rudiments, and my greatest passion is buying shiny stuff. My style is crappy John Bonham, with a few sprinkles of crappy Charlie Watts, and a pinch of crappy Brain. I would like to play drums professionally but due to my utter lack of skills and the fact that I look like a one large zit, I'll probably just end up working at Guitar Center, selling impressionable kids ZBTs and hating myself on the inside.
 
I usually tell people I don't play drums, but I do own some drum sets.

Been playing off and on for 28 years. Never full time, just when the time and chances allowed. Been playing much more in the last ten years but still not more than practicing with a band more than every other week. Self taught, which I feel is my major setback, but still want to learn more and try to all the time. I feel I am steady, don't overplay, but I do lack in knowing some rudiments.
 
OK I'll try to follow the instructions this time.
My weaknesses: (that I'm aware of anyway)
Playing jazz, progressive stuff, big band stuff, polyrhythms, metal, new age, and anything that doesn't have a clearly identifiable beat.
Solo's. Haven't done one yet that I haven't cringed over.
Keeping my opinions to myself. I can't lie when it comes to music, nor can I let stuff go that bothers me. I call them like I see them and if anyone gets offended, that's their problem. We're all adults, and it's not personal, it's the music that is at the center of the issue. However I'm trying to be more tactful, but it's turning out to be a slow transistion.
Can't sightread, don't want to read on the bandstand, couldn't do it anyway.
I'm very limited in my mind, there's so much that's beyond me.
I'm not a good "arm" player, as in the octupus type drumming of a Portnoy.

My strengths:
I have good hands, thanks to certain wrist/hand/finger development exercises I was taught. If I can hang on just the snare and the closest tom, I'm OK.
I feel I understand the role of the drumset pretty well.
I would like to think that I know what NOT to play, generally speaking, such as avoiding common pitfalls most beginners fall into.
I feel I'm sensitive to the singers and soloists, and really enjoy giving them what they need to do their thing properly.
I don't need to have the spotlight. This is a weakness when it comes to solos though. I'm much happier providing the others with exactly what they want to hear from a drummer.
I think I get a great drum sound, I'm very happy with my drum sound on playback, thanks to hundreds of hours spent tuning and experimenting w/ different heads.
That was hard, talking about my own drumming.
 
Ok, I'll take a stab at it. I've really been playing off more than on since I've been about 20 which is when I started. I also play guitar and keyboards and creatively on those instruments I'm probably better than on the drums.

I've always had a pretty good sense of time. I had a few lessons but usually had to discontinue when I could no longer afford them so I'm largely self taught. I played in four different bands back in the nineties and lived the drummers dream for a while. There is not much of a desire for me to get back into a band and the whole practice thing with weekend gigs. I do too much fishing for that.

There may be an opportunity to play with a neighbor of mine who is a pretty good accordion player - he gets some regular gigs and the money would be better than being in a regular band. Right now I just enjoy playing along to songs with my electronic drums and headphones, and I have no intention of stopping - it just feels great to play drums in any way possible.

I'd like to say I'm working on books like Stick Control, etc but I'm too tired after work these days and just want to jam and learn some new songs. For now, that's good enough. Trying to get a good sound out of electronic drums is a challenge, and if your off it's even that more obvious. I'd like to get some good software with a midi interface to get the sound closer to an acoustic set and see how that goes.

I have every intention of buying another acoustic set complete with cymbals down the road and maybe the thing with the accordion player will happen. I've learned a lot here and enjoyed all the candor.

As drummers, I think we are so much more critical of ourselves than other musicians, maybe because there is a bigger gap between the average player and those who have that "it", or that drumming is just plain harder to master.

There are the same gaps with people that play other instruments but I don't hear the same frustration or self criticism. I find guitar and keyboard so much more relaxing to play than drums, but drums are satisfying in an adrenaline charged up kind of way that that will get your sh#t out and say yeah that was why I drum, cool...
 
...I am good enough to be lousy.

I have no imagination. I play the groove I stole from Bob Disalle, the groove I stole from Ainsley Dunbar, then I throw in the fill I stole from Rock Deadrick. Slow down or speed up to suit song. I rush, I drag, I get distracted, lose my place, then end up playing catch up. Every now and again I am guilty of gratuitous ride cymbal wankery, and the tourettes fill. My strokes are uneven, my dynamics can be a little spastic at times, and the only thing I know about rudiments is how to spell the word. I have really nice gear that sounds better than my ability to make it sound.


In spite of these shortcommings, every Monday evening when we are in the man room jamiin away, the beer is cold, the laughter warm, and I am caught up in that orgiastic drumsturbatory bliss, every thing is right in my world.

Barry
 
I'm a 56 year old who understands that he'll never again experience the epiphany of thrusting his hand into the powerful current of creativity that runs through this universe, as he experienced on three separate occasions while sitting behind a drum set. Therefore he now takes his creative release in the writing of poetry and lyric essays.
 
"I like to play" garth elgar

I'm just so happy to be able to play drums for a living. I am always amazed and even the smallest gig is still fun for me. My focus isn't really about talent or ability anymore it's about showmanship and performance. It is the final piece of the puzzle for me but I think it's the most important thing about playing for a living.

I'm making an effort to follow through on my ideas and playing drums every chance I get.
 
Wow, I thought this thread died ages ago after being dissed a few times. Just read through it now, and some great replies. A lot of hard honesty, even a little self deprecation from time to time. I think it's good for you to rate yourself. Not in a hierarchical way, but against expectations you have of yourself. Sort of helps you be happy in your shell IMO.
 
Mea culpa. I have listened to and been influenced by so many players and styles I've been trying to boil things down to limit my approach and maintain a clearer direction. Does that make any sense? For some reason the Ringo recipe came to mind because when I'm at a loss, I think Ringo and writing things down helps to clarify things.

I agree that thinking hierarchically isn't a recipe for joyful drumming, but it's very easy to be humbled in the face of the multitude of drumming magicians out there. Still, I'd rather drum a bit dodgily with conviction than to drum dodgily without confidence :)

I think confidence is a hugely underrated aspect of drumming, or playing music generally. That's what made Keith Moon great, even though he was sloppy and uncontrolled by pro standards. He simply heard the music and played the song with nothing else going on between his ears other than the flying squirrels and pink elephants.
 
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