Don't become swollen headed when you see you are playing well. Still get time to rehearse and u will be perfect. Try and try and try and you will one of the best. - Dave

First tip: As a beginner, you don't need a $1000 kit! You need a cheap on to practice on. Look into used and discount outlets. Second tip: Cleaning and moving your lit will do wonders! - Amy

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Though drum workshop makes a good pedal they make a weak double pedal linkage assembly, so...... get yer self an "axis" linkage dohicky and bamm! super solid rudimental type double pedal percission. beings as axis does have round attachments it helps to have some machined "round to square"converter pieces"(so ya dont wear out your pedal attachment thingys).square to round converter pieces can be made by any qualified machinist from aluminum.just bring the pedal parts to them they'll handle the measurement.good luck. - m.c. asian turkey

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When you think you practiced some lick, drum rudiment, or independance thing for long enough and that you've got it... practice it for another month. - Mario

Keep a metronome in your car and listen to it while driving. We play along to music anyway, banging on the steering wheel. If you drive a long way back and forth to work like I do, make that part of your practice to make your timekeeping more solid. - John Odom

If you have your drums on a hardwood floor, you need carpet underneath them but if you don't want to put carpet down, you can cover each leg of the stands with some cloth by duct taping it on there. - Jack B Nimble

Keep a record of your drum practicing routine. Reward yourself at special milestones along the way. Nothing motivates us like success! - Joe Mama

Don't waste your money on moon gels. The sticky toys they sell in gumball machines are made from the same material and cost next to nothing. So go buy one of those sticky hands and chop it up! - Ross Carnes

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Try split yoursessions into different parts like, Warm-up, independance, rudiments, beats and fills, and hand to foot exercises - Mike

Drum books and drum videos give us the tools we need to grow as drummers. But there is a time when we must break out of those books and videos and "build" with the tools we've acquired. This is when you start taking on an identity of your own. It doesn't mean that you won't ever use the books or videos anymore. It just means that you won't get stuck in them. - Little D

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Find yourself in a bind for mallets for that special cymbal "wash"? Grab a couple of cymbal felts from your stick bag and put them on the end of your sticks, They'll work just fine for the little bit of time you'll need them - Steve Hlabse

When your thumb muscle gets crampy during a gig, especially when playing endless 8ths on the High hat, having practiced holding the sticks between the index and middle finger will give that muscle group a break. Practice switching back and forth without skipping a beat and your endurance will be endless. (Yeah I know the thumb muscle shouldn't become tense!) Just in case it does! - Also, your drumming will improve no matter what you are playing. Consider a four hour gig which is what I normally play. If you aren't a working drummer, you still need to sit and play for three or four hours sometimes and even more if you are a total drum nut!~ The way to get some muscle practice without going through a ton of excercises is to play all four limbs simultaneously for an hour straight or two. Take a break and do it again. Your playing will become more fluid almost immediately. That is one secret many drum instructors will not share with you, so take it to heart and try it for the heck of it! It actually simulates playing a four hour or whatever amount of hours gig without actually having to be at a gig, since sometimes gigs are hard to come by. Consider also that noone will hire you until you decide to hire yourself. Make practice your job on your off time and if you are too tired after work, get up four hours earlier than normal and practice during your best hours and give your boss whatever is left, rather than the other way around! It's your life~! - Eric McLaughlin

Slow Tempo: Don´t forget to practice patterns at slow tempo. Also put you metronome at 40 - 60 bpm and start jamming around, you´ll see its not that easy. - Mike

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Different tempos: Practice with your band at different tempos. Ex, If your song is normally played al 80bpm, play it at 65 bpm, and also faster. This will help you all, to really listen to all other members. - Mike

Listen to the Beatles if your just starting they have very simple beats that you can copy - Good advice

Buy a cowbell, it's a good thing to invest your money on. It's cheap and you can make so many different tunes with it. - Joe

Experiment with the tension on the spring tension. Because if you have the tension too tight it will have too much rebound and it will be harder to push down on, but if you don't have any tension it will have no rebound and you would be doing all the work. - kool person

Want to find a drum teacher? Look on Craigslist. Also... teachers; Craigslist is a good place to advertise yourself as a drum teacher for your city. - Joey

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For more accelerated bass speeds. Try going heel toe, instead pushing with just your toe. It's like having two bass pedals.......well not quite. - Dylan

My tip guys is this :: When loading or unloading at a job {I hate the word gig cause it sounds like your going fishing} 'never let your vehicle unattended. A little time is all it takes and watch who you tell about new gear. knowledge breeds theft. Be careful out there at 3 or 4 in the morning!!!!! - Ken

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A tip about buying ride cymbals and crash cymbals: The cymbal up close in the music store will sound a certain way to you and you might like that sound. But don't forget the big picture. You have to consider the venues and the types of bands you will be playing in. How big are the places? How loud is your band? Etc. A cymbal can sound very pingy in the music store but that ping might get lost in the mix on stage. Or a crash cymbal often sounds like it has all kinds of sustain in the store but the minute you start playing with it in the band, it often seems to fade quickly. If you don't consider all of this when buying your cymbals, you could end up wasting your money on a cymbal that doesn't work for you. - Cletus Bofangle

Before buying a drumset, take the time to check out reviews for different drumsets online. You can learn a lot by other drummer's experiences. I've found a lot of reviews for drum gear at drumchat.com. - Lil Tim

Use Vasoline petroleum jelly to lube the lugs and threads of the tension rods on your drums. You don't need to do this every time you change your drum heads but do it occasionally. - Eli

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1. Can't actually play your drums 'cuz you'll wake up your kids? Try practicing a variety of single stroke rolls and licks on things like old pillows or folded up towels. Also, use massive sticks like 2Bs or larger. Pace yourself or you'll run outta steam too soon!

2. Switch it up! Work on your non-dominant hand both on your drums and in doing everyday things like opening doors, etc. You want to get to a point to where you feel like you can do anything with the "other" hand.

3. Think you got a beat or rudiment down?? Make sure you can play it at ANY speed AND volume. - Jeff Popaeko

Practice double stroke (long roll) and paradiddles on a PILLOW. This will build your wrists and make you super fast once you get on a drum and can bounce the sticks, you'll have even more power. - Randy Duncan

Buy a couple of black table cloths and sew them together. This makes a great cover for your drums when you have to haul them in your car. The less people know what you're hauling around, the less likely they can steal from you. It acts as a deterent. You can also use this large cloth as drum cover on long club gigs. - Alex Drummond

You are never really ready to get on stage – you just have to get up there and do it. You only get comfortable on stage once you realise that it’s okay to make mistakes – everyone does. Once you’ve come to terms with that, you can relax on stage and just enjoy the experience. The trick is to hide those mistakes so the audience thinks it was intentional ;-) - Carl

1a. Half an hours practice per day is better than half an hour per week just before you go for your next drum lesson.
1b. One to two hours practice per day is better than half an hour per day. If you can do it make one hour of playing to set pieces and one hour for practice of rudimants.
1c. You should also practice your foot work as well as your stick work - double footbeats really power up the sound.
1d. This is do as has been said - not do as I do - but it is best to separate playing and practicing, be it only 2 x half hours. - T.Owen Brown

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In trying to develop speed, you actually have to loosen your grip and relax. You cannot play fast if you grip the stick like a club and use arms only. Remember, you have arms (for big hits) wrists for medium paced hits and accents) and you have fingers. Fingers can move twice as fast as wrists. The Moeller method only gets you to midway until you let inhibition and tightness go. Essentially Moeller is using the force of one hit to give you 3 hits (2 bonus ones). You need to practice till you ache/burn (stop if there is actual pain) as you need to develop muscle stamina or muscle memory.
Just like in the gym, you workout till it aches and then some. Then in your day off, the tissue that has been broken down re-builds itself in more appropriate forms. You can only play super fast when you can play a rudiment or 'passage' completely automatically - you cannot play super fast if you are counting the beats 1,2,3,4. So practice the rudiments and 'pieces' till you can do them automatically and reasonably fast - then apply the Moeller method to them. The Moeller technique only works when you play intuitively as you play so fast you cannot have time to rationalise the next move - so you need a good repertoire.
So it is practice of a cyclic nature. 2 to 4 hours per day practice, practice of rudiments and set pieces till you have them coming out your finger tips intuitively and fluidly, keep going back to the moeller method of speeding up by using fingers/wrists to get 3 hits for one and building the memory muscles. Do not get despondent if it is slow in coming - some of these freaky top drummers practice 6 hours a day - but perhaps they don't play tennis or go skiing or read books - balance your life as well as your drumming. Good luck. - T. Owen Brown

Whatever drum rudiment / pattern your learning, learn it both right and left handed. Even the most basic single stroke roll, start with your weakest hand. It really helps co-ordination. - Spencer

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For a little help with coordination and just and all around good thing to know. try to learn to play free hand technique, this is where u hit the Hi hat with your non-dominant hand (left for me) so that your hands are not crossed. this way you have space to mess around some more and you also build your left handed coordination. A really good practice for this is while playing a straight rhythem with your hands, substitute the bass drum with your foot, for the floor tom with your snare hand, this trains your hands to not feel so awkward and gives you more freedom as a drummer. its also actually fun to do this with fills, substituting the floor tom for the bass (sometimes i actually still keep the bass and play the floor tom with it, giving a bit more powerful sounds.) - Justin Kokin

If you want to play like Dave Grohl, consider htting two toms or two cymbals at the same time. Also, don't underestimate the almighty flam. - George P.

Want to know the easiest/quickest way to strengthen your weakest hand? RLLR RLLR RLLL RLLL (if you're a lefty, just reverse). Start slowly, but gradually build on speed. It'll happen sooner than you think. - George P.

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I dont agree with putting oil or petroleum jelly on the lugs.That is sticky and just attracts dust and debris.USe graphite instead. - matt gray hardcore

Play both heel up and heel down for maximum dexterity. Don't limit your self to either of the two. - Brian

if u want to pick up speed and tightness, and overall flavour and style here are a few tips that took me a while to realise, but really do help. first and foremost, practice dillegently, once u get better, never slow down ur practicing. always play and want to increase ur skill for urself, not for any band or any other reason, and in doing this keep in mind to never rush or get irritated. start as slow as possible, always with a click, getting perfectly tight on every 10 bpms or so before incresing speed. calm ur self, focus on relaxed breathing, and pay acute attention to ur feet an ur stck grip, feel it fully and try remain loose as possible. i find that wearing ear plugs while playing u can hear the kit better without the excess treble, this will help u see where u arent so tight and it makes the kit sound great therefore give u incoregment to play better. keep focused wen u play and try not let ur mind wonder, i noticed than once this happens i start playing sloppy, and dropping sticks, so wen this happens to u, let it be a reminder to focus, naturally. never try do anything, just simply break it down, and just do it! one last tip, wen ur writing drums to a track, go over ur work again and again, dont judge, just listen fully to wat ur playing to, and keep the feel, with a bit of ur own spice! keep it real, any of u dudes have tips for me, im glad to hear em. - calvin

For a quick special effects sound, take a tamborine and throw it up over the hi-hat rod and let it rest on the hi-hat. You then play the hi hat as normal but now it jingles! - Tim Drums

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Choose a carpet for underneath your drums that you can write on. Take a sharpie and mark where you have your stands. You now have a guide where everything goes. This will make setting up your drums a lot easier each time. - John

A drum muffling tip: Some drummers put cotton balls in their drums to help dampen the sound. - Sevin

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Quit saying, "I stole that lick" or "I stole that drum beat" from so and so. Nobody steals anything. We all "borrow" each others ideas and expound on them. Without trying, we generally end up putting our own sound to it. All of this said, don't alway copy everyone else. Come up with your own variations of the fills or groove patterns. Be uniquely YOU! - Not so famous drummer

Many define "success" as making a lot of money. I define success as being happy first and hopefully being able to also make a decent living at what I love to do. Never sell out! Maintain your integrity and find happiness before anything else. - Isley

A cheap and easy way to customise your bass drums.. Check out the car accesory shops for cheap adhesive decals.. so many to choose from...so little to pay. - Gary Klata ( UK )

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Once you can play jazz, you can play anything. - Malin

If your gonna start off when starting drumming with heavy metal start off with like Lamb Of God ro something maybe easier get the double kicking double then snare then add in or if your like me just start playing and if your musically inclide you may get it on your first try - Dana

When you make a mistake on the gig, try to memorize what you did so that you can practice it when you get home. Maybe you tried to play an over the bar line fill but got caught and couldn't get back. This is an opportunity to disect "playing over the bar line" and figure out what you did wrong so you'll know how to practice it and you can get it right the next time. - Peter Piper (he's sneaky like that)

Practice doesnt make perfect, PERFect practice makes perfect, so don't mess around XD - dood

Get a drumkit, Get some drumsticks, Get a room, Get some time, Get some friends, Get rid of the annoying little sister and PRACTICE! - AeMyN CoNnOLLy

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In tuning your drum heads, it's really a good idea to use a drum dail. It helps you to be more accurate and consistent in the sound of your heads, and it also makes tuning and untuning (if ever necessary) more quick, convenient, and less difficult and intimidating. - CAL

If you put your floor tom at an angle towards you it makes it easier whenever you run into those times when you want to hit the snare and floor tom at the same time for a build up in a song or whatever. It will reduce the amounts of time you hit the rim when you dont want to... - Albert Mather

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Try to play along with whatever music you can. Constantly move on to music just a little bit harder, and you will improve alot. If its too loud for your headphones try practicing quieter. That will help in volume control. If your not interested in that just go buy heaphones with the earplug pieces on them. - Brady

Create a daily drum routine that you follow. Have a physical sheet that you check off with regard to your drumming routine and/or goals. It will help you not only keep track but allow you to see your progress on paper. - Tex

When you are drumming try to practice every day - ben alder

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First Lesson in Drumming: If You Can't Say it - You Can't Play It! When learning any Drum Patch, Drum Rhythm, a Rudiment or Beat Style, especially by ear off a CD or Radio or Tape est., learn to "say" or "tongue" the Rhythm until you get it right in your head, before trying to play it on the kit. The ear is a super instrument, and when the licks are in your head, it is so much easier to lay them down. - Dave Coulombe

USE FINGERS FOR DOUBLES NOT HANDS!@ - Alex Like

Practice! - ashton

Mistakes are stepping stones to failure - bob

Can't find a comfortable setup? start off with just the bass and snare like you were playing. Begin air drumming as if you were playing the full set. Start off with the hi hats, notice where your foot is positioned and how high your arm is when it strikes the hi hats. Once you have accomplished that place the hi hat stand in the same position and height as it was when you were air drumming. Continue repeating this process with each other piece of the set untill it is all put together. When you are done your setup should be as comfortable as when when you were air drumming. - Aaron

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A cheap and innovative way to dampen the bass drum: So stuffing the bass drum with towels or a pillow just arent cutting it anymore? and you don't want to shell out the money for a dampening system? Try wrapping egg crait foam around the inside of the shell (leaving room for the heads and hoops of course). It is easy, affordable and effective.. - Aaron

1.By an electronic kit for practice anytime, Read books on independence, Learn how to tune, head types, drum construction and how to hit them. 2. A drum head will only make so much sound project so never hit to hard and batter heads can last months. 3 Thin heads=warm and resonant, thick heads=brighter and more controlled, coated or hydraulic are more damped in stick sound. Every Drummer even in the top 20 still have unique styles and sounds so whom is the greatest is totally subjective. The rest you may already now (Practice Time,coordination, and Develope your sound) - doug

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Quit bashing on Travis Barker because he dosen't play for drummers, he plays for the average listener hence the success. Oh yeah, he never claimed he was the best. - ocdsjctr

If your not in a huge venue be shure to equal out your sound. Example, your cymbals and snare are louder than your toms and bass drum so hit your toms and bass harder your and bring the louder pieces down a notch. - Ben

You shouldnt have to put a bunch of trash on your drums to deaden them, instead learn how to tune. You will need to do it someday, or as soon as you find the need to mic your drums. - Ben

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Have confidence but don't brag about your skills because there's always someone better out there to show you up. - Ben

Play your kit with your eyes closed. Closing your eyes allows your "inner drummer" to play for you. There is a part of you that plays with "no mind" and allows you to imagine all sorts of fantastic groves and fills on the fly. Playing eyes closed helps you to shut down one part of your senses ( your eyes) and concentrate on the other more important to drumming senses so you can practice getting into the sweet spot, the groove, the zone, the pocket what ever you call it it is "inside" you and you cant see it, so once you become a good basic solid drummer your eyes can be a distraction, specially in front of a live audience. Once you can play decently with your eyes open you can now close them and your hands will find the center of the drums and edge of your cymbals every time. Try it 1st with a simple groove with no fills and build up from there. - SteveTheSingingDrummer

DROPPING YOUR STICKS? That is GOOD, it means you are "loose". It is better to be too loose and learn how to tighten up just a bit to keep from loosing a stick in the middle of a fill or song that to never drop a stick and have a permanently chocked playing style. Beginners are notorious for holding onto the sticks to tightly. Almost every gigging pro has a 1 or 2 stick, stick holder near the HitHat stand and a stick bag on a floor tom, not because he breaks a stick and needs a replacement ( of course that happens a lot in heavy metal & Buddy Rich style big band swing ) but primarily because he or she is a loose relaxed player and knows that in order to play a sweet groove and be in the pocket you may loose a stick once in awhile. Practice dropping a stick now and then and grabbing a fresh one after awhile you can play loose and free and be able to grab a fresh stick fast and never loose your bass or other stick hand beat and only you or the person who got hit in the head with the flying stick will know, lol. Enjoy - SteveTheSingingDrummer

PLAY ALONG TO THE BEAT WITH YOUR MOUTH !!! What does that mean ? Example: Have you ever seen those Hip Hop guys who make a Boom Tap Boom Boom sound with there mouth , some of them put a mic up to there mouth and sound like a drum machine, well that is very useful when you drum to keep you in time and in the groove. He is another example: When you were a kid and you play soldier with your plastic machine gun you made a Ta Ta Ta Ta Ta Ta sound like a machine gun , right ? Well this translates over to drumming perfectly, you see you can make the bass drum "Thumb" sound and the snare "Ta" sound and the HitHat "Shut" sound while you are playing a beat or in a song and it will help you to solidify your timing, and help when you are in a long drown out song and perhaps getting a bit distracted or tired, sounding out your drum strikes will help you remain the solid drummer everyone relies on to keep the time no matter what. Enjoy - SteveTheSingingDrummer

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A good drummer sounds good on anything. A bad drummer sounds bad on everything. - Mitchell

Want to make the lugs of your snare drum or toms a bit tighter? Wrap them in Teflon tape. You can buy this tape in the plumbing section of your hardware store. It's easy. - Mark

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You dont need a van for a standard drum set just get a car - Dan

If you are a beginner like myself, try doing the following to improve your skills. Do not use a double pedal until you are decent with a single pedal as the double pedal allows you to cheat on double beats (16ths and such) and even though I am an older death metal fan (age 30) I refuse to use one until I can work one perfectly. If you insist on using one, practice rudiments with your feet as you would your hand.

If you are a lefty, such as myself, try and play your kit both ways to see which is more comfortable. I started off playing cross armed with HH on the right and ride on the left. Then I switched to right hand set up and play open handed. But, I kept my ride on my right hand side for practice. It allows you to not only free up your back beat hand but with a right hand ride....you can work on ambidexterity. I plan on switching HH back to right side next doing ostinatos with my right hand and riding with the left. Just keep mixing it up to gain proficiency with both hands.

Also, if you cannot afford lessons like me, learn some rudiments online and practice them religiously until they are second nature. I use the couch cushions to gain some bounce and pillows to build strength. Once you have gotten a set down, move on to more and watch some videos of these rudiments being applied to fills and what not.

If you are a late bloomer like myself (even though I had my first kit at 17 I have only started playing seriously for a few months) do not expect to be the next Buddy Rich or, if you are into death metal, George Kollias....that is felixibility gained during youth. Sure you can become an excellent player and even speedy but 280bpm and higher may not be something to shoot for when you are...well...OLD. Just groove, learn certain styles (Mixed Martial Arts?....how about Mixed Percussive Performance?) and apply them to your playing. - Ryan

Dont use sheet metal hi-hats use cast bronze hi-hats - neil

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When you're playing a double bass pedal, the trick is to keep yourself relaxed. When I started to relax more my speed really increased. - Jake

Protect your ears! Most studio and live situations are going to be a bit loud. If you're going to be playing your whole life, ear protection should begin immediately. If you are using in-ear personal environment monitors, then a proper seal should allow you to keep the volume down. If you are using headphones or any external monitor speaker system, I strongly recommend you use triple flange earplugs. You can also have excellent (but a bit pricey) hearing protection custom made for you. This type of product is a great advantage because, unlike regular drugstore earplugs, they actually compensate for the change in frequency spectrum usually associated with the store bought brands. (If you've ever used regular earplugs, then you know the characteristically muffled sound I am talking about). You have to go to a hearing specialist to get them, though. The cost is around $200 - $400 per ear. Ear protection is obviously priority one - it simply baffles me that so many professional musicians play without it. Don't be a hearing loss test dummy - protect your hearing. Watch for my next posting in which I will discuss the ins and outs of playing fluidly with click tracks and sequenced music; until then, groove hard and play pretty!! - Matt Foy

The only limit for a pecusionist is your imagination. percusion covers a wide range of instruments... ie guitar, piano, xylaphone.....anything struck to produce tone. even a stirng insrument like a violin becomes percusive when you pluck the strings(pistactto) or just be like the guys in slipknot and grab a bat and a beer keg. use what works for you and the music. the only limit for a pecusionist is your imagination. - Chris

Always use equipment that is appropriate to your ability, there's nothing worse than seeing an inexperienced drummer with high-end equipment that can't utilize it, or a good drummer who could sound even better if they invested in better equipment. Also, remove parts of your kit that you don't use. If you have an excessive amount of cymbals or toms on your current set up, get rid of them. This will prevent you from just hitting a tom or a cymbal just 'cause it's there and will force you to only use the appropriate components of your kit for the style of music you play. - Craig

Make your own "drum dampening rings". (similar to the Evans E-rings). You know how sound guys always want to kill overtones and deaden the natural sound of the drum? You can make your own "dead-ringers". If you change out your heads as frequently as I do, you probably have some old heads (or save some old heads when you put on new ones). I put the new head over a slightly larger old head to use as an outline. (Or sometimes, I just "free-hand" draw where the head is angled). I drew an inner and outer circle using a permanent marker. I just poke a little hole in the old head with scissors; then I cut out the circle -- I make my circle about 3/4" to an inch wide. Now you've got a home-made drum "dead-ring". I put mine inside the drum to dampen it and keep the sound guys off my back. - Christi

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While playing on the double bass pedal... just relax because the more you relax the faster you can play on the Bass Pedal. if you panic to play faster then there are more chances in losing the beat and probably get delayed or slagged... - John Dominic G

While playing the decending and acending role (on snare, tom1 tom2 floor tom), do not cross the sticks... Just play alternative with hands. Try this... Snare with right hand, tom1 with left hand, tom3 with right and floor tom with left, and back on following the same way. then there wont be any crossing and you can play it faster. for more speed play dual hits - John Dominic G

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While playing the Ezzy beats, you must read the notes as 1 n a 2 n a 3 n a 4 n a 5 n a e when the count is 4/4... because in Ezzy beats the notes are not triplets though you need to assume it so. all the notes will be 16th... if I give the notes corresponding to Bass, Snare, Hi-hats, then the when you read 1 n a it means bass, snare and hi-hats, and it follows on so ending with bass.... you can substitute the notes to tom1 or else cymbals as you like and that will be your Ezzy style... But if you do not follow the pattern in reading notes, there will be a great confusion, probably you can never play it... thats the technique. - John Dominic G

Don't copy other drummers. Create your own style. - Reuben

Don't get irritated when your guitarist tells you to shut up because he's tuning. - Travis

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Try playing through all 40 rudiments with your feet. Obviously buzz rolls will not happen but paradiddles, flamadiddles, ratamacues, doubles, singles, flams etc. will help you develop faster stronger and more independent footwork and can add a bit of sparkle to a dull groove. - Grant Mcleod

Believe it or not, air drumming is a huge help. If your listening to a song with some sick beats, just close your eyes and imagine yourself behind your set just killin' it. This is for when you're out of the house and not behind your set. Trust me, being on the set is always a virtue over air drumming.
WARNING: For all you out there, NO AIR DRUMMING WHILE DRIVING. - Brodie Del Pino

Travelling Snare? Always had a problem with my snare drum hopping away from me because I play a lot of rim shots. a friend of mine suggested loosening the stand, not letting it "grip" the snare, but rather have the snare just laying in the stand. 30+ years playing and I never figured that out! So simple! Totally stays put now, and the snare never bounces out of the stand no matter how hard I whack it. - Rick on the Drums

NEVER TUNE your drums at showtime! This is very unprofessional. Be sure that everyone in the band and all the instruments are ready when you're suppose to start playing. Nobody wants to watch (muchless hear) you tune your instruments. Be a pro & knock em dead! - Bert

Buy a Cowbell! It's not very expensive, yet it is very useful. You can make great music with it. There are many combinations you can use, it will make your music sound much more creative. - Joe

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Take your time. finding the right spring tension on your pedal can make a huge difference in your playing and it can help you develop as a drummer - collin

Also Hit the bass drum when hitting a crash symbol, it will amplify and make it sound much better. - Michael Y

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Sometimes, simpler beats are better. This is mostly in a band environment though, as you are there as primary time keeper, not to show off your awesome, super fast drum fill. Sure you can add in some cool chops or fills, and do some fancy tricks to add to the performace of the song - Tha Man

Diffrent types of drumsticks can drum at different speeds and and the material can make some have different waits than others. - oliver

For a better "feel" behind the drumset, set your drums up backwards and play lefty for about 10-15 min. Not only will you be able to play a couple lefty beats now, but it'll feel awesome when you reset the drums back to your regular setup. - Drew M

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When going to purchase a ride cymbal at a music store or drum shop, always take your main drumsticks, that you use all the time, with you. This way you can hear how the cymbal will react to those sticks being that those are the drumsticks you will be using most of the time. - Virgil Donati is a Drum God

Try to do rimshot on your snare everytime you play to enhance the tone quality of your snare, and you can increase your snare volume by it! - Michael Atienza

I have always basically held my left hand sticks between my thunb and fore finger.This allows one to play the Hi-Hat with much more speed and acurrancy. Makes playing a shuffle beat much easier and allows one to play on the off beats with ease as well. - Phil Whisenant

If you plan to play live (out of the house or garage) BUY A HIGH QUALITY DRUM RUG! It should slightly larger than the footprint of you kit. This is domain on stage. And of course, your kit won't slide around. When your kit is locked down with a good drum rug everything else falls into place. Your drum rug is as important as your technique. Without it your playing suffers (i.e. it is very difficult to play after your bass drum has slid a foot or two). - Dale Spencer

Drums are a dynamic instrument! Remember that you don't have to play at max volume to get your point across (unless your bands mates are all set at 11 on volume). Learn to listen to the other members of the band to see where they are going dynamically. You can set up a "groove" as the drummer by using a back beat on the Bass Drum, Snare, HH and Ride when played. Straight 4/4 is boring. Mix it up. Practice your licks at a slower tempo and lighter touch. Build to a crescendo and back off again. Play the pattern with one hand at the slower tempos. Alternate hands when you do this. What do you do with the unused hand during the lows? Learn how to spin that stick or even better give it an aerial spin and catch it again. Work it into your tunes while keeping a solid steady tempo. When people see this live, they will realize they are seeing a talented drummer. Don't sacrifice your playing to show off but do work it into your routine and make it smooth. - Dale Spencer

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If you have trouble keeping a grip on your sticks , try using a sports tape like they use on tennis rackets or racket-ball rackets .You can never stop learning ! All the tips I've read on here have been pretty good . I've been playing for over 40 years & I'm still learning . I've learned alot from watching other drummers & their style , Try differant things and see what works best for you . Don't get a big head !! People come hoping to like you , don't give them a reason not to. Always give it your best , no matter how many people are at your Gig. Best of Luck to All of you . By the way one of my favorite Drummers is Charlie Adams { Yanni} - Jay Sheahan

Bass drum technique - Heel-down. We all know when playing your bass drum, there's 2 ways to play; heel-up and heel-down. Playing heel-down is a safer way to play your bass drum, as you don't need to support your body weight on the one ankle. If you want to play till an old age, then take care of your muscles and joints. I reccomend all beginner drummers learn this way before moving on to the heel-up method. - Jordan - Australia's up and coming

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If you don't use your 2nd tom on top of your base drum, remove it so you have more room to play and also sometimes makes you look like a pro drummer! Good luck :p - Brayden

Practice. Practice and then practice again, and again, and again, and again. - Rock God

BE A MUSICIAN! Don't be a drummer... playing music on a percussive instrument instead of hitting things is what people want to hear! - Jonathan Pincher

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If you wanna muffle your snare try taping a playing card or two on it. - noname

Balance is crucial to playing drums. The throne you use must conform to your style of performance. Just because you have a very expensive,comfortable seat does not always afford the balance necessary to perform. I use a very old 4 leg wooden stool, which is always stable and I know my balance at all times, in every groove. All the Best~ - Ondrums

Pipe clamps from a harware store, (the type that get smaller as you turn a screw head)are a cheap substitute for memory locks on everything from hi hat stands to bass drum spurs to floor tom legs. Cut set up time for about 5 bucks. - Aussie Pete

Wash your hands really well with soap and work up a good lather before playing or practising. It stops hands from sweating and makes stick control much easier. Rinse all soap off of course :) - Aussie Pete

Most pedals need allen keys as well as drum keys, embed drum key and allen key into a wad of bluetac and stick it under the pedals footplate. Leave there for emergency use only. And dont advertise the fact that you are carrying drums in your car by placing promotional stickers on the rear window. - Aussie Pete

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For a quick alternate bass drum sound, loosen off just the top 2 lugs, can be done between songs and gives a completely different sound. - Aussie Pete

Get a pair of old,cheap, even cracked cymbals and mount them directly on top of each other on a stand with nothing between them. This gives a bright trashy almost china type sound, almost like a short blast of white noise. It really doesnt matter how cheap the cymbals are, its a trashy sound. - Aussie Pete

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The purchase of a double bass drum pedal has done more to improve my overall skills than any other item. At first my left foot felt like it belonged to somebody else, but after a couple of hours i started to view the whole kit differently. I often still play with a single pedal but the improvement in my overall coordintion has improved dramatically. - Aussie Pete

A new set of evans hydralic heads with an emad on the kick makes the cheapest kit sound wonderfull and they have a great feel too. - Aussie Pete

Old chrome hubcaps often sound very musical, drill a hole in the centre, (find centre by balancing hubcap on your figertip) and mount on a stand just like a cymbal, but treat like an ice bell - Aussie Pete

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An old or cheap violin bow used at right angles to a cymbals edge can produce some extraordinary sounds. A fairly heavy ride cymbal can be made to sound like a choir and a medium crash can sound like whales - Aussie Pete

Keep a pair of Pro Mark Hotrods and a newspaper in your car at all times. The hotrods played on a loosly folded newpaper sounds like a soft snare drum. This way you wont be left out of those spontaneous jams when someone picks up a guitar at a party. - Aussie Pete

This is just a quick easy tip to learn new groves or perhaps a paradiddle that's becoming a bit of a challenge. What i have found that works quite well is to take it slow, wayy slow. Start doing it really slow this helps to sort of programed your muscles,once you'r body kinda gets the motions and the idea start to speed it up little by little, maybe speed it up 2 clicks at a time. It will requiere patience and motivation but its guaranteed to work. Hope that helps! - Lazaro

When ever you get the chance sitting down, tap with your feet. First start out with single taps with (your choise) your toes and heels up or heels on the floor and still with your toes. Then tap with your heels when your toes are on the ground. Start w/ single strokes then double and if not, triples. These little exercise helps warm up your double bass chops before you acually get on the drums. IF people get annoyed with it, sucks for them...and remember time is key... - DAn

Too many drummers turn their back on any kind of electronics, but if you are reading this then you obviously have a computer. Use it in all sorts of ways.Programs like Reason and Ableton Live make the ultimate drummers metronome. Practice with an empty tack with just the click or transcribe a rhythm into the sequencer track and you can slow it down to really work it out AND you can see it in a graphic form. You can also use your computer to set up a practice routine, keep a diary of your progress, noting what you paractised, for how long and at what tempo. With a little effort and thought you can even use a spreadsheet like Exel to chart your progress and even print out graphs showing your progress. If using a laptop a music stand laid as flat as it will go makes a great stand, just plug in a pair of headphones. Reason and Ableton live also make it easy to play along with looops, it makes practise sessions less boring. - Aussie Pete

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Dont hit your drums and cymbals, - play them. This means learning different ways of striking toms, snares and cymbals. The speed (not to be confused with Tempo) that you strike cymbals makes a big difference to the sound. Thomas Lang is known for his double bass drum skills, but watch how he plays his cymbals. And NEVER even use the word "hit" when talking about drums, it only reinforces the stereotype of drummers being neanderthals. - Aussie Pete

Re my tip about using computers and programs like Reason and Ableton Live, - I should have mentioned that you dont even need to buy them, the demo versions do the job fine, you just cant save songs, but for practicing the Demos are all you need, and they dont expire. I think there is even a free version of Sony Acid available. They are available from from the respective websites. - Aussie Pete

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When trying to learn something new, we are often advised to play it slowly and gradually get faster. Try doing it so slowly that it doesnt even sound like a rhythm. Imagine yourself in slow motion. At this point you are not trying to play music, just train muscles. BUT, and its a big but, DONT just get faster. Allways practise with a metronome, but only play at the set tempo, then stop completely, give yourself a bit of a break then increase the tempo and play the pattern again till your brain doesnt have to think about what your muscles are doing. If you just start playing and gradually build up the speed without stopping it will mess up your sense of timing when playing without a click. When the metronome starts speak out loud the tempo in bpm and count yourself in. This will not only train your muscles but also reinforce your sense of timing and your own "library" of tempos. If you have any kind of programmable metronome, (drum machine, sequencer etc) set up 4 bars of time followed by four bars of silence and set it to repeat, aim to play along all the way through and try to be ontime when the click comes back in. - Aussie Pete

As drummers, a lot of what we are trying to achieve through repetitive practice is to develop a "habit" ie, something you can do without having to think about it. But BAD habits are very hard to break. Be sure you fully understand what it is you are attempting to do, if youre not sure, ask somebody. Dont invest hours of practise only to later find out it was wrong in the first place. It not only wastes practise time but can teach you bad habits that are very hard to break. - Aussie Pete

Looking at something is not the same a seeing something, and hearing is not the same as listening. Its not allways possible to practice at a kit but it allways possible to listen, really listen to everything around you wherever you are. Train your ears to really listen to whats going on, dont just hear a song or a rhythm, listen to it and try to seperate the elements. Listen to what the drummer is doing and try to visualise the actions needed to play it. This is a way of "practising" wherever you are. - Aussie Pete

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When i have to tune live and fast i just tune to the open bass and use a tunier when i can I have 9 piece kit 5 toms 2 floors kick full octive works fast and easy - kartune

Be you when u play just cause someones better than you dont try to be like them just try to learn more and be confident thhat you can play as good as anyone if u put ur mind to it - Zachary

Don't ever use Gumption to clean your cymbals! I'v done it before. It looks nice and shiny for the start, but it goes kind of multi-coloured (the steaked window rainbow colour effect) Don't do it unless you want to sell your cymbals and advertise it as a limited edition cymbal which looks interesting haha! - Brady deVos

There is a a bit of talk about tuning involving divining the fundamental note of your drum shell, forget taking everything off your kit and tapping it next to a electronic tuner! simply go your high school math book and look up the wavelength formula for obtaining the area of a cylinder, put in your dimensions and every frequency matches to a pitch (these tables can be found everywhere) that is the fundamental note of your drum. Any talk of wood types, plies so on does not relate to fundamental notes, it's all maths. pure and true. - JIM

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To all you punk & rock players try out some basic funk. It really helps with syncopation & also gives you more ideas for fills. - Caleb

Work up your skills on buzz stroks - c

Listen to all types of music, and all types of drummers.. - Bill

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Play a warm-up song, a song that you know you can play, for example i play the song raining blood to warm myself up - Warming Up

Get a iPod, It will make your drumming better if you constantly listen to music. You will have better musical knowlage. - JonTheDrummer

If playing a Cajon or Congas like I do, listen to a wide verity of music that utilizes those instruments, they can give you a lot of cool ideas and different beats to jam with your friends. - Forrest Wood

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If you are a beginner drummer or do not know your rudiments just keep practicing them even if they are confusing at first. - Glen

Track your time for a day. Its very revealing. You'll see how much time you waste & how much more practicing you could get in if you were to manage it better. - Virgil

Regardless of what you hear, there are no "secrets" to drumming. - Jeff Billings

Lets see now how many drummers out there would agree with me that ludwig needs to do two things....One ..make there own remote cable hi hat,...and two....develop there own rack system like some of the other drum companies have ..Ive stumped many of the rack companies about my own set "not being rack capable"...;and they agree...But lets see if ludwig listens they never return answers they only send catalogs!!!!! - Kenny

If you havent played for awhile such as myself and you have had your cymbals packed away make sure they are stored or were stored in a dry cold area ...I unpacked mine from 1987 and there wasnt one single mark on them!!!!!My suggestion..Get an old ludwig fibre cymbal case from 1973 and make sure that one of the sides is bulged out on it!!This saved my "very old zildjians" - Ken

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FLOOR TOMS: if your having trouble keeping those pesky floor toms from resonating too much try this. Take off the head of the floor toms and throw in a few cotton balls (depends on the size of the drum) The cotton balls cause the bottom head (resonant head) to produce less after tone than a regular floor tom Don't throw in too many or you won't get any tone out of the drum. Try to see what the right amount for you is You can also substitute cotton balls for something else, such as paper towels, toilet paper, really anything that has close to the same density as cotton balls. I've just found that cotton balls works the best for me Hope this tip helps - Evan

When in doubt, don't drop out:get back on beat and keep going. And if u totaly jack something up, don't think about it. act like u ment to do it and move on - Isaac

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I am a student of the drums for 27 years. I'm also a Physical Therapist Assistant. ALWAYS WARM UP! I play a great piece I learned from a very wise teacher named Jedd Divis. It goes like this... (R) 8 big hits, (L) 8 big hits (L)(R)(L)(R)...16 smaller hits - (L) 8 big hits (R) 8 big hits (R)(L)(R)(L)...16 smaller hits and repeat. It is 8th notes and 16th notes on a (R) hand lead then a (L) hand lead. As you get used to the pattern, 8 8 16 8 8 16, you can then go to a 6 6 12 6 6 12 pattern and a 4 4 8 4 4 8 pattern and finally a 2 2 4 2 2 4 pattern. Always keep the (R) (L) (L) - (L) (R) (R) pattern as the hand to lead with. Start slow and built speed as you build confidence in the pattern. Good Luck. - ejdrums

Buy marching sticks, buy a pillow, practice the moeller technique.Turn typical 8th,16th,32nd (and beyond) fills into paradiddles. They should sound totally the same as before but the goal is coordination between your singles and doubles. Also "get" jazz...try to learn that Tony Williams uptempo ride cymbal thing. - your drum buddy

Your hihat foot exists so prove it. - your drum buddy

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When performing at a gig, always use a foldback so you don't have to slow down while you are playing, so you can hear what everybody else is doing and keep in time. - Michael W

If it doesn't sound good, you're not hitting it hard enough. - KK

The "no pain no gain" principle should never apply to drumming. If you are in pain, you should probably stop for a while. Refine your technique... Tendinitis, Bursitis, and Carpal Tunnel syndrome are no joke. - your drum buddy

For drum detuning problems, try using using plumber's thread seal tape on your tension rods. This really works. I saw a tip describing that on here, went to Lowe's and bought a roll for around $1.50. This effectively solved my detuning snare problem. - your drum buddy

Stay in physical shape!!! Drumming is a physically demanding job, if your winded and having muscle fatigue, it will reduce your performance. Dedicate 30-60 minutes a day to fitness. You will not only play better, but youll look and feel better too! ;D - Johnny

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Hold snare stick in a traditional grip... but backwards. Learn to get an even rim-shot every time. It cuts through the band and you don't need to hit the drum hard. - Gordon

If you're playing a strong back beat, the snare drum is what a lot of other musicians listen out for. The snare helps them all keep in time, so make sure it's powerful and solid. If playing in a rock/metal/pop band, ALWAYS use rim-shots on the snare to make it a lot more powerful and well heard. It also makes the snare sound better. - DrumTech fan

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My drums aren't exactly the most expensive drumset in the world and yet i play like a professional.sometimes you just can't afford that drumset you've always wanted,but be thankful even if you have a heaper one.my father was arizonas #1 drummer in like 1980 somethin or other and he always used to say a good drummer can play on any set or kit no matter how cheap or worn out.because after all it still makes noise doesn't it. - Rion Mourning

When warming up pre-gig in a quiet cocktail-lounge-type gig, close and tighten up your high hat with your foot and play hard open doubles and press rolls on your tighted high hat. You can play as hard as you want on your closed high hat with very minimum noise. You'll notice after a minute or so that your wrists are amazingly loosened-up and feel GREAT. - Old-Time drummer

Love what you play!!!!!! Even tho it sounds obvious but love what you play and love the genre you play, too many people love to play drums but are not playning in the right genre, if you love Jazz be a jazz drummer and if you love metal be a metal drummer and everything that goes with metal drumming, and you will find you will learn a lot faster, it doesnt help you love metal for example but are playing Jazz or the other way round, Love what you play!!!!!!!!! - Byron Horn (ENDLESS Drummer)

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A little old school trick my late uncle use to do. To build dexterity in both hands practice as many rudiments as you can bouncing a basketball this will help you gain strength and control with both hands. It want hurt your game any. You can also use the basketball as a practice pad.

Feeling burned out? Even if you're not try this: Go a week without drums. This allows for recovery on both mental and physiological levels. When you come back you'll have more speed, creativity, and passion. On the day before and the day of a show, go without any music. By the time you go to play you'll be jonesing so hard for some music that you'll enjoy yourself all the more. - Brandon

On the day before and the day of a show, go without any music (playing or listening). By the time you go to play you'll be jonesing so hard for some music that you'll enjoy yourself all the more. - Brandon

Caffiene is not the answer. You don't want to be "hyped up" for a show. You'll only tense up and potentially injure yourself. Instead, eat a banana before you play. Bananas have been shown to help people relax. With relaxation comes 1) better technique 2) increased creativity 3) a decreased likelihood of messing up. Bananas also contain fructose, a simple carbohydrate with a low GI meaning it'll give you lasting energy well into the show without creating tension. - Brandon

Top 5 drummers, are 1- john bonham. 2-Danny Adair. 3-Tommy lee. 4-Alex vanhalen 5-Keith moon... sorry all old school...honorable mentions go out to - joey jordison, Jason bittner, Travis barker, Dennis chambers, mike portney. - frank

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This is a great sight and even though i have been drumming for many years i still come on here to get some great tips from the younger generation of drummers. thanks to all who post. - frank

The best? We are always trying to consider our selves the best drummer,but the best for who: There are many people who does not know about drumming and think the best is the faster or the louder or the the one makes more movements. The best drummer is the one who can play with any other musicians in any style and doing it quite good with a nice !sound! ,flexibilitie,!tempo!and making the audience feeling drums sound not only visual or regarden skills ,but also as it was a melodic istrument. - Ernesto Delgado

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Don't tune your drums so tight, it helps get rid of that ringy high-tone nobody loves, tune them low to get that warm and wet sound. Except for the snare which should be tuned so that you don't get a ringy sound but still has a lot of rebound. - Rick

I have been drumming since I was a kid. When I started out with my drum set I wanted as much toms and cymbals as possible because that's what is cool. Then after a few years of dreaming of being a part of Judas Priest I started to get good. 1 step at a time. I get this a lot so I will tell you. Don't just try and play painkiller or other fast double bass songs. Start with simple 16th. Stay with 16ths but play faster. - Scott Travis

No matter how experienced you are in drumming and percussion, there's always room to improve, even if you are a retired legend. Always ask yourself "What can I do to expand my ability. - Andrew McNeill

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Wear good shoes and always make your body loose. Warm up and relax. Hold your sticks loosely. Calm yourself and rock on!! - Dv

A recording mistake I see so many drummers make is not mic'ing their hi-hats. The hats so often get lost in the mix and the recording comes out unbalanced. Even drummers that record their drums for a You Tube video more often than not underestimate this. If you don't mic your hats (and all your cymbals), they might not be heard! - Milburn

Acoustic vs Electric? Why not have both? Set your acoustic kit as normal and mount 2 Roland mesh pads on the left of your hats and one other over your floor tom. There are great multi-purpose brackets available at drum stores. I use a TD9 Brain but I had to buy a 2nd wiring loom because my electric kit has the wiring cable tied to the hardware. Use a 2nd kick pedal on the LEFT of your kick drum so that you can turn slightly left to play electric and back to normal for acoustic - YOU will love all the extra voices you can bring to your performance - don't let anyone put you in a box - it's all about the music - be FREE to do your thing - Andy from THE HUM (Australia)

Whenever there's a break between the foot pedal notes, and you pull your foot off the pedal for those breaks, just hold the pedal down with your foot until the next note comes up, then lift up and kick, whilst holding it down after that. It really helps. - Emkay

Listen and play with your heart to the music, That way you feel more achieved after you finished the song. - Josh

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Glad to see this mix of acoustic and electric is catching on - Goldfrapp and others have been doing it for years. Of course you can avoid the clutter of extra drums and brackets by mounting triggers on your acoustic drums and switching them in and out as required (Roland triggers are good but expensive - check out the DDrum ones). I use various combinations of Roland mesh heads and pads on my kits (Slingerland, Premier and Gretsch) and they're all mounted on L rods off rack clamps. I also use a variety of samplers and trigger to midi converters on my kits for particular effects - my Roland Octapad is an old favourite - and sometimes I even have a midi keyboard mounted to the left of the hi-hat so I can play chords with my left hand! Who needs a band?!!! The complex part is getting the sound balance right - monitoring headphones are a must - I use Vic Firth's. For live shows, I also use the trigger signals from the kit to drive some of the lighting rig and pyrotechnics. As you see, I like clutter (but my drum-tech doesn't!). By the way, I once made guite a cheap and effective wiring loom for the kit by feeding the cables and plugs individually through old rubber cycle tyre inner tubes, cutting exit holes at appropriate points. As for not letting anyone put you in a box Andy, the time to start worrying is when they nail down the lid! Most undertakers don't encourage thinking outside the box! All the best. - Steve Vandes (UK songwriter, musician)

Never underestimate the value of throwing yourself in at the deep end. If you can't swim, you'll find a greater respect of the water. If you can swim well enough to stay afloat, you will become a better player for braving it. Respect your fellow musicians. Be underspoken about your skill and let the sticks do the talking. Be supportive to other drummers in your area, you never know when you'll need to borrow something. Merely observing great players such as the outstanding Mr. Peart will make you improve. Now 'get out there and rock, roll the bones' - Sticky Reid

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Give your snare that Power Rock sound. Get rid of that wire "splat" sound and have more drum sound come through on your snare drum get SWAT - Snare Wire Arrestor & Tuner Drum Muffler Dampener. Swat also helps control snare wire buzz. Go to eBay, enter "SWAT" in the search box and set to "Musical Instruments" category and read up, and listen to (YouTube link) what SWAT can do for your snare. Totally Revolutionary! - Lazetar

For those looking for cymbals, people will tell you the thicker the less likey to break, however the thinner you get the more it gives to the vibrations making it less likey to break. Dont tighten them down with the wing bolts excessivly, and strike accross the cymbals edge. - A Commonly Misinformed Drummer

Practice breaking down and rebulding your kit often. So that you can ensure that you have all your gear after a show and you can get off the stage faster to allow other drumers to get set up. try to get cases for all your gear down to the last lug so you can ensrue that you have all your gear at all times, people steal expeacualy musicans there broke rember that. - heath

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You shouldn't have to lean into your kit to crash your cymbals. This throws you off balancce. Set your cymbals up so that they are located where your arms extend to. This will maintain your center and allow you to get around the drums effortlessly. - Raj

Drum Teachers, buy yourself one of those little filing roll cart thingys to keep your lesson sheets in. You know, it's like a small filing cabinet on wheels. You can then organize by setting up the clear plastic tabs by category and you'll have yourself a nice, neat little designated spot for drum lessons material. - Mike Skillie

Always have a drum key within reach so you can tune in an instant. If you have to search around for your drum key, you may not be able to tweak a drum quickly between songs. I keep mine hanging on an elastic cord attached to my drum case (which is right by my floor tom). - Adam B.

When you find a good article or sheet music in a drum magazine, clip it out and make a notebook filled with just those because your chances of ever finding that article again in a pile of old magazines is slim. Then you'll have your own notebook filled with inspiring articles and lessons at a glance. - Rob "The Hog"

You should know the names of all the parts on your drumkit. For example, do you know what a snare strainer is? Do you know what a suspension mount is? How about the throw off? The resonating head? Check the drum glossary over at 411Drums.com for more. - Mike

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For an experiment in creativity, see how many sounds you can get out of just one drum. Play the middle of the drum, the center, the edge, the side, the bottom, etc. Then you can play with different accents. Now, how many techniques can be used with just this one drum. You can play different rudiments, you can turn the stick upside down, you can lay the stick down (like a cross stick idea), you can use a buzz technique, etc. See how this opens up your creativity? If you practice this with just one drum for awhile, you should have a plethora of ideas once you throw in the whole kit. - Mike

Make sure that you can hear the rest of the band! turn up the monitors so that they are just louder than your drums and cymbols. - fishfinger

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What Scott said about playing heel up when you want to go very fast is good advice. I started out playing heel toe myself and realized years down the road the best way to play for speed is to use the heel up technique. One thing id like to say is don't use light beaters on any double bass pedal. I got myself an iron cobra and the pedal is great but the beaters were way to light. After I threw 2 heavy pearl beaters on my powerglide the bass drum whaled! Yes they may be easier to go fast but the problem with those light beaters is the bass drum simply isnt loud enough your snare and cymbals are going to drownd out the bass drum unless its miced to a p.a system or you use triggers. - Mike

Playing in a drumline realy help your playing overall - Chris

Take a tip from Vinnie Paul. Don't listen to "you HAVE to do it this way or hold your sticks EXACTLY like this." Don't listen to the people who say you can't be great if you don't start young. What it boils down to is the amount of effort and dedication you put into it. So don't let anything stand in the way of being as awesome as you want to be whether your 10 or 40. If you want it, work for it.

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For a better technique and a more professional-looking drum set, keep your drums upward, NOT TILTED AT YOU. Hitting a drum that is tilted extremely toward you or any other angle is highly ill-advised, since drums were made to be hit downwards, not diagonally. This will prevent long scuff marks from sticks on the heads, maintain your wrists' consistency of striking, and overall provide better technique. %90 if not %95 of all professional drummers run their set like this, so never feel like it's mandatory or "easier" to tilt them to an extreme angle. A little (and I mean A LITTLE) tilt is definitely alright. Also, make sure to keep your set and toms as close as possible to prevent excessive and ridiculous reaching from drum to ect. - Tommy

Check out Gavin Harrison (def top 10 drummer) interviews on youtube, this guy is seriously into his drumming and is quiete inspiring. Also i reccommend listening to Anethestize by Porcupine Tree (Gavin Harrison) Happy Drumming :) - Tom

Always have a pack of Band Aids for that errant blister. - Chris Byers

Dont try to do beats that are to fast for you, it sounds like crap and you will get off beat. - Tanner

Keep switching from heel up to heel down..... it helps a lot when you are playing really fast! Also, practice a roll really slowly... about 50 times. Then speed it up gradually. Before you know it, you'll be playing like 'The Rev' (R.I.P) or Dave Lombardo!!! - Shyam Krishnan

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If you are constantly breaking drum heads, you should try switching to a differnt type of head. There are some pretty tough, thick heads available. Another tip on this subject is check your sticks for wear and don't play with sticks that lose their plastic tips. It doesn't happen as often as it did when they were first made. I've been playing for over 50 years and the only head I've broken was on a marching band bass drum. Breaking heads takes a lot of work. Easing up on the volume might help too. It's a great workout to pound away, but check out other players to see how they fare. If you can't afford new heads, ask around for used heads from other drummers or drum shops. Knowing your equipment and the condition of your heads will go a long way to keeping this from happening - Jim Wilcox

First, don't just play a whole bunch of different styles...LISTEN to them too! Rock is easier to learn mainly because that's what you mainly listen to! ALSO: Use your voice. Whether it's counting aloud to keep time or coordination, or growling to the right emotion for the tune, it can be your biggest asset! - Cam G