OK, so I did it

black aspirin · February 25, 2013, 09:19:11 PM

My new toy! Had a drum kit for about a year-and-a-half while I was working in Arkansas, which I could play at home because I lived out on the river...very few neighbors. Back home here in OKC, there's no way to play the real thing in my neighborhood, so I hadn't played drums in over a year, and had been constantly thinking about getting this. Finally gonna start practicing (I used to sit down, fuck around for 15-30 minutes and go do something else; never really practicing for any length of time...so I'm a lousy drummer).

Starting by doing my best to play along with Ramones tunes, which I am in love with right now, and are pretty much the same beat in almost every song; just varying speeds (and no fills!). It will be a little while before I can work the hi-hat that fast without getting tired, but it's so much fun to hook up my iPod to it and try to play along with songs.

Now I gotta figure out how to load the real kits from my BFD Drums software on the module, and this shit will sound amazing. Any good tips on learning the drums would be appreciated. I wanna make sure I get rid of any bad habits/technique that I may have already acquired, and build a solid foundation on how to play the drums properly, without getting overwhelmed in the process. I went ahead and purchased the double-bass pedal for later, once I've learned to play the basic stuff well.

Lewis · February 25, 2013, 09:29:15 PM

Kickass. Bet you can get some crazy sounds out of that thing.

everdrone · February 25, 2013, 10:05:16 PM

awesome! I dig my superior 2.0 and my metal foundry that I use on all my music, which you can hook up that to get great tones;

I wish I had that and wasnt living in a quiet apartment...

congrats!!!

Metal and Beer · February 25, 2013, 10:18:21 PM

Drums are so fun, and playing along to basic guys like Tommy Ramone and Phil Rudd is a great way to start. I don't have specific tips other than try and keep your wrists, arms and legs as relaxed as possible; try and use the least amount of force needed, it's way more efficient (sorry if that's too obvious but lots of beginners are often so tense and that's inhibiting...), try and optimize inertia and gravity, etc. Do those "heads" have good bounceback/recoil? Use that, too...

/amateur tips

black aspirin · February 25, 2013, 10:31:49 PM

Quote from: Metal and Beer on February 25, 2013, 10:18:21 PM
Drums are so fun, and playing along to basic guys like Tommy Ramone and Phil Rudd is a great way to start. I don't have specific tips other than try and keep your wrists, arms and legs as relaxed as possible; try and use the least amount of force needed, it's way more efficient (sorry if that's too obvious but lots of beginners are often so tense and that's inhibiting...), try and optimize inertia and gravity, etc. Do those "heads" have good bounceback/recoil? Use that, too...

/amateur tips

Thanks; I actually made a specific effort to do that tonight; relax and stop thinking about it so much and just try to 'feel it' a bit more. I have the same problem with guitar (which I also started messing with again after a few years off)...when I first started guitar, I wanted to learn crunch-riffs, so I automatically started strumming from my elbow, not my wrist. To this day, I can't fucking strum for shit because it all starts at my elbow. I can't maintain a fast rhythm for very long at all as a result.

So even with guitar, I'm trying to un-learn bad habits like that. Just try to relax and minimize motion so it's comfortable, and not think about it too much. It's weird, practicing drums tonight, on some patterns I had problems with, it actually helped when I sped them up. That seems counter-intuitive, but I think it's indicative of how it's useful (sometimes) to stop thinking so much and just try to let it happen. It should be less difficult to play something you're having trouble with as slowly as possible, but I already have certain beats/patterns in which it's the opposite.

VOLVO))) · February 25, 2013, 10:36:43 PM

The sped up thing is real. Abbath can't play slow, either. I can only play guitar hero on hard or expert, etc.

Some shit is just easier using speed and momentum.

black aspirin · February 25, 2013, 10:48:19 PM

Quote from: SunnO))) on February 25, 2013, 10:36:43 PM
The sped up thing is real. Abbath can't play slow, either.

It's funny that you mention that, because I've seen some of his guitar-lesson clips on YouTube, and he struggles to play one of his legendary riffs at a slow pace in order to explain what's going on with it...he even comments on the fact that he can't do it unless it's faster, haha.

Andrew Blakk · February 26, 2013, 06:49:17 AM

Cool! Would love to have something like that at home...

omie · February 26, 2013, 08:49:20 AM

I just joined a band and we practice with a set of Roland V's through a nice PA setup... no complaints from the bass player.

agent of change · February 26, 2013, 11:55:56 AM

Stretch before and after, wrists and forearms particularly. Probably some examples on Youtube.

/tendonitis

Corey Y · February 26, 2013, 01:53:02 PM

Nice, I've wanted to do this myself since I sold my drum kit. I just can't find any place to keep one in my house. My little office is already stuffed with all my bass, guitar and recording gear (not even close to "all" actually, more like "some), our guest room is bigger but it's designated the future nursery and our garage is the realm of my demon dogs. I can keep it out there, as long as I don't mind having it chewed up and peed on.

I have Toontrack Superior Drummer 2.0 and it is freaking great (same guys that made Drumkit From Hell). I just use it with midi packs and programming beats, but it works with an E-Kit and has a standalone program for live use, so I've been dying to try it out that way since I got it.