Getting into Drums

GETTING INTO DRUMS

Drumming is fun, but after you know all the information that is behind all that stuff your hitting and smashing, you’re going to be even more interested on going deeper and deeper in the world of the percussion instruments when you read about the drums in the history, the drum kit, some types of drum rhythms and some of the best drummers.

First of all, you’ve got to know the origins of drums, and they dated in the year 6000 B.C, then were found some cylindrical drums in Mesopotamian excavations that dated 3000 B.C, but is in the 1930’s that the first drum kit appeared getting together some toned drums used in marching bands after realizing that one person could play more than one drum simultaneously. Then in the 1960’s rock drummers began the expansion of drum kits until now days, adding more toms, cymbals and the second bass drum or the second pedal for it, as the incorporation of electronic drums to create the sounds that drums couldn’t produce, these brought the synthesized drum sounds used in many modern styles of music.

Now, let’s study about the drum kit. When you’re getting started, it may be possible that you’re going to learn in a basic drum set, its better meanwhile you get more skills at the moment of playing, so you may buy the following set: The bass drum is the largest drum. It sits on the floor and is played by the drummer’s foot with the use of a pedal and creates the lowest frequency sound in the drum set. The snare drum is a drum that has metal wires stretched across the bottom to create a buzzing sound. The snares can be disconnected from the bottom drum head with a lever on the side of the drum, called the clutch. Toms are other drums of many sizes that vary in pitch with their width. Smaller size toms are usually mounted above the bass drum. Larger toms usually sit on the floor. There are also other types of specialized drums that can be added into any drum set.

In addition to the drums themselves, the most basic kit will have some cymbals and the hardware to mount those cymbals. These include Hi-Hats and most likely one ride and one crash cymbal. Hi-Hats are two cymbals sandwiched together. They can be opened or closed with a pedal operated by the drummer’s foot. A ride cymbal is a large heavy cymbal whose notes ring for a long duration. Ride cymbals can also be played on the bell for a bright ringing tone, which is the raised portion in the center of the cymbal. A crash cymbal is a thin cymbal that creates a loud “crashing” noise, usually used for accents in a drum groove. After the basics, there are other types of cymbals such as splash or china cymbals which can be used for other types of accents.

That is the most basic kit. As a drummer, you have the ability to infinitely customize your instrument. There are many other types of cymbals and other percussion instruments that can be added to a drum set. Some drummers use 7 or more different sized toms. Some drum sets include two bass or snare drums, for varying sounds. Depending on what style of music a drummer may want more or less drums/cymbals in their set. The number of different sounds that are available in a drum set dictates how complicated and diverse the drum patterns played can be.

Having learn how could you customize your drum set, is time to know the types of drum beats that exists in order to start defining ones style of drumming. First we have them by representative geographic locations. Types of drum beats are unique to various regions of the world, but three of the most important categories of drum eats are divided into three regions: African, Indian and Western. Both African and Indian music have an oral tradition of teaching and relating drum beats. These regions use vocal sounds to notate drumming patterns. For example, in African music, drumming patterns are laid out using the vocal sounds Goon, Doon, Go, Do, Pa, and Ta. This system is used across the world for hand drumming. Western music uses standard notation, and drums are primarily used to keep the rest of a musical group in time.

Then you may be more familiarizing with the types of drum beats. A basic rock drum beat typically uses a 4/4 time signature. The bass notes generally lie on the one and three of the measure, with treble notes, usually produced by snare drum, falling on the two and the four. The 6/8 time signature is also very common. 2/4 is a popular time signature for marches. The basic 6/8 beat features a bass note on one and a treble note on four. More adventurous music can feature many other time signatures, like 7/8, 5/4 or 9/8. You can also find variations of those rythms. Variations of basic rhythms include syncopated rhythms and polyrhythms. Syncopated rhythms have accented notes on "off-beats," parts of the measure other than one, two, three and four. Polyrhythms feature simultaneous rhythms played in different time signatures. For example, on a drum set, your feet might be playing a 4/4 rhythm while your hands play a 6/8 rhythm.

Some types of music, such as jazz, will bend the rules of rhythm. The tempo could sometimes be described as rubato, or "robbed time." Within a single measure, the tempo may speed up or slow down slightly, creating a looser, more organic sound. This style can be applied to other types of music to create interesting effects.

You may find in the process of getting into drums that following and studying the style of the best drummers of the world may be a very helpful experience as you are defining your own style. You may find also that following them can put your goals in drumming in a very high perspective, aiming to be not only a good drummer, but the best one  .

Here is a suggested top ten of the best drummers in history, you would find plenty of information about them and choose between the different styles which could you be more interested with: 1- Neil Peart (Rush) 2- Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) 3- Mike Mangini (Extreme) 4- Buddy Rich (Jazz Big Bands) (very fast rudamental styles, and excellent form and grace) 4- Billy Cobham (Jazz drummer) 5- Chester Thompson (Santana) 6- John Bonham (for his era he was magnificent, and one of the fastest single Bass kick drummers ever) 7- Keith Moon (The Who) 8 – Dave Lombardo (Slayer) 9 – Alex Van Halen (Van Halen) 10 - Carl Palmer (ELP).     

Finally that you know all these is time to take your passion, and a hobby, to a deeper step, in which you’re not only smashing things and calling yourself a “drummer” because you are doing noise, but a person that knows what’s behind all that and that is climbing up to be the best drummer, getting more and more into drums.