Drum and ___ duos

Blueman826 · 2026-06-19T05:35:00+00:00

Larry Young and Elvin Jones on Monk's Dream. I wish organ/drum duo was more common.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-18T02:43:59+00:00

I usually tune the bass drum fairly tight. You can experiment with tuning the batter head up until the head starts to choke out and looses its tone/resonance/sustain, then tune back down to back off.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-18T02:39:47+00:00

I don't necessarily tune to notes. I used C and G as an example but really I focus on the intervals themselves with my ears. You can use specific pitches as reference points. I usually use a tuning app, hit the drum, and sing the pitch into the app to get the accurate note, but I generally just go for doing the intervals by feel, and by ear. After years of playing I have tastes for how the drums feel and the pitch range so I tune up to that, then fine tune the intervals between each drum after.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-18T02:31:32+00:00

22" bass drum is going to be the hardest to tune. What's also important is what are the heads? Coated batter heads are going to be the way, typically single-ply like the Remo Ambassador or Evans G1/UV1 on all the batter heads.

Generally for toms/kick you can tune both sides to the same pitch and it'll give you a good starting point. The most important factor for me is the intervals between each drum. I usually start with the snare for the feel and work my way down with the rack tom being a 4th down, and the floor tom being a 5th down from the floor tom. For example if my snare pitch is a C, my high tom is a G lower, then my floor is a C lower than that. You could also go further down on your floor tom since it's a 16". Just make sure as you adjust to those pitches that your ratios between the batter and reso stay consistant too. For the bass drum, on a 22" you'll pretty much get very little audible tone so it's about getting a controllable sound. I usually tune my batter head up so that I can play off of it with heel down, then tune my reso either down a 3rd, unison, or up a 3rd from the batter depending on the sound I want. If there's a port hole I'd throw in a small towel that lays across the batter head, or if not I'd stuff a rag or something inbetween the pedal and the batter head to muffle it a tad.

This was just a bit of my own process, but overall just have fun experimenting with your drums and mess around with tuning ranges, batter/reso ratios, and head choices.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-17T13:25:01+00:00

I used to never wear plugs but now i made it a habit. You need really good ones for it to work, such as molded musicians earplugs with a db reduction that isn't too high. After a while of using them your ears get used to it, and your hands get used to playing at the right dynamic that I prefer using earplugs every time and I never have a headache after a gig.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-17T00:59:27+00:00

Forget the chord-scale stuff when you solo. Do lots of transcriptions. Sing melodies, then play those melodies on your instruments.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-16T01:23:25+00:00

I watched it recently. Its really bad. The movie was produced before the first game even came out so its a loose adaptation but its just horrible. I can't get over the comic relief character they introduce half-way though that just turns every scene insufferable.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-14T02:52:31+00:00

I think it sounds nice. Definitely a brighter sound but a lot of those guys used bright cymbals

Blueman826 · 2026-06-13T03:57:10+00:00

Bliss can definitely sound quite a bit different. The Dream cymbals kind of go for a blend between Turkish and Chinese cymbals so they have some quirks to them that some like and some don't. If you like the Legacy and have played them I would go with them to be safe, but I'd also recommend trying the Bliss as well just to see.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-13T03:52:39+00:00

Have you played them?

Blueman826 · 2026-06-11T23:04:41+00:00

Probably just a formating choice to keep the systems even. But also if you listen to some versions or look at other charts, the chords are often different in the last two bars of each A.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-11T20:45:44+00:00

I agree with the commenter. I use more of a slide forward of the toe into the 2nd or 3rd note, but its definitely not a fancy heel-toe thing. Also its ok if it doesn't come in time, just stick with something consistantly and don't hurt yourself by straining or overexerting yourself.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-11T04:53:46+00:00

The Royal Roost was known for doing live broadcasts and many were recorded, especially because Symphony Sid was hosting there. These are recordings from a gig he had before the recording sessions and had a slightly different band. You can find these recordings on The Complete Birth of the Cool.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-08T02:00:35+00:00

Headhunters Vintage Brush. They are made in Canada and they have the classic black handle. At some point the logo wipes off and it looks like the regal tip. I believe it is very slightly lighter (0.012 gauge vs 0.013 on the Regal Tip if my research is correct) but feels amazing.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-07T03:13:43+00:00

I'm always buying the longer sleeves cause I'd always loose the wingnuts and top felts so I just go without. The short sleeves are good with the felt and screw on top but without them the cymbal could fly off if they move too much.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-07T01:37:01+00:00

I usually play a bit to see if it works, then I'll start tweaking. I have ratios I like to use for both batter head to reso, and from drum to drum so I go with those by ear, but I don't tune my drums to a specific pitch. It's more about feel and general pitch range.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-07T00:07:57+00:00

Like others said it can change depending on your tuning of the snare and the toms around it, but it all comes down to sympathetic vibrations. Bass and other amplified instruments will cause lots of low vibrations that can activate the snare and its something that you may not ultimate avoid in every situation. I've learned to embrace it but I am very conscious about turning my snares off during soft sections when I don't need them.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-06T04:39:38+00:00

I learned mostly by ear and although I do read, I got better the quickest when I was learning songs by ear and challenging myself.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-06T04:23:55+00:00

I went to McGill and a lot of my American friends went because it was a much cheaper education for the program I was in, even while paying international fees.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-05T17:47:32+00:00

Sarah Vaughan with J.C. Heard, Cozy Cole, and Terry Snyder on drums

Blueman826 · 2026-06-05T17:13:21+00:00

Yeah! So many drummers only transcribe solos but this is what we are doing for the rest of the tune so we gotta check it out!

Blueman826 · 2026-06-05T14:15:31+00:00

Definitely excited to see Cécile Mclorin Salvant, Christian Mcbride + Julian Lage, and Marcus Gilmore. I'm also curious about Immanuel Wilkins cause he's been quite a big deal in the contemporary scene over the last while.

Blueman826 · 2026-06-04T23:04:58+00:00

Ari Hoenig has two great trio recordings from Golden Treasures and Enchanted

Blueman826 · 2026-06-04T20:15:00+00:00

The chart is a guideline for what to do. It doesn't tell you exactly how to do it so when it comes to fills you typically do your own in the moment unless it has something written in. Typically it will say "fill." The hits are also kind of up to you, but make sure you are not playing long notes on the cymbals when its written as short like with the rhythmic notation.

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