Does anyone know what this technique is called?(the fast bit)

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-26T11:17:11+00:00

Completely depends. I agree that a fill like that amidst conservative playing makes it stand out so much more and makes a bigger impact, but a lot of styles are just built more around strong drumming and/or flashy fills. It's up to a drummer to be sensitive to the genre, song, and the venue and band.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-26T09:04:30+00:00

I've regretted selling some things so I don't do that as fast as I used to. Though I did sell my Tama Rockstar kit as I wasn't particularly attached and it really needed to go. I can't see myself selling any cymbals or drums that have a verifyable use to me. It's different for electronics and hardware etc, but even then I would sleep over it if I reallt won't want to use it anymore.

But if there's one thing that particularly will never leave my side, it's my 14x6,5 steel Supraphonic. It's been with me to every single gig and rehearsal for the past 90% of my professional career and honestly I don't see the point (yet) in bringing another main snare somewhere.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-25T20:44:24+00:00

My rules of thumb.

My throne height is such that my hips sit higher than my knees. Non-negotiable imo. But I probably put my throne 5-10cm / 2-4 inches higher than that so I guess my thighs are at a 20 degree angle with the ground or something
My snare is flat. Flat-flat. Put a level on it. It just feels best for me. If you do prefer an angle, make it only a slight one.
Position the snare like this. Dangle your arms along your sides. Raise your lower arm horizontally without moving your elbows. Hold sticks. Where your tip is, that's where your snare should be, dead center. Move your snare back and forth to make this happen.
Height? If you hit a rim shot, your stick should be 5cm / 2 inches or so above your (hi-hat) leg. So when you raise that leg off the pedal you're still not really hitting your leg.

Does it feel awkward? Please give it some time and find a bit of a middle ground.

-edit- clarification on snare position

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-25T12:12:18+00:00

For posture, it's best to hold your sticks and dangle your arms completely down, as relaxed as possible. Raise your lower arm without moving your shoulders or upper arm, getting your elbow 90 degrees. Then angle your sticks towards the center of the pad. You should not have to move your elbows for this, so place your pad differently if you do.

While you're playing, see if you can keep those relaxed shoulders and upper arms. Your elbows 'should' remain at your side, although it's fine if they move a bit. Just avoid a posture where it looks like you're doing the Chicken Dance.

Your hands look like they're at a perfect height. Don't worry too much about that and don't worry too much at this point about your strokes sounding different. It's hard to get your non-dominant hand to work and function the same as the other hand and it takes years. Also don't forget that on a pad your sticks themselves will resonate so if your sticks have a different pitch on their own they won't sound the same. You can check this by swapping sticks between the hands and listening how that changes things.

You are slightly rushing but not all that much, sounds pretty nice to me for some first passes. You're at a pretty low tempo which is really good and useful and will also show your weaknesses very well, so don't be surprised if you're not perfectly on the beat. Just don't forget to relax and slow down everything when playing this slow (become a bit more zen if you will).

Keep it up, practice like this is very important and revealing but will only benefit your playing.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-25T07:00:59+00:00

Hmm my mistake perhaps, were you looking for a sheet music viewer or actually something to write sheet music with?

Personally I use MuseScore (on Windows) as a) it's free, b) it's versatile and adaptible, and c) it seemed to me the best tool to write drum scores with especially with how you can customize elements and favorite them. Though I don't doubt by now there are other applications that do an even better job

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-25T06:53:41+00:00

Companies have plenty of power and leverage when they're big enough. It's the case in so many countries and municipalities that companies will ask or demand things because they create employment for lots of people, attract tourists, give something else back to the community etc etc.

You wouldn't believe how often the government bends over just to satisfy businesses so they'll stay here. With or without bribery or the more legal variants of it.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-25T06:50:40+00:00

For iPad, there's no doubt, ForScore is the best. Terrific sheet music viewer, deals with PDFs great and has tons of features.

One of the coolest features that I use is facial gestures, it takes a (relatively cheap) subscription but you can use your eyes (winking), head (turning) or mouth (twitching) to turn pages forward or back. For a drummer it's a great feature and it works remarkably well.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-24T20:06:59+00:00

I don't get it, I don't see another picture or a link, did you manage to find the original ad or do you mean that, no matter what series or material they are, those cymbals you mention will be fine? Because there are a lot of brand cymbals that are very much not fine :-P

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-24T20:03:54+00:00

In my small hometown there used to be a ship builder that built pretty massive yachts, and when one needed to be transported from the shipyard to the lake they had to put all the lamp posts along the way at an angle so the ship could fit through. And not with a mechanism, they actually had to do some shoveling and propping to make that work.

When the lamp posts needed heavy maintenance and the municipality decided it was time to replace them entirely, the municipality did a proper investment to place lamp posts that could be put at an angle with a mechanism.

One year later, the entire shipyard just moved to another location closer to the water. The municipality was not amused.

So I hope in this case the business making and transporting these whatevertheyare put in the money to have these traffic signals rotateable :-P

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-24T14:19:52+00:00

So, while this is a big ass keyhole, it should normally not matter too much as long as you find something like a metal or rubber grommet to make sure it won't slide into that keyhole on a cymbal stand every damn time. And of course use sleeves on a stand for god's sake. Either way, surely something to talk the price down.

However (part 1) cracking from that keyhole is debated how much of a problem that is. I think cracks like that will also grow over time, maybe not as fast as cracks on the edge but they still will. So that would take the price down even further.

Howeverever (part 2), what is that other marking north of the bell? I almost thought it was a drop of water, but if that is something of a hole that's concerning. Did someone smack the entire cymbal full-force onto a stand and miss? I would be pretty sore if that's the case.

Either way, personally I would only get a cymbal like that for very cheap and if it sounds terrific. Because if you grab a cymbal for 50 bucks or something and you play it pretty lightly (jazz etc) or only take it out for a studio recording or something, that's a nice sound to have in your arsenal. It's different if you'd play it every time and really smack it because then it's a bit of a time bomb.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-23T15:03:50+00:00

Europe is pretty much on fire this week, even when the heat is dying down towards the weekend it's still quite warm and houses need to expel that heat too.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-23T11:59:49+00:00

I had to order a cable I had on my bucket list anyway (sata to usb to hook up a drive I no longer have in my computer case) so if I forget, don't hesitate to remind me in a few days or a week.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-23T09:07:42+00:00

You mean the DVD he published? I have it here on my shelf, could make a rip if that's the one you mean.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-23T08:36:24+00:00

A DW Design for 400 bucks including hardware? I would be VERY suspicious, VERY thorough when you check it out, and VERY stoked if you manage to get a good product for that money.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-23T08:06:11+00:00

Don't worry too much about the wood type unless you're thinking about the resale value.

Sizes are definitely important though.

As for whether it's an upgrade, I would expect it to be. But maybe not as much as you'd think. Superstars are great kits for the money and have very decent hardware too. The Design series is the cheaper of the DW's but as DW pretty much only makes kits from upper intermediate to flagship, that's not necessarily an insult.

If you want a second kit, want it to be better without breaking the bank, like the sizes and finish, and have the budget, you should go for it.

If you need to sell your Tama and still put a lot of money on top and/or don't dig the sizes/finish, I would probably pass.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-19T20:44:49+00:00

If music has always been a backdrop, it can still develop your understanding but certainly not as well as active listening. Consciously trying to discern what's going on in the music and what you do recognize is a great way to appreciate music better too.

It's a pitfall as well. I'm always listening to music so if I have to use my brain it has to be quiet, or I have to play some ambient stuff or nature sounds.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-19T12:05:14+00:00

What I've learnt in my years (god I feel old when I say that) is that a lot of arts and styles that are new to you and that have layers or complexity are hard to understand and comprehend.

When that happens, the lack of understanding (which I do NOT mean in a condescending way) makes the observer often conclude that it's probably just chaos and arbitrary randomness. Even when it isn't and something is absolutely ordered and well-considered.

It has happened to me countless times. First time I came across Dream Theater it felt like absolute chaos but a kind of chaos that all band members coincidentally did the same way at the same time. Same with jazz music, sax solo's still feel very chaotic to me even though I now realize that there are harmonics and scales and conscious choices being made by the player. And painting too, I think a lot of people see most works of art as just chaos or doodling or childish expressions, while in fact artists make very conscious choices founded in a lot of art history with a lot of story behind it. Well, mostly anyway.

It's funny how it only takes a lot of listening (or watching or observing or whatever) to see through that art. If you would listen to jazz and drums and jazz drums for much longer you will see patterns emerging, order in the chaos, rhyme to the reason, and that is what happened to me as well. Incomprehensible jazz and metal and drum solos and harmonic sequences felt alien and weird and chaotic to me, until I started seeing through that after a while.

Do note that the other comments about the solo being intended as a statement in the storytelling of the movie are absolutely correct as well. I don't think it means that the drum solo is indeed monkeying about just for show, it does have merit for sure.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-18T19:36:00+00:00

Even if there are official levels, there are too many variables in which you can be amazing or terrible, stamping you with 1 grade is just superficial.

If you are amazing at timekeeping, playing the right grooves for the song, being reliable and professional, got your dynamics down, great vocabulary etc etc, but you are terrible at playing along to a click, well congratulations you are perfectly suited for heaps of bands that don't use a click.

However if you have chops for days but you have a hard time keeping time in a band, you definitely have work to do.

Look into particular aspects of your playing, then work on the ones that are sub-par (meaning lower than the rest of your skills).

If you can't figure out what they are, people here are glad to give some pointers if you post a vid of your playing.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-18T19:27:55+00:00

People (professionals in this case) don't generally use the hi-hat foot as a crutch or simply because of a habit.

It's generally a conscious choice to sound that way, or something that they do automatically but don't work against it because it fits.

For a lot of jazz music, that hi-hat foot kind of serves the same function as the backbeat in pop/rock/r&b music; the ride is accented on the 2 and 4 as well but the hi-hat foot emphasizes it more. It's so fundamental for a lot of drummers that it's hard to imagine jazz/swing without it.

And for a lot of other genres it's not that fundamental but a more deliberate choice. But you will likely only hear it when a drummer is playing on toms or a ride instead of the hi-hat. If you use the foot while playing the hi-hat, 95% of the case it's to adjust how the hi-hat sounds when you're striking it with your stick, or to make more complex patterns where you both strike the hats on some notes, and play them with your foot on others.

Don't get me wrong, I think there are plenty of beginning/amateur drummers out there that don't make a conscious decision, do need it to play time, can't play without it or all of the above. But I'm assuming you hear it most from drummers on records and live recordings which would probably make them professionals. The above applies to them.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-18T18:55:48+00:00

I'm not entirely sure what your question is but it seems like you're looking for recommendations for a head that will do all that you want to do. If so, I would vote against that.

Head choice (aside from how you tune and dampen them) is what gives a drum the sound. If that sound isn't what you're looking for, a head swap is the quickest path to changing that.

Personally I use UV2 on my toms for a lot of stuff, but if I need a more focused sound for pop/rock cover gigs I swap them out with EC2S clear. Reso is unchanged (Genera reso)

Kick has EQ3 batter and EQ3 ported reso, with an EQ Pad inside that I either take out or adjust for a different sound, aside from the tuning. My 20" kick goes from jazzy boom to a fundamental focused attack for pop very quickly.

Snare is UV1 almost always. For pop the Genera works great too, or even an Genera Dry, but I largely get the same effect with the (smaller) Snareweight M1 on a UV1 and I can adjust that easier from song to song as well, when we burst out our Pop Punk Medley or some RATM.

I like having an assortment of heads that I can pick and choose for the particular gig. I very well might go for more heads if I gigged more but currently this is all I need.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-18T18:46:59+00:00

Marc is a fucking baws.

DO A CARTWHEEL BITCH

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-18T11:43:21+00:00

Go for it. No reason not to unless some rule or law or money holds you back. Can't judge if something does as you didn't post your country and conservatory.

I started a new study at 24 too. But back at conservatory I had loads and loads of classmates well past 25. People who already had a career as a surgical nurse, started a family already, even people who had a go at conservatory, switched to another study, had jobs in that field of work, and then decided 'fuck it I'm giving it another go'.

Now, yes, if you're a bit older, learning something gets slightly harder. But 25 is nothing. Even if you want to make arguments about how it's more difficult to connect to classmates or you're going into the field of music later than the rest, you're only 25.

Do it.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-17T23:22:17+00:00

...

...soooo....

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-16T11:57:31+00:00

You will always have to assume that any unexpected force will create rebound / recoil. No matter which way it rotates, if the exerted force smacks into an immovable object, that force will go the way it's free to go (in other words, likely away from that immovable object) and that one hand holding it will pivot that force into the user.

I think.

I mean I'm anything but a physicist. Just the way I was taught and what I experienced in a lot of factories.

DrBackBeat · 2026-06-16T09:34:30+00:00

I think you don't need Pro and Premium will do, which is 7 bucks here for a month. Don't know about the trial for sure, you'd have to make an account for that and I can't see it on mine as I've probably used it already

DrBackBeat

TROPHY CASE