What do you guys think of the drumming in this band?

I'm primarily a bass player but I am beginning to learn drumming also. Is this kind of drumming as hard as it sounds?

I've been jamming out to this band for a while and I just wanted a "Drummers" perspective on the guy's "Lead" drumming.

I have the CD and the recording is not a murky as the MP3's on the site but they are still a minimal lo-fi band.

At least check out Predator and Enemy on the sounds page. Modey Lemon

Well, I didn't spend a lot of time listening to their stuff 'cause it's not my thing, but I wouldn't say that their drummer is doing anything terribly complicated. That is not to say that he wasn't doing some interesting drumming though. He is definately a busy drummer, which some people like, and it fits theor style of music.

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment.

What ever he's doing it really gets me going, but then lo-fi garage rock is my thing.

His drumming definetly fits the music so it's all good. Quite the drum set though. Floor tom for a rack tom and it looks like another bass drum for the floor tom woah!!!

Originally posted by Rain Dog Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment. What ever he's doing it really gets me going, but then lo-fi garage rock is my thing.

You know, I don't really think that it was the lo-fi aspect of it that turned me off though. I don't really mind lo-fi all that much. I think it was more that I didn't like the singer. I think that they have a good vibe going, but the singer was just screaming and not really singing. That I can't deal with. If they had another singer I would probably enjoy it.

I am going out on a limb, but oh well, honestly, I tried to listen, but it never really caught my attention. Most of the time when I do listen to a band, new or old, i listen for the beats, it just never caught my attention. I had to turn of it off, just like I do when an old re-run of "Full House" or "Cosby" comes on.

Guess it's stylistic thing. I like his vocals and don't really hear it as screaming. Maybe yelling but not screaming like some of those death-metal guys. "Predator" makes me think of Kurt Cobain fronting The Doors.

Back to the QUESTION. It is hard to drum like this guy???? I would like to learn to drum in this style. Any tips, pointers or suggestions?

Yelling, screaming... It's all the same to me.

Ah, yeah, like I said, he is not really doing anything that complicated from what I can hear. You're pretty new to drumming? I would suggest some lessons. Take your cd of these guys in and let your teacher hear it. He/she should be able to point you in the right direction. I don't know what kind of a musical background you have, but if you can read music, then pick up a copy of Joe Morello's book Master Studies. Joe tries to teach you how to get what is in your head out onto the drum kit.

Anyway, sorry I can't be more helpful. Just practice practice practice. It's the only way to get good.

OK, I've got this book on order.

I also have that DVD by Steve Smith. I loath Journey and Vital Information doesn't even sound like music to me, but Steve is a good drummer and the DVD is well done so I've been learning a lot from it.

I guess what I'm after is the energy and that high pressure, four on the floor, groove feel. I've been listening a lot to the Modey Lemon CD and the Yeah Yeah Yeah's CD. Both of them have the intensity and style that I would like to develop. It would be overplaying in a standard band format but both of these bands are stripped down to two instruments with maybe an overdubbed guitar or a synth lick thrown in here and there.

Drum teacher can be real snotty. I have play these CD's for them and they shut right down. The "Metal" guys don't get it and the Jazz guys won't touch it so I think I'm on my own.

I'm 42. I started off as a punk/garage rock guitarist in the early 80. Mostly just an excuse to get drunk and party, Circle Jerks kind of stuff. The 90's were taken up with College and getting my career started. Five years ago I picked up the bass and decided to get serious about music. I can jam along pretty good on bass now and can read music. Last summer I rescued an old drum kit and have fixed it up. Since I can't seem to find someone to drum the way I want I figured I'd learn it myself. I can live with the fact that I may be a seriously limited drummer but I want to learn how to do this one thing well. I will always consider myself a bassist first and a drummer second. As far as guitar goes, I only ever played barr chords and most of those brain cells are gone anyway.

Thanks for your help guys.

I listened to Predator vid and I like their vibe. At least they sound unique instrumentally. The singer is kinda borrowing heavily from a song that was once popular but I can't think of it right now.

The drumming is fairly basic, nuthin too elaborate. I really can't hear everything he's doing though since the quality isn't that great on the vid. I might check them out later....crazy week.

I do believe I still have your address........

I'll try to send a little something out later this week if you were willing to help me figure some of it out.

Originally posted by Rain Dog OK, I've got this book on order. [...] Drum teacher can be real snotty. I have play these CD's for them and they shut right down. The "Metal" guys don't get it and the Jazz guys won't touch it so I think I'm on my own. [...]

Good, you won't be disappointed with the Morello book.

I can't believe that you have had such bad luck with drum teachers. All of the drum teachers that I have worked with have always been really receptive to teaching me what I wanted to learn. That's the way teachers should be. I'm sorry to hear that your experience has been bad.

And don't forget the Morello video. The Natural Approach to Technique. A must have for those starting out or wanting to improve.

I checked them out and I do kinda like that lo-fi thing. The singing I guess could get a little anoying on all the songs but I think it fits the style.

The drumming isn't super complicated but it isn't beginner stuff either. His style reminds me of Mitch Mitchell( Jimmy Hendrix)and old school punk. He is a very busy drummer. He is playing most of his beats using the snare and toms while keeping the 4 beat on the bass drum. I think he does a good job fitting that style of music.

Cool, that sounds like a fair trade. I've only been drumming for about 3 years so I'm not sure if I'll be a big help. I can usually pick stuff apart okay. Playing it is another story for me...Bad coordination.

Ever heard of Murder By Death?

So this band is a two piece? Or is it three? It's hard to tell from the pictures. I rather like it. The drummer get a lot of freedom to create and he seems to be doing well with it. He has an interesting setup, using a bass drum as a floor tom. I like bigger drums as well, it's just such a pain moving them around.

I think to get into this type of style you will want to put the pulse somewhere else besides the typical hi hat or ride beat. Like the quarter note bass drum, or hi hat splash with the foot, which can free you up to roam around the toms. Your choice on whether to come back to the snare for the backbeat. Does that help at all??

Rain Dog, sorry to hear you don't dig Vital Information at all, I remember recommending that video. I like the mix of styles they present, but I guess being a drummer I tend to focus on drums. They do have some cheesy parts to some of their songs, and I don't like the accordion. The rest of the video is cool.

I come from a improv/funk/jazz kinda style and have recently been listening to more song oriented stuff. I like the Strokes (love their first album), tried the White Stripes (my friends says get their first) the Living End sounds cool, um what else...... been listening to a lot more Primus, Rolling Stones, Zeppelin. But I'm all over the place, I love the British Invasion stuff, early Floyd, instrumental space rock, Dixieland Jazz, bebop, Mr. Bungle, Jurassic 5, all sorts of electronic music, like the New Deal, ever heard them? Damn. Uh, I got off track here.

Oh, but I like stuff like this, bands who sort of "break the rules" by not having bass. overdriving mics and just rocking out. One thing I don't really like is overproduced "pop" music, pitch correction, studio musicians playing instead of bands and {censored}ing collaberations where it's Puffy featuring, and featuring, and, and ....

What else you got? I really like how you can listen to their stuff online. I heard a lot of the new Tortoise album this way, and will be picking it up soon.

Like jazz? Try the Bad Plus

OK, I admit I misrepresented that fact a tad. I talked to two drum instructors and a veteran jazz drummer. The two instructors were at the local, all in one, band supply store. I couldn't get either one of them engaged in a conversation about what was unique about this guy's style. They sort of side stepped the whole thing and said "here let's start you off with these rudiments and these books" I was thinking, {censored} that, I can read for free, what I want to know is what this guy is doing DIFFERENT. The old jazz guy just handed the CD back and said he couldn't listen to it and couldn't help me at all. Even if they had of said "He isn't doing anything different, he's just doing the stock stuff sort of all at once and all the time". Pffft.

So yeah, the drum instructors said they were willing to help me reach my goals for $$$ per hour. I just wasn't confident they knew what my goals actually were.

Maybe I'm just a nut with really crappy taste in music. - actually, I'm OK with that. When you hear Zeppelin's R&R in car commercials, and The Ramones Hey Ho Let's Go in an ad for ... Umm.. Something??... you know have to go pretty far off the beaten path to find the heart and soul of Rock and Roll.

Well, part of the problem is that he really isn't doing anything different per se; he's just really busy. It's what he doesn't do that makes it sound different. He doen't use a lot of hi-hat or ride cymbals for his main rythm. I think that if you just played quarters on the bass drum, eighths on the floor tom and on two and four with the snare then you would het a fairly basic representation of what he is doing. He is doing some more complicated stuff than that, but you would be moving in the right direction.

Your $10 is in the mail...

ROOOOOCK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh....

and all that stuff.

Overall, I think the band has a neat vibe. The vox fit the music so they don't bother me terribly. Some cool riffs. The drums don't do much for me though. I didn't care for what he was doing in enemy. But predator had some cool stuff. Even though it's got that Radar Love vibe!

i heard some sabbath in his vocal melody.....war pigs i believe..

try e-mailing him...ask what his influences are...