Travis Barker

[ATOMRULES]

no dude its a blink song they recorded for their greatest hits album

[ns3476]

Travis Barker is a very good drummer and a lot of people look up to him and think he is the best drummer ever but those people need to hear some of the other great drummers insted of just listening to him and thinking hes the best.

[the.tree]

A lot of people throw him down, but i think hes the best punk drummer probably ever. From the set he uses he makes the best out of it. All of his songs are incredibly hard to play, hes a crowd pleaser with the fans. And people don't get popular by not being good except tom(guitarist in blink 182). I have a lot of repect for him, and a lot of people compare him to people that dont play his style which is a false analogy.

[NUTHA JASON]

All of his songs are incredibly hard to play

um, well no actually. physical yes but skill wise not at all.

punk drummer probably ever

i'm sure a lot of people will offer alternative greats. he is good but 'the best' is a beast best left untouched.

I have a lot of repect for him, and a lot of people compare him to people that dont play his style which is a false analogy.

this i agree with. comparing travis to wekl for example is like comparing chocolate cake to steamed lobster. both are delicious but so completely unrelated.

j

[ElvinBaRkerDennis13]

J...you are brilliant man...i dont think i have ever heard anyone tell anything like that, geez. its crazy the advice that you give people; i cant believ that i have made it playing drums this far without people like all you guys giving me advice, but seriously, i just wanted to say that travis may not be the "best" persay, but he has always done what the song needs, and if i may use a hockey reference, he reminds me of Sidney Crosbey, he just elevates the people around him; he is truthfully awesome. but i just wanted to say thanks J... peace love and rudiments

[the.tree]

WHat song of his from take off your pants and jacket on is easy? And a better punk drummer?

[T-1000]

Dave Ruan from Lagwagon sounds extremely technically efficient, as does Jordan Burns (who also comes up with very creative, often metal-influenced parts) from Strung Out. In terms of 'feel', Derek Grant from Alkaline Trio is unrivalled (for me), though I also love Travis's more hip-hop orientated grooves. Incidentally, I found it quite interesting to note that Matt Skiba (lead singer and guitarist of Alkaline Trio) was initially a drummer for a few other bands before forming Alk3. Chad Sexton is also great if you consider 311 punk. Having said this, I wouldn't brand them 'better' than Travis, as Jason said, they're merely different, but also stand out in the punk scene. Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy is better than people will give him credit for (as is the whole band).

Does anyone else have good punk/pop-punk drummer recommendations?

[NUTHA JASON]

well i cannot say that i have seen all of what travis does but everything i've heard i can cover or learn to cover pretty quickly.

a better punk drummer than travis. what about Frank Edwin Wright III. he is pretty sharp.
know who he is? travis says he likes this guys drumming.
lol
j

ps: thanks right back at you ElvinBaRkerDennis13.

[Stu_Strib]

well i cannot say that i have seen all of what travis does but everything i've heard i can cover or learn to cover pretty quickly.

I heartily second that. And I don't even really delve into this genre too heavily.

[NUTHA JASON]

And I don't even really delve into this genre too heavily.

yeah. there are bigger hills to climb.

if you can do chad smith (hill), john bonham (mountain) or dave weckl (everest) then walking up the foothills of barker is just a sunday stroll.

come on stu...you would know who i was talking about here:
a better punk drummer than travis. what about Frank Edwin Wright III. he is pretty sharp.
know who he is? travis says he likes this guys drumming.


j

[the.tree]

ehhh, i disagree the offspring drummers not as good, but i dont think chad smith is as good as travis what? Chad has nothing special really. And nutha what songs have u covered from him you got any videos?

[NUTHA JASON]

And nutha what songs have u covered from him you got any videos?

dude. read my conversation with stu above. i've got bigger fish to fry. i don't have to prove anything to you. i just know formyself as many on this site can know of themselves...we would be able to do travis to a greater or lesser degree.

j

[Stu_Strib]

come on stu...you would know who i was talking about here:


j

Frank Edwin Wright III...hmmmmm I'll look it up, but no. I'll guess first then go look.

Dead Kennedy's
Sex Pistols
The Clash


Any of them?

[Stu_Strib]

Oh man I feel dumb now.

How was I supposed to know that Tre' Cool was a stage name??? ;-)

[NUTHA JASON]

And the thing is, travis says he is a big fan of tre cool's.

j

[beatsMcGee]

yea they did a tour together so they are gonna be nice to one another... tre is alright...

[Stu_Strib]

Well they are Zildjian buddies too. In anycase, I think they are both better than the No Doubt guy ;-)

[drumfury]

Among what i see through teenage drummers and listeners, Travis Barker is highly over rated. Most teen drummers talk about how 'awesome' Travis is and how he is 'the best'. Mainly they think that being lightening fast determines a good drummer. That's all i hear my peers talk about. No doubt Travis is an excellent drummer, but i would rather see him be admired for his excellence than how fast he can move or being Blink 182's famous drummer. Personally, I much prefer Mr. Barker as the drummer for the Transplants rather than Blink 182. And how come Steve Gadd or Vinnie Colaiuta hasnt had a TV show?

Does anyone agree with my opinion or am i just talking nonsense?

well speed is great and i think travis barker is great but ur right it would be better if he slowed down some times to give his songs a bigger Variety

[ewanlaing]

well speed is great and i think travis barker is great but ur right it would be better if he slowed down some times to give his songs a bigger Variety
i don't think he's that fast all the time. i think it's just blink 182's style. i think his boxcar stuff is slower.

[Stu_Strib]

I just listened to all of Boxcar, and I don't see too much difference. To demonstrate my love hate relationship with Travis' playing I'll post three files.

The first two demonstrate his obvious flare for nice big continuous roll sounds. The first one he plays 16th note feel doubles, and the second one he slows them down to play sextuplet feel doubles. They both sound really good, but here is the hate part:

I "guess" he is demonstrating his range as a rudimental drummer, however, these two snips are IDENTICAL playing (by the band too, same key, same phrasing concepts, similar tempo, everything). The only thing different is the use of sextuplets for the underlying rolls. It would be more interesting to just merge those two songs into one, and varying the type of roll he uses.

Listen for yourselves:

4388
4389


Then there is what Tommy Igoe calls a "Groove Killer". This is the signature sound of Barker, and it just doesn't groove. It's all choppy and awkward. It is, in short, a Groove Killer!

4390

I'm must admit, I'm a bit disappointed. I like the fact he airs out the music a little better, but still, those damned groove killlers!

Heh, and I always though that song I Feel So was a Blink song (not that there is much of a difference).

[beatsMcGee]

stu, i guess its all on taste as far as what you see is a groove... did you check out track number 6... now that is some playing.. you didnt even mention that at all... seriously track six is an awesome grove... and i liked the one you posted its chopy but that is what he wanted... its just a matter of what he likes vs what you like its not a matter of his lack of skill.. b/c hes demonstrated in other songs and works he can do these pocket groves and such you like... good post tho

btw... you call your relationship with travis's music love hate....you obviously expressed your hate... what do you love... just my 2 cents.. thanks

[Stu_Strib]

Well, I love the big fat open rolls posted in the above, yet at the same time, I hate that it is the exact same thing, but in two different songs.

I love the little intricate things he does, but then again, I hate how it kills the groove. Sometimes I just think he lays down a drum track without regard to the song. Like he thinks of a cool beat and just records it, like the stuff doesn't fit.

[T-1000]

Stu, listen to Blink's self titled cd, there are awesome accented snare roll solo's scattered around the breakdown's of the songs (go, asthenia) as well as some cool grooves (down, the fallen interlude). I know Blink can rely on the same format for their breakdowns quite a lot, but they sound great, so I don't really care.

As for your 'groove killer' attachment, I honestly think it adds to the song in this case; a nice dichotomy is created between his choppy beats, and Tom's ringing guitar - and the accents weave nicely around the vocals. I think you need to qualify in what way Travis 'kills' the groove before making this harsh criticism of him.

Dude, someting doesn't have to be a straight up rock beat, or jazz beat, or whatever to 'groove'; it's called creativity when drummers try something a little different and make it work (and I think Travis makes it work a LOT of the time). I know you 'don't get' Tool, but I think you should give them another chance if you want to know what a rock drummer that grooves creatively sounds like (since you obviously can't see it in Travis either).

[shuffle]

Here is one of his grooves, not as busy as other ones he often does, which I think fits pretty well with the song.

[Stu_Strib]

I know Blink can rely on the same format for their breakdowns quite a lot, but they sound great, so I don't really care.


I'll buy that. Hell nearly every Steely Dan cd sounds the same, as well as the Fagen solo stuff, and I still have it all (this is over a 30 year period too!) Ok, that is a gneralization, but you get my drift.



As for your 'groove killer' attachment, I honestly think it adds to the song in this case; a nice dichotomy is created between his choppy beats, and Tom's ringing guitar



ok, I'll buy that too, but it still sounds like a drummer playing a cool beat and not listening to the tune. I can sing/visualize a couple more grooving grooves as we speak. I think this is the thing I dislike most about his playing. Sometimes less IS more, and sometimes the silence is more important than the notes. Problem is, there is no silence in his playing.


I know you 'don't get' Tool, but I think you should give them another chance if you want to know what a rock drummer that grooves creatively sounds like (since you obviously can't see it in Travis either).

I said I don't get them, but I never said I don't like them. Actually I have pretty much their entire discography. I just don't understand the Cult of Tool following is all.

And again, for the record, Travis is a good drummer and I quite like Blink 182. On third/fourth listen, I'm starting to think Boxcar is even better. My problem comes with the Travis is GOD and he RULEZ comments. A little perspective is all.

[ElvinBaRkerDennis13]

I just listened to all of Boxcar, and I don't see too much difference. To demonstrate my love hate relationship with Travis' playing I'll post three files.

The first two demonstrate his obvious flare for nice big continuous roll sounds. The first one he plays 16th note feel doubles, and the second one he slows them down to play sextuplet feel doubles. They both sound really good, but here is the hate part:

I "guess" he is demonstrating his range as a rudimental drummer, however, these two snips are IDENTICAL playing (by the band too, same key, same phrasing concepts, similar tempo, everything). The only thing different is the use of sextuplets for the underlying rolls. It would be more interesting to just merge those two songs into one, and varying the type of roll he uses.
Listen for yourselves:
4388
4389
Then there is what Tommy Igoe calls a "Groove Killer". This is the signature sound of Barker, and it just doesn't groove. It's all choppy and awkward. It is, in short, a Groove Killer!
4390
I'm must admit, I'm a bit disappointed. I like the fact he airs out the music a little better, but still, those damned groove killlers!
Heh, and I always though that song I Feel So was a Blink song (not that there is much of a difference).

remember when i said a couple weeks ago that travis was a great drummer, but in a couple of his songs it felt like he wasnt in pocket a little?? thats what i was talking about! i just didnt know what to call it. and for real, that boxcar son i feel so, we definitely jacked that snare line in a cadence at school for our line it was sweet!!!
tj

[laurenskye]

Long time lurker, thought I'd chime in on this.

I see everyone disecting his playing yet would you do the same to Ringo, or Charlie Watts? These two have been labeled the greatest rock & roll drummers by many but you don't see many posts saying "these guys suck, I could play that in my sleep". And Benard might ban you if you did :). I'm sure kids in the 60's were using the "Rulez" phrase of the time to describe them.

Simple or not when you hear just the drum parts to Beatles songs (boom-cha-baboom-snare-tom) you instantly know who it is. And I bet kids today could hear just the drum parts to Blink songs and know that it is Travis.

Bottom line is he fits their music well, and he's made a heck of a lot more money playing drums than any one on this board, which says he's doing something right.

[T-1000]

Bottom line is he fits their music well, and he's made a heck of a lot more money playing drums than any one on this board, which says he's doing something right.

Man, (I apologize if you're a woman), Stu's gonna be all over you saying: 'this is exactly my point, just because a drummer is popular does not make him 'god''.

Anyway, Stu, if you wanna hear Travis playing less to play more, check out The Transplants'. Another creative groover: Will Scharf of 'Keelhaul' (seriously overlooked blues-y metal band).

[laurenskye]

I never said "god". I said he fits the music which in turn made him a lot of money. Same can be said for Ringo, Charlie, Bonham, etc. but very few rip their "simplistic" styles, even though they were given the "god" title from kids at the time. That is my point.

[ewanlaing]

i'm with stu for this. i think he made some great points and his musical examples helped understand the opinion too. travis is a great drummer, so maybe he should stop proving himself.

[Bernhard]

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Bernhard

[the.tree]

The OCDP solo doesnt do him much justice. Its differnt seeing him live, and for his style of music and who he plays with he is good. As for all the people putting him down for the solos, he gets it done with 4 drums. I see portnoy or peart who have 10+ drums. But it really surprises me to see all the put downs, I think hes good maybe not best in world but at least top 20 for PUNK rock. And I know 80 percent of the people on here arent as good as him so its a shame.

[cdawg_2010]

ya i can agree with the top 20 part, probably even top 10 because he does different stuff about every song instead of the smae old same old like a lot of other punk drummers. He also has great fills

[We_Love_Lime]

The OCDP solo doesnt do him much justice. Its differnt seeing him live, and for his style of music and who he plays with he is good. As for all the people putting him down for the solos, he gets it done with 4 drums. I see portnoy or peart who have 10+ drums. But it really surprises me to see all the put downs, I think hes good maybe not best in world but at least top 20 for PUNK rock. And I know 80 percent of the people on here arent as good as him so its a shame.

Him having a 4 peice cannot be compared to Portnoy's Monster.. Why? Because If he wanted to he could CHOOSE to play a 10 peice. Does he win by default because he has less peices? No. Does he win because it makes him creative? No. Travis is not god, and he's not shite either. He is overpraised, but does what he does to fit the music, and for that I respect him. He's the male version of Meg White, but with more chops IMO.

[the.tree]

Hmmm i didn't say he was better, and i didn't say he wins or he's better than mike. I said that he chose to play a 4 piece and maybe can't be as creative in his solos. But people say he needs work on his solos i don't see many people doing better solos on a 4 piece than him.

[We_Love_Lime]

Hmmm i didn't say he was better, and i didn't say he wins or he's better than mike. I said that he chose to play a 4 piece and maybe can't be as creative in his solos. But people say he needs work on his solos i don't see many people doing better solos on a 4 piece than him.


Hmm...

Max Roach
Art Blakely
Lionel Hampton
Jeff Hamilton
Tony Williams
Elvin Jones
Joe Morello


Having a four peice has nothing to do with creativity. He plays a four peice because it feels good to him, not because It Challenges Him. One of his solo's has him play 32nd notes on the snare and high tom for about... 15 seconds with all the girls cheering. This is what makes everybody despise Travis. Nothing against the man..Just so overated for what he does/can do...

Oh and Solo's shouldn't even really be used as judging how good a drummer is. Drumming keeps the beat, Your Guitar's, Trumpets, Saxaphones should do the solo's really IMO. Sure you get Bonham, Peart, Gadd pulling off Solo's. But no one is Amazed by their solo's. It's the 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover Groove. The Fool In The Rain beat..Everything except the Solos. Solo's are hella cool, but you can't say, Bonham Is the best player ever, because He can do Moby Dick and no one else can..

And If Travis isn't that good on drum solos.. Don't BLOODY give him drum solo's. If he doesn't deserve it, he doesn't deserve it. If he doesn't have his own T.V. show because of it. So what? No one honostly gives a damn.....

[beatsMcGee]

And again, for the record, Travis is a good drummer and I quite like Blink 182. On third/fourth listen, I'm starting to think Boxcar is even better. My problem comes with the Travis is GOD and he RULEZ comments. A little perspective is all.

well that comes from young kid who are just obsessed... and with that you should dislike them more then the artist they are talking about... those comments anoy me aswell and im a huge travis barker fan .

[beatsMcGee]

Hmm...

Max Roach
Art Blakely
Lionel Hampton
Jeff Hamilton
Tony Williams
Elvin Jones
Joe Morello


Having a four peice has nothing to do with creativity. He plays a four peice because it feels good to him, not because It Challenges Him. One of his solo's has him play 32nd notes on the snare and high tom for about... 15 seconds with all the girls cheering. This is what makes everybody despise Travis. Nothing against the man..Just so overated for what he does/can do...

Oh and Solo's shouldn't even really be used as judging how good a drummer is. Drumming keeps the beat, Your Guitar's, Trumpets, Saxaphones should do the solo's really IMO. Sure you get Bonham, Peart, Gadd pulling off Solo's. But no one is Amazed by their solo's. It's the 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover Groove. The Fool In The Rain beat..Everything except the Solos. Solo's are hella cool, but you can't say, Bonham Is the best player ever, because He can do Moby Dick and no one else can..

And If Travis isn't that good on drum solos.. Don't BLOODY give him drum solo's. If he doesn't deserve it, he doesn't deserve it. If he doesn't have his own T.V. show because of it. So what? No one honostly gives a damn.....


my goodnesss people, is it really his fault that people are taken by him? NO its not a big deal that girls scream his name when he plays some 32nd notes... i mean more power to him, id love to wake up and play to thousands of fans that know my songs.i think people are really starting to post redundant copmments about him being over rated.. which isnt his fault.can he help people like his style and his past bands?--NO. give it a rest,hes a great drummer, not the best, girls like him, what ever...

the bottom line is: yes he is richer then us all put together, but does that take anything away from the fact he loves his craft.. absolutely not. yes girls like him and he has a tv show-does that mean that hes stuck up and a show off-- NO.. i think no one on this fourm knows the man and people are hating him like he smacked your mother....

its definitly okay to dislike him, or have opinions about his playing, but to constantly put him down and make a mockary of his dedication and obvious skill b/c hes popular and has a following just shows your imaturity and lack of understanding....

[smldrums]

Sorry to post another Travis thread, but does anyone know the voice that Travis uses on his electronic pad for the huge bass drop effect? My band wants me to use it, and I don't know what he uses.

Thanks.

[beatsMcGee]

whats a bass drop effect... and how do you activate it.. i dont know alot about the drum machines and sound effects. would love to learn..

[math_metal_182]

AMEN beatsmcgee, Travis cannot help his fame, and he is a good, creative and inspiring drummer (in my opinion) with or without it - it is just because he is famous that I have heard of him. I'm sure there are many other drummers out that could drum for blink adequatley (spelling?), or be much more technically impressive, but they don't have Travis's energetic and edgy feel (which I love and Stu hates).

And to the guy who said drummers should just keep the beat, that's just as lame as saying to a guitar player: 'you should just play chords' - an utterly counter-productive and cynical statement. Of course Travis 'deserves' to play a solo in a Blink concert, he is the best on his instrument out of the three (though I don't wish to knock Mark and Tom), and if girls (and boys) like it, surely that's the whole point!? There's a place for uber-complicated polyrhythmic drum solo's, but there's also a place for the crowd pleasers.

[JohnMunsey]

Wasnt there a rumor or was it true that Travis Barker said he would break the World's Fastest Drummer Champ record years ago?

I vaguely remember the topic

[beatsMcGee]

i still wanna hear stu's take on track 6 of boxcar which has a really cool grove.

[beatsMcGee]

i seriously doubt that he said that. probably a rumour

[toxegendrummer]

i seriously doubt that he said that. probably a rumour
i also seriously doubt that he could pull it off

[kkelso]

I really need assistance on how to make my TOM heads sound really good and "poppy" without a ring or having to use those annoying plastic rings. I have new Coated Evans Genera G2 heads on my Tama Swingstar. Can I get assistance on how I can do this? Also, if you know, where can I purchase black bass heads with 2 holes(like travis barker) and those metal hoops protecting the holes in the bass resonant head? Thank you all for your time in reading this.

[Elvin4ever]

Current Top Ten WFD Fastest Hands Rankings as of March 25, 2006

Mike Mangini 1247
Jotan Afanador 1199
Art Verdi 1116
Dan Barnat 1106
Sam LaCompte 1096
Eric Okamoto 1085
Johnny Rabb 1071 tie
Brad Broomfield 1071 tie
Matt Smith 1061
Tiger Bill Meligari 1060

In this type of specialized event, any of these guys would own Travis Barker like a used car.

[Stu_Strib]

Boxcar Racer, track #6 "And I", The Unofficial Stu_Strib Review

4484

Intro beat...maybe it is cool to you but I've heard it a million times. It is a bit cliche. Although I am wondering what kind of stick he uses for the ghost notes. Sounds cool that way.

4485

After the intro beat we get a very typical busy Travis groove. I like the rolls into the snare on 2 (or 3 if you are counting half-time), but I really dislike the offbeat tom hit and the hi hat gliss. This is another groove killer. He uses a very common Travis phrasing pattern. Although it is a groove killer, I conceede, it does sound cool. This is the problem, again though. Cool beat, wrong place.

The bridge? (or I guess it is the first hint of the chorus) (first time of "I want her/need her/with you/always will pull me through?") is ok? It seems a bit disconnected from the rest of the song, but that is the song's fault, not Travis'.

4483

I like when he goes into double time with the signature tom ruffs (the guitar breakdown part). Playing double time through the choruses is perfect. I would have gone to full double time there too.

So there you go. Not bad at all, but I really dislike the verse groove, and it is a fairly typical Travis groove.

As for the opening groove, I think I've just been playing so long I don't really find it too interesting, and definitely not difficult or ground breaking. It does 'sound' good though, from an audio quality stand point.

Any others?

By the way, the students in HS Art that I substitute taught for played Blink every day (yes, I'm a cool teacher, we play music while working). I don't think I ever heard the early stuff with the other drummer. I like Blink a lot, even the whiny singer guy, but man, that old stuff was awful.

[VampiricNightMachine]

Not to diss Travis, I think he is a very good drummer, but I am quite sure he could never break any speed record in the WFD contest

[ewanlaing]

i was tryin to play along to some blink today. he's fast for sure. not the fastest guy around by any means, but fast nonetheless. i like his fills a lot too, and i'm a huge fan of tthe cool little drum break in "reckless abandon".
but he's not amazing. he doesn't really keep it simple enough for the punk music he plays, and i'm not sure if he's as creative as people like jimmy chamberlin.

[jollymosher]

coated heads, and also he uses acrylic. so it wont sound like a wood kit.


you can get the bass drum head here http://www.ocdrum.com/ocdp/merch/show.php?id=7

[~tamadrummer~]

why would you just want to copy someone elses tuning? i would try to find my own style...

[pdp 9091]

why would you just want to copy someone elses tuning? i would try to find my own style...


i agree....wuts with teens these days copying travis barker down to the finest detail....find your own set up that you feel comfortable with, with your own tuning, own drum sizes ect....like its good to admire a drummer but going to the extreme to find bass heads with the same exact mic holes lined with the same metal is ridiculious....be yourself....youll find if u surround yourself with good drumming it will rub off on you and you will become more innovative instead of trying to copy other drummers ideas all the time....its one thing to practice a drummers certain fill or song but to copy a drummer (especially as travis barker) down to their same exact bass head is a little too far....imo i think too many teens idolize travis barker and they can be getting better inspiration from greater drummers such as neil peart, buddy rich, steve gadd, bonham, ian paice, and keith moon.....imo travis barker isnt even half as much innovative/skilled as those drummers.....dont get me wrong barker is a great drummer and of course you can like his drumming but i think drumming wise...to study a drummers work like bonhams or gadd's will get you farther and faster as skill wise

[JohnMunsey]

Well, maybe he couldnt beat it, so never entered

Or maybe he doesnt want to focus on that, maybe too busy with his other stuff, who knows

[Jeff Almeyda]

I think that the top WFD guys are genetic freaks. They may have more white fibers than the rest of us or something. Yes, technique will take you anywhere you want to go but technique COMBINED with superior genetics will take you farther.

To make a simple analogy: Anyone can improve their physical condition thru diet/exercise but that doesn't mean that anyone could be the next Schwarzenegger (or the next Mike Mangini)

As far as Travis goes. He's a very good drummer in a genre full of second-rate drummers so all of the little fans he has think he's amazing. He wouldn't dare tarnish that rep by trying to break 1,000.

[finnhiggins]

Genetic mutants? That's hilarious.

You reckon? Just you wait until the war breaks out. Professor X won't be able to save you then!

[T.Underhill]

When he logs in later maybe he can shed some light on the subject.

[Jeff Almeyda]

When he logs in later maybe he can shed some light on the subject.

Bro, you cracked me up with that one!

[Redhead]

How do you play this beat in the camarcal? It has been bugging me for a while so I thought maybe I would hand the task off to more experanced srummers? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1RyCRX--NA&search=Boost)
Thanks in advance,
Red

[beatsMcGee]

i happen to love his groove "killer" style.. to me it adds to the songs and it dosnt kill it, but we are all entitled to our own opinions... youd probably hate my style of playing cuz im influenced alot by travsibarker and like stewart copeland. and that ornimental type of accented playing. i also put loads of rolls everywhere haha..

[We_Love_Lime]

ehhh, i disagree the offspring drummers not as good, but i dont think chad smith is as good as travis what? Chad has nothing special really. And nutha what songs have u covered from him you got any videos?

Chad is INCREDIBLE... Ssh Man.

[the.tree]

This isn't a slam travis thread this poor guy wants some help and you guys put him down. What i would say is if you really want his sound, get his heads and play around with them. I think he uses remo coated emperors with an emporer-x- snare head. As for the bass head, you'll have to search ocdc bass heads.

[~tamadrummer~]

i would stay away from the emperors i can get mine in tune!

[pdp 9091]

This isn't a slam travis thread this poor guy wants some help and you guys put him down. What i would say is if you really want his sound, get his heads and play around with them. I think he uses remo coated emperors with an emporer-x- snare head. As for the bass head, you'll have to search ocdc bass heads.


im not slamming him...he was actually my favorite drummer at one time but im just saying imo, studying more skilfull drums will get you farther.

[tambian89]

Travis Barker is better than your average pop-punk drummer, correct? If not tell me who is better ( I really feel Tre Cool does not measure up). Travis is better than most of the drummers in his genre; that is really where I feel his skill ends. He may be skilled at rudiments and marching, but he plays neither one of those as a profession, nor is he the best at both.

Roger Ebert has a style of rating movies; he rates them through stars. For example, a movie he loves will receive 4 out of 4 stars; a movie he hates will receive 1 (maybe 0) out of 4. However, he compares movies based on their genre. For example, he gave Batman Begins 4 out of 4 stars; he also gave Schindler's List 4 out of 4 stars. He does not, however, mean that both films are equally good; he simply means, that, in comparison to other superhero films, Batman Begins is probably his favorite. In terms of historical dramas, he feels Schindler's list is his favorite. Ebert does not mean that Batman Begins and Schindler's List are equal in terms of quality (though some people may).

Roger says: "The star rating system is relative, not absolute. When you ask a friend if Hellboy is any good, you're not asking if it's any good compared to Mystic River, you're asking if it's any good compared to The Punisher. And my answer would be, on a scale of one to four, if Superman is four, then Hellboy is three and The Punisher is two. In the same way, if American Beauty gets four stars, then [The United States of] Leland clocks in at about two."

Same goes for Travis Barker; In comparison to Tre Cool, Travis is about a 4, Tre is about a 3, and Chuck Comeau is about a 2. While one can compare Buddy Rich, 4, to Chick Webb, 3.5, one cannot compare Rich to Barker.

- Marc

[finnhiggins]

No problem, I'll just shape shift into Meg White until the coast is clear.

Hey, you may find you never want to change back...

[DogBreath]

Marc, that was a great explanation.

[beatsMcGee]

i agree, i dont compare rich and barker together, but i agree he is on a higher skill lever than tre cool. tree is a good drummer for green day, i just dont see is overwhelming skill...as far as my impression of barker i just love his busy drumming--its fun to play and watch.. his rudiments incorperated with his grooves is awesome to me.. some people hate it but i love it.

[beatsMcGee]

I remember this. I'm pretty sure it was said. But you know, alot of times these guys have publicity people who say junk the guys never really said themselves, like how he had gotten up to 1216 on his drumometer. You know thats crazy. But the publicity guy probably thought this was no big deal thinkin' nobody would follow up.

Travis Barker did go to a WFD last year but didn't compete. He had to see then how fast it really is.

Genetic freaks? That's hilarious.

dose any one have tape of travis saying that? i dobut he did, probably was what you mentioned people publicly saying stuff to bring hype up... i doubt travis would claim he could compete. i love his style and all, but i doubt (you never know-he could be at his house laughing hitting 1300! just kidden) he would say he could set a new world record..

[PigPen]

I think Travis is good, but limits himself in some of his pop punk bands. But then again, there's no need for flashy, crazy drumming everywhere in those songs. I'd love to see him in more interesting bands. Blink 182 gives him a bad image, I think, in drumming. I almost liked him better in Box Car Racer, but they were both pretty lame. Overall music wise. I saw the videos of him on this site though, really cool.

[PigPen]

Johnny Rabb is the man. Whoever said Travis probably doesn't focus on being the fastest drummer, I agree with them. Especially with everything he does. He tours with bands, has a TV show, runs a company, and with the drum practices he does I don't think he has the time even to practice becoming WFD.

[kkelso]

thanks dude for helping me out :)

[famousjim]

Kids who have never heard any other drummer say travis is awsome cos thats all they have to go on. Travis himself doesnt claim to be a drumming superpower. he's getting kids into drums because what 10-16 year old would listen to buddy rich or steve gadd songs in this day and age? he's classed as 'amazing'etc cos he's all these people have to go on. He's the best cos they aint heard better. I used to be the same. But then i started playing more complicated stuff and got me a steve gadd book. Travis aint the best. only to a certain age group.

[boomboomda]

Here is a link to those bass drum metal hoops for the portholes.


http://vintagelogos.com/holz.html

[T-1000]

Funny everyone says how people will eventually grow out of Travis when they hear all the old jazz greats. When I first started drumming, I really wanted to be awed by the 'best' drummer, so I checked out Buddy Rich's solo's, of course. Although initially the sheer speed was impressive, the effect wore off quickly, because speed can only do so much, but then I saw Travis's solo's, and they were played with energy and agression, and it did it for me. I still haven't got bored of Travis's playing...

[ThomasDee]

i seriously doubt that he said that. probably a rumour
Actually at one time it was at mtv.com MTV's web page of Travis. He said he was spending time with his dog and training to break the world's fastest drummer record. This was several years and a couple of marriages and TV shows ago, so who knows what happened. He definately doesn't need to money, gear or publicity, so if he did it, it would be simply a personal goal of his to have the title.

I asked about this when he made that statement and Boo said not to count him out for he was much faster and had better technique than many would think. Back then though the record was held by Johnny Rabb or Art Verdi and around the high 1000's or early 1100's. Now it's over 1200 and climbing. Honestly there's only a handful in the world that are capable of running at these kinds of speed. Think about it, that's over 20 times per second every second for a full minute. Can you name 5 drummers in the world that you honestly believe can do that? Mangini is the ONLY person in the history of the world that has OFFICIALLY been through the 1200 barrier with hand singles. That's quite an achevement.

Travis does have a couple of drumometers and I think possibly he and Boo still talk. Not sure I'll ask what's up...........

TD

[BrianW]

Im guessing your talking about the one right at the start of the commercial. Its a pretty straight foward punk beat. The bass beat is duplicated on the toms and alternated between floor and high.
Just try listening to it a couple times.

[beatsMcGee]

Actually at one time it was at mtv.com MTV's web page of Travis. He said he was spending time with his dog and training to break the world's fastest drummer record. This was several years and a couple of marriages and TV shows ago, so who knows what happened. He definately doesn't need to money, gear or publicity, so if he did it, it would be simply a personal goal of his to have the title.

I asked about this when he made that statement and Boo said not to count him out for he was much faster and had better technique than many would think. Back then though the record was held by Johnny Rabb or Art Verdi and around the high 1000's or early 1100's. Now it's over 1200 and climbing. Honestly there's only a handful in the world that are capable of running at these kinds of speed. Think about it, that's over 20 times per second every second for a full minute. Can you name 5 drummers in the world that you honestly believe can do that? Mangini is the ONLY person in the history of the world that has OFFICIALLY been through the 1200 barrier with hand singles. That's quite an achevement.

Travis does have a couple of drumometers and I think possibly he and Boo still talk. Not sure I'll ask what's up...........TD




wow i stand corrected... good work. i never heard him say that, but like said i think hes uber busy with his lik multiple bands and company and what not.. whos boo? im guessing some one that runs WFD ? i know travis has good technique but those world fastest drummers dudes probably (correct me if im wrong ) focus 90% of their practice time on signle strokes, they probably are barely medicor on the kit.. ( bash away im sure some one will throw my last sentence in my face)...

p.s you know boo ?

[ThomasDee]

wow i stand corrected... good work. i never heard him say that, but like said i think hes uber busy with his lik multiple bands and company and what not.. whos boo? im guessing some one that runs WFD ? i know travis has good technique but those world fastest drummers dudes probably (correct me if im wrong ) focus 90% of their practice time on signle strokes, they probably are barely medicor on the kit.. ( bash away im sure some one will throw my last sentence in my face)...

p.s you know boo ?
No Problem. Boo and Craig are the two guys that started all this. Yes I know them and from time to time, well a lot the past 6 months have worked for them. Mostly editing and shooting videos for them.

Tim Yeung is a WFD guy and so, do you really think he is as you say 'medicor' on the kit? A lot of these guys have sold quite a few records and packed out a great deal of venues just to be as you say 'medicor' on the kit. But hey that your opinion and your have a right to voice it no matter if it's true or false, I guess.

Not meant as bashing, just informative education.

TD

[T-1000]

Tim Yeung is 'the crazy man', but it's a shame Vital Remains play slightly uninspired speed-assault metal. Nethertheless, Yeung is extremely fast. Does anyone know/can anyone guess how many single strokes with the hands and feet Flo Mournier could do? Also, does Boo ('scary' name) use alternating fingers with his finger bouncing technique?

[dwjosh]

i'm a huge travis barker fan...so what? we all have people we look up to...so why not travis? he's not the greatest and never will be. but he's what i like. and no 2 drummers will ever play a song the exact same way. we all have different opinions of how a song should be played. the atlanta braves may not be the best team in baseball, but they still pack out a stadium with fans. so why is it not ok for travis to have fans and be looked up to?

[beatsMcGee]

Funny everyone says how people will eventually grow out of Travis when they hear all the old jazz greats. When I first started drumming, I really wanted to be awed by the 'best' drummer, so I checked out Buddy Rich's solo's, of course. Although initially the sheer speed was impressive, the effect wore off quickly, because speed can only do so much, but then I saw Travis's solo's, and they were played with energy and agression, and it did it for me. I still haven't got bored of Travis's playing...


damn finally some one i agree with, i am the same way.. ive seen all the greats and i know what everyone has to offer, and im aware travis isnt "technically" the best, but hes still my fav for the same reason.. his drumming is catchy, energetic, fun, and skillful. i mean you see all the blazing solos and stuff, but i am always a sucker for like a cool groove, and to me travis offers alot of interesting beats and fills... hes got a cool style too.. i havnt seen anyone that tops his stage presence.

[tambian89]

Marc, that was a great explanation.

Thankyou Dogbreath! I really think that too many people try and compare Travis Barker, who has really only begun his career, to jazz greats like Buddy Rich, who had over 3 decades of work under his belt. Travis serves the pop-punk purpose well; as I have said before, can anyone think of a pop-punk drummer who out-does him? The closest (I think, I'm not even remotely a fan of pop-punk) drummer to Travis' skill is probably Longineu Parson (the Yellowcard dude). Then again, I really don't know pop-punk (I don't even listen to it).

- Marc

[T-1000]

Whoo beatsmcgee!! And is that Thomas Delonge, the man himself, on your picture thing-ey? Anyway, tambian89, sir, I respect your opinions and somewhat creative analogies, but you seem to have a (perhaps unintended) patronizing attitude towards drummers within the 'pop-punk' genre. Your tone of voice (typing?) is as if to say (and here's my pseudo creative analogy): 'yes, that is a good painting...for a toddler, but you can't really compare it to Picasso now, can you?'

Give the pop-punk guys more credit than this!! I keep saying this; check out Sum 41's All Killer... the 2nd song has an intro in 7/4, and like 40 seconds into the 12th song, there are alternating bars of 4/4 and 6/4...from a mall punk band!? Who'd have thought it? Jordan Burns of Strung Out even plays double kick and more than 2 toms(!)

Travis's playing is a microcosm of Blink's music: simple, fun, catchy and energetic; easy (or relatively easy) to play, not so easy to come up with...

EDIT: and beatz, Chad Sexton of 311, and Derek Grant of Alkaline Trio also seem to be right up your street; the street of creative grooves, great feel and ample technicality. Come on guys, what more could you ask of a drummer?

[Redhead]

No the one between the high hat snare and bass after the tom beat

[tambian89]

Your tone of voice (typing?) is as if to say (and here's my pseudo creative analogy): 'yes, that is a good painting...for a toddler, but you can't really compare it to Picasso now, can you?'

Dogbreath liked it!!!

No; I see what you are saying. Like Roger Ebert, my rating system is pretty relative. I'm really just saying that, a pop-punk band will usually fit it's intended style. I definately think a pop-punk band can be good (I personally like Billy Talent, who are more revival type punk, but pop-like notheless). I don't mean to undermind pop-punk; if I did I seem to deride it in any way, it was unintentional. What I meant to say was; Pop-punk drumming and jazz drumming are going to be completely different, as each will try and satisfy the needs of its own style. I don't mean to say one is better than the other; I appreciate you voicing (in this case typing) your opinion. Hope I cleared that up.

- Marc

[rendezvous_drummer]

i would stay away from the emperors i can get mine in tune!
so what's the problem haha? i know what ye meant. I actually had a very easy time tuning my emperors, except for my snare, it keeps going out of tune, but it could be the tension rods. Unless you have acryllic, i don't think you can get the same sound. Look for you own individual sound, that's what being a drummer is all about.

[mattsmith]

Hey beatsMcGee,

You live in Raleigh man, which is like a kind of WFD hotbed. There are alot of strong teachers out there who teach good fundamentals and stuff and are world class WFD guys. Eric Okamoto, is one of the best rudiment guys in the world and teaches at a store in Cary. He's also a WFD champion. Scott LaBoarde was top 10 in the world championships the last couple of years and lives in Wake Forest. He's also got a great educational website drumskillz.com. You ought to check these out. It might improve your vibe about the WFD guys. You'd also find out by watchin these guys that some of these big time guys claiming to use speed in certain ways aren't as hot as we are told.

[ThomasDee]

Tim Yeung is 'the crazy man', but it's a shame Vital Remains play slightly uninspired speed-assault metal. Nethertheless, Yeung is extremely fast. Does anyone know/can anyone guess how many single strokes with the hands and feet Flo Mournier could do? Also, does Boo ('scary' name) use alternating fingers with his finger bouncing technique?
HAHA! You may have Boo and Art Verdi mixed up. Art's the master of finger technique. Check him out at www.artverdi.com I worked on his video called 'Practicing Properly' which has become like the bible for all who do WFD. As far as Boo (yes a scary name, he was born on Halloween) I would definately be 'afraid' to speculate on how he uses his fingers. YIKES! HAHA! lol

Check out Art and yea also all the guys that Matt mentioned in your area. www.drumskilz.com (link?) I hope that's right, anyway, it's a great site for all WFD training. There's tons of WFD stuff out there. Lots here at DrummerWorld. NJ has a great site with charts, techniques etc...Oh, also www.drummerbuzz.com for the WFD-UK stuff is really cool. Timwaterson.com for the feet. timyeung.com axis.com Lots of stuff at pearldrum.com tigerbill.com just tons of info out there. There's a article of sorts coming out in Wired Magazine this month too on WFD.

Matt, I know I left out lots of other sites, can you add o the above list? What's the link to Nutha's site?

As far as Flo, he's one of those guys that everyone predicts as a top contender for setting or breaking WFD World records. Another guy who has just joined the WFD is Jim Kilpatrick from Scottland. Jim is a 17 time 'World Drumming Champion'. If you are not familiar with Jim kilpatrick please check him out, he's amazing. All are on the edge to know what Jim will do as far as WFD World Records. Don't forget there's also Thomas Lang waiting in the wings. Along with Travis Barker and others.

WFD is totally unpredictable! That's the beauty of it.

TD

[ThomasDee]

I found NJ's link it's http://jasonhorsler.tripod.com/id10.html

By all means check it out! Great stuff! I love the ladders and all the drumometer chart examples and just so much great technique building stuff. Check it out!

TD

[T-1000]

I don't mean to undermine pop-punk; if I did I didn't mean to.

This sentence confuses me...

Anyway, other than that, I think we cleared this one up; being a metalhead (like yourself), I , too can appreciate the merits of other styles of drumming, and that no one is 'better' than the other, merely different. However, you could argue that, (continuing with my previous analogy), a Picasso painting is no 'better' than the work of a toddler, but everyone would know who you implied was better, and I thought you were doing that with your comparison of jazz and pop-punk, but evidently not.

[~tamadrummer~]

well i was looking for a dead low sound so thats what the dude at the drum shop suggested those. i tried everything even had my drum teacher try and tune em but no luck. maybe it was my drums....but i don think so because ec2s sound pretty good on em!

[Bonzo91]

im not slamming him...he was actually my favorite drummer at one time but im just saying imo, studying more skilfull drums will get you farther.

You used to like Travis Barker? You guys are full of surprises lol.

[tambian89]

I hate Blink 182 too, but Travis Barker is a pop-puk drummer - he will never compare to any metal drummer due to his style. To quote myself here:

"Travis Barker is better than your average pop-punk drummer, correct? If not tell me who is better ( I really feel Tre Cool does not measure up). Travis is better than most of the drummers in his genre; that is really where I feel his skill ends. He may be skilled at rudiments and marching, but he plays neither one of those as a profession, nor is he the best at both.

Roger Ebert has a style of rating movies; he rates them through stars. For example, a movie he loves will receive 4 out of 4 stars; a movie he hates will receive 1 (maybe 0) out of 4. However, he compares movies based on their genre. For example, he gave Batman Begins 4 out of 4 stars; he also gave Schindler's List 4 out of 4 stars. He does not, however, mean that both films are equally good; he simply means, that, in comparison to other superhero films, Batman Begins is probably his favorite. In terms of historical dramas, he feels Schindler's list is his favorite. Ebert does not mean that Batman Begins and Schindler's List are equal in terms of quality (though some people may).

Roger says: "The star rating system is relative, not absolute. When you ask a friend if Hellboy is any good, you're not asking if it's any good compared to Mystic River, you're asking if it's any good compared to The Punisher. And my answer would be, on a scale of one to four, if Superman is four, then Hellboy is three and The Punisher is two. In the same way, if American Beauty gets four stars, then [The United States of] Leland clocks in at about two."

Same goes for Travis Barker; In comparison to Tre Cool, Travis is about a 4, Tre is about a 3, and Chuck Comeau is about a 2. While one can compare Buddy Rich, 4, to Chick Webb, 3.5, one cannot compare Rich to Barker."

There you go. I don't mean to attack you if it seems like I am; I think Travis should only be compared to pop-punk drummers in terms of skill, since that is all we hear of him anyway.

- Marc

[Melvin]

Breaking that record is impossible for that guy.

[Class A Drummer]

Current Top Ten WFD Fastest Hands Rankings as of March 25, 2006

Mike Mangini 1247
Jotan Afanador 1199
Art Verdi 1116
Dan Barnat 1106
Sam LaCompte 1096
Eric Okamoto 1085
Johnny Rabb 1071 tie
Brad Broomfield 1071 tie
Matt Smith 1061
Tiger Bill Meligari 1060

In this type of specialized event, any of these guys would own Travis Barker like a used car.
I think Art Verdi is the fastest with more then 1200

[Elvin4ever]

I think Art Verdi is the fastest with more then 1200
No Class A, what I posted was 100% accurate...no debates.

Verdi is third all time, and second in traditional grip.

BTW, I viewed your video. Nice job...you've got good chops for a 14-15 year old.

[Bonzo91]

you reveal a lot more about yourself in a post like this than about travis barker. a better drummer at age five? exaggerator. no timing? his timing is excellent so your ear for timing might be way off. no tone? tone deaf as well? his toms sing and we hear them fine thank you. a million things he does wrong? a million is a huge number. exaggerator. he just sucks? well go to a forum that doesn't celebrate drummers then...this one does celebrate drummers. we can criticise yes but be warned that your criticism often reveals your own inaddequacies far more than you would hope or like.

j

Hey i agree with you and stu i juest dont like him to begin with thats all...

[Chip]

What's hard about it?

Sounds like (I hate tabs but, meh)
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
C X--------------
H ----x---x---x--
S --o-----o---o-o
B o---o-o---o----

[ventor]

Travis is definetely a good drummer, but I am a bit bored of the hype teenies make about the guy. Sure, he might be the best of the pseudo-punk drummers but much more? I say no, though my view might be limited since I hate Blink182. But also when I´m just concentrating on the drums I can find so many other greater drummers than him. Overall, he deserves a lot of respect but shouldn´t be soooo much admired.

[Stu_Strib]

Well, if they have a WFD Double Strokes competition, he might compete, given that's all he ever plays ;-)

Single strokes he'd get murdered.

[beatsMcGee]

i like the fact that i can listen to any blink 182 cd that had travis drumming on it, and not hear the same beat twice.. all the songs have considerably different beats and they are all creative and fun to me..

[beatsMcGee]

Then why did you say it?

I am one of those people and none of us spends most of our time on single strokes. Of my two and a half hour a day practice routine I spend about 30 minutes on speed issues maybe five days a week. All of the major WFD guys are great set players. That's a myth that was thrown out years ago.

well i didnt know for sure wether they were good kit players, but i knew they HAD to focus 90% of their practice on speed, but then i also imagined like tim waterson or some other WFD comptetiors post the opposit...

[ThomasDee]

I just checked elvin4ever is correct Mike is still on top with 1247. There seems to be a huge barrier at 1250. Funny how these barriers in WFD scores happen around the 50 and 100 count. The next big number to fall is 1300. 1300? Is that really possible? If so, who do you think will be the first to break the 1300. They say it is awful lonely at the top. I bet this guy is going to be all by him/her self for a long time. Kinda like Tim Waterson has been in the feet category.

TD

[beatsMcGee]

No Problem. Boo and Craig are the two guys that started all this. Yes I know them and from time to time, well a lot the past 6 months have worked for them. Mostly editing and shooting videos for them.

Tim Yeung is a WFD guy and so, do you really think he is as you say 'medicor' on the kit? A lot of these guys have sold quite a few records and packed out a great deal of venues just to be as you say 'medicor' on the kit. But hey that your opinion and your have a right to voice it no matter if it's true or false, I guess.

Not meant as bashing, just informative education.

TD


i ment it more of a question rather than an open opinoin.. i was kinda asking are they medicor on the kit ? or are they really talented on the kit and just happen to be blazing fast on the pad aswell... sorry for the misundertanding i think i just typed it wrong to the way i was thinkin.

[beatsMcGee]

Hey beatsMcGee,

You live in Raleigh man, which is like a kind of WFD hotbed. There are alot of strong teachers out there who teach good fundamentals and stuff and are world class WFD guys. Eric Okamoto, is one of the best rudiment guys in the world and teaches at a store in Cary. He's also a WFD champion. Scott LaBoarde was top 10 in the world championships the last couple of years and lives in Wake Forest. He's also got a great educational website drumskillz.com. You ought to check these out. It might improve your vibe about the WFD guys. You'd also find out by watchin these guys that some of these big time guys claiming to use speed in certain ways aren't as hot as we are told.


hey man ! do you live in raleigh ? yea i take drum lessons at Progressive Percussion in raleigh, i like it enough its cool , there is a guy there named scott.. that wouldnt happen to be the person your talkin about in your post are you ....?

[Stu_Strib]

i like the fact that i can listen to any blink 182 cd that had travis drumming on it, and not hear the same beat twice.. all the songs have considerably different beats and they are all creative and fun to me..

Did you listen to the files I posted? Or does it not count because that was Boxcar Racer and not Blink 182, LOL!

Actually, he often falls back on one specific style of phrasing with his beats/fills, etc. Many of his beats are based on this feel:

4547

He plays this phrase in several ways; as double stroke rolls on the snare and as singles around the toms. This is often one of the first and simple polyrhythms 3:4 that most beginners learn and thus, popular through familiarity.

[hardhitter]

check out the solo on OCDP website of him.

http://ocdrum.com/barker/

[shuffle]

This is a very good example of why I am not usually into drum solos.

Repetitive, no groove, no dynamics, ... What is exactly the structure of this solo ? Mostly a speed demonstration, and not even that impressive on that aspect anyway. And this little rhythm that he develops in a few sections... talk about a strange choice of groove for a solo...

Not my cup of tea. Some of his ideas in songs are by far more interesting than this piece of work.

[beatsMcGee]

This is a very good example of why I am not usually into drum solos.

Repetitive, no groove, no dynamics, ... What is exactly the structure of this solo ? Mostly a speed demonstration, and not even that impressive on that aspect anyway. And this little rhytm that he develops in a few sections... talk about a strange choice of groove for a solo...

Not my cup of tea. Some of his rhytmic ideas in songs are by far more interesting than this piece of work.

i agree that is not his best solo, but i like his acrylic kit.

[LinearDrummer]

This is a very good example of why I am not usually into drum solos.



To me that all depends upon WHO's doin the solo....

Anywayz Travis is an alright drummer BUT - hmmm it pays to be popular I guess....I'll just leave it at that....Dude has got some serious space between the snare and the top of his hi-hats...personally I like no more than about 6 inches of space.....

[travis barkers #1 fan]

i can see why some people dont like him but they dont search for stuff about him and his music style he is really good a technical beats because he is primarily a hip hop style drummer and actually just cuz he isnt the fastest drummer in the world doesnt mean he isnt faster than every single person in this forum ... well thats all i have to say

[eddrummer05]

i think he is a great drummer, why theres so many haters on this forum???,people stop HATING,when you guys get to play in in a band like blink and get famous you can talk bs about it, for now just stop hating........

[Stu_Strib]

Hey eddrummer, if you read the previous posts, you'll see most of our contempt is aimed at comments like yours....who cares how famous someone is? It doesn't mean squat about your skill.

Paris Hilton is famous, and for what again? Oh yeah, famous because she's popular. Why is she popular? Oh yeah, because she's rich and famous..

See, it gets us nowhere saying how much fame or money someone has when we are talking about DRUMMERS on a DRUM FORUM.

[tambian89]

Yeah, and half of these responses are to people who get off topic (like me right now).

Personally, I think Travis Barker is the only really talented member of Blink 182; they don't interest me much, and Travis seems to be lightyears away from the rest of Blink 182. (I'm off topic again........)

Can anyone agree that Travis Barker is a relatively good drummer who happens to receive a little too much attention for his drumming? I can.

- Marc

[russcat]

Can anyone agree that Travis Barker is a relatively good drummer who happens to receive a little too much attention for his drumming? I can.


Yes I agree.I think he does exactly what he needs to do for the band he is in and he does it well.

[tambian89]

Yes I agree.I think he does exactly what he needs to do for the band he is in and he does it well.

Damn straight? Why the controversy? I'll never know.........This thread may never end.

- Marc

[dLesage]

Funny everyone says how people will eventually grow out of Travis when they hear all the old jazz greats. When I first started drumming, I really wanted to be awed by the 'best' drummer, so I checked out Buddy Rich's solo's, of course. Although initially the sheer speed was impressive, the effect wore off quickly, because speed can only do so much, but then I saw Travis's solo's, and they were played with energy and agression, and it did it for me. I still haven't got bored of Travis's playing...

couldn't have said it better myself. i LOVE his energy and passion. and, I do enjoy listening to blink 182's music. for bands, it's not necessarily always about playing the hardest stuff possible to be "good". at least, not in my opinion.

[beatsMcGee]

couldn't have said it better myself. i LOVE his energy and passion. and, I do enjoy listening to blink 182's music. for bands, it's not necessarily always about playing the hardest stuff possible to be "good". at least, not in my opinion.

i agree with both of you... it seems to people when you say you like travis everyones like "you must be new to drumming" or "go check out some real drummers" .. well i have, and ive liked travis well before he got famous and all these tv shows..and ive been playing drums for years and ive checked all the greats, and i still choose travis as my fav.. hes got passion and energy, speed, and originalliy.

[DWDrummer]

First of all, all of you who degrade Travis in anyway make me sick. I can see how you think he is a drugged out, stuck up celebrity, but that is not him. All of you who just watch his television show and listen to Take Off Your Pants and Jacket most likely think he is a jerk who isn't very good. If you were fortunate to see him at this years Guitar Center's Drum off 2006, you would have been impressed. For one, he played maybe 1 or two fills that were fast. His other work was comprised of medium-tempoed, irregular patterns played on a simple set up: snare, hi-hat, two crashes, floor tom, cowbell, and a picolo tom. He played very impressive off- beat rhythms with the cowbell and the simple set up. Ten minutes later, he moved off the drum set onto a marching snare and did a twenty minute snare duet with Adrian young (No Doubt) compirsed off very fast sixteenth and thirty second notes filled with flams in the most unique and complicated ways, along with odd metered measures with some challenging rolls.

Moreover, my point is that drumming is an art; not a competition. Yes, bands compete for money,fame, etc, but when you are discussing an art, like drumming, you do not critisize. When you take it to that extent, you take out the fun of the art. If you ask 1,000 drummers to play the same beat, you will hear 1,000 different versions of the beat. Just because Travis doesn't play like Gadd, doesn't mean you have to say "OMG i hate travis barker because he plays all fast." For one, he doesn't play "all fast," for you completely ignorant people out there. His technique is quite fulfilled, as he uses the Moeller technique quite well. Better yet, he idolizes drummers like Gadd. Secondly, for all of you who think his "technique is horrible" (i.e., reaching off his seat to his toms, hitting too hard, etc.) you are quite mistaken. The reason he comes off his seat is for emotional reasons; it is proof he loves to play the drums ( an art, not a competition remember?). And, oh yeah, who ever said that Gadd and Rich ( I'm not critisizing these two, I idolize them both) play rudiments with feel rather than just as a "rudiment," and who said Travis has horrible technique because he "comes off his seat," you are contradicting yourself my friend. He comes off the seat, as I previously said, for emotional reasons, and feel. As Charles Dowd said, "drumming is what you make it," and Travis resembles that quote pretty good. For those who critisized Travis on the video where he is playing the military-like snare rolls, give me a break. Do you think he was playing in front of Gadd or in a drum off crowd of 5,000 people? Please, it was in front of Mark Hoppus; he was fooling around and he probably didn't even know he was being filmed. He was not playing to his full extent obviously.

Moreover, for those of you who think I'm "completely obssessed" with Travis are extremely wrong. Yes, I idolize him, along with Danny Carey, Virgil Donati, Gadd, and hundreds of others. The reason I wrote so much was because I was so sick and tired of you guys ragging on an extremely talented drummer based on albums like 'Enema of the State." If you ever take the time to listen to a Box Car Racer cd, that is where Travis plays more technically challenged songs compared to songs like "Man Overboard." And again, if you think Travis is "overrated and horrible," please, give me a break; Why is he going to add a thirty second note parididdle-type fill with accents in odd places in a studio song? Travis plays to fit the music, and he does it very well. If you want to see Travis play his drums, check him out at a drum off, or a concert maybe- not a CD or old screw around video that was put out 3-10 years ago.

If you are going to reply to this with cussing and by degrading me in any way, please save your time. I'm not bashing on any of you at all, I'm just giving my opinion on a very talented drummer that is apart of a world of great drummers. However, if you plan on critisizing what I said in any negative way, I feel sorry for you because you have taken the fun out of the art of drumming.

[DogBreath]

First of all, all of you who degrade Travis in anyway make me sick... if you plan on critisizing what I said in any negative way, I feel sorry for you ...
Welcome to the forum. Please check your attitude. Thanks.

[DWDrummer]

Sorry for the rudeness, that came out wrong. Believe me I'm not trying to degrade anyones opinion, but it bugs me when people make a negative opinion about Travis just after seeing him play a song like "Man Overboard."

[Jookbox]

i don't like him at all, but it's mostly because of the music. not necessairly his playing. it's hard to sit through those songs, lol.

[Stu_Strib]

As Charles Dowd said, "drumming is what you make it,"

...

Moreover, for those of you who think I'm "completely obssessed" with Travis are extremely wrong. Yes, I idolize him,


I think I may be the only one who knows who you are talking about here.

I can assure you that Dr. Dowd despises Travis Barker type drummers. I know, because I used to be one, and I really got the stink eye from him for it.

And am I the only one who thinks "completely obsessed" and "idolize" are kinda the same thing?

[DWDrummer]

Stu_Strib-

You have a good point.

When I said obsession, I was referring to as if I only listened to Travis.

With idolizing, I meant I respect what he is doing and see it as an inspiration...

As far as Charles Dowd, not liking Travis's "type," please elaborate if you could.

Thanks.

[Stu_Strib]

Stu_Strib-

You have a good point.

When I said obsession, I was referring to as if I only listened to Travis.

With idolizing, I meant I respect what he is doing and see it as an inspiration...

As far as Charles Dowd, not liking Travis's "type," please elaborate if you could.

Thanks.

Are you talking about Charles Dowd, who wrote Funky Primer and teaches at the Universty of Oregon? If so, then yeah, I knew him fairly well, and he is a rather elite style drummer. He doesn't have much time or patience with pop rock musicians.

[DWDrummer]

Yes, I am. Thanks for the reply. I would like to talk to you one on one about this if you have time; send me a message if you want to. Thanks again.

[Stu_Strib]

Sure, I pm'd you. I don't think invoking Charles Dowd will earn you much credit on this board though, since not too many people know who he is.

~stu

[DWDrummer]

Okay thanks, I replied.

This question I would like to be answered by the experienced Adminstrators rather than one sided musicians. In the Funky Primer by Charles Dowd, he stresses the importance of musicianship. He explains that musicianship is the respect by a musician towards all branches of music (jazz,rock.etc). If people like Dowd despise Travis Barker type drummers, then isn't he contradicting his stressing of the importance of musicianship by hating pop rock?

[DogBreath]

This question I would like to be answered by the experienced Adminstrators rather than one sided musicians. In the Funky Primer by Charles Dowd, he stresses the importance of musicianship. He explains that musicianship is the respect by a musician towards all branches of music (jazz,rock.etc). If people like Dowd despise Travis Barker type drummers, then isn't he contradicting his stressing of the importance of musicianship by hating pop rock?
It's hard to answer that question based on a paraphrase of his original statement. If I could read the actual quote, taken in the original context, then I would be happy to give you my impression of whether or not he was contradicting himself.

DW, I would like to point out that this conversation is getting off topic. The purpose of this section of the forum is to discuss specific drummers, and the purpose of this thread is to discuss Travis Barker. If you'd like to PM someone, there's no need to mention it here, and if you'd like to start a discussion about a new subject, please feel free to start a new thread in the proper forum section. Thanks.

[DWDrummer]

Ok sorry- my bad. Anyway, the original content of that quote can be found in the last pages of The Funky Primer by Charles Dowd.

[funtoknow1234]

Travis Barker is so awsome at drums he like has his style down just right and he has a great soundin snare 2

[funtoknow1234]

i love these sticks they are so great if you do to tell me about y u like them

[russcat]

I love them,they are almost perfect weight/size BUT they leave white marks on everything and I don't like wood tips.For those reasons I don't use them.If they released a Travis Barker stick with a natural finish and nylon tips I would use them forever.

[ElvinBaRkerDennis13]

I love them,they are almost perfect weight/size BUT they leave white marks on everything and I don't like wood tips.For those reasons I don't use them.If they released a Travis Barker stick with a natural finish and nylon tips I would use them forever.
by the vic buddy richs, they are almost the same stick, but they dont break and chip as easy

[boomboomda]

I just checked back about ten pages on the "Drummers" page and I noticed that Travis Barker has the most comments at 433 and the most views with almost 15,000. Closest to that came John Bonham with 387 comments and about 9,300 views.
This is not a pro or contra Travis Barker, just noticed that the guy creates quite a buzz, at least on this forum.

[NUTHA JASON]

joey jordison is also very discussed.

312 replies and 16240 views.

j

[Disco Stu]

Of course, the difference is Bonham hasn't been around for the last 26 years and he is still much discussed and revered. A bit more impressive, I'd say.

[drummer whatyacallim]

omg it is so amazing how beautifully this sticks r designed weight length width ,i will admit the white marks r annoying

[wnameth]

it puts white marks on your drums? what if im using like white coated heads on the drums? im looking for a good stick since my nice zildjian dipped ones broke.

[cdawg_2010]

ya i like using them for just snare drum stuff such as at school in band, but i dont like playing with them on my drumset because the white marks on cymbals

[burnthehero]

Yes, Travis Barker is a popular guy.

[dwjosh]

i loved them too, but all the white paint is more than i can stand. try the vater power 5A, its the same exact stick with no paint on it.

[Class A Drummer]

Pic? i never seen em b4.

[russcat]

by the vic buddy richs, they are almost the same stick, but they dont break and chip as easy
Thanks,I will give them a try!

[russcat]

Pic? i never seen em b4.
http://img346.imageshack.us/img346/3361/sdbastb01d6fr.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/8746/5a1b6rj.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
You can also get the ones with the mallet on the end for like $20

[KLittle123]

What're you people talking about? I hated these sticks, I thought they were worthless, they were made out of like nothing. Maybe the reason they were so flexible and fast was the fact that they were made out of nothing. They broke easier than heck and the tips chipped like crazy, It turned into a box shaped tip instead of a circle shape, and it also made nice white marks all over. I thought they were junk.

[ATCQ]

I also recommend Vater Power 5A...They're just as long, but skinnier..

[famousjim]

Iv been reading a lot of these posts and quite frankly, all the travis critics can go take a hike. A different expression would have been preffered but hey its a multi age forum. The guys is a great drummer. Deal with it. Every drummer is different. Travis isn't Buddy Rich or Steve Gadd. If he played Buddy Rich or Gadd-esque licks in songs superbly well you guys would just say he's un-original. Originality is what he's best at and he plays what fits the song. Thats what a good drummer does. If he got asked to play on a Paul Simon track I'm sure we would all be blown away.

And as for the videos, does any of the featured clips say "Here is Travis playing to the best of his ability on a drum pad' or 'Here is Travis playing the best solo he can possibly do, not a simple-ish solo that he knows will get 10,000 cheers from the crowd"? I didnt see anything along those lines so why are you assuming this. I previously was mis-interpreted as saying that eventually drummers will grow out of Travis's playing when the here the greats play.

I have been to see blink twice and it was mainly to see Travis in action. He hits the drums hard, he hits them fast and he's a great showman. Why is this a problem? People like to see cool things when they watch a band (bands he's played in anyway) i.e. standing up to hit toms etc.

Drumming is supposed to be fun. If I got the choice to go on stage and play Steve Gadd's 'Crazy Army' or go rock out for 90mins in a punk rock band I know what i'd choose. But then I'd be dissected by all the guys who are drumming's equivilent to guys who go to online gaming clubs on a saturday night.

This is in no way a dig at Steve Gadd but what would be the better show:

Blink 182 with Travis on drums or Blink 182 with Steve Gadd on drums? Travis hands down.

[plangan]

Just watch the video of his rudiments and then try to tell people he isnt as good as people say he is or that he doesnt live up to his ego... he has amazing talent, perfect sticking and control. Maybe you dont like the music he plays, thats just by opinion, <b>but im sure he could play jazz and funk just as well as he plays what he does</b>

[eightill]

Hello everyone! Love this forum. I'm usually a lurker and don't post but I thought I'd offer my quick comment here. First of all, I think this thread has gotten long enough. haha! I like Travis Barker, I do. He's a tight drummer... clean, etc. I like Blink OK but I'm not a big fan. I will say this, Travis Barker is no drum god. Watch his drum "solo" on Orange County's website and tell me how amazing it is. Just kidding. It's not. I didn't see alot of soloing there... just playing different beats and some other basic stuff. Anyone who thinks he's the greatest should expand their listening and check out some real drummers. Peace out.

bill

[matt949]

im not even bothering to read all of this there is way too much
but no matter what anyone says bad about travis..
look at how many pages this thread has...
he is doing something right.

and by the way matt.... nice name.... ~_~

[DWDrummer]

If you are wondering why Travis is known for his rudiments, there is only ONE VIDEO to see of him and that is when he played "There Is" live at the Jay Leno Show with Box Car Racer back in aorund 2002 or so. If you HAVEN'T seen this video do not judge him on any other videos of his rudiments. This video will blow you away.


P.S. It's funny to read how all the administrators think they can play Travis's songs. Maybe "All The Small Things," but I can bet anything you can't play "There Is" live.. hahah

[DogBreath]

P.S. It's funny to read how all the administrators think they can play Travis's songs. Maybe "All The Small Things," but I can bet anything you can't play "There Is" live.. hahah
I'm glad you had a nice chuckle, but Nutha Jason is the only Admin who said that he covers one of Blink's songs. If you think it's funny that Nutha Jason is an actual gigging drummer and not a Travis fan-boy, then you have quite a way to go. Stick to your drumming, kiddo.

[DWDrummer]

No, I wasn't talking about him. And I'm not trying to "make fun" of any of you. I read a post about one of you administrators, degrading Travis and calling his drumming weak (or using a metaphore that was basically calling it weak). I just think it's funny how someone could say that. That's all.

[DogBreath]

No, I wasn't talking about him. And I'm not trying to "make fun" of any of you. I read a post about one of you administrators, degrading Travis and calling his drumming weak (or using a metaphore that was basically calling it weak). I just think it's funny how someone could say that. That's all.
As I said, there are only two Admins here. Neither of us has degraded Travis, and neither of us has called his drumming "weak." I think it's funny how someone keeps repeating themselves when they are clearly mistaken. Stick to the subject at hand, please.

[Stu_Strib]

In the Funky Primer by Charles Dowd, he stresses the importance of musicianship. He explains that musicianship is the respect by a musician towards all branches of music (jazz,rock.etc). If people like Dowd despise Travis Barker type drummers, then isn't he contradicting his stressing of the importance of musicianship by hating pop rock?


No, he means that no matter what the style of music you are playing, you should bring the highest levels of musicianship to the table. At the time he wrote that book, rock bands like Steely Dan, Toto, Journey, Chicago et. al. were all popular, and all had very famously great drumming. Mr. Dowd himself can shred a drumset! I don't want to speak for Mr. Dowd, but having learned from him personally, I would say that MY disdain for Barker's playing stems from the sameness of his strokes and beats, and overall unmusical feel

(to bring it back on topic, feel free to remove if too off topic)

[ewanlaing]

on listening to some blink tracks i can see what stu is saying. the drums often seem to be their own seperate entity and not really involved enough with the rest of the music. the only exception i can find to this is the slightly beat-skipped snare in "all the small things". other thna that, it seems he keeps to his own thing for most of the songs.

[shuffle]

Whether his grooves are musical or not is very debatable. Here is a small sample that shows what I like from him, and by the same token actually what others may dislike…

0-20s Nice opening tom groove.

20s-40s More conventional groove. He inserts some ride accents through the washy hi-hat. Again, I like it, but could be judged overplayed by others.

40s-56s Nice hi-hat work

1.15 - 1.23 Open rolls in the groove. Pretty tight, and fits well IMO

1.33 Back to the tom groove. I think adding the second hi-hat gliss was too much here…

Quite a lot of stuff going on in that sample. Overplayed ? May very well be to some ears. But in many portions of that small sample, he is actually holding most of the song all by himself… The guy is trying pretty hard to come up with new stuff, and I would guess he is fairly aware of the "rules" he sometimes breaks while doing so. This "boldness" fits pretty well the essence of what I think punk rock should be all about anyway.

[Stu_Strib]

Shuffle, that was neither the worst nor the best example I've ever heard, but thanks for breakin' in down the way you hear it.

I liked the hit hat groove part. The rest was too much for me (oddly enough, the one part where you don't have a comment :56-1:23 is actually the most fitting part of the song.) Nothing fancy, no "hey look at me, I'm Travis B." stuff, just a straight forward hard grooving punk beat that fits the song perfectly.

The tom stuff is just tooo toooooo tooooooooooo much.

I like the hi-hat glisses, but like you said, a bit too much the second time around.

The open rolls in the groove seem completely out of place, a sort of after thought. It seems the normal beat was just too boring for him. Maybe he should try to throw some ghost notes in once in a while, instead of full on 32nd note single stroke rolls at 18 inch stroke height? Maybe?

Anyone else care to comment?

[shuffle]

(oddly enough, the one part where you don't have a comment :56-1:23 is actually the most fitting part of the song.) Nothing fancy, no "hey look at me, I'm Travis B." stuff, just a straight forward hard grooving punk beat that fits the song perfectly.


Yeah, that part is fine. But could the song work if he kept it plain that way all along ?

Of course, he spices it A LOT, often too much for my own taste. I chose that song specifically because, in that case, I think the answer is no.

[jonescrusher]

Maybe he should try to throw some ghost notes in once in a while, instead of full on 32nd note single stroke rolls at 18 inch stroke height? Maybe?

Anyone else care to comment?

Not sure ghost notes work so well within the dynamics of the genre...

[cdawg_2010]

Not sure ghost notes work so well within the dynamics of the genre...
i know at the beginning of "Feeling This" he uses ghost notes. so it kinda works. but anyway, i think the song wouldnt be as good without all the extra stuff. i think thats what makes it a little bit better than all the other punk/rock songs

[beatsMcGee]

Shuffle, that was neither the worst nor the best example I've ever heard, but thanks for breakin' in down the way you hear it.

I liked the hit hat groove part. The rest was too much for me (oddly enough, the one part where you don't have a comment :56-1:23 is actually the most fitting part of the song.) Nothing fancy, no "hey look at me, I'm Travis B." stuff, just a straight forward hard grooving punk beat that fits the song perfectly.

The tom stuff is just tooo toooooo tooooooooooo much.

I like the hi-hat glisses, but like you said, a bit too much the second time around.

The open rolls in the groove seem completely out of place, a sort of after thought. It seems the normal beat was just too boring for him. Maybe he should try to throw some ghost notes in once in a while, instead of full on 32nd note single stroke rolls at 18 inch stroke height? Maybe?

Anyone else care to comment?


everything you hate about his playing is what i love... i cant get enough of his busy drumming...it dosnt sound out of place to me... just my opinion..its all taste anyway..

[beatsMcGee]

hey, what happened to the post count for this thread.. its down to like 300 somethign.. was around mid 400s....????

[2d-chris]

when i played in a punk band i used these, almost impossible to break. I liked the thick and powerful feel but they seemed lighter than other sticks of the same thickness.

[ewanlaing]

there was prbably too many "travis is teh roxorzz" posts.
my favourite drumming of travis' is probably "man overboard".
simple but effective.

[DWDrummer]

here is a good article on Travis, and what he hopes to accomplish in the next 5-6 years


http://www.drummagazine.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1131

[buccaneer]

okay, first off, i dont want any trouble or to get into any arguements. let me just say that i am 16 and have been playing drums for 6 years, and Travis was one of my major influences when i was starting out, and i really didnt even like blink 182 that much. But after i had been playing for about two years, i started to get bored with some of his stuff. I started looking at a lot more technical players like buddy, steve gadd, dave weckl, vinnie, neil peart etc and started to play a lot more of their stuff. ever since i started to play their stuff my playing has improved greatly, and i am much more inspired to play drums. Travis is a great drummer, but i have to agree that he is much over rated among teen drummers like myself. He is big, fast(not really) loud and flashy, whichc is perfect for a lot of people, just not me.

[mattsmith]

okay, first off, i dont want any trouble or to get into any arguements.
Hey man, don't worry about that. What you find about this forum that's different from the rest is that drummerworld doesn't really argue, it discusses. And you get to do it with good guys. Also nobody has to "get over it" about anything as long as they can make a good point or two. That's why I like it here.

This includes Travis. And when real flaming goes on, it's stopped pretty quick. This is a very civilized group. It's not like some of those crazy sights you see all over the net where people just go insane on each other and nobody stops it.

The other thing about this forum I like are the number of very smart people here. You can learn alot if you let yourself be taught. But more important than that, there are alot of very hot pro drummers here including some famous ones. So this forum including the videos is really educational.

When some guys come on here for the first time and take on a vibe assuming that we don't get stuff or we can't follow Travis's blazing rudiments, or how one of the newer guys thought it was funny that somebody on drummerworld would think they could play "There Is," then the joke's really on them. Here, there are alot of guys who can and do and don't need to impress anybody.

[Stu_Strib]

Hey Buccaneer, welcome to the forum. Thank you for some perspective on this issue. I for one, am glad that Travis got you into drumming, and I'm also glad you've sought to move on to other, more developed styles of drumming!

[the.tree]

Whether his grooves are musical or not is very debatable. Here is a small sample that shows what I like from him, and by the same token actually what others may dislike…

0-20s Nice opening tom groove.

20s-40s More conventional groove. He inserts some ride accents through the washy hi-hat. Again, I like it, but could be judged overplayed by others.

40s-56s Nice hi-hat work

1.15 - 1.23 Open rolls in the groove. Pretty tight, and fits well IMO

1.33 Back to the tom groove. I think adding the second hi-hat gliss was too much here…

Quite a lot of stuff going on in that sample. Overplayed ? May very well be to some ears. But in many portions of that small sample, he is actually holding most of the song all by himself… The guy is trying pretty hard to come up with new stuff, and I would guess he is fairly aware of the "rules" he sometimes breaks while doing so. This "boldness" fits pretty well the essence of what I think punk rock should be all about anyway.

The hi hats are pretty sick he has some nice drumming in not now.

[cdawg_2010]

ya i like the drumming i not now. i think the tom thing is great for the song and i do like the roll thing in the chourus

[LittleDrummer]

on listening to some blink tracks i can see what stu is saying. the drums often seem to be their own seperate entity and not really involved enough with the rest of the music. the only exception i can find to this is the slightly beat-skipped snare in "all the small things". other thna that, it seems he keeps to his own thing for most of the songs.

i think thats what he tries to do.. i mean just think about it this way. would you rather have some bland beat playing over and over and a few interruptions for a chorus rhythm?
Or would you rather have a drum solo with a guitar and bass added in?
PS im no diehard travis fan, but i do respect the guys chops

[the.tree]

What songs are you specifically talking about here, from my experience most of his stuff blends.

[LittleDrummer]

What songs are you specifically talking about here, from my experience most of his stuff blends.

i dont know.. all of them are like mini solos. but yes most do blend very nicely

[travis barkers #1 fan]

why do lots of people rag on him....if you dont like a drummer it doesnt mean you have to come in here and tell everyone why he is bad which is stupid because you have to be better than someone else to judge them which i GARUNTEE ( if thats how you spell it) that no one in here is a better drummer

[mattsmith]

why do lots of people rag on him....if you dont like a drummer it doesnt mean you have to come in here and tell everyone why he is bad which is stupid because you have to be better than someone else to judge them which i GARUNTEE ( if thats how you spell it) that no one in here is a better drummer
Since Stu has been taking up some of the slack for these answers, I will try to help out if I can.

Again, I don't mean to be disrespectful here, but this is the drummerworld site. Not some crazy sight from the dark side of the Internet. Drummers are discussed on these threads from all sides so we can all be better drummers. Travis is always an interest and bringing up somethin' negative doesn't mean anybody hates the guy.

Of course, a person with the right ability to see detail, can judge ANY other drummer . Also this person doesn't even have to be a drummer. If they have a good knowledge they can judge. I mean look man, you probably have ideas about movies or television shows. But it doesn't mean you know how to make one.

And about your guarantee, I really don't think you can do anything of the kind. As I said in my last Travis post, there are some monster players on this forum that I have alot of respect for. I think there are probably several drummers on this forum with Barker's talent or skill, and there are probably a handful of more skilled ones. And I think its time some of his fans on this thread were told this and tried to get that. He's really good and very entertaining, but the drum world is a great big place.

And before anybody makes the challenge, nobody has to shuffle out a video of themselves to prove their point on these fan issues. You see people use that as a comback on these fan threads and maybe its time that some just draw the line on that by not responding to it. All that ever happens is that the fan people pick it apart anyway even if it was the second coming of Tony Williams.

I'm sorry to get a little irritated, but I guess I am. Everytime this stuff shows up, it looks like everybody our age is like this and they're not. And I bet all of you are nice guys, but I just wished you would listen to more music. Travis is a good musician, but I'm starting to get what some of the others are sayin' about this blind fan stuff coming from guys who have only heard a tiny bit of the whole picture of music. Man, why don't you hang around awhile, check out some threads on some other subjects and try to learn to respect these people before you come on here all puffed up.

[Stu_Strib]

Thanks Matt. Since I just can't make these guys understand the difference between criticism and hate, I'll just let them keep thinking the way they do. Obviously they don't read the previous posts with any type of critical thinking skills.

By the way, there are plenty of drummers on here better than Barker. Unfortunately, none of them are as FAMOUS as Travis Barker, which is the whole point I've tried to make in this thread.

Instead of bickering about it, why won't more people just post audio files then comment about what is good and bad about the piece? I find this much more constructive.

[Ddrums]

Travis is a good, well trained drummer, that's all. End of story.

He is just more popular among non drummers (and young drummers who were non drummers :D ) than, for example Billy Cobham (who is, no doubt, genious)...

Actually I liked what Bernhard sayed in some of his posts... (not precisely what he sayed, something like that)''if people start playing drums because of him that is good!'' They eventually sooner or later will go into complicated stuff

Travis Barker is a disaster . He is a very ignorant , poor in your grooves and solos and your music is #$@#$ . True rock'n roll drummers is John Bonhan , Chad Smith , Tré Cool , Ian Paice , Neil Peart , John Dolmayan and others . Not Travis .

[shuffle]

Two other samples... I'm trying to stay away from the obvious songs...

I like the first one. Not an easy song to build a drum part on, and I think he made a fine effort. I like the cross-stick portion, and he introduces a good groove at 0.50s, nice hi-hat/snare combination. A good fit.

He sorts of recycle that same groove idea on sample 2. There was a previous comment in the thread mentionning that he sometimes seems to play by himself, not listening to the tune. I think it is pretty much one of these here. Doesn't blend very well in my opinion, and draws too much attention to him.

He often comes up with great stuff, and not being a very fast drummer, I admire his ability to play along all the fast tempo stuff. Among punk-rock drummers, I think he stands very well. But you'll NEVER catch one of the many great studio players sounding so out-of-place in a song as he does in sample 2.

[Stu_Strib]

Yes track two is another Groove Killer for sure. The last 2 seconds are what I would expect for the song though.

Track 1 is a nice little reggae feel, maybe a little drum 'n bass sounding.

Thanks for the clips...never heard the Transplants before.

[T-1000]

Stu, lets just face the..."music" shall we?

When jazz drummers get creative, it flows beautifully and is oh-so 'musical', is it not?

When rock drummers get creative - whoopsidaisy, they just 'killed' the groove. Damn. And by the way, that phrase 'groove killer' is so unbelievably lazy and dismissive - you kinda need to qualify just why a fill kills a groove, and don't forget, Travis creates those grooves that he later 'kills', so what, is his drumming suicidal?

[Stu_Strib]

"Groove Killer" is borrowed from Tommy Igoe. It is neither lazy nor dismissive. Actually, if you understood my reference to Tommy Igoe, it would show you possessed a broad based experience in drumming.

"Groove Killer": It is any type of beat that is misplayed technically, or applied in the wrong situation. Most technical groove killers are commited by new drummers who don't know better. Things such as flaming the hands when hitting them together is correct (like 8ths on the hi hat and snare on 2 and 4). Playing with a bad sense of time or playing really tasteless parts that don't fit the song is another groove killer that pertains here.


Dead horse has been beaten, however, the groove in #2 doesn't fit the music, as it is too busy and shreiks "LOOK AT ME CUZ I'M REALLY BORED!" There is nothing technically wrong with his playing (although I did post a bunch of songs with tempo issues).

And for the record, I'm not a jazz drummer, so I guess you applied the wrong stereotype to the wrong drummer.

[finnhiggins]

When jazz drummers get creative, it flows beautifully and is oh-so 'musical', is it not?

When rock drummers get creative - whoopsidaisy, they just 'killed' the groove.

Nope. Jazz drummers are quite capable of killing grooves too. Go watch some locally, you'll probably see a fair bit of it. And rock drummers are capable of being creative without killing grooves too - look at Matt Chamberlain or Tim Alexander. Creative, flowing and musical.

This isn't a jazz-vs-rock thing, it's a drumming well versus not drumming well thing. And I'd tend to think those two clips below are an example of both.

[DWDrummer]

Hahaha what the heck? Can't believe you guys think Travis's Latin influence, half time feel beat in DJ DJ (yes, that is the name of "sample #2) is a groove killer. Some people here criticize the "travis rulez" people of not expanding their listening base,but, however I see that some of you are so into everything except Travis that you mock his progressive beats/style that is giving him publicity in every other page in Modern Drummer, Drum Magazine, MTV, Fuse, Z TIMES, etc,etc, etc,... the list goes on.

[finnhiggins]

Travis gets publicity every other page in magazines because he sells stuff. Lots of American kids with plenty of parentally-sourced money to spend buy stuff because Travis Barker endorses it. Look at OCDP and tell me that success story was one of merit. What you don't seem to realise is that magazines need to sell too. If they put Travis Barker in the mag, kids who love Travis Barker buy the mag. Then they can say to the advertisers that kids who like Travis Barker buy the mag and the advertisers will give them five-figure sums to take out regular full-page adverts to convince said kids to buy their latest drum/stick/whatever that Travis happens to use. That keeps the magazine in business, and lets them write about the stuff that they really, really want to bring to the fore in the industry. Or it just keeps them in business, if they're a lazy mag with nothing to say.

Now, none of that actually reflects on his merits as a drummer at all. He could be the next Milli Vanilli for all these people care - it's just business.

Personally I think Travis is a good drummer. Nothing earth-shaking, but he's capable and entertaining. Thumbs up from me. But I do find he's a bit over the top at times, and I don't think his playing shows much sign of musical maturity. But since he's playing to the teenage market I don't honestly think that hurts him any in terms of how his audience appreciates him.

What *does* rile me is when people start trying to hold him up as some kind of paragon of drumming virtue over the vast majority of guys on DrummerWorld. OK, so he's a good player. But really, the only reason he gets so much adulation is because of his background and image, rather than his ability. The only reason he's better loved than even other drummers for big-name pop groups (like, say, Aaron Spears - or indeed anybody who has played a live gig with Beyonce, Destiny's Child, the Spice Girls etc over the years) is because he's a punk drummer, and punk is cool with the teenagers. There's no way he'd be getting all this attention if he was playing offside with a pop/r&b act, because teenage boys would rather be seen dead than admit they went to see Beyonce so they could watch the drummer play.

[beatsMcGee]

im gonna disagree with the punk being more popular than rap/ r and b... while there may be more people into drumming in the punk genre there are definitly more fans of rap and r&b than punk music..

[finnhiggins]

im gonna disagree with the punk being more popular than rap/ r and b... while there may be more people into drumming in the punk genre there are definitly more fans of rap and r&b than punk music..

That's true, but who cares about the drummers? Even the more well-known producers are still relatively unknown by the majority of people who buy the music, and most hip-hop/r&b acts aren't bands as such and don't have a full-time drummer. They have sidemen they hire. And in all honesty, even as a drummer I'd be hard pressed to name which particular guy is working for which particular act on a given tour.

I mean, seriously. Name a hip-hop drummer who's actually in an act people have heard of. I'll get you as far as ?uestlove...

As such the hip-hop/r&b guys don't tend to sell as many drum kits or signature sticks to young players. It's just the way things go. Punk is the popular "band style" with the kids these days. So it should be fairly unsurprising that a punk guy will get a lot of love and attention from that direction.

[DWDrummer]

finnhiggins you have a good point

but i've seen some weird and crazy stuff he's done that will never be seen on MTV or any "big" concert

for example- his snare technique in the live version of "there is" at the jay leno show, and i've seen him play a intricated but catchy technique based beat in "i miss you" live in some European show

i think the problem is that since blink-182 is/was a big catchy pop-punk band, everyone bases travis's drumming off of that- for example- when the show "cribs" is on MTV and "the rock show" is played in the back ground, or "all the small things" people bass his drumming off of that

i've seen him live in two guitar center drum offs as a special guest and thats where he pulls out more challenging drumming

and another thing, travis can't control how much publicity he gets, he has a very professional attitude, and he never critcizes anyone and he is very quiet in person, just because he gets a lot of attention doesn't necessarily mean he brags about it

[finnhiggins]

I'm sure he can't control the degree of publicity he gets... but then he's hardly working to shun it either. And why would he? The reality is that Travis is the latest incarnation of the "pop star drummer" syndrome. He's a drummer, and he's also a pop star who is well known as a celebrity rather than just being a musician.

That's not a bad thing. It's those guys (Ringo, Bonham, Stewart Copeland, Tommy Lee, Dave Grohl, Danny Carey etc) who get people into playing the drums. Some will be remembered for all time because of this inspiration factor - Ringo was a great drummer for the Beatles, but he was no Tony Williams. Yet he doubtless inspired more people to take up drumming than Tony did, and many of them later caught on to other things going on in the world of drumming. Ringo was inspirational and I love to listen to his playing, but he didn't represent the state of the art. Ditto Dave Grohl. Tommy Lee hasn't lasted very long in this respect, mostly because his image as a public figure overtook any possible claims he might have on the world of drumming: like Bonham or Moon he was certainly a larger-than-life figure, but he didn't have the claim that Bonham has to completely changing an entire style of playing. As such he gets remembered as a celebrity more than a drummer. He wasn't a bad player, but he wasn't good enough to be memorable as anything other than the guy who married Pam Anderson (etc).

And some of theses guys have really stood the test of time. Bonham certainly has. So has Stewart Copeland, who despite being in a band that sold something like 80m records has managed to forge himself a memorable place in music as both a very innovative drummer and as basically the only "name" rock drummer to cross over into being primarily employed as a composer. And I personally think Danny Carey is a really, really great drummer who will be remembered for a long time.

What Travis will get remembered for is still up for grabs. He's certainly got a lot of facility, and he could go a long way with it. But I think most of the objection to him as a player that comes up in this thread is down to the fact that a lot of people are making unrealistic claims for his abilities as a musician. He's a good drummer - no argument there. I'm sure he's a nice guy, too. But he's quite objectively not a patch on somebody like Vinnie Colaiuta, which is where the issues arise. He's certainly not hall-of-fame type material yet, and whether he gets to be I suppose will be decided by which he's more attached to - the pop-punk image or the drums. Punk will eventually become uncool, just like Motley Crue became uncool and just like 70s arena rock became uncool. The question is, will Travis outlast the style that he's become famous as a figurehead for? If not he could be the next Tommy Lee. If so he could be the next Josh Freese. But the latter would probably require a lot more versitility and dedication to being appropriate than he's displayed so far in his career. That's all. Nothing against the guy. I'd love to be where he's at today, but if I was him I'd probably be rather embarassed about people claiming I was the best thing since the paradiddle was invented...

[Stu_Strib]

Hey Finn, with those last three posts, you have effectively allowed the admins to remove about 25 of my posts.

Well said. Let's just hope the kids actually read what you wrote now.

[Wegadrummer]

Well said finnhiggins.. i suggest all to read finnhiggins post...

[beatsMcGee]

i agree with what you wrote totally. i just want to hold some people up on the fact that travis can be someones favorite drummer, even though you know the fact hes not the best, and you dont claim he is, but you still choose him as a fav b/c he is what you looked up to when you started, which is the case for me b/c i like his style alot, his chops are pretty good, and hes creative for his genre. maybe its just me and im reading posts wrong, but people seem to be posting some what (not straigt up insulting) demening posts. im hating the word "kids" to discribe fans of barker (which im not a kid but a big fan of barker).. while many fans are kids, the conotation attacthed to the word seems degrading. im not tring to strike up a frenzy of defending posts but just a warning that some people, besides me, im sure are interpreting your posts that way...again maybe its just that i have an aversion to the word but.... yea...

[ATOMRULES]

well said beats McGee!!

[finnhiggins]

i agree with what you wrote totally. i just want to hold some people up on the fact that travis can be someones favorite drummer, even though you know the fact hes not the best, and you dont claim he is, but you still choose him as a fav b/c he is what you looked up to when you started

Here's the thing: You're allowed to have favourite drummers who you don't think are the best drummers in the world. I do. I absolutely love Matt Chamberlain. Is he the best drummer ever? No way. He does one thing - a certain style of groove material - extremely well and a bunch of other things well. But what he does really hits me in the right place creatively. Good stuff.

Is he as good as Vinnie Colaiuta or Dave Weckl? Doubt it. Those guys are insane. But on the other hand, most of the stuff they do leaves me pretty cold. I'd much prefer to listen to Matt's solo album than any of the stuff that Dave or Vinnie have done. I don't think that taking that position is disrespectful to either Matt or Vinnie or Dave. They're all great players and while I can respect what Vinnie and Dave have in terms of facility I enjoy what Matt does with his chops a whole lot more, personally.

So if you want to say Travis Barker is your favourite player because of how much he inspired you to take up playing then I think that's great. I'm only inclined to get riled when people say things like "...cant get much more skilled than travis as far as drums go." - ahem. I mean seriously. You can't get more skilled than that? Way to set the bar low, folks! There's a whole world of skill beyond what Travis has done on record so far. That's not to say you have to enjoy any of it, but denying it is there is rather rude to the people who have spent their lives developing it, no?

[ewanlaing]

exactly. i don't like the term "best drummer" at all. travis is good, yeah, and maybe he can do some things that taylor hawkins can't, but i prefer hawkins' style. so neither win.
more advanced example. steve smith is really good at complicated patterns for sure, but i prefer the often simpler steve gadd because of his style.
matter of taste. after a certain stage, there is no better or worse, only preference.

[beatsMcGee]

Here's the thing: You're allowed to have favourite drummers who you don't think are the best drummers in the world. I do. I absolutely love Matt Chamberlain. Is he the best drummer ever? No way. He does one thing - a certain style of groove material - extremely well and a bunch of other things well. But what he does really hits me in the right place creatively. Good stuff.

Is he as good as Vinnie Colaiuta or Dave Weckl? Doubt it. Those guys are insane. But on the other hand, most of the stuff they do leaves me pretty cold. I'd much prefer to listen to Matt's solo album than any of the stuff that Dave or Vinnie have done. I don't think that taking that position is disrespectful to either Matt or Vinnie or Dave. They're all great players and while I can respect what Vinnie and Dave have in terms of facility I enjoy what Matt does with his chops a whole lot more, personally.

So if you want to say Travis Barker is your favourite player because of how much he inspired you to take up playing then I think that's great. I'm only inclined to get riled when people say things like "...cant get much more skilled than travis as far as drums go." - ahem. I mean seriously. You can't get more skilled than that? Way to set the bar low, folks! There's a whole world of skill beyond what Travis has done on record so far. That's not to say you have to enjoy any of it, but denying it is there is rather rude to the people who have spent their lives developing it, no?


agreed....... ... .....

[Stu_Strib]

Hey Beats,

Sorry to sound demeaning when I say "kids". It is more poking fun at my own age (like old men sitting around griping about kids these days). I like Blink-182 and Box Car Racer... I just don't pretend it is anything other than what it is. Too many people on here assume that if I have a criticism of the guy, that I automatically think he is bad.

You can't deny that the Barker's antics appeal primarily to younger fans (i.e. 'kids'). In those videos, you don't hear 42 year old men hollering "Yeah! Go Barker!" You hear thousands of teen-aged girls (and probably some guys too).

The only negative conotation involved here is that when you are a young kid, perhaps your judgment isn't as great as it could be. I think using "kids" in this thread is a pretty safe assumption and you are the exception. Sorry if I insulted you.

[beatsMcGee]

its cool thanks for the post :)

[DWDrummer]

Who cares if he's not trying to shun his popularity. What do you want him to do? Go on TV and tell the media to stop giving him publicity? Thats rediculous man.... He's good.. that's a fact... he's only 30.. there's another brain twisting fact for you too... 5-10 years he will be amazing. THERES ANOTHER FACT!!

[TAMAmetaldrummer]

the ONE and ONLY reason i like travis barker is that he doesnt use drum mics at all. if you see his videos for his live performances, you dont see any drum mics at all. that is the only reason i like travis barker. other than that, he is pretty has a lot of rythmn and he is fast.

[NUTHA JASON]

the ONE and ONLY reason i like travis barker is that he doesnt use drum mics at all. if you see his videos for his live performances, you dont see any drum mics at all. that is the only reason i like travis barker. other than that, he is pretty has a lot of rythmn and he is fast.
__________________

dude. i'm sorry to shoot you in the foot but he does use drum mics. do you honestly believe that a drummer can play an arena gig without mics?
what have you got against mics?
how does not using them raise him in your eyes?

if you cannot seemics it might be because they are inside the drums.

j

ps; here are some pics of his kits WITH mics.
http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/drum30/travisbarker99.jpg

http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/drum/dpa29/Travisbarker10.jpg
http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/drum7/Travis-barker-LR-20.jpg

[DWDrummer]

Yeah... I don't see how not using drum mics makes you cool. Travis uses drum mics... and so does every drummer that wants to be heard over thousands of people...

[Stu_Strib]

Hey Nutha, those pictures reminded me to say something nice about TB. He definitely has his technique right (look at the good fulcrum, and how he isn't way back on the stick like most guys are).

[beatsMcGee]

yea his techniques is nice, i see most drummers holding the stick way at the back. i never understood that. seems like if you gain to much speed it will just pop out your hand.

[~tamadrummer~]

mmm he has some nice drums

[DWDrummer]

Just wondering if anyone knows what technique he uses (Moeller, french,german, etc). He plays a lot of one handed stuff, for example the boost mobile commercial. If anyone could get back to me I would greatly appreciate it, thanks.

[beatsMcGee]

yea there aer really good examples of his work on www.blink182.com i think you have to make a screen name but it has some good underground behind the scene drumming he did for his records... you can really see his speed and power in those vids.. also he does this one vid where hes doing a really cool groove.....um where else can you find travis stuff.. there is a real cool version of "miss you" they did live in austrailia on a show called rove i think... he does some interesting stuff in that version like some type of broken triplet one handed roll thingy. its plenty more interesting than the original version. see ifyou can find it on youtube. if i can ill post it. thanks


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e5ayGQ_9sA&search=travis%20barker%20rove

there is the miss you song... enjoy

p.s -- GHOST NOTES in this song are sweet

[Jacko Wacko]

This has probably been mentioned before, sorry if it has (I haven't read the whole thread) Didn't Travis get an audition with Drum line or something?

[secondXheartbeat]

I might consider these if they left the tips unpainted. Who thinks to paint the end of the stick? I mean, they've got to know it will get EVERYWHERE

[low-tech]

sounds like double strokes to me.

"See how is wrist is not moving? It's because he is using the Moeller Technique."

http://www.derrickpope.net/moellertechnique.wmv

i believe the man says something about the whipping motion of the wrists having to do with the bounce control being fundemental to the moeller technique. i dont know......you check it out

anyways, it is possible for him to do a triplet just then, moeller or otherwise. but the poster described it as a "one handed ROLL thingy" which is a gross overstatement. the event itself, the "phantom no wrist moeller ROLL thingy" or double strokes was hardly memorable

this is me being nice

EDIT:"Just wondering if anyone knows what technique he uses (Moeller, french,german, etc). He plays a lot of one handed stuff, for example the boost mobile commercial. If anyone could get back to me I would greatly appreciate it, thanks"

look what i just noticed, a very revealing earlier post. the way you can tell if a drummer is using moeller technique is by the dramatic WHIP OF THE WRISTS, in a fast drum roll you will see the arms and wrist noticable drop in an up in down motion to keep the strokes in loop

[cdawg_2010]

ive been playin just snare and the tips are becomin wood not white, so i mite be able to use them on cymbals i dont no yet

[DWDrummer]

nah i knew he was either using the Moeller Technique or something like the French technique and he uses the back three fingers i know that (in faster speeds)for sure, so he isn'st using his wrists ....HA

[mapexmaster911]

does anyone know the specifcations on what type of drum heads he uses? i know he uses REMO but i would like to know what he uses for resonant and batter heads for all his drums. thanks guys.

[beatsMcGee]

sounds like double strokes to me.

"See how is wrist is not moving? It's because he is using the Moeller Technique."

http://www.derrickpope.net/moellertechnique.wmv

i believe the man says something about the whipping motion of the wrists having to do with the bounce control being fundemental to the moeller technique. i dont know......you check it out

anyways, it is possible for him to do a triplet just then, moeller or otherwise. but the poster described it as a "one handed ROLL thingy" which is a gross overstatement. the event itself, the "phantom no wrist moeller ROLL thingy" or double strokes was hardly memorable

this is me being nice

EDIT:"Just wondering if anyone knows what technique he uses (Moeller, french,german, etc). He plays a lot of one handed stuff, for example the boost mobile commercial. If anyone could get back to me I would greatly appreciate it, thanks"

look what i just noticed, a very revealing earlier post. the way you can tell if a drummer is using moeller technique is by the dramatic WHIP OF THE WRISTS, in a fast drum roll you will see the arms and wrist noticable drop in an up in down motion to keep the strokes in loop


they may sound that way but they arnt, look at his right hand doing 8th notes on the rim.

[dwjosh]

i know for batter he used remo smooth white emperors.

[Jookbox]

a few years ago i saw king crimson open for tool. i think it was at a relatively small venue like the wiltern. i can see how tool was influenced by them. i got lucky it was some sort of small private party. seeing these bands can really open one's perspective.

[Bernhard]

a few years ago i saw king crimson open for tool. i think it was at a relatively small venue like the wiltern. i can see how tool was influenced by them. i got lucky it was some sort of small private party. seeing these bands can really open one's perspective.

Sorry, I'm confused:..is Travis playing with Tool now or King Crimson?

By the way: Travis is so popular in the USA - even the No.1 drummer at Drummerworld. But in Europe 99% of people never heard his name, same goes for Blink 182

Bernhard

[Stu_Strib]

in Europe 99% of people never heard his name, same goes for Blink 182

Bernhard

Yes, in America it is Blink One Eighty Two...In England, they are called Blink One Eight Two, which just sounds wrong!

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Sorry, I'm confused:..is Travis playing with Tool now or King Crimson?



I think Robert Fripp would have him for breakfast.

And yes Stu, you're right. And blink one-eighty-two just sounds wrong to me!

[the.tree]

Wait what? Blink one-eighty-two sounds right. Blink one EIGHT two sounds wrong.

[Stu_Strib]

Well back to my "pronunciation" thread argument; they are Americans, so say it like THEY do! Blink One Eighty Two!!! (or...The Band Formererly Known as Blink...)

[Jeff Almeyda]

Hey Nutha, those pictures reminded me to say something nice about TB. He definitely has his technique right (look at the good fulcrum, and how he isn't way back on the stick like most guys are).

Yeah his grip is pretty good, but his index fingers are wrapped too tightly around the stick. Not the most relaxed grip I've ever seen but way better than most of the young drummers out there.

I guess that's what bugs me about the guy, just because his fans really don't have much to compare him to, they all think he's so amazing.

Then nonsense starts to come out like he's gonna compete in the WFD or he uses no mics. Yeah, right. Please, this is total teeny bopper kid stuff.

It's like Joey Jordison. He plays a relatively fast double bass roll and everyone thinks he's so badass. Meanwhile someone like Gene Hoglan or Derek Roddy toils away in relative obscurity.

It's a shame really.

[Jeff Almeyda]

nah i knew he was either using the Moeller Technique or something like the French technique and he uses the back three fingers i know that (in faster speeds)for sure, so he isn'st using his wrists ....HA

Please learn what these words mean before you start throwing them around and confusing the younger drummers on this site.

Moeller technique, French GRIP (not technique) and finger control are three different things entirely.

Moeller is a wrist whip (a method for accenting and getting more than one stroke out of each wrist motion), French grip is a thumbs up grip matched style, and finger control is a method of controlling the sticks at high tempos using fingers alone.

[beatsMcGee]

Yeah his grip is pretty good, but his index fingers are wrapped too tightly around the stick. Not the most relaxed grip I've ever seen but way better than most of the young drummers out there.

I guess that's what bugs me about the guy, just because his fans really don't have much to compare him to, they all think he's so amazing.

Then nonsense starts to come out like he's gonna compete in the WFD or he uses no mics. Yeah, right. Please, this is total teeny bopper kid stuff.

It's like Joey Jordison. He plays a relatively fast double bass roll and everyone thinks he's so badass. Meanwhile someone like Gene Hoglan or Derek Roddy toils away in relative obscurity.

It's a shame really.


your right and i like the way you said it. you didnt bash him like ive seen 20-30 other posters do. and you blamed his discredability towards his younger fans which is 100% why people who dont like him -dont like him- because his younger "and ignorant to drumming" fans are just cought up in him. travis is my fav drummer and got me into drumming that will never change, but im aware that his fans have soiled his reputation towards the critical drumming population by rumours and over dramatization.

[DWDrummer]

I am a young drummer I'm still in high school. My bad for using the word technique instead of grip.

[DWDrummer]

Ok sorry I was wrong about his finger technique. What does he use then? Looks like German grip influenced....

[beatsMcGee]

um ive seen alot of different grips, on the toms american/french. snare american/german. he does use the mollar and finger controll technique to achieve speed

[DWDrummer]

Thanks I appreciate it man.

I saw Travis live a couple times, one at a Guitar Center Drum Off as a special guest ( in which Danny Carey, and his fans were there too). Travis wanted to leave the stage so bad after his performance I felt bad b/c all of the Tool fans didn't like him. I also met him in person once too. Dang is he shy; I feel so bad for all the blink-182 fans that have given him a bad rep... He is super nice.

[DWDrummer]

Travis is just another fast drummer-sure. I like him because not only is he humble, but he is so good at incorporating different genres of music into a rock perpesctive that it inspires me.


That's just my opinion, of course.

[Spence]

I'm not really into Blink 182, but I feel as if I have to defend Travis. I have heard way too many people slate him.

Many people in his situation (i.e. playing in a popular mainstream band whose fans are probably about 12-18 years old) could do so much less on the kit and they would still be successful. He is playing some well learnt chops and busting out solos at gigs, which not many other pop chart acts do. I also think that he is making a lot of young drummers (who may not really be exposed to 'good' drumming) learn more about drums, as you need to know some chops to play his stuff.

The rudiments he is doing on his page on this site are pretty good. Sure, he is fast, BUT he is precise too. I think he is a good drummer. He is no Vinnie Colaiuta, Dennis Chambers etc etc, but he is still good.

Respect is due I think.

[drums6040]

hey does any one know what travis barker of blink182 uses to wrap hs wrists ??

[beatsMcGee]

ive heard of drummers using wrist straps to apply tension if their wrist are hurting when they play, that could be what hes doing.

[Capitaine Quebec]

wristwrap that you talk about mcgee seems to be the one for tendonitis[spellcheck, i really dont know how to write it]. There is the same wrap for leg too. Drums6040, maybe he wears his own brand of wristband??(i know he has a clothing line)

[deadbirdsoup]

maybe just a normal sweatband doing a normal job?

[beatsMcGee]

wristwrap that you talk about mcgee seems to be the one for tendonitis[spellcheck, i really dont know how to write it]. There is the same wrap for leg too. Drums6040, maybe he wears his own brand of wristband??(i know he has a clothing line)


yea i know, i think he might have that, i have their urithra (sp) cronicles II and it said something about he has troubles with his wrist some times (tendonitis) and keeping that tension can reduce it.

and yea he does have FSAS wrist bands that he makes, but that cant be what this guy is talkin about that is too obvious. ive also seen blink's bass player Mark Hoppus, wear the wrist straps maybe for tendonitis aswell...

[skippy]

for all of you who think travisbarker isnt musically diverse...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcRMmGVaQek&search=buck%20owens%20tribute

[lfdy]

for all of you who think travisbarker isnt musically diverse...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcRMmGVaQek&search=buck%20owens%20tribute

I'm actually a fan of Travis, but...you can't base his so called 'musical diversity' on this video :)...

If it was some kind of jazz groove/solo, i would've bought it. But i didn't really think anything special about his drumming in the vid.

[meancarlene]

while it was cool seeing him play with the country guys - and especially in a tribute to buck owens - i'm not sure if 2 and 4 rimshots was his best example of musical diversity.

that being said...he is a terriffic drummer - find the youtube stuff with him doing marching snare drum tricks in the studio...great chops.

[Jookbox]

lol, no offense, but i can't get over him with the mohawk, 'keepin it real'
the drumming was perfect for the music though.

[Bonzo]

I don't think the theatrics fit very well, but what could we expect? Very basic stuff as opposed to "diverse".

[TopCat]

Oh dear...hardly diverse. Just quieter.

[famousteo]

Thats Not Normal !! OMG !!!! Weird.... wtf

hahahah all those weird mexicans with travis ?? WTH

[intooder]

lol, no offense, but i can't get over him with the mohawk, 'keepin it real'
the drumming was perfect for the music though.
Everything about him in that video seems out of place other than the drumming which is nothing special. Bet the other guys were like "Glad we don't have to make eye contact!" ;)

[KLittle123]

Wow, he like totally fit in with his surroundings...not really, I like the semi-head banging...kinda stuck out like a sore thumb

[dasilvs]

swinging triplets on the high hat plus a snare on the "and" plus quarter note bass drum does not necessarily constitute diversity, but for travis it's something different....most country drummers do not embellish anyway, so no way would we see his blink 182 chops in that setting.

[Drummerboy3940]

This is so wierd, normally country drummer are so relaxed and hes back there headbanging. Kind of funny

[pimp_my_RIDE]

Holly misfit batman.(and the one and only, famous 20 characters)

[AvengedDrummer]

Man that guy gets into it! even in the slow part when hes just doing a beat between the hi-hat and snare he's rockin out!