Meg White

Yes drums and cymbals are musical instruments da cheese walks. Muisc mainly consists of two things, melody and rhythm. The rhythm part is were the drums come in. Ever see a guitarist tapping his or her foot. They are counting out the beat or rhythm. The drums may not be a melocic insturment like a guitar or trumpet but they are still instruments. BTW I think roto toms and octos are pretty melodic.

I have only seen Meg in the Strips so I don't really know if she can play any other styles or not. The Stripes are a very simple band that doesn't require complicated or difficult drumming. She is perfect for that type of music. Could all of us play like that? yea probably but most of us would not look as good with long black hair.
 
Two points:

1. Someone kindly refer me to the article or link in which Meg claimed she was the world's greatest drummer and technique expert. The way some of you are going on with the Meg bashing is comical. What are you really saying here? Are you just a tad bit envious over her success? So she can't play a paradiddle or keep the best time...so what.
She never claimed to be the best. If you're going to bash her, than you'll have to bash many others ahead of her including you know who from Liverpool.


2. As far as a "properly set up" drum kit go, what does that mean? The drumset is, in effect, an instrument slapped together through years of morphing consisting of other percussive instruments. It's endless arrangements make it the most "individual" instrument hands down. So does "properly set up" really equate to "like everyone else"?
 
Two points:

1. Someone kindly refer me to the article or link in which Meg claimed she was the world's greatest drummer and technique expert. The way some of you are going on with the Meg bashing is comical. What are you really saying here? Are you just a tad bit envious over her success? So she can't play a paradiddle or keep the best time...so what.
She never claimed to be the best. If you're going to bash her, than you'll have to bash many others ahead of her including you know who from Liverpool.


2. As far as a "properly set up" drum kit go, what does that mean? The drumset is, in effect, an instrument slapped together through years of morphing consisting of other percussive instruments. It's endless arrangements make it the most "individual" instrument hands down. So does "properly set up" really equate to "like everyone else"?

Best post in the whole thread.


I thought one of the rules around here was no artist bashing? Just a thought.
 
2. As far as a "properly set up" drum kit go, what does that mean? The drumset is, in effect, an instrument slapped together through years of morphing consisting of other percussive instruments. It's endless arrangements make it the most "individual" instrument hands down. So does "properly set up" really equate to "like everyone else"?

it's not that there is a single proper way to set up drums but there is certainly improper ways. imagine a kit with the snare drum set up in front of the bass and the hi tom beneath the floor tom. this is an extreme idea but it illustrates the point. while meg's tom is playable it is not ergonomic, will disallow certain good techniques and will lead to increased wear on the head. do like her cymbal choices tho
megwhite4.jpg

as to your first point i do agree with it actually. in a weird way meg gives all drummers hope. how so?
read here:
http://jasonhorsler.tripod.com/id35.html

j
 
I really think arguing about the angle of her rack tom is pointess. It works for her. I've seen other highly skilled drummers with their kits set up just like that. I dig her playing. Its works just fine for the 'stripes. I dont think Meg is too worried about technique. ;-) I think those cats are just out to make music, and they dont worry about technique, or precision, they just enjoy playing. I admire that. My two cents.
 
it's not that there is a single proper way to set up drums but there is certainly improper ways. imagine a kit with the snare drum set up in front of the bass and the hi tom beneath the floor tom. this is an extreme idea but it illustrates the point. while meg's tom is playable it is not ergonomic, will disallow certain good techniques and will lead to increased wear on the head. do like her cymbal choices tho

I'm scratching my head at this. Why would Meg White care about ergonomics? Her whole playing approach and tone and, indeed, the entire approach of her band is based around a certain retro-primitive approach to playing, writing, recording... Now, when it comes to "good techniques" - they give you a certain sound. Listen to Vinnie or Weckl or Benny Greb to hear what the "certain good techniques" that ergonomics deliver sound like. Think that sound suits the White Stripes? I don't.

If you fixed all the things about the White Stripes that are "wrong" then nobody would buy their records, because they'd be dull. Meg White isn't a great drummer for many other bands, but she fits right in there. Sloppy timing, weird semi-beginner setups and Charlie Watts co-ordination fits the bill perfectly. Vinnie would fit as badly into that band as Meg would into Sting's band.

But in all honesty I'm wondering why you let it bother you so much. I mean, it's not like you've gone to study the "Right" way yourself, is it? Last time I heard you were still an advocate for not teaching music notation, no?
 
Last time I heard you were still an advocate for not teaching music notation, no?

funny. i never said that and i have a section on my website teaching music notation.

also i am an advocate of teaching young drummers to set up their kits properly at least in so far as the kit does not prevent their future development. i don't really care that much about meg white's set up but i would council any other drummer against such a set up. one gets the impression that meg doesn't really care if she progresses much but a drummer with less luck than her does not need the impediment to their progress that such a set up can bring. i'm surprised that you of all people cannot see that.

I mean, it's not like you've gone to study the "Right" way yourself, is it?

this is the most ignorant thing i've ever seen you type and in spite of our differences over the years i have a great deal of respect for your knowledge of drumming even if you seem to have none for mine. i am continuing to study the right way. keep this thread on topic and don't resort to such personal attacks
 
J, you need to be a bit less touchy. I wrote two rather long paragraphs about Meg White and then a short sly dig and you spent an entire post getting upset about the latter without even addressing the topic. I'm not trying to tear you down, I just don't understand why you're so riled about where she puts her toms.

What I meant about not going to study was just that - as I recall, you're entirely self-taught? That doesn't mean you don't strive to improve, but it does mean that you're probably not all that well-placed to be too severe a legit-method-book nazi. I'm sure I could find plenty of things wrong with your ergonomic and technical approach, just like I'm sure Jeff Almeyda can tear strips off mine. More one-on-one time with top-tier teachers will do that for you. That's not a judgment of merit, because non-legit methods can yield perfectly good individual musical results. The legit methods are just better for achieving certain classes of control, and if you need those types of control then you're going to need to learn them.

Which, back to the point, was exactly what I was saying about Meg. Where's the urge to fix her approach coming from? She's doing fine for herself without a Vinnie drum tone, better than either you or me when it comes to forging a career in music. What next? Are you going to fix up Mike Bourdin, Keith Carlock, Ari Hoenig and Kenny Wollensen? They've all got pretty funny tom angles and/or approaches to ergonomics too.
 
fair enough finn. peace. i guess i was a bit touchy.

as a drum teacher it nearly always the first thing i find myself doing with a new student ... resetting their kit. more often than not it is because they don't know how to work the hardware (toms have been mounted upside down even).

my intentions on this thread were not so much a crit on meg but a vent at drum set ups that i feel don't help with progress. there's a whole article on it on my website.

actually my very first post was tongue in cheek and it was taken far out of context but i would be happy just to leave it now.

j

ps: being a mod and a poster is flippin hard sometimes
 
Oh my God...

sorry Finn, Meg - has a unorthodox setup to say the least. For that i love her. Hopefully she will not change anything. And never practice - like Buddy Rich. Yes, Buddy and Meg....that's the reason I run Drummerworld.

So this is the Great Meg White Thread, i'm wondering why you interrupt your recreative pause-time just for arguing with our just married Nutha? Bored?

Strange Strange...

Bernhard
 
So this is the Great Meg White Thread, i'm wondering why you interrupt your recreative pause-time just for arguing with our just married Nutha? Bored?

Strange Strange...

I've been back occasionally for a while. I'm not posting like I used to, but I do dive in every now and again. Admittedly mostly in the Technique forum, and you don't see me in Drummers much.

And surely it's stranger that J's interrupting his just-marriedness to argue over Meg's tom angles? I could at least say I don't have anything better to be doing ;)

As for Meg, I'm arguing in her defense because of a few things I've been doing lately with drum setup. I learned everything the ergonomically correct way, but recently I've been doing things that are arguably a bit less "correct" and enjoying them because they put me in a space where my technique works better for the music I want to play. Horses for courses, and all that. Meg wants to sound like a drummer with no chops, so putting her toms in funny places is a pretty good way to achieve that. She can't really play, in the "Hey, that guy/girl can really play!" kind of a sense, but she's the right drummer for the White Stripes and it seems silly to bash her for it...
 
Zambizzi: I listen to a hell of a lot of jazz,and play quite a lot too....Jazz has feeling...BUT it also has technicality....a beginner cant play jazz...Meg White couldnt play Elvin Jones stuff.....Budd Rich stuff...I listen to a lot of latin too,but play barely any....I also didnt say that technial ability makes your drumming more musical....The only reason i used Bozzio as an example is because,as Latin Groover said,he has basically a piano of drums....
Sean

Fair enough, it's your opinion and we're all entitled to our own. I wasn't trying to attack you personally. I just found it strange that a drummer wouldn't classify his instrument as a "real" instrument.

I wouldn't say it's an instrument either - I'd say it's several instruments played together as one. To take that even further, there is no limit to the way a drum kit can be played and the sounds it can make because there is no limit on how it can be configured, expanded, etc.

As for Meg White - here's my personal opinion. I like some of the White Stripes tunes and I have one of their CDs. I don't care for the drumming and the first thing I thought to myself when I first heard them on the radio was "damn, that's a cool tune...but it sounds like a 6 yr. old kid on the drums!".

However, she's a successful drummer despite her (apparent) lack of skill. Drums are an instrument anyone can enjoy and indeed, everyone should. If she's enjoying herself, performing and making albums, then more power to her.

Personally, I think a lot of Stripes music could have been done much better w/ a better band...the songs themselves are very good.

As for how her kit is setup, who the hell cares? She looks small and if that setup makes her comfortable then why would anyone else care what angle her mounted tom sits at? This strikes me as an odd comment - we all have our gear setup so we're comfortable. If you take 20 deg. off of the angle of her tom, she'll still sound like Meg White.
 
Being technically proficient on the drums doesn't make you a good drummer or a bad drummer ...it just makes you technically proficient. It's like determining how good a fiction writer is by how many words they know or how many grammar rules they can recite, or how good a painter is by how photo-realistic their paintings are.
...
stuff like getting across attitude, emotion, ego and personality are what make a drummer great -or any artist great, for that matter.

Well said! I totally agree.
 
FT: I I deleted your post, because this is the Meg White thread and not the discussion platform - place about language issues..

Bernhard
 
I think what we have got to respect about meg white is the fact that in The White Stripes, a very basic drum beat with no fills can sound so effective!
 
I have a great respect for Meg, and I do think she is a very good drummer. She's creative, she sdoesn't just use the basic drumbeat in every song, she doesn't go all out and try to show off her talent and play beats because she can, she's modest and i think that her drums fit the song better than any fast, complex beat would.

And after all, the Stripes are very successful, she's has to be doing something right.
 
From the booklet of the Stripes' latest release, Icky Thump; a list a of people the band would like to thank for contributing to their musical career:

"After ten wonderful, fortunate, and tumultuous years, The White Stripes would like to thank,
God, Electra, Tara and Star, Jasper...

...(long list)...

...To Krupa, and Mitchell, and Buddy, Bonham, and Bellson..."

Well, there you have it. Meg's influences.

YEM

P.S. Apparently Jack White is going to play Elvis in an upcoming movie.
 
I feel like chiming in here - and mean no disrespect to anyone who has expressed their opinion here - but....

Yeah, she has a quirky feel because of her apparent lack of chops... That said, I think the band sounds great! Her unique feel on those rhythms is a big contributor to that sound in my opinion. In fact, If I had to sub for her with Jack, I would have difficulty getting that feel. To me, that makes her a very good drummer. Those who think they can do better?... let's hear your music! :D
Rather than tear down, let'slearn from what is out there and try to play better ourselves! yeah!
 
From the booklet of the Stripes' latest release, Icky Thump; a list a of people the band would like to thank for contributing to their musical career:

"...(long list)...

...To Krupa, and Mitchell, and Buddy, Bonham, and Bellson..."

Well, there you have it. Meg's influences.

Actually Jack wrote that stuff about the drummers, not Meg. He says in the Interview Magazine interview (July or August of 2007) that he misses instrumental virtuosos and the swing feel in music. He says there are not enough players in popluar music today that are known for playing an instrument and he mentions those masters of swing in the liner notes b/c of this.

Meg didn't talk much in the interview.

Personally, I like Meg's drumming, and I love the White Stripes.
 
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