Carter Beauford

While I thikn Carters stuff is really really cool ....and very innovative,....I've found that a lot of his grooves are very similar in tunes.....Ants Marching, Tripping Billies, Stay, 41....that's the only thing that bothers me about his playing.

He has that ...hesitation / stutter type groove ...which is cool and can be nice, but not in too many tunes...

Just my .02 ....dont' get all worked up Carter fans, ...not a bash,......just my perception of what he does ...AGAIN...I think he's amazing,....but ........
 
I love Carter Beauford, but it seems that when ever he solo's he ALWAYS falls back on the four stroke roll, i.e. RLRL on the snare then RLRL on the tom (i guess it'd be LRLR for him though!) or some variation. Look at the ending of Ants Marching, the ending of Two Step (live at least, and in this circumstance it fits perfectly with the pattern being played by the band). Obviously that pattern is not even close to all he plays, but it just seems like a fall back for him, something very easy for him to play without having to constantly be creative. Not that he isn't creative, I mean his ride/hi-hat/snare interaction stuff is AWESOME, I just wish he would stretch out a bit more. But then again he's a millionaire and I'm living with my parents, so what do I know! :)

Yeah, if i had a choice between playing that Billy Cobham lick every night or living with the rents, you'd know where i'd be =P

I've been listening and playing carter's stuff for about 11 years now, he totally changed and reshaped my playing style, and that lick is one that for me, and i'm sure for him, is a BLAST to play! That has to be why he does it so much. Trust me, take that lick all the way down your toms sometime, you'll be grinning ear-to-ear!

Oh wow, gotta check the dates on these posts! Sorry!
 
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I see this thread is old but I just gotta get down my favorite things about his playing. Cuz its so deep, colorful, and controlled.

-Open handed playing
-Hard hitting bass drum foot and solid on all 1/16ths
-Great phrasing, odd-time playing, and ability to turn beat upside-down or inside-out.
-Awesome high hat work: he hits a solid, and pocky backbeat on the snare but inbetween ghosts so many snare notes and does so many high hat licks or fills wherever but he can keep them all quiet between those backbeats
-His drum and cymbal sounds and set-up
-His stage presence, chewing gum, and good backup vocals
-Great dynamics
-His left foot working DBL bass pedal AND HH pedal (which he said he got from Chambers)
-His playing on Rapunzel


OK I can see that's a lot of favorites but he's such an inspiration...

...on the other hand I do agree with:

While I thikn Carters stuff is really really cool ....and very innovative,....I've found that a lot of his grooves are very similar in tunes.....Ants Marching, Tripping Billies, Stay, 41....that's the only thing that bothers me about his playing.
.......
 
Carter is definitely one of my all time favorite drummers. Not necessarily the absolute most technical, but he is so musical and different and that is the name of the game. There is another drummer I've discovered that has a very similar style, almost scary, and you can find him here on the drummerworld site to check out. He's relatively unknown. His name is Gavin Harrison. He's just like Carter.......unbelievable. Also checkout someone who is not unknown....Vinnie Colaiuta.
 
He's relatively unknown. His name is Gavin Harrison. He's just like Carter.......unbelievable.

He is not relatively unknown here my friend. He is a member of this forum. Just look under the drummer section.. his thread is at the top, and he responds to it regularly.

Welcome to DW buddy.
 
Wow. I didn't know that. By "relatively unknown”, what I meant was the general population of drummers, or so it seems. His band "Porcupine Tree" is playing here in Raleigh tonight. I'm going to try my best to go see him. He's absolutely insanely good. His technique is great and he's so relaxed but blazing. Incredible. I'd love to get a lesson from him but in reality I couldn't even carry his stick bag. Although I'd love to.
 
Trying to guess what Carter's cymbal set up is, is really hard! Yeah sure there's diagrams on google and zildjian.com has got his set up laid out for you to see and hear, but the thing with Carter is that he changes his cymbals quite regularly. For example if you watch the Under The Table and Drumming DVD, he's using Z Custom hats (at least on top anyway) and I always though Z's were crap! Anyway's I just thought I'd say, Carter's always experimenting with his sound and seems to change a few if not almost all of his cymbals each tour!

He owns, end of!
 
For setups I have noticed that he definately changes some of his cymbals for every tour (which would be every year). That guy looking for his Hi-Hats this past tour he was using 13.25 Hybrids.
As for trying to find most up to date setups I wouldn't trust the "Brands" website as I am sure they will say "such and such artist uses all this gear from us" when in reality they might have purchased it from this brand but they arent for sure using it.

I have found that the most up to date and accurate (to the tours) listing of what he uses can be found at the dmband.com

But don't think that that list is 100% accurate either as I have seen him change things from show to show (this last summer they played twice here and he made a few changes the second night) It's also cool to see drummers with endorsments using prototypes. For instance we saw him trying those new EFX cymbals from Zildjian before they came out, and nothing like a live performance to hear how they sound.
 
For anyone keeping up on this thread, and interested in some more samples I suggest of course Central Park concert if you haven't already. But more recently Live at Piedmont Park is very good I have hardly listened to any other CD since I got it.
 
For setups I have noticed that he definately changes some of his cymbals for every tour (which would be every year). That guy looking for his Hi-Hats this past tour he was using 13.25 Hybrids.
As for trying to find most up to date setups I wouldn't trust the "Brands" website as I am sure they will say "such and such artist uses all this gear from us" when in reality they might have purchased it from this brand but they arent for sure using it.

I have found that the most up to date and accurate (to the tours) listing of what he uses can be found at the dmband.com

But don't think that that list is 100% accurate either as I have seen him change things from show to show (this last summer they played twice here and he made a few changes the second night) It's also cool to see drummers with endorsments using prototypes. For instance we saw him trying those new EFX cymbals from Zildjian before they came out, and nothing like a live performance to hear how they sound.

Carter indeed does switch cymbals every tour, sometimes every night.

The 2007 Tour, he actually used 13" K Custom Darks, and 13" Armands for hats. The 2006 Tour is when he used the 13" Hybrids and 13" K Custom/Z combo.

His new left side china switched between a 19" K Hybrid, 19"K, and 18" Oriental Classic alot during the tour. Eventually, it settled to the 18" Oriental Classic.

He did in fact have that EFX before it came out which was awesome! During the 05 Tour, he was testing out the ZHT EFX before Zildjian introduced it, and it looked exactly like a Sabian Ozone. Carter is my fav. drummer ever!

Justin, aka "BeaufordBuddy", has the best site for Carter's current kit. Beaufordbuddy.com is the website. He is now in charge of updating the kit diagram on the main DMB page.

And, in case you haven't seen it, check out my kit for my Carter replica kit!
 
Sorry to be a bother, but does anyone know for sure if he is right handed or left handed?

I've read this thread and people have said both. Can anyone clarify on what he is naturally?
 
Sorry to be a bother, but does anyone know for sure if he is right handed or left handed?

I've read this thread and people have said both. Can anyone clarify on what he is naturally?

Hey buddy! On the dvd "Under The Table And Drumming" Carter himself spoke of being right handed, but when he watched drummers on tv he set up his kit to mirror them. So, instead of having a traditional right hand set up, he mirrored the tv and ended up with a left hand set up and played that way for many years. Then, he set up his kit right handed and found out he had much more ability and worlds opened up to him traditionally. So, basically he played a lefty kit for years even though he is a righty, then switched to a righty traditional setup and used his lefty strength... "open handed."

In summary, he is right handed. But, by this point its pretty fair to say that he is ambidexterous.
 
Carter Rules! I just got his promark sig sticks recently to try them out. They have a good feel to them. I got the Carter Jersey too, ha ha. He is one of many of my favorite drummers.
 
NOOOO!

lol

Can anyone tell me why and when he switched from Evans heads to skanky Remo heads? lets not start an Evans vs. Remo debate I just want to know why he switched :(
 
FWIW, I went to two DMB concerts this summer where he had coated Remo heads on and his drums (the toms in particular) sounded like crap, really dead. The Evans were so much better.
 
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