Leaning into discomfort

RetroLust

Junior Member
I had a terrific boss several years ago and I will never forget her trying to stretch my abilities further & further, always telling me that in order to grow one needs to "lean into discomfort" ... get away from what's comfortable and challenge yourself into doing something that's not natural.

I play in a new wave cover band and we had a gig last night at a party at a local university ... and on the spur of the moment I decided to lean into discomfort and switch my entire kit around, tossing muscle memory out the door. I am a minimalistic drummer, and am too old to lug around a big kit & hardware so I typically only use a basic 5 piece kit with hats, one crash/ride and a Roland SPD-S ... I put the floor tom to my immediate left near the hats ... I switched the rack toms, a 13" to the left & a 12" to the right ... put the cymbal near the 12" tom ... and the Roland to the spot where my floor tom always sits.

In the beginning, it nearly felt like I was playing a foreign instrument ... and it was so unique that I really had to think for a while but strangely, I think my timing/tempo was better and I felt a rush of adrenaline while playing songs that I had played a thousand times before. My fellow band mates, who had no idea I was going to do this, had a little extra step in their performance and we ended up crushing the gig. They are all now trying to convince me to set up like this from now on.

Obviously not everyone can get away with doing this and I, admittedly don't play prog rock or math rock or anything fancy shmansy, but I got a unique perspective for our instrument last night, one that I had not had in the 35 years I've been playing.
 
I had a terrific boss several years ago and I will never forget her trying to stretch my abilities further & further, always telling me that in order to grow one needs to "lean into discomfort" ... get away from what's comfortable and challenge yourself into doing something that's not natural.

I play in a new wave cover band and we had a gig last night at a party at a local university ... and on the spur of the moment I decided to lean into discomfort and switch my entire kit around, tossing muscle memory out the door. I am a minimalistic drummer, and am too old to lug around a big kit & hardware so I typically only use a basic 5 piece kit with hats, one crash/ride and a Roland SPD-S ... I put the floor tom to my immediate left near the hats ... I switched the rack toms, a 13" to the left & a 12" to the right ... put the cymbal near the 12" tom ... and the Roland to the spot where my floor tom always sits.

In the beginning, it nearly felt like I was playing a foreign instrument ... and it was so unique that I really had to think for a while but strangely, I think my timing/tempo was better and I felt a rush of adrenaline while playing songs that I had played a thousand times before. My fellow band mates, who had no idea I was going to do this, had a little extra step in their performance and we ended up crushing the gig. They are all now trying to convince me to set up like this from now on.

Obviously not everyone can get away with doing this and I, admittedly don't play prog rock or math rock or anything fancy shmansy, but I got a unique perspective for our instrument last night, one that I had not had in the 35 years I've been playing.


I think this is a great idea !

However, I would suggest to most drummers that they only add one new piece to their set, and/or only move one piece to a new location at a time.


.
 
If you're too comfortable, you're not making progress.

That sums up how I feel about drumming. I'm always finding something to challenge myself, either something with my technique, a beat I wouldn't normally play, or like in your case a change to my set up. Sometimes I think I avoid complacency to a fault.
 
Cool story, although I don't know if I would do that at one of my gigs for the first time lol. But hey it worked for you so cool.
 
Math rock?

The lesson is you're forced to relax in order to adapt to a new set-up, getting tense and trying to force muscle memory doesn't work in new set config situations.

Every time I play I set things up differently at the kit, not radically, but never the same. It 'is' about being comfortable and the mortal frame is always in a state of change, at least mine is anyway.
 
Math rock?

The lesson is you're forced to relax in order to adapt to a new set-up, getting tense and trying to force muscle memory doesn't work in new set config situations.

Every time I play I set things up differently at the kit, not radically, but never the same. It 'is' about being comfortable and the mortal frame is always in a state of change, at least mine is anyway.
Math rock is a rhythmically complex, often guitar-based, style of experimental rock and indie rock[1] music that emerged in the late 1990s, influenced by progressive rock bands like King Crimson and 20th century minimalist composers such as Steve Reich. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including irregular stopping and starting), counterpoint, odd time signatures, angular melodies, and extended, often dissonant, chords.
 
We used to set up our kits opposite of how we play them normally for a week at a time.
I normally play right handed and would set it up left handed for a week. Your idea is a very good one.
 
I actually like going into drum stores and playing on their kits because different drum kits (different gear as well as different layouts) just make me play differently and think creatively. It's funny in a way because I'm pretty anal about the way I setup my drums in the studio and at band practice. I'm always adjusting everything.

Leaning into discomfort for me is playing with alot of intensity and speed... I'm naturally more relaxed and slow, but in recent times I've realized that I should struggle a bit or else I'll always be the same, and that's kinda boring in a way.
 
I like when people share their experiences about brave set-up changes. I actually find it more inspiring than watching someone play amazingly well on Youtube at times.
 
Cool thread.
This story is one of the reasons I went to a 2 cymbal set up, after YEARS of many (9) and then down to 4 or 5 in a set up.

I wanted to go to less gear, because it seemed like things flowed better with drummers I watched that had things slightly differently than what I was doing.

Drummers like Cindy Blackman, Eric Skodis, Patrick Keeler, and a few others I dig had their rides "basically" in the same place I did, but their arms moved differently. Because my ride was on the bass drum, it wasn't actually in the optimal spot for my body.

Once I put it on a stand--only about 2" further out than it was, things changed.

Prior to moving the ride, I was basically "afraid" of a few things not working, or the vibe being off, so I held myself back for a while.
I mentally "got over" that, and a couple other things, and it's been pretty smooth ever since (a few years now :) ).

It was Cindy Blackman using 2 only cymbals back with LK that really made me want to do that type of set up. Her playing was so strong, and flowed so well on that music, and that's what I wanted more in my playing (she was very cool when I met her too).

It's nothing "new" at all, drummers for ages used only 1 or 2 cymbals until the 70's, but when you grow up with Van Halen, Rush, Kiss, Tommy Aldridge, The Who among other bands with giant kits/many cymbals, it kinda stuck with me.

It was kind of a revelation when I realized "Hey, I really don't need all this stuff" to make things sound and feel good.
I still have the gong though :)... and 3 floor toms...but I have as much fun on just a 4 piece too.

The "bad" thing now is, I don't want to use a bigger cymbal set up now in one of my bands that it would be appropriate to do so with haha!
The feel I get playing with only 2 larger cymbals (20 or 22, and a 24) is a lot cooler than with a bunch of stuff up there.
 
At a gig recently, I recently went from this

2013-03-17_16-36-15_728_zps6e06e6df.jpg


to this

1237097_10202079839941521_670367576_n.jpg


All I had to do was raise my throne up to bar stool height. I'm not a technical player so, adjusting to different setups isn't tough for me. Playing a left handed set up would be fun but, actually playing left handed is where I'd draw the line :)
 
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