Diet Kirk
Silver Member
Before I start this thought dump, let me just say that I am a lover of simple well played drum parts that do nothing but groove and serve the song. I am by no means about to say that simple drum parts played well are a bad thing.
ok? good.
But... Sometimes less isn't more. Sometimes I love it when a drummer expands my listening horizons and plays fills and clever stuff that I've never heard before, in fact I would go as far as saying I crave this kind of music.
I genuinly think right now we are going through a kind of drumming renaissance, akin to what happened to guitars in the 80s/90s. Its an exciting time for technical drumming.
It always slightly saddens me when musicians talk about their journey through music and they end up with the "realisation" that less is more. i.e. through the years they have gradually stripped away all but the most necessary notes.
Why is this considered the journey of a musician? Why can't you incorporate more of your technique the more you learn? Where is the excitement and danger of trying new stuff?
Instead really i don't think there needs to be any such journey. There is a time and a place and a song for playing a simple 2 and 4, no frills, beautiful song, lovely. And there is a time and a place for pushing boundaries with technical playing. I for one would love an artist to say "Over the last 10 years of our career we have been brushing up on our chops, wait until you hear the new album, its crazy!!!!"
Case in point for me is the band incubus. Granted over the last few years their music has become less and less technical, but each album always ended up being exactly what I needed to hear at the time. until the last album. When I heard the guitarist had studied for a couple of years at Berklee, I thought, ok so the next album will probably be stripped back from a drumming point of view, but I was excited to hear what kind of intrigueing musical passages, movements and progressions might appear from an already talented guitarist furthering his craft. Instead, he barely plays a note!
Personally I don't think I'm mellowing with age, I'm listening to more complex and more technical and heavier music the older I get. But I'm also more open than ever to a wider range of drumming and song writing. I currently love New Orlean's brass band music and technical metal in equal measure.
Do we have to get mellower and play less as we get older? Can't we play more?
ok? good.
But... Sometimes less isn't more. Sometimes I love it when a drummer expands my listening horizons and plays fills and clever stuff that I've never heard before, in fact I would go as far as saying I crave this kind of music.
I genuinly think right now we are going through a kind of drumming renaissance, akin to what happened to guitars in the 80s/90s. Its an exciting time for technical drumming.
It always slightly saddens me when musicians talk about their journey through music and they end up with the "realisation" that less is more. i.e. through the years they have gradually stripped away all but the most necessary notes.
Why is this considered the journey of a musician? Why can't you incorporate more of your technique the more you learn? Where is the excitement and danger of trying new stuff?
Instead really i don't think there needs to be any such journey. There is a time and a place and a song for playing a simple 2 and 4, no frills, beautiful song, lovely. And there is a time and a place for pushing boundaries with technical playing. I for one would love an artist to say "Over the last 10 years of our career we have been brushing up on our chops, wait until you hear the new album, its crazy!!!!"
Case in point for me is the band incubus. Granted over the last few years their music has become less and less technical, but each album always ended up being exactly what I needed to hear at the time. until the last album. When I heard the guitarist had studied for a couple of years at Berklee, I thought, ok so the next album will probably be stripped back from a drumming point of view, but I was excited to hear what kind of intrigueing musical passages, movements and progressions might appear from an already talented guitarist furthering his craft. Instead, he barely plays a note!
Personally I don't think I'm mellowing with age, I'm listening to more complex and more technical and heavier music the older I get. But I'm also more open than ever to a wider range of drumming and song writing. I currently love New Orlean's brass band music and technical metal in equal measure.
Do we have to get mellower and play less as we get older? Can't we play more?