Please Critique my drumming

hey! no one's jumpin on this so i will. 1st- i think it's great. you are feeling it and definitely have ability...no problem whatsoever...except what we all see when we look back on our old stuff and see how much better we've gotten. why don't you record what you're doing now? we could say there's plenty to work on, but you must be workin on it already if you've still been playing since this was shot.

seriously, there's another side to this, and maybe you're all over it already, but if not- that is to make yourself marketable, desirable to not just the public, but to players who you are going to try to get with! be social and active...don't live under the rocks and stones and then try to come out when you think you're ready. and keep in shape! you're not overly large or anything, you're fine, but with age comes weight...drummers need to be really physical, so keep up somewhat healthy eating and your exercise regimen, including some cardio(besides cardio-drums)-doesn't need to be a lot- just remind your muscles and your heart why they are there so they don't forget.
 
The most obvious thing technically was that some of the inside stuff could stand some cleaning up- your ghost notes are fighting with your primary notes a little bit.

Musically, several things could stand to happen:
- Don't be in a hurry to keep moving on to the next idea. By the time I turned it off around 2:30, I lost track of the number of grooves you had covered. You could've easily just developed your opening thing for that entire time.
- By playing the familiar groove/fill type of thing, you set the listener up with the expectation that you'll be staying in 4/4 and playing normal 4-8 measure phrases- If you're going to deviate from that, you should do it consistently so the listener has a chance to pick up on it. Playing irregular phrase lengths and filling in odd places as you were doing will sound wrong to the listener.
- Try varying your rhythm, and try to introduce some space- you maintain a pretty relentless texture. Take your time, use some longer note values, and let the music breathe.
 
The most obvious thing technically was that some of the inside stuff could stand some cleaning up- your ghost notes are fighting with your primary notes a little bit.

Musically, several things could stand to happen:
- Don't be in a hurry to keep moving on to the next idea. By the time I turned it off around 2:30, I lost track of the number of grooves you had covered. You could've easily just developed your opening thing for that entire time.
- By playing the familiar groove/fill type of thing, you set the listener up with the expectation that you'll be staying in 4/4 and playing normal 4-8 measure phrases- If you're going to deviate from that, you should do it consistently so the listener has a chance to pick up on it. Playing irregular phrase lengths and filling in odd places as you were doing will sound wrong to the listener.
- Try varying your rhythm, and try to introduce some space- you maintain a pretty relentless texture. Take your time, use some longer note values, and let the music breathe.

cruiseship-i know it's just another day for you, but this is a brilliant critique-not cause it's rocket science-i can see every point you make(once you made them), and i'm sure cjh2112 can too- but the fact that you articulate them is the great thing.

you don't have to answer this! i'm just saying that it's good to see from a musical viewpoint, and from a teacher's viewpoint, and it's instantly educational.i hope you'll critique mine someday when i put it up in 2112.or 13...no i really need to so i will.
 
More people will see this if you post it in the My Playing section rather than the General Discussion section.
 
This was a solo I did about 3 years ago, please leave comments good or bad so I can improve on my playing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wwi5-7lUP0

Thanks!!!

I don't want to come across as crass so please don't take this the wrong way... but, what does it matter now about a solo you did 3 years ago? I'm thinking some of the critique may not apply or be relevant 3 years later if you have been improving all along.

You posted yesterday so why not show a recent or updated video of your current playing ability, etc? I guess if it was something within the last 6 months or even a year I would understand - but 3 years ago and you want a critique? Odd.
 
Todds post was very precise and useable stuff. I'll throw my 2 cents in..

As a listener, not a drummer, you gotta give me something to latch onto, something I can follow. The second that drops out...ya lost me, probably for the rest of the solo. I don't give a crap about how many notes there are, what's in it for me? (spoken as your regular audience member) What's going to hold my attention?

The only thing I can come up with is rhythm, something they can anticipate whats coming up and take the journey with you, rather than sit there going ...huh??


Believe me I'm no soloist, but I do know what I'm aiming for, and that's to grab the audience with something infectious, and somehow maintain that until I can make a clean getaway.
I'll let you know when I can do that lol..

For my own purposes I've crystalized it down to my own personal rule of thumb that no matter what I am playing, (generally speaking of course) beat, fill.... the quarter notes must be accented, or accenting implied somehow, so people can tap their foot. The quarter note is the audiences favorite note lol. If you don't provide it, you never had them, if you take it away, you lose them.

The mighty QNP. Quarter note pulse, my phrase, I claim it.
 
Todds post was very precise and useable stuff. I'll throw my 2 cents in..

As a listener, not a drummer, you gotta give me something to latch onto, something I can follow. The second that drops out...ya lost me, probably for the rest of the solo. I don't give a crap about how many notes there are, what's in it for me? (spoken as your regular audience member) What's going to hold my attention?

The only thing I can come up with is rhythm, something they can anticipate whats coming up and take the journey with you, rather than sit there going ...huh??


Believe me I'm no soloist, but I do know what I'm aiming for, and that's to grab the audience with something infectious, and somehow maintain that until I can make a clean getaway.
I'll let you know when I can do that lol..

For my own purposes I've crystalized it down to my own personal rule of thumb that no matter what I am playing, (generally speaking of course) beat, fill.... the quarter notes must be accented, or accenting implied somehow, so people can tap their foot. The quarter note is the audiences favorite note lol. If you don't provide it, you never had them, if you take it away, you lose them.

The mighty QNP. Quarter note pulse, my phrase, I claim it.

+1

Very well said! In fact, now looking back and watching it as a listener and not from a drummers perspective, I totally agree. As a drummer I know what you are going for and I can appreciate the complexity of some of the things you are doing. As a listener, however, I wouldn't care. The bottom line is, does it sound good? Is it musical to my ears? Do you keep me interested with an underlying constant rhythm? I dont know... and ultimately I wonder if I could impress an audience just as much (if not more) by playing the simplest money beat with some creative tom and hi-hat work right next to you on another drum set. I wonder if they would follow along and be more "in-tune" to my "simple" playing rather than your more complex solo... hmm. Now from a drummers perspective I would be more interested in what you are doing simply cause I would be curious where you can take it. And in the end, unfortunately, I cant escape the fact that I am a drummer so its hard for me to look at this subject objectively.

What I can say is I recently took a non-drummer friend of mine to the Floyd Kennedy Drum Festival (a local thing) where another friend of mine (Mike Johnston... also my teacher) and some others were performing (Eric Moore, Dante Roberson, Floyd Kennedy, etc.). As they were performing I noticed how my non-drummer friend reacted to their playing. While I was jaw dropping over the complex time signatures, polyrhythms and overall speed on fills and chops, he simply sat there and didn't get it. However, when one guy took the stage and did a simple go-go beat or basic pocket pattern my friend was about out of his chair whistling and hollering. Simply put... he could follow along and damn near broke his neck bobbing his head wanting to dance... and he is far from a dancer (and we are in our 30's). That has to say something. I realize one is a beat/groove and one is a solo and they are different... but not so much as that same cat used that as his solo and always came back around to it to let people know that he was still in time with them and on the same page.

But, I agree with others and Larry is spot on, IMO.
 
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Thanks for the feedback guys..much appreciated. I haven't recorded a solo in a while and should do a new one. I have grown to appreciate a simpler approach that is a more of a musical type of drumming as opposed to an all out 'chop fest' solo.
 
cruiseship-i know it's just another day for you, but this is a brilliant critique-not cause it's rocket science-i can see every point you make(once you made them)

Thanks, man, I appreciate it very much! Not-rocket-science is pretty much my philosophy of how to do anything, though it doesn't always come across in my writing- I'm glad it made sense!
 
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