Drum fads: Past, present...and future?

Stand up drummers.
There a several so called 'Rockabilly' bands in my town that still copy the Stray Cats style from the 80's, with a stand up drummer and a double bass player. And the big hair...
 
Ummm, let's see ...


Thin shells, then super-thick shells, then thin shells, then medium-thick shells.

Tripod stands, then flat-base stands, then tripod stands, then flat-base stands

Shallow toms, then deep toms, then medium-shallow toms.

Beat-up appearance, then nightclub-stylish appearance, then outrageous appearance, then "aged" appearance.

Shallow kicks, then deep kicks, then shallow kicks.

Four-piece kits, then seven-piece kits, then five-piece kits, then four-piece kits.

Flat cymbals/toms, then tilted cymbals/toms, then flat cymbals/toms.

Deep snares, then piccolo snares, then deep snares.

Wood hoops, then flanged hoops, then diecast hoops, then wood hoops.

Dead sound, then lively sound, then dead sound, then super-dead sound, then lively sound, then super-resonant sound.


I'm just waiting for the temple blocks to return to the top of the bass drum.
 
I rememeber that fad from when drumkits were made - 2020 when people used stools! I much prefer my Hoverchair™
 
Hollywood Jim said:
Here's one I'm worried about.

I have been going to open mic jams all over the place, and in different cities.
I have yet to see a cow bell on the sets I have played on. No cow bells !

Are cowbells now being left off the drum kit because it is just too "old style" ?
.
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I have a cowbell & it always gets a round of applause when I play it!

Back to fads:
The 5000+ different signature drumsticks. Come on! That extra 0.0001mm in length doesn't really make so much difference that it deserves a new line of sticks does it?
Give it a rest now!
 
DrumEatDrum said:
Ah sure it is.

You had a few bands at the start who really were into what they were doing, then 1001 copycat bands jumping on the bandwagon, with thousands more willing to do anything to ride along on that bandwagon.

In the early 80's, Quiet Riot got signed and had a hit single. Suddenly, everyone was looking to see if another "hair metal" band could make it, or if it was a fluke. So Motely Crue got signed, they were huge. Then came Dokken, Poison, Ratt, WASP, etc. Then Warrant. And the blue print was laid out, and to get noticed, every band followed the formula. Dokken at least had the balls to admit they blatantly copied Motely Crue down to the brand of hair spray they used. By the end of the 80's, it was ridiculous as bands were getting signed just for their hair and spandex, musicality be dammed.

Then grunge came in and wiped the slate clean. Initially, it was just a handful of bands, but in a few years, the radio was full of "sound alikes". I remember when Stone Temple Piots first hit the scene, they were skewered left and right for just being a "sound alike" and jumping on the bandwagon, yet, all these later, they're mostly remembered as being a great classic band from the 90's.

As I've said, I always thought the great irony in grunge was it was supposed to be about rebelling against the "uniform" of spandex and hair spray but instead, it was just replaced by a new uniform of moppy hair cut and flannel shirts.

100 guys trying to look like David Lee Roth vs 100 guys trying to look like Kurt Cobain; it's still 100 guys following a trend.

I remember all the ads for bands looking for a drummer in the 90's, and read "must have short hair, own a flannel shirts, and play like Dave Ghrol". Not much different that than the 80's ads of "Must have double bass drum kit, long hair, and play like Tommy Lee".

I had one band interview in like 94 where the guy admitted he had been in a hair band on MTV at the end of the 80's, and his worlds to me where "look, I know you probably have a Judas Pries album at home, but you can't tell anyone, you have to present yourself as someone who really likes this new music" and with "and you must play exactly like Dave Ghrol". His wanna-be grunge band was just as fake as his 80's hair band had been a few years earlier.

And of that spilled out on the radio. The 2nd and 3rd wave of grunge bands were only on the radio for the same reason the 2nd and 3rd wave of hair metals bands had been on MTV a decade earlier: Because it was trendy.
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Grunge kind of sucked, because all the cool second hand clothes disappeared from the thrift shops.
 
larryace said:
Geez Ian your last post was friggin great.

You really have a sober view on things in your area.
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Perhaps.

But at times I also think it's why my music career never quite happened the way I wanted it to. I just couldn't buy into a majority of trends.

I have buddies I went to music school with who are touring in big bands, but they joined bands I was never a fan of. Part of me is jealous of their success, yet at the same time, I can't get how they can be fans of and join some of these bands.

I've always liked what I liked and didn't what I didn't, regardless if it was popular or completely obscure.

Which isn't to say I don't like all popular music; I own the entire Alice in Chains catalog, I'm a fan of No Doubt, and there are plenty of other commercial music artists sprinkled into my music collection. But I've also spent a lot of time listening to and working on music no one else would want to listen to. heh.
 
Dodeska said:
Back to fads:
The 5000+ different signature drumsticks. Come on! That extra 0.0001mm in length doesn't really make so much difference that it deserves a new line of sticks does it?
Give it a rest now!
Click to expand...

I agree.

I recall when I was younger, I thought I'd start collecting signature sticks, just to have, because at the time, they were few and far between. But then it quickly got out of control, so I'm glad I never started that collection.

And it makes it tough on the stores too, because the average music store doesn't have the space or money to stock every last model. And just because so-and-so is a famous drummer doesn't mean all his fans are going to rush out and buy his stick.

When I was managing drum shops way back when, I got talked into stocking a particular legendary name's signature model by a smooth talking stick manufacturing rep, only to watch said stick sit and sit and sit.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
Ah sure it is.

You had a few bands at the start who really were into what they were doing, then 1001 copycat bands jumping on the bandwagon, with thousands more willing to do anything to ride along on that bandwagon.

In the early 80's, Quiet Riot got signed and had a hit single. Suddenly, everyone was looking to see if another "hair metal" band could make it, or if it was a fluke. So Motely Crue got signed, they were huge. Then came Dokken, Poison, Ratt, WASP, etc. Then Warrant. And the blue print was laid out, and to get noticed, every band followed the formula. Dokken at least had the balls to admit they blatantly copied Motely Crue down to the brand of hair spray they used. By the end of the 80's, it was ridiculous as bands were getting signed just for their hair and spandex, musicality be dammed.

Then grunge came in and wiped the slate clean. Initially, it was just a handful of bands, but in a few years, the radio was full of "sound alikes". I remember when Stone Temple Piots first hit the scene, they were skewered left and right for just being a "sound alike" and jumping on the bandwagon, yet, all these later, they're mostly remembered as being a great classic band from the 90's.

As I've said, I always thought the great irony in grunge was it was supposed to be about rebelling against the "uniform" of spandex and hair spray but instead, it was just replaced by a new uniform of moppy hair cut and flannel shirts.

100 guys trying to look like David Lee Roth vs 100 guys trying to look like Kurt Cobain; it's still 100 guys following a trend.

I remember all the ads for bands looking for a drummer in the 90's, and read "must have short hair, own a flannel shirts, and play like Dave Ghrol". Not much different that than the 80's ads of "Must have double bass drum kit, long hair, and play like Tommy Lee".

I had one band interview in like 94 where the guy admitted he had been in a hair band on MTV at the end of the 80's, and his worlds to me where "look, I know you probably have a Judas Pries album at home, but you can't tell anyone, you have to present yourself as someone who really likes this new music" and with "and you must play exactly like Dave Ghrol". His wanna-be grunge band was just as fake as his 80's hair band had been a few years earlier.

And of that spilled out on the radio. The 2nd and 3rd wave of grunge bands were only on the radio for the same reason the 2nd and 3rd wave of hair metals bands had been on MTV a decade earlier: Because it was trendy.
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Yep, Ian, every word of this is absolutely true. Just how it works when musos driven by money get in the game. They'll do what it takes is pursuit of fame and riches.

The irony, of course, was that the first wave of grunge bands weren't thinking about the big time and superstardom, and no one in their right mind thought Nevermind would be the game changer that it was, including the band. They made that recoed hoping it would do about as well as Sonic Youth's major experience had been to them.

When I think of grunge, and everything I liked about it, I only think of that first wave of bands and not all the copycats that came after. More than anything else, I admired their original spirit. For a band like Soundgarden, I saw a lot of parallels with Rush, who was still my favorite band at that time.

Your post made me think I should go easy on the hair metal bands of the 80s that came in the wake of Quiet Riot and Motley Crüe since I actually liked those bands and bought their records.

Excellent post
 
Midnite Zephyr said:
Suspended floor toms. Is it a fad or are they here to stay? You decide...
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The main issue is stability. Hanging floor toms make sense to some degree if a side rack is already deployed, or if significant elevation is required. Outside of that, they're a PITA mostly, & size limiting too. 18" suspended floor tom anyone?

If you must suspend floor toms, go for a single support leg option. That stops the buggers bouncing around.

Gong drums however, that's different - they're cool :)

That brings me to a question for y'all - Gong drum vs. second floor tom?
 
keep it simple said:
The main issue is stability. Hanging floor toms make sense to some degree if a side rack is already deployed, or if significant elevation is required. Outside of that, they're a PITA mostly, & size limiting too. 18" suspended floor tom anyone?

If you must suspend floor toms, go for a single support leg option. That stops the buggers bouncing around.

Gong drums however, that's different - they're cool :)

That brings me to a question for y'all - Gong drum vs. second floor tom?
Click to expand...
I agree. It kinda works for a 14, but anything bigger needs a leg, or three. Not a big fan myself. I'll take a gong drum over a second floor tom anyday. Then again, it is nice to have a little side table to put things on.
 
keep it simple said:
Gong drums however, that's different - they're cool :)

That brings me to a question for y'all - Gong drum vs. second floor tom?
Click to expand...
Agreed that they're cool, but based on my experience with one, I found they were very hard to get a nice round full sound from. It was a 10-ply 20" Keller shell with a 22" head but still had a bass drum like quality even after cranking the head up to an almost snare drum like tension. So I had a bearing edge cut on the other side and fit it with a 20" unported reso. That helped somewhat but I still gave up on it and sold it. Looking back on it, I think I might have had better luck if I did something to break its ground to the floor - it was on floor tom legs.

My 18" floor tom has the same issue and I put some pretty serious tension on it to keep from sounding like a bass drum, and it has Pearl isolation feet on the legs.
 
Agree with all of these!

Mark

keep it simple said:
10 useless / misleading marketing hype based things I'd like to see gone:

The picture covers the first 3 of the following sins; (plus an extra one for the finish)

1/ Those stupid extra deep bass drum hoops.

2/ Square size (or more) bass drums.

3/ Multiple resonant head ports.

4/ Those silly ports for tom & snare batter heads.

5/ Acronyms for ply layups

6/ Interior paint with magical properties

7/ Patenting everything - including the blindingly obvious & prior art

8/ Uber processed product videos

9/ Alternative names for a wrap

10/ False / unsubstantiated patriotism
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Andy, can you cite an example of false/unsubstantiated patriotism?

Are you referring to things like "Made in the USA" when most of the metal comes from the Asian parts bin?
 
Interior paint, as you all well know Gretsch has been doing this for years so even though it may not make much difference to the sound it doesn't qualify as a fad.
In fact it's a rather long lasting feature - a bit like the human appendix. Long lasting but totally useless.

As for magical properties my long departed Gold Hayman kits from late 1960s had interior paint - that contained traces of slug slime, wing of bat and was heat sealed with frog burp - magic.
 
Captain Bash said:
As for magical properties my long departed Gold Hayman kits from late 1960s had interior paint - that contained traces of slug slime, wing of bat and was heat sealed with frog burp - magic.
Click to expand...

I have never played one, but have read that the Hayman kits of the early 70's were designed to be particularly loud, to compete with amplification.
Lined with something other than paint maybe?
 
opentune said:
I have never played one, but have read that the Hayman kits of the early 70's were designed to be particularly loud, to compete with amplification.
Lined with something other than paint maybe?
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Louis, Not too sure about being lined with something special, from what I can recall it was just some thick white paint, but this was my first kit, wish I had kept it, seriously glam gold wrap and a reasonable sound.

The thing that I do recall was that the Bass drum mounted Tom mount was a lethal beast of a thing that wouldn't have looked out of place in a medieval torture chamber.

Drums haven't got much better but but hardware has come a long way.
 
larryace said:
Long drum solos

*runs for cover*
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Amen. After watching that Dream Theater audition show I was curious to see what kind of stuff Mangini was playing with them. First video was "AWESOME MIKE MANGINI DRUM SOLO!!!!!" The video was about ten minutes of him hitting in turn each drum, cymbal, and other noisemaker in his massive kit while pulling faces.

I just don't get it.
 
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