Alex Van Halen

alex is a great drummer for the same reason ringo was, or charlie watts......he plays what works well within the context of the song......as opposed to walking all over it.....he was a huge influence on my playing, and is still one of my favorite drummers today......

someone had mentioned that he thought the "1984" kit was rad.....check out the kit he used for the" 0U812" tour......now that kit was sick.....6 kick drums, a north kit, an electronic kit and a conventional ( well, for alex, hahahaha) kit......that set-up was quite the mofo.....

i've seen van halen 5 or 6 times, and he has yet to disappoint me with his performance.....

my 2 cents........
 
Bonzo said:
HAHAHAHA!!! Tommy Lee? Tico Torres? Bobby Blotzer? For cryin' out loud! You need to get out and see some drummers, my friend!

hahaha yes I Agree, get out and see some Drummers such as Steve Gadd, Mike Portnoy, Dom Famularo, Virgil Donati, Dave Weckl, Vinnie Coliuta, Tommy Aldridge and Neil Peart just to name a few.
 
Been a HUGE VH fan since '78..Alex is way underrated. His snare sound has never been captured, though..Landee did a great job with Ed's " brown sound", but the snare always sounded small to me....Anyone agree?
 
Why doesnt Alex do a drum clinic if he's so good. It's one thing to perform for the general public, another to perform for drummers
 
DrumNut said:
Why doesnt Alex do a drum clinic if he's so good. It's one thing to perform for the general public, another to perform for drummers

Is it mandatory that you have to do clinics in order to be considered good or great? A call out to all drummers - make sure you do some clinics or you'll never amount to anything.


Give me a f***king break.
 
I dont think that language will be tolerated in this forum, first of all. If you want to debate fine, but don't get foul on me.

I didnt say it was mandatory, but some drummers just play with bands and dont teach or do things for our community. I just think it would be nice if he shared his expertise, cause a lot of us would like it.

A lot of these commercially successful drummers seem to hide
 
DrumNut said:
I dont think that language will be tolerated in this forum, first of all. If you want to debate fine, but don't get foul on me.

I didnt say it was mandatory, but some drummers just play with bands and dont teach or do things for our community. I just think it would be nice if he shared his expertise, cause a lot of us would like it.

A lot of these commercially successful drummers seem to hide


I apologize for the profanity.

The part of your initial statement that caught me attention was, "Why doesn’t Alex do a drum clinic if he's so good." Doing or not doing clinics has absolutely nothing to do with his talent or lack there of (whatever side of the fence you stand). I think it's great when a drummer shares what he/she knows about the craft.

My dad has been a professional drummer for almost 50 years, and is a damn good drummer (if I do say so myself). He's played in small clubs, big venues, played with big names and no names. Very educated in the history, technique and musicality of drums (and other instruments), and passes on what he has learned over the years by giving private lessons. But, I can tell you that he would not feel comfortable presenting himself in a clinic setting.

So, whether someone does clinics or not, has absolutely no bearing on ability.
 
im a big fan of van halen i even think eddie is the best guitarists of his generation, alex i truly think is under rated but not by much,he has a simple approch to drums but still he can make simple and complex fills to suit a song so well


Great drummer
 
snake54198 said:
im a big fan of van halen i even think eddie is the best guitarists of his generation, alex i truly think is under rated but not by much,he has a simple approch to drums but still he can make simple and complex fills to suit a song so well


Great drummer

As a drummer I can tell when a guitarist is really pretty good...moreso than guitarists can tell when a drummer is good. My point being that I really think Eddie Van Halen is leagues ahead of Alex on their respective instruments.
 
Stu_Strib said:
As a drummer I can tell when a guitarist is really pretty good...moreso than guitarists can tell when a drummer is good. My point being that I really think Eddie Van Halen is leagues ahead of Alex on their respective instruments.

That's funny, I always thought Alex was the real star of the band and Eddie was the overrated guitarist that got all the attention. But what do we know, we're just drummers.

"Hot for Teacher" is simply an amazing song with amazing drumming.
 
Alex V. is one of the most underated rock drummers ever. I have always enjoyed listening to VH. I feel Alex was very innovative and fit their music perfectly. I definately prefer VH with David Lee Roth instead of Sammy. They became a different band with Hagar, but not a better one. I have been listening to VH since 1978, and one of my favorite Alex tracks is " Loss of Control" on "Women and Children First." Great double bass work here!
 
Hey im a big Alex fan and i just wanted to say that i think he's really underrated and that i think he's one of the best rock drummers of all time. I espically like his drum solo on the right here right now cd
 
I saw VH on their "Women and Children First" tour-His kit blew me away-FOUR zebra striped bass drums! Alex and Eddie did an awesome "duo solo" together...that was the highlight of the show for me...
 
Stu_Strib said:
At least he posted Greg Bissonette!
Stu

Hey Stu:

Have you ever listened to David Lee Roth's project with Steve Vai, Greg Bissonette, and Billy Sheehan? The album is called Eat 'Em and Smile, and Bissonette does a great job on the song "Goin' Crazy".

As for Alex Van Halen:

I love his drum parts, since some can be pretty simple, like Panama, and others can be pretty complicated, like Hot for Teacher. All in all, I think he knows what he's doing, and he does it well. Alex established himself in Van Halen, and I think his drum sound, though pitched too high for my taste, fits in perfectly with Eddie Van Halen's "Brown Sound". I can't understand why Stu hates his sound; although I would't use the sound myself (which could be similar with Stu, and thus the reason he hates the sound), I think it just compliments the whole auro of Van Halen in the good ol' days (before Hagar, who I absolutely detest).

- Marc
 
Considering my plates on my truck are DVRDWN, I should post something here. Alex is a phenominal talent. Listen to some of the tasteful grooves he lays down on lesser known VH songs Like Big Bad Bill, Light Up The Sky, Sinners Swing and Girl Gone Bad. The man is extremely versatile but he knows his brother and Diamond Dave, and later Sammy were the stars. So he just sits back and provides the solid base for Eddies guitar gymnastics.

BTW: Hot For Teacher isnt a digital kick with delay. Its very easy when You sit down and figure it out. There are 3 main parts.All played separately quite simple but when you put them together it sounds terrific. 1st you play a shuffle pattern with yur feet using your lefft foot to play the hihat and snare parts. Once you get that established put in the tom parts with your left hand and the ride with your right. It takes alot of practice but it can be done.
 
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