Away From The Kit

Souljacker

Silver Member
Have a question about periods where drummers are away from their drum kit and can't practice on it. For me, I was away from home for a week with no access to a kit.

I had a pad though. What I want to know does practicing rudiments on the pad while being away from a drum kit, it's of benefit to your hands but do elements of your playing suffer not having the full kit to practice.

Does it really make much difference. I can imagine it putting more focus on my hands just having the pad but I can imagine without a kit, you wouldn't really be able to practice independence exercises properly or songs.

Any opinions?
 
my situation is worse, I'm right near my kit, and can't play when I want...on going fued with neighbors....that is hopefully going to be over soon, they getting evicted, I broke down and bought a gibralter bass practice pad...( my feet are definately my weekness ) so I take it to the laundry and to the beach, and just find a private place and play bass pad/hand pad...it's all i got at the moment
 
Absolutely, it helps! Pads are far better than nothing. Even if you're an advanced player. Use a microscopic approach and you might detect at least some minor flaws to work on: e.g. getting stick height/accents/dynamics/grips identical between both hands, developing more speed etc.

As for pads - the Ludwig P4 will provide you a much more intense playing feel than regular pads as it has 4 different playing areas with different material and thus, sound. Those playing areas are grouped into 3 different height levels so for a pad it really provides you the feel of getting around the kit or at least having way more challenge when practicing - spread accents around, practice transitions (clockwise, counterclockwise, R vs. L hand lead). You can do so much with a pad.

I have a kit which I barely use so I know this situation, too. It's because the neighbours are right next to the room where the kit is set up plus - drums are damn loud and still frighten me in the flesh. I need to get used to this. So I'm practicing on pads a lot - both hands and feet. Now if you put up a kick practice pad _and_ one or several regular pads (or the mentioned P4) you can create a playground big enough to practice quite a lot of stuff.

You even don't need anything if you're creative enough. Odd rhythms/interdependence can be practiced with no pedals, no sticks - everywhere.
 
If you do alot of crazy independence stuff then you would but for general playing, I don't find that I lose basic independence if I'm away from the kit for a little while, the hands and feet are the things need the most maintenance.

Sometimes I think practicing hands and feet on pads is almost better than practicing them on the set because it's alot easier to concentrate on technique. Getting back on the kit after a decent amount of pad practice usually has me playing pretty well.
 
Thanks. Yeah, I think it's helping cos I'm able to better isolate blips in technique.

On my new Evans real feel pad it has a much bigger surface than my previous one and it's nice cos I feel like I can even practice songs on it. Pretend one side is the hi hat and the rest of it as the snare.
 
One of the best things you can do in your time away from the kit is listen, listen, listen. Grab headphones, go to a quiet room, and listen to new music. Are you buying a new album each week and listening through it? What's the drummer doing? Listen to the bass lines, harmonies in the vocals, the rhythm of the guitarist(s). Put something new on; don't listen to what you're "used" to listening to...there's millions of great albums out there, and there's no excuse to not have anything to do away from the kit.

90% of great musicianship is using your ears, and they need to be trained just like anything else.
 
You only need your hands and feet. You may not be able to play what you learned right away when you get back to the kit but you will be able to transition it much quicker because the mental part of it is already learned.

I do a lot of coordination exercises at work. Right now I'm playing a paradiddle between my feet while playing a paradiddle with the hands but at half the speed. Also reversed. I do it in triplets as well. I find challenging stuff all the time.

I like this because playing on my thighs and with my feet heels down on the floor reveals flams easier on notes that should be in unison.

You can also play beats to a click that goes silent for a few bars, this is something that improves your timing and will transition to the kit. Download polynome if you have a smartphone and you can do this anywhere.
 
One of the best things you can do in your time away from the kit is listen, listen, listen. Grab headphones, go to a quiet room, and listen to new music. Are you buying a new album each week and listening through it? What's the drummer doing? Listen to the bass lines, harmonies in the vocals, the rhythm of the guitarist(s). Put something new on; don't listen to what you're "used" to listening to...there's millions of great albums out there, and there's no excuse to not have anything to do away from the kit.

90% of great musicianship is using your ears, and they need to be trained just like anything else.

+1............. definitely agree
 
This month I returned to the kit after a 6 month absence for medical reasons. I was not able to play or practice at all during that time. After a few short practice sessions, I returned to playing the kit at church last week (and received an ovation - I guess they missed me!). Here's what I experienced:

Returning to the drums was basically like riding a bike. During my absence I still listened to music and played along in my mind. So mentally I stayed on top of things, but physically my skills deteriorated. While playing the basics don't seem to be any issue, I have lost significant hand speed and stamina. I feel spastic trying to do anything more than a simple fill. The brain is saying one thing but the hands and arms aren't able to keep up.

My lack of stamina may have more to do with all the medical treatments I had as well as the major surgery I undertook. Not all of my muscles have totally healed yet, and I lost 35 pounds during the process. Thus, my muscle mass declined significantly. While I walked regularly and that helped the legs, my upper body remained mostly dormant.

If you are away from a drum set (not for medical reasons), you can still keep up your muscle tone and stamina by working out and exercising, which would prevent my type of situation from occurring. Keeping up your coordination and speed could certainly be aided by using a practice pad when you don't have access to a kit.
 
i take a backpack with a small pad and a pair of sticks, i just play on it wherever i am. trains, buses, etc. i mainly started doing this because i would travel from my island to mainland UK by boat and it would take an hour, so i saw it as a way of using my time efficiently.
 
+1 on a pad with you, wherever you go, also practice some rudiments with the feet on the ground with no pedals, using a combination of flat footed and heel strokes.

It also helps if you "imagine" playing the kit.
 
I've only recently become aware of how you need to cap Ipod volume to protect your ears. I've been doing this but I think I've probably damaged them a bit over the years.

Isolating headphones or ear plugs are the best investment you can ever make for your listening health, seriously. I use a pair of Shure SRH440s for my everyday listening (they look ridiculous outdoors but they're great) and I used to have a pair of Shure SE115s that were very good (and much less ridiculous). Buying good headphones really improves your listening experience, too. I love kicking back and listening to music on my AKG K701s whenever I get the chance (they're open back) and it brings a huge smile to my face every time.
 
I do a lot of coordination exercises at work. Right now I'm playing a paradiddle between my feet while playing a paradiddle with the hands but at half the speed. Also reversed. I do it in triplets as well. I find challenging stuff all the time.
.

That's a fine exercise. Quite creepy but very challenging.

I really like finding out new things like this. I can still remember where I was when someone told me to play paradiddles in triplet time.

Thanks for posting
 
Isolating headphones or ear plugs are the best investment you can ever make for your listening health, seriously. I use a pair of Shure SRH440s for my everyday listening (they look ridiculous outdoors but they're great) and I used to have a pair of Shure SE115s that were very good (and much less ridiculous). Buying good headphones really improves your listening experience, too. I love kicking back and listening to music on my AKG K701s whenever I get the chance (they're open back) and it brings a huge smile to my face every time.

I have AKG 271s, which I'm pretty sure are sound isolating. That's what you mean by isolating right? Not letting sounds outside (bus noise, traffic) in, like blocking out that noise.
 
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