Hitting ghost notes off-centre, bad habit?

[sciomako]

Hi,

As the centre of the snare is always the loudest, I have a tendency to play my ghost notes off-centre. Is this a bad habit that I have to correct?

[jimmyakaspanky]

I actually do that also sometimes, but on purpose.
I don't think it's a bad thing, unless you're hitting by the rim haha.
But look at the name ghost-notes.
They're not supposed to be as loud as all the other hits.

[diosdude]

If they were the same dynamic as your main notes, how would you distinguish them as ghosts?

[aydee]

Why would that be bad? The snare has a palette of sounds you can choose from depending on where you hit it.

It would be bad if you intend to hit it in the center but are slagging off to the edge.

[That Guy]

I usually play my ghosties off-center with a little drag. It sounds better to my ears.

[Styx]

There's nothing wrong with playing your ghost notes off centre, it all depends on the type of sound you're looking for.

[jonescrusher]

It's something that needs to be practiced, slow of course. If you're hitting them off-centre unintentionally then it's a control issue that needs to be worked through, Break it down and examine your dynamic control.

[veggo32]

That may be a problem in a mic'd situation. Your ghosts may not be heard, it depends on the mix and the quality of mic, personally I play my ghosts were I play my regular snare hits, just off center. It works for me.

[Rasta]

It's a good thing to have dynamical control. If you are not intentionaly hitting your strokes off center, that's something I would work on like Jonescrusher said.

By doing this, you gain more control on the dynamics you employ. Hitting in the center produces a sharper sound and off center produces a rounder sound. Both sounds have their place in drumming and music. It's all about getting what you want, when you want it.

[LBDrummer]

I often play ghosts off center, which helps with dynamics and accents

[diosdude]

I love bernard purdie's vid: Don't worry about the ghosts, they're just there to make it feeeel gooooood....

[h3r3tic]

No mistake at all! ;)
I sometime do it too! but as someone also said, I do it on purpose too! ;)

It's all about color,man! the more your explore the different sound possibilities the more colorful your drumming becomes.

[DrumEatDrum]

Originally Posted by sciomako

Hi,

As the centre of the snare is always the loudest, I have a tendency to play my ghost notes off-centre. Is this a bad habit that I have to correct?

I'd say no.

Many of the greats play different parts of the head to get different tones, so why not?

[Deathmetalconga]

I usually do not play the center of my snare drum at all - only when I need extra volume and people do not often ask drummers to play louder anyway.

Off-center notes have more character and texture. So, I think it is good you play your ghost notes off-center.

[sciomako]

Thank you, everyone!

[jonescrusher]

Originally Posted by h3r3tic

No mistake at all! ;)
I sometime do it too! but as someone also said, I do it on purpose too! ;)

Well, we don't know that the OP is intentional in hitting off-centre, do we? It's never good to try and cover up a bad habit or a weakness in technique by thinking that it sounds 'cooler' or is more interesting. Getting consistent, quality sounding ghost notes is a very challenging aspect of drumming, it requires patience and concentration to improve control. Let's not encourage mediocrity.

[Matty G.]

Originally Posted by aydee

Why would that be bad? The snare has a palette of sounds you can choose from depending on where you hit it.

It would be bad if you intend to hit it in the center but are slagging off to the edge.

Well said! It's all a matter of preference. You get a little more ring from the edge, which can make the drum sing a little more. The center is more staccato, which is good for other situations. Same with a rim shot - depending on the how much stick is on the head, the darker or brighter the sound will be. Watch a Buddy Rich solo, and check out all of the different sounds he gets. Beautiful!

[k3ng]

emphasis on intentional or not. That is very very very important.

You are in control of where the stick hits. If you are unable to hit a ghost note in the middle of your snare then you have some dynamic control to practice.

You should be in control of everything that happens on your kit. Nothing just happens that way

That being said, off centre ghost notes itself have nothing wrong with them.. But make sure you are the one doing them.. not your subconcious.

[Der Februar]

I'd say as long as your intentionally hitting off center that you're fine.

[votard]

Besides it being intentional to get a different sound out of the drum, is it intentional to get the "feel" for the dynamic? At first when i started practicing accent patterns, I felt like I had to hop from off center to center to get the accent. Eventually I decreased the distance from the two on the head and now I don't have to move from different places even though it feels the same.

[BrutalKid]

My drum teacher tells me to hit off-centre, he says it sounds better and it is easier to play.