MikeM
Platinum Member
I went and saw a band Friday night and they were really great. They have two drummers, a *really* great bass player, and great singer. I like their material a lot, too. Catchy stuff. One of the drummers has a deeper set of drumming skills, but the electronic programming is done by the other guy and he's pretty great in that he's unorthodox in his drumming approach, though he goes deep in other areas. They're compliment each other really well.
Check them out here
Here's the thing I noticed: these guys both rocked four piece kits each with hats and just two cymbals. The opening band's drummer played the exact same setup. It's not hard to start naming off other drummers using this without resorting to most jazz setups or even Ringo. It's a (retro?) contemporary phenomenon.
Now I can definitely see the merits in playing such a stripped down kit, and do so myself with my electronic band, but this setup is so ridiculously common place at this point that no one could possibly think they're being original or edgy with it, could they?
Course the other part of me thinks that we should savor every minute this kit setup is enjoying such popular acceptance among drummers. Clearly, there's been a strong movement away from the excesses of the '80s monster kits, but this seems to have gone beyond that to rejecting anything with splashes, china's, dedicated ride cymbals, and multiple crashes.
I'm not struggling with the two toms so much as I struggle with the just two cymbals. In my last hold out bit from my youth, I still like 3 crashes and a ride. How am I ever gonna get it down to half that?! (Obviously, I know nothing says I have to, but still...)
Check them out here
Here's the thing I noticed: these guys both rocked four piece kits each with hats and just two cymbals. The opening band's drummer played the exact same setup. It's not hard to start naming off other drummers using this without resorting to most jazz setups or even Ringo. It's a (retro?) contemporary phenomenon.
Now I can definitely see the merits in playing such a stripped down kit, and do so myself with my electronic band, but this setup is so ridiculously common place at this point that no one could possibly think they're being original or edgy with it, could they?
Course the other part of me thinks that we should savor every minute this kit setup is enjoying such popular acceptance among drummers. Clearly, there's been a strong movement away from the excesses of the '80s monster kits, but this seems to have gone beyond that to rejecting anything with splashes, china's, dedicated ride cymbals, and multiple crashes.
I'm not struggling with the two toms so much as I struggle with the just two cymbals. In my last hold out bit from my youth, I still like 3 crashes and a ride. How am I ever gonna get it down to half that?! (Obviously, I know nothing says I have to, but still...)