Drum Slang and Acronyms

"In The Pocket" = staying in time...
I'm gonna be tangent man for a second because I had a brainwave about what pocket is ... I get this visual of billiards where you might say something like, "8-ball, corner pocket," and when the ball drops in, it's stopped by this leather mesh. Okay, so the table top is the time grid and the pocket sits just underneath. It has some elasticity and its depth varies from table to table.

Another similar visual would be a basketball hoop. If you get nothing but net, you get a swish sound before the ball drops from the bottom of the net. If you imagine the rim as the time grid and stitch up the hole creating a pocket, now you get that millisecond swish of time between the grid and yer fat backbeat dropping into the sweet spot.

Anyhoo, thought I'd toss that out there since we wrestle this one from time to time like a pack of apes trying to mate with a greasy football, and as much as I like Stewart Copeland, his on top of the beatness will never make me think "pocket player."
 
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I'm gonna be tangent man for a second because I had a brainwave about what pocket is ... I get this visual of billiards where you might say something like, "8-ball, corner pocket," and when the ball drops in, it's stopped by this leather mesh. Okay, so the table top is the time grid and the pocket sits just underneath. It has some elasticity and its depth varies from table to table.

Another similar visual would be a basketball hoop. If you get nothing but net, you get a swish sound before the ball drops from the bottom of the net. If you imagine the rim as the time grid and stitch up the hole creating a pocket, now you get that millisecond swish of time between the grid and yer fat backbeat dropping into the sweet spot.

Sounds like great smoke, Mike :)

four on the floor = quarter notes on the bass drum
QNP = quarter note pulse
gorilla foot = someone who stomps on the bass drum pedal
chorus = chord progression (in jazz)
lick = cool trick
 
Rinse and Repeat= repeat intro, verse, chorus or play the A section again.

Full Throttle = Playing the chorus or outro at a higher volume.

Spraying the room = an aggressive busy fill mainly used for big endings

Tight hats = quieter pocket groove

Sloshy hats = building tension before going full throttle.

A mother F#&%er = someone who is a outstanding player.
 
Flub - a mistake made while drumming, usually only your band knows or another drummer. Mostly flubs go unnoticed by the punters.

Also known as a clam :)

Let's not forget MIJ = made in Japan
stencil kit = made in Japan
POS = piece of s*** (usually preceding or following MIJ or stencil kit.
 
Feathering = Playing the bass lightly (usually in jazz)
 
Wood shedding: Practicing intensely

China Boy: China cymbal.

Sock cymbals: Hi-hat cymbals. From when hi-hats were not "high" and were played on a "low boy" stand, that sat at the high of your socks, and only played with feet. Yet, the term lived on for generations after the "low " stands stopped being made.

Digging coal: The press rolls jazz drummers used to play before the "spang a lang" ride pattern became popular.

Raking coal: Jazz with brushes.
 
Very early on when I was here I was learning a little brushes for the band and asked about brush started a thread about "swishing" and was gently informed (with italics) that the correct term was "sweeping".

Taye, "barks" is a funny term. I still think psshp is more descriptive :)

Then there's all the terms for high intensity - tearing it up, burning, cooking, killing it, etc.
 
In honour of Bermuda's latest acquisition
COW - chrome over (o) wood
OBP - oyster black pearl
WMP - white marine pearl
BDP - black diamond pearl
Etc... - etcetera
 
"Blushda" sounds like some sort of Russian curse word.

Lol Jeremy. That always sounded like a sneeze to me. BLUSH! da.

I always like the words related to song parts, the turnaround, the tag, intro, outro, ritard, the bridge, the breakdown, the pre chorus, the chorus, the verse, the solo, the stop, the false ending, the BIG ENDING, the fade out, the fade in, the rubato, the buildup, the hook, the ornament, the refrain....the refrain.......the refrain lol.

Oh and the term, balling the jack. I'm sorry but that's just too f'n cool.

There's so much lingo related to music that there could be a whole dictionary on it. The dances, the music lingo, the styles, the instruments, the badges...

Music is culture.
 
In honour of Bermuda's latest acquisition
COW - chrome over (o) wood
OBP - oyster black pearl
WMP - white marine pearl
BDP - black diamond pearl
Etc... - etcetera

I had an Etc. drum set once.
 
Lots of the terms listed here are not drum related, and don't have a different meaning in the world of drumming to anywhere else.

POS is generic.

MIJ (also MIK (Korea) and MIM (Malaysia)) come up in other contexts.

Stencil brands are not specific to drums.
 
Lots of the terms listed here are not drum related, and don't have a different meaning in the world of drumming to anywhere else.

POS is generic.

MIJ (also MIK (Korea) and MIM (Malaysia)) come up in other contexts.

Stencil brands are not specific to drums.


The term used was "stencil kit" not stencil brands. The reference was specifically to MIJ - POS - Stencil Kit referred to what many here had as first drumsets such as Stewart, Tempro, Black Jack, star and many others I'm sure to have forgotten. I apologize if I have offended you by cluttering this thread up with my non drum specific acronyms.
 
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