OCD or normal jacking around?

rogue_drummer

Gold Member
Forgive me, but I carried this thought over from another post.

It feels a lot like Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, but danged if most everytime I sit at the kit and start to practice about 5 minute into it I start adjusting something from the way it was set last time I played the kit. Maybe a cymbal stand needs moving 1/4" over, the rack tom needs adjusted down or up or angled just a bit more or less, or the 2 floor toms need moving 1/16" of an inch over to the "sweet spot".

I play with the new positions then danged if I'm not moving them back again to their original spot before I moved them. So at the end of the practice I'm left wondering why I ever jacked with the set up in the first place.

Is this some twisted OCD or is it common drummer stuff we all go thru? I just can't sit down and start playing, I gotta mess with something. Ha!
 
sounds like OCD to me... i sit down and play. .and my drums rarely move on their own :)


Tuning though.. i want to tune one drum up a little and end up blowing 4 hours and wishing i hadn't touched em...
 
Over time I've become the opposite.

Sometimes weeks or months go by before I notice that something is really out of it's best place. I've played enough house kits over time where I had to adjust to the kit, that I sort of become ambivalent about just where things are.

But also, I have a weird thought that perhaps the music dictates the best angle/position for drums and cymbals.

I.E. for hard rock/metal, where big strokes are needed, having drums and cymbals closer to flat seems to better accommodate the bigger strokes. While playing with a light blues trio, where volume is low, and the strokes are more finesse and less power, more of angle to the drums and cymbals seems to work better.
 
I go through phases. Though I have wondered how much time other drummers actually spend working on their sound vs technique vs other gear. I think I tend to spend a lot of time working on my sound, tuning the drums, making mallets, shakers, whistles, pedal adapters, sizzles etc. Moving things around usually only happens when I buy gear. I had a friend that was all about the configuration, it was kind of annoying when he moved my gear, however I think my kit configuration did improve. For me where things are don't matter as much, because I have long arms. I like to play with my eyes closed, so having things in the same place is good.
 
Tonight's practice was the first time in a long time that I didn't move something around.
 
Can you focus your compulsion on something more relevant and/or productive? Can you change the compulsion from day to day? I have a similar tick, but mix it up. I tune my drums on Mondays, focus on posture on Tuesdays, play heel down on Wednesdays, try new mic positions on Thursday, etc. As long as I'm focused on something, I tend to get sidetracked less by repetitive brain-damaged tomfoolery.
 
That was always a crutch to cover my self perceived shortcomings as a drummer. Now that I have been playing very regular on stage for almost 3 years I find myself doing it less and less. With me it would be drum or cymbal positions, bass pedal settings. ect. I still move a cymbal on occasion, but only if it really is out of reach.
 
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I feel your pain. Every time I sit on the throne, things get tweaked a bit. Mostly the throne, snare or or hat stand, but occasionally my ride. Not much, but just a little.

I chalk it up to posture, arm position or attitude and it's usually when I first sit at the kit with a totally different music style in mind. If I last practiced rock and today I'm monkeying with blues, I'll find the hats just a little too far away for a gentle swish. Or maybe I'm not aiming for a crack at the center of the snare and want to play more toward the rim for a lighter pop.

It's not glued to the floor for a reason!
 
I too tweak the positions of my cymbals and drums fairly often. Usually just at the beginning of a rehearsal or gig, not usually after every song or anything.

I think it just has to do with how I'm feeling that day.
 
I set up in so many odd places my kit rarely comes out the same twice, lol, and I often play other people's kits. I used to fiddle with setup a lot, but not so much, now.
 
I thought I was weird when I *had* to have the logos on the cymbals and drums lined up and the cymbals needed to be completely level and flat.

Now I find that my drum teacher is the same - he sometimes wonders around in front of my kit when I'm playing and slightly adjusts things to make them level and lined up. The thing is, I don't mind him doing this, it almost always makes me feel better!

Drummers and OCD? Maybe something about keeping time and slicing time into short, regular, divisions and making patterns in your head?
 
I thought I was weird when I *had* to have the logos on the cymbals and drums lined up and the cymbals needed to be completely level and flat.

Now I find that my drum teacher is the same - he sometimes wonders around in front of my kit when I'm playing and slightly adjusts things to make them level and lined up. The thing is, I don't mind him doing this, it almost always makes me feel better!

Drummers and OCD? Maybe something about keeping time and slicing time into short, regular, divisions and making patterns in your head?

I've often thought the same thing, or maybe that we're hard wired for things like precision, placement, symmetry, etc which is why we end up playing drums. Kind of a chicken or the egg thing. Or maybe we're just weird.
 
I've often thought the same thing, or maybe that we're hard wired for things like precision, placement, symmetry, etc which is why we end up playing drums. Kind of a chicken or the egg thing. Or maybe we're just weird.

well *obviously* we're all weird, but I think there's something in the love of patterns, and the level of control, which suggests a fair number of us have a tendency to OCD. Personally I'm as weird as a box of frogs.
 
By drummer standards, I think I'm pretty relaxed. As long as I can get things to sound the way I want - and as long as I can reach them - I generally work around them. Except for my hi hat, which is absolutely NEVER in the right place.

Personally I'm as weird as a box of frogs.

You certainly are! In these parts, you'd be as mad as a box of frogs. You really say "weird"?
 
Tuning always side tracks me while practicing. I want to try it lower. Or higher. Or swap a head. It's always something. My practice time is usually about 1/3 tinker, 2/3's practice.
 
You certainly are! In these parts, you'd be as mad as a box of frogs. You really say "weird"?

I love the different usages of the language. In the states, mad almost always refers to angry, whereas "weird"... yeah. That covers a lot of ground I find familiar.
 
well *obviously* we're all weird, but I think there's something in the love of patterns, and the level of control, which suggests a fair number of us have a tendency to OCD. Personally I'm as weird as a box of frogs.

My question was (is) does drumming make us become obsessive, or does being obsessive make us become drummers.
 
My question was (is) does drumming make us become obsessive, or does being obsessive make us become drummers.

The answer is "no, neither". Obsessive ticks are wholly unrelated to drumming. Those who have obsessive ticks are the same way regardless of which diversion/distraction they choose to indulge.
 
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