To your Surprise

Mine was really early. I don't know how long I'd been playing a kit (I started on snare)--it might have been six months, it might have been over a year--but I was trying and trying and trying to get a kind of Motown pattern going: snare on 2 and 4, kick on 1 and &3, but with quarter notes on the hats. I could play the pattern no problem as long as I played eighth notes on the hats, but whenever I switched to quarter notes, my right hand would follow my right foot and play along with the kick, rather than staying consistent. It was so frustrating and I felt so stupid but I just kept trying and trying and I can still feel the rush of that very first time I separated the two limbs and achieved the most rudimentary limb independence. It was so freeing and I felt like I'd unlocked some magical mystery.

Of course, it's all been downhill from there.
I found it the most fundamental block in my progress - but my tutor never even mentioned it - which seems odd, looking back.
Rob Brown fixed it for me. (You need to fixate on the stick up stroke - then the two beats are separated far enough for the brain to identify and latch on to the feel)
 
You mean the drummin
first OH WOW [1972ish] - hearing dad play along to Sing, Sing, Sing when I was 3 or 4
second OH WOW [1972ish] - dad teaching me to play Sing, Sing, Sing at age 3 or 4 <--- that was the most important one; I knew that I wanted to be a drummer for my life
third OH WOW [1978] - hearing Ohio States marching drums live for the first time
fourth OH WOW [1980] - hearing the drum solo in YYZ on the live version from Exit...Stage Left
fifth OH WOW [1980] - my first drum lesson
sixth OH WOW [1983] - first live gig in front of people in a club
seventh OH WOW [1997] - playing in front of more than 3000 people opening up for David Byrne;
eight OH WOW [2004] - getting to teach the son of one of my best friends who I did band with in high school; I carried him out of the hospital when they were discharged after him being born; I have now had the privilege to teach children of 3 of the people I was in band with, and one of my very first students as well
ninth OH WOW [2009] - winning my first championship with the high school indoor drumline group
tenth OH WOW [2015] - playing in a legit jazz band for the first time, and not getting fired...still going strong!!!
eleventh OH WOW [2017] - having a heart attack
twelfth OH WOW [current] - looking back and seeing that I got to be a drummer for a living, and still get to....
The final frontier could be 'getting a non-baffling username'? 😉
 
It's common courtesy for the OP to provide an example, you know to start the ball rolling.

So let's have it JG :)

My entry: 12 strands instead of 20 or more.

This qualifies because I was definitely surprised and actually said, "Oh Wow"

I'll be doing a thread on snare wires real soon.
I would have to say the variety of wood shells
 
Just thought of one. Having chased down my all time favorite wood snare, Tama Starphonic Bubinga, My AHA moment was realizing I don't really seem to like wood snares! :eek: The snare sounds I've been tracking down have always ended up most satisfying in metal snares!
 
Just thought of one. Having chased down my all time favorite wood snare, Tama Starphonic Bubinga, My AHA moment was realizing I don't really seem to like wood snares! :eek: The snare sounds I've been tracking down have always ended up most satisfying in metal snares!
Interesting. I love those honest moments when I realize, "hey I don't like this"

When I first heard bubinga I thought it sounded rich and warm. Then the more I heard it, the more brittle it sounded to me. I realized that generally speaking, I didn't prefer the super hard woods. Maple birch walnut ash poplar mahogany are more my speed.

I love hearing metal snares but playing them all night is harder on my ears. Which are shot anyway.
 
I think my big "oh wow" happened the first time I heard a recording of my playing. I realized I "heard" my playing the way I wanted it to sound. It took a lot of effort to really hear what I was playing, and it still takes a reality check once in a while to keep me honest.
 
Interesting. I love those honest moments when I realize, "hey I don't like this"

When I first heard bubinga I thought it sounded rich and warm. Then the more I heard it, the more brittle it sounded to me. I realized that generally speaking, I didn't prefer the super hard woods. Maple birch walnut ash poplar mahogany are more my speed.

I love hearing metal snares but playing them all night is harder on my ears. Which are shot anyway.
For smaller venues I’d likely look for a shallower wood snare for the very reason you mentioned. The bubinga snare I mentioned above wasn’t brittle sounding at all. It was actually way too “polite” for the lack of a better description. Just didn’t seem to jump out at all. Would be perfect for smaller settings. It just wasn’t the kind of snare that punched you in the face. Loved the hardware on it though. Tama makes some sweet stuff.
 
For me it was how nice drummers are... Not even joking, having played guitar for a very long time i didn't realize what dicks guitar players are to each other, they don't try to lift each other up but are more like catty girls in high school trying to put each other down. Drummers on the other hand get excited bout playing or even talking bout drumming.
YUP!
 
Drummerworld was my Oh Wow because such a great resource of videos and wisdom with a super forum that isn’t a bunch of douche bags but a great bunch of folks.
YUP!
There is a recording forum AND a keyboard forum that I STILL never got even one answer out of yet. I just quit looking for one.
But here....My drums are in tune(ish), off the floor and upgraded from the crap stock equipment.
Wouldn't have known any of this...
Also quit all the other drum forums (Sorry I cheated on you folks for a bit there)
 
A few things come to mind. First would be hearing a recording of one my first gigs. Thought I was this super chops hotshot; upon listening back, all I heard was a sloppy drummer that couldn’t keep time. Thought I was awesome playing all these notes, when in reality I couldn’t play a quarter note to save my life. I’ll take Humble Pie for a thousand, Alex.

Another would be the hi hat foot. I mean, I gave very little thought to my hat foot in my formative years. Now, I’m totally smitten with trying to improve my hat foot. I watch a lot of drummers on YouTube that are very fluent and dexterous with the hat foot, and they add so much spice and flavor to their grooves with little chicks and splashes.
 
How using traditional grip for rock was possible & not as hard as I thought.
Stan Lynch of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers had me trying it & Neil's video on his Test for Echo/Freddie Gruber lessons perfected it. He showed me how to get the power.
Once I got the wrist snap down, the lightbulb went on.
 
Since you have been drumming, what is the one thing you have learned that was the Light Bulb, surprise, that made you say, Oh Wow.


For me it was that the best drum parts or fills in the context of a song are parts that you can sing.

So realizing that - I try to have some of those little singable ear bug fills or beats as often as I can and that's helped me become a more musical drummer.
 
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