2015 Summer Drum Solo Exposition

Thanks jorn, I am a big fan of Steve Maxwell so I take that as a very high compliment.
Share a solo of yours with us please.

Andy, that is a perfect example of an interesting and expressive solo.

A solo doesn't have to be loaded with super technical stuff to be good. Many drummers shy away from soloing because they don't see themselves as super technical players.
The truth is that most listeners are more captivated by a solo that is less complicated. They can comprehend it, and feel it better because they understand it.
Some of the most popular drum solos in history have been on the less complicated side of the solo spectrum. Even a technically advanced drummer can appreciate a well played simple solo. It just plain feels good.
 
Well Bob I gave it go yesterday and it was too terrible to post. I'll try again and try humming a tune so it isn't so random. I've always thought myself a fairly imaginative and creative person yet I am now learning otherwise like a wet dog with his tail between his legs. Course that just challenges me to try harder and work on this, which is all good cause if I had mastered the drums I'd likely quit because of a lack of challenge-dang Catch 22. LOL
 
Great solo's gents. I can't wait to get my new set after 24 years without one. Once I do I will gladly get a solo video up asap. It's probably going to be lame as I am as rusty as you can imagine since it's been so many years since last playing. But it will give me a good baseline for where I'm at and I can see how I improve over the coming months. This after surviving a rare lung cancer and two brain tumors and brain surgery. I can still play. I'm happy about that. Rock on!
 
Come on people, bring on the solos. We learn by doing. Don't you all die on me now! There is a lot more soloing left to do around here.

Here are some other helpful hints to being somewhat proficient at soloing.
Get one of those rubber drum pads that fit over your snare head and work your chops everyday. You can't solo well without having halfway decent chops.
Play rudiments and combinations of rudiments on the pad. Play the Stick Control drills.
Practice rim shots and switching between matched and trad grips.
Practice moving around your kit with, 'Rods' of similar forms of sticks.
Don't forget to play your brushes for a while everyday too. The brushes really help to refine a drummers technique.
 
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Ok Bob I'll post the tandem, random crap I tried the other day-a little less than three minutes which is longer than I thought I'd last. Dag nab it-It's official I can't solo-I need some music to drive me. I'm going to try again as soon as I get a chance and try to make some form of it-see if I can get a tune in my head. But for now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8P--abF89U
Hey if we can keep the thread going long enough perhaps I'll get some hang of it.
 
Dutch I recorded my dismal effort with the ZoomQ2HD too. I'm still figuring out the best placement of camera and recording settings-I'm not too audio tech savvy. Recording myself has been a real revelation. Dang thing eats up batteries like crazy so I just plug AC adapter into the USB port and mounted it on a cymbal stand. Uses too much memory for best video and audio so I opt in favor of the audio. Sweet little camera for my purposes though.
 
Ok Bob I'll post the tandem, random crap I tried the other day-a little less than three minutes which is longer than I thought I'd last. Dag nab it-It's official I can't solo-I need some music to drive me. I'm going to try again as soon as I get a chance and try to make some form of it-see if I can get a tune in my head. But for now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8P--abF89U
Hey if we can keep the thread going long enough perhaps I'll get some hang of it.
I never solo Art, it's just not me, I'm a music vibe guy, but on the extremely rare occasion I'm forced to, I think of a theme rather than a tune, & keep returning to it during the piece. The "theme" can simply be a groove, but expressed in different ways. Moving to half time, then a 2/4 vibe, then a linear expression - all of the same flavour - can create the body of a solo in itself.
 
A theme-that's a great idea Andy. I note my video sounds a little bit like part of Radar love in the beginning, rambles, and then tries to go jazzy-really mixed up in theme and perhaps that's why it annoys me. A few years ago I did one solo sort of themed from Sing, Sing, Sing that was I think my best effort to date-more cohesive coming back to theme. Lost the videos when my computer crashed. I am not solo man either and back in my rock days just detested them. Jazz solos though I find very interesting-just I can't GetAgrip pa jazz (hee, hee, hee so punny). Because I'm self taught and learned just by playing with music I'm more of a reactive player-often don't even think about what I'm playing-just comes out like vomit. Sometimes tasteful excrement but other times it smells.I could probably come up a decent rock solo-but I just don't like them. I've been playing rock since I was ten-the first band The Three Flames and a Spark-yes I was Sparky. I have never played jazz, though fond of it, till my 50s and it has a really been a challenge-really different feel and solos really different. So like a mosquito I keep being drawn to the light-only to get the crap shocked out of me.
 
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Ok Bob I'll post the tandem, random crap I tried the other day-a little less than three minutes which is longer than I thought I'd last. Dag nab it-It's official I can't solo-I need some music to drive me. I'm going to try again as soon as I get a chance and try to make some form of it-see if I can get a tune in my head. But for now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8P--abF89U
Hey if we can keep the thread going long enough perhaps I'll get some hang of it.
Art, you have all of the things that are needed to solo. You are smooth with good technique. You have good timing. The drums were tuned well.
I caught the Radar love thing right away by the way.
That solo had a nice flow to it. You are well on your way to being a competent soloist.

Jay, I've seen great ones like Papa Jo build an entire solo around rim shots on a snare drum. You were actually on the right track at the beginning of that video. I understand that you were just testing.

Pyro, I am sure that you are much more advanced now. That is where we all start though. We learn to play a beat like you played.
 
I never solo Art, it's just not me, I'm a music vibe guy, but on the extremely rare occasion I'm forced to, I think of a theme rather than a tune, & keep returning to it during the piece. The "theme" can simply be a groove, but expressed in different ways. Moving to half time, then a 2/4 vibe, then a linear expression - all of the same flavour - can create the body of a solo in itself.
That's it Andy. Just relax and express yourself with a theme. Don't try to bite off more than you can chew by going faster than you can play, etc. We all make that mistake from time to time. Just get comfortable with a theme and play it in different ways.
 
Thanks Bob for the encouragement I'll keep at it-but the jazz thing (which you got going on) will take some work from me. The rock stuff falls out by default however "all that jazz" just seems out of my reach. I hope the more I entrench myself in listening then I"ll get the feel of jazz. Thanks everyone for the positive suggestions and support-really makes Drummerworld a great place to visit.
 
Art, you have all of the things that are needed to solo. You are smooth with good technique. You have good timing. The drums were tuned well.
I caught the Radar love thing right away by the way.
That solo had a nice flow to it. You are well on your way to being a competent soloist.

Jay, I've seen great ones like Papa Jo build an entire solo around rim shots on a snare drum. You were actually on the right track at the beginning of that video. I understand that you were just testing.

Pyro, I am sure that you are much more advanced now. That is where we all start though. We learn to play a beat like you played.

Thanks Bob, appreciate the kind words. Next time I record myself I'll put some more thought into what I'll do. But it's good to have a camera, it doesn't lie..

Also great to see the others' efforts: keep it up!

Jay

P.S. I got that Radar Love vibe as well straightaway: great solo Art!
 
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That's it Andy. Just relax and express yourself with a theme. Don't try to bite off more than you can chew by going faster than you can play
Agreed - over exertion just gets ugly - expression, not chops, every time (unless you happen to be some sort of clinic monster dude / dudess).

The rock stuff falls out by default
Art, I'm not getting "rock" as such in your playing, more searching for something to hook onto. Try doing an ultra slow solo based on a groove theme. Strip out a lot of notes - hell, even go down to one note / bar in places (but keep the groove / time). Try to install "attitude" into every note. Use extreme dynamics. Search for tones. Keep it brutally naked. Play with backbeat placement. Use syncopation. Non of the stuff I've just mentioned is chops dependant - it's expression, control, & confidence biased.
 
I'm having a great time listening to all the solos, here are some of my thoughts:

bob - really nice, the snarework at around 1:30 was smoking!

seafroggy - you kept the song driving hard while soloing, not an easy thing to do, audience dug it, no higher compliment than that.

pgm - technique for days

nirvanadrummer - MY MAN!!! I'm feeling the Billy Higgins love, you guys look pretty young too, keep it up, that was a good solo, I really liked the ballad as well.

2underpar - Great use of a theme and slowly expanding and building on it, very musical.

getagrip - that was groovy and fun, I also really liked how you took the time to build it up, the part at around 2:05 being the climax of the whole thing, props!

dutch - sometimes you hit upon some great ideas just noodling around and testing stuff on the kit, nice triplets at the end!

pyro - I would love to see a more current video, I'm sure you're loads better now. It's nice to see that since you started you've been interested in keeping the groove going and not just showing off a bunch of chops.
 
That is awesome Numberless. Very tasteful solo and you can tell you know how to build one. I'm still learning and that's my goal so I plan another shot incorporating some of Andy's suggestions (I love his useful critiques and analysis-really has helped me to be aware and identify areas for improvement).
 
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