Interesting points being made here.
I think for a drummer to spend a lot of time getting their technique right, they must enjoy playing the drums so much that feel must be a part of their drumming in some way.
Hmm, that depends, Tom. What is the player's primary focus - their drumming or the songs? Does the drummer use his or her skills for good or for evil?
... It makes 'you' a potentially more potent 'YOU', if that makes sense. And with all your idiosyncrasies intact. It could only help even if you choose discard it.
... Ringo's groove for 'Ticket to Ride' might have been somewhat different if he was a better schooled drummer, but it would have still been Ringo and it would have still been special.
... Trouble is that this discussion is expanding to define artistic expression which then incorporates way too many other esoterical things like life, culture, politics, religion, etc etc .. as well in addition to feel & technique.
Yes Aydee, but, as per my reply to Tom's post, will our powers be used for good or will we turn to the Dark Side of Darth Dream Theater?
Would Ringo be the same drummer with extra "power" to do cool things? You know what they say about power ... power corrupts ... temptation and all that. He might have tried something a it slicker, something cool that his teacher showed him. If John Coltrane had been able to achieve Stan Getz's purity, would he have thrilled the jazz world to the same extent? Maybe ... but maybe not.
Limitations are not so bad as long as you are realistic about your abilities. There's nothing wrong with technique if it's not annoyingly self-indulgent.
It's like the Big Kits vs Small Kits discussion. Small kit players felt they needed to be more resourceful to create variety rather than just choosing which tom to play. The large kit players said yeah, but we can do all that
and we have all these other potentials. However, most large kits players I've seen (with notable exceptions) don't squeeze the variety of sounds out of the instruments in their kit the way I've seen many small kit players do. The decisions for large kit players tend to be what combinations they use.
Neither approach is better or worse. One works inward and one works outward and it's all good. It's ironic that in these discussions jazzers tend to favour small kits and big chops while more rockers tend go the other way. Which way do we work inwardly or outwardly? Doesn't matter - if it works, it good. So most of us see that there can be value in our limitations. Lemons and lemonade and all that ...
Life, culture, politics, religion ... all grist for the musical mill, even if as drummers our role in a song's expression is so often just as a support. So yeah, bring on the non-musical stuff, I say
When I was young I was obsessed with music and, in particular, drums drums drums. If I wasn't listening to drummers I was playing to records or tapping on the pad. Eight years away from music and I listen to the tapes of my bands in the mid 80s and my musical expressiveness was simply not there. But I heard lots of the chops and tricks I'd been practising.
So I think there's something to be said for "fresh ears" that come from a healthy dose of the extramusical. Before you say it, yes, if your ears are fresh and you can't play in time or control your volume ...
... having no technique makes technique an issue, unless your creative vision involves only things that involve no technique.
Britt, perhaps it's not a matter of creative vision that involves no technique but a vision that barely even thinks about technical aspects?
Ok, a reason for not seeking a great technique. I'm no spring chicken and work full-time so I don't have time to do marching drum exercises starting with singles at 40 bpm to rebuild my grip and stroke from scratch for years on end. I hate rudiments too - LOL. I think to be a technical master you've got to love your rudiments. All the masters never seem to stop doing the darn things because then thei chops might slide. A lifetime of rudiments! EEEEK! It's not my preferred method of meditation.
Practising beats, fills and transitions is less efficient but it's more fun, and it at least allows me to say what I'd like to say. I like clarity and simplicity. I like it in speech too; it's how I like to speak when my head's screwed on right. Mum was a writer and I know LOTS of big words, but I never use a big word if I can think of a more down-to-earth alternative.
Or should I say, "My mother was an author and I have consequently been endowed with the innate characteristics required to facilitate the attainment of an extensive vocabulary. However, I eschew prolix and protracted language on occasions when a rather less grandiose alternative presents itself"?
There ya go. Feel and technique! Good grief, I've written so much on this thread that I should collate it all into a book and call it
The Art of Effective Crap Drumming