Feel vs maths

[HairyTubThumper]

are the best drummers feel players or great mathematicians?

 

[Morrisman]

My preference is definitely for feel - controlled phrasing, balance, dynamics, tone,
pushing and pulling the tempo as required. But that’s just me...

 

[MntnMan62]

I like a combination of the two.

 

[GetAgrippa]

They are applying information theory and mathematics to music in general. I think it’s a simple model but apparently informative. I think humans ,as many animals , naturally use math subconsciously as well as our cognitive abilities. So I think we use both. I “feel” that’s the correct answer mathematically statistically speaking. Just like Rainman you can throw a bunch of drum sticks on the floor and we can all instantly see the number.

 

[Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX]

I like a combination of the two.

yep...50/50.

In my world,
- one is not more important than the other
- they are not mutually exclusive (even though popular rhetoric sometimes makes it seem so)
- they, in fact, need each other for groove to work, so ignorance of one for the other is sort of absurd to me <- it would be like an architect saying that they are only going to draw geometric shapes, but not curvilinear...

 

[MrInsanePolack]

Any drummer who counts anything is using math.

 

[GetAgrippa]

Physics abound in all life and everything we do. But it’s math so where’s “the proof”. Get it LOL.

 

[toddbishop]

I don't know what either of those things are. what's a "mathematician"? what's a "feel player"? whatever they are, why are they mutually exclusive?

 

[C.M. Jones]

It goes without saying, even though I'm going to say it, that a measure and a groove are two different things. A transcription is an inanimate guideline. Only a drummer can infuse it with life. Just because a beat is played "accurately" doesn't mean it's played with feel, and a beat without feel is a sad thing to hear. The best drummers operate subconsciously within a numerical framework but forget about the figures and let the rhythm flow. The math is present, but it isn't the fuel that powers the system. The magic comes from something intangible.

 

[Otto]

less 'or' more 'and'...and I think you will approach understanding how a linguistic thought process is not the universe, and is in fact a poor representation of it.

I truly note drumming as a closer representation of everything than the words and resulting concepts that construct our questions.

Drumming holds more logical rigor and ineffable color than what the greatest word forge masters have ever been able to share...though they might have glimpsed it just before they had to alter it to fit vocabulary, syntax and cultural acceptability.

Drumming gets closer to truth by discarding abstraction for 'is'...and only finds itself in the trap of equating to something else when viewed through a language perspective.

This observation leads to really great exercises...flip open a dictionary and try to play what a random word or a random phrase 'is' to you. A slightly flakey but truly revealing exercise...the conclusion of a logical rhythmic phrase has more internal consistency and profound beauty than the words inspiring it...infuse some emotion and we explain why more people attend concerts than poetry readings....and pay more attention to the music than the words, on average.

I think the best verbal answer I can concoct is "Neither...and both".