Letting the Stick Rest on the Snare After a Stroke

Nothing wrong with rimshots if the music calls for them. They'd be out of character in most of the relatively mellow stuff I play.

oh yeah...I don't use 'em in my jazz, or country band, unless it is an effect
 
I’m glad this old thread has resurfaced, because I’ve been wondering the same thing lately, especially from watching clips of 70’s rock drummers. I don’t rimshot my backbeats, and I rebound the stick after each stroke, but some of these guys get a solid snare sound each stroke by leaving the stick on the drum.

I also saw a guy at a live jam this year pressing a stick into the floor tom sometimes, and it made a short but deep sound. A nice staccato accent on a drum that usually rings for a second or two.

I tried it and it sounds thin and weak. Maybe it involves striking the drum with the side of the stick rather than the tip? Or loosening the tension as the note dies away? Any experts out there with some good advice?
 
My sticks always rebound, making an open sound (if the drum is not muffled). But there are some experts who smack the snare and are clearly pressing the stick onto the surface.


 
I think when i just started drumming i did let the stick rest on the head after a bit, but after a while i noticed extra notes being played. Took me some time to adjust to hit the head and not letting the stick rest on the head. Got used to that, discovered ghostnotes and i'd needed to learn how to do those xD

These days the stick just hovers maybe 0.5 or 1 cm above the head after a hit.
 
I’d only use dead strokes (I’ve only learned that this is what they’re called from reading this thread!) for effect...I’m a rock/metal guy and love to rimshot my backbeats...which isn’t a euphemism! (y) ?
 
Im glad someone asked this ive only beed playing - learning for around a year and a song i just learned. Judas priest heading out to the highway i noticed i do this .for me i think it might be because its a faster paced song at least for me
 
Right, pressing the stick into the head and not letting it buzz or rebound is called a dead stroke. It's sort of an old school way of playing rim shots. There's no reason not to do it if somebody likes the way it sounds or feels. There aren't too many uses for the technique outside of rim shots-- maybe on cowbell, or to dig into the hihats, or play a muffled stroke on a floor tom or bass drum.

I play rim shots a lot (not dead stroked), at any volume level. It's just a different sound, they don't have to be loud.
 
My sticks always rebound, making an open sound (if the drum is not muffled). But there are some experts who smack the snare and are clearly pressing the stick onto the surface.


I know this is a hand technique thread but Thomas Lang’s feet?!??
 
Todd is right. If you like or want the sound, then do it. It's not "wrong" as a means to making music. If you're trying to do rudimentary or precision work and a teacher tells you it's wrong, what they mean is it's not correct for that controlled-application. If you want that sound for something you're playing it's "right".
 
My teacher used to dead stroke, then push into the center and pitch bend the note while striking the head with the other stick. I've never used the dead stroke.
 
I often reflex the stick on the snare count, hitting it twice even if it calls for a single. My exercise in this is to have light enough touch to make the rebound sound ghostly, I practice that.
Has anyone heard of this? I see this phenomenon happen live quite a bit, maybe due to venue acoustics.
But never the dead stroke unless there was something I heard and am going for, that ones more second nature, as I like to recoil so to speak.
 
Dead sticking is part of the basic timbale groove. I'm still trying to master it and make it sound good. They specify that it should be done to the side of the timbale, the stick isn't pressed into the head, and it isn't a rim shot or double stroke, more like a rattle or djembe slap.

Sounded obnoxious when I first started to do it, but I'm warming up to it.
 
If it's intentional, it is done to decrease the decay/ring of that stroke. resting a stick on the head will choke it faster. This would be for that specific stroke. If you want a snare to sound more dry, pick a different snare, head, or use moongel. I have seen pro drummers do this in a part of a song though to add a different texture to the sound.

The other 99% of people I see do this are using bad technique.
 
I see people using the dead stroke on the cymbals quite a lot too
 
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