More Creative on a Smaller Kit

DrumEatDrum said:
I'll save this thread the trouble:

Well, if you're more creative going from 6 drums to 4, imagine how much more creative you be if you went from 4 drums to one.

And then go from one to zero!

Plays grooves and fills with zero drums would of course be the most creative.


(and for the record, there are plenty of recordings of Peart and Mangini with small kits out there).
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I used just my snare and a 16" cymbal for a rehearsal last night (did not feel up to lugging the kit over) and it was not only fun but very informative to me in regards to just how much you can accomplish using a variety of brushes, rods etc. and how much you end up learning what your snare has to offer. Up close and personal as it were.
 
BillRayDrums said:
I always love it when someone would come up and say "man you make that tiny little kit sound like Neil Peart!" Always a good thing to hear. :D
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Not to a muso or another drummer. If you were to cover lets say Red Barchetta on a 4 piece, you couldn't recreate the tom run he does from the 8 inch tom through to the 18 inch. just wont happen in real time. yes you could press a stick into a head for a higher note but that doesn't work doing 16th note runs.
 
I find the whole concept of looking at material things as being either a barrier to or an enhancer of creativity as being rather strange and not at all what actually happens in my mind when I create.

Before you all say I'm nuts let me explain:

Some stimulus is received which causes me to react in a certain way. That reaction IS the creation, everything else is just a technical means of getting that creation out of your head and into the physical world.

This is why we must develop a high level of technique, so that our physical bodies present little barrier to our creative minds.

The "validity" of your creation will be based upon many factors such as: rhythmic vocabulary, musical background, innate talent, taste etc.

The validity of the presentation of that creation depends upon your technical skill at bringing out that from your mind onto the instrument.

In my worldview, the number of toms has nothing to do with that.

Of course, I could be dead wrong but what's life without taking a few chances now and then?
 
Jeff Almeyda said:
I find the whole concept of looking at material things as being either a barrier to or an enhancer of creativity as being rather strange and not at all what actually happens in my mind when I create.

Before you all say I'm nuts let me explain:

Some stimulus is received which causes me to react in a certain way. That reaction IS the creation, everything else is just a technical means of getting that creation out of your head and into the physical world.

This is why we must develop a high level of technique, so that our physical bodies present little barrier to our creative minds.

The "validity" of your creation will be based upon many factors such as: rhythmic vocabulary, musical background, innate talent, taste etc.

The validity of the presentation of that creation depends upon your technical skill at bringing out that from your mind onto the instrument.

In my worldview, the number of toms has nothing to do with that.

Of course, I could be dead wrong but what's life without taking a few chances now and then?
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100% agree with you Jeff, creativity comes from the player, regardless how big or small the drumset is... sure you do not approach a 4 piece kit the same way as a 16 piece kit, and often, the music, image and/or the style being played kinda dictate the size of the kit.

You can be very creative on a large kit (or a small kit, for that matter), creativity lies within the player.

IMO, on a small kit you're developing different ideas to play X or Y patterns that's normally played on a larger kit.

Perhaps we're confusing "creativity" with "ideas" in this type of discussion.
 
Jeff Almeyda said:
I find the whole concept of looking at material things as being either a barrier to or an enhancer of creativity as being rather strange and not at all what actually happens in my mind when I create.

Before you all say I'm nuts let me explain:

Some stimulus is received which causes me to react in a certain way. That reaction IS the creation, everything else is just a technical means of getting that creation out of your head and into the physical world.

This is why we must develop a high level of technique, so that our physical bodies present little barrier to our creative minds.

The "validity" of your creation will be based upon many factors such as: rhythmic vocabulary, musical background, innate talent, taste etc.

The validity of the presentation of that creation depends upon your technical skill at bringing out that from your mind onto the instrument.

In my worldview, the number of toms has nothing to do with that.
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Well said, well said!
 
Jeff Almeyda said:
I find the whole concept of looking at material things as being either a barrier to or an enhancer of creativity as being rather strange and not at all what actually happens in my mind when I create.

Before you all say I'm nuts let me explain:

Some stimulus is received which causes me to react in a certain way. That reaction IS the creation, everything else is just a technical means of getting that creation out of your head and into the physical world.

This is why we must develop a high level of technique, so that our physical bodies present little barrier to our creative minds.

The "validity" of your creation will be based upon many factors such as: rhythmic vocabulary, musical background, innate talent, taste etc.

The validity of the presentation of that creation depends upon your technical skill at bringing out that from your mind onto the instrument.

In my worldview, the number of toms has nothing to do with that.

Of course, I could be dead wrong but what's life without taking a few chances now and then?
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Nomination for post of the year.
 
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