What is YOUR strongest quality or skill-set on the kit?

This is another thing I got from being a bass player, always know where the one is, regardless of tempo or arrangement, even if the one is only implied.
I'm finding it in useful learning drums, too. ;)

I can find instantly find the beat in the most complex, dense musical texture and lock in on it like a laser. That’s mostly an inborn skill, although playing for many years certainly helped me too.

I can also instantly adjust to other people’s bad time, which is a learned skill from playing in orchestras, all of which had terrible time.
 
This is another thing I got from being a bass player, always know where the one is, regardless of tempo or arrangement, even if the one is only implied.
I'm finding it in useful learning drums, too. ;)

The hardest place to find the 1 that I’ve dealt with is really syncopated, fast Latin stuff. I honestly didn’t know I had extra skill in that area until we were doing La Bamba in percussion ensemble in college, and the kid on bass marimba had to find the 1 in a really dense 5-player percussion texture to start the piece. He had the hardest time. I felt so sorry for him. He was a good player, he just didn’t have that radar for the 1.
 
I think my timing and solidness is my best strength as people always tell me that my timing is good and that i'm really solid. My band mates moaned about every previous drummer unable to keep good time during a gig due to adrenaline. I take it as a huge compliment as I'd hate to be great in other areas but awful with time to be honest.

Just gotta work on them weaknesses! (I shall not list them :ROFLMAO:)
 
I've been doing this almost 20 years and I'm very humble about it, I don't think I'm that great and feel we all always have room to improve so I can only reiterate the things I am told regularly from band mates, studio techs, audience, and fellow musicians.

Things like: "how do you do so much with such a small set?" "Wow, no-one would have played that the same way." "You parts and very unique and not cookie cutter."

Again, I don't think I'm doing anything crazy or really that good but I hear the same comments from people all the time so there has to be some validity to it.

In all honesty, I hate lugging a bunch of stuff so I try to keep my kits as compact as possible and I have severe music ADD plus draw on a huge variety of influence so I pack as many different styles into one song as I can (tastefully of course).
 
It used to be my feet. Lately I get told I am "solid" after gigs a lot which means more to me. Personally I feel my speed, endurance and chops were my strong points, but lately I have been working on dynamics, groove, and feel which are the total opposite. In my bands I have next to no dynamics, That is all I practice now. In my bands i play blast beats and double kick heel toe bass drums, when I practice it's jazz, shuffles, and being musical.

I always say practice the things you are NOT good at and make those your strong points. The things that made me feel "good" as a drummer, like speed mean nothing these days. My favorite drummers have all changed, and the things that impress me have changed. I'd rather watch a drummer smiling and having fun than someone who can rip for 20 minutes in a solo.

I think now my strong point is my ability to learn, realize my weaknesses, and dedicate hours to focusing on them.
 
Creativity and versatility.
 
I think it is my feel within the tunes. I am also the lead singer in my band, so that has helped me tremendously with feel and groove.
 
I've had a few compliments, such as:

"You have really steady time" - from a bassist of an old cover band
"For a small kit (12/14/20) you get a lot of sound!" - someone at a gig with my Yamaha SC
"Your kits always sound the good" - band members when I use different kits of mine.
"You have fast hands" - music friends I've jammed with.
"Our new bass player needs to be able to keep up with you" - when looking for a new bass player, our guitar player said to me.
"Out of all the drummers I've played with in the last 20 years, you're still in the top 3" - old guitar player of mine.
"You and your brother drum a lot alike, but you are more musical" old sax player friend of mine.

Compliments are weird to me and I always respond with something like, "I just hit things with sticks"
 
I play better live than I do in rehearsals or even just practicing alone.
 
Back
Top