whats the best source to improve on disco drumming?

[Paul Blood]

Go find a local hall or club where oldies get together and dance on weekend nights, join in and hit the floor with them for an hour or two!
Get into the time feel with your body before sitting down at a drumkit.

Good advice! I think dancing should be part of all of our musical training just like in traditional cultural music, like in Africa, where music and dance go hand in hand and are passed on through the generations.

 

[Push pull stroke]

Good advice! I think dancing should be part of all of our musical training just like in traditional cultural music, like in Africa, where music and dance go hand in hand and are passed on through the generations.

Same. My dancing and drumming improve at the same time

 

[BruceW]

any of the KC and The Sunshine Band stuff works well... (we play a couple in our shows)
Play That Funky Music, too, for a kind of rock expression within the disco format

 

[Otto]

Check out Foo's "Everlong"

I can feel Dave's scowl pointed at me for that comment....

 

[Drumolator]

Play only the hats, bass drum, and snare. Peace and goodwill.

 

[ToneT]

Heart Of Glass by Blondie
Miss You by The Stones-I liked Charlie's take on it
Cobham played his share of Disco on his Atlantic albums!

 

[Bo Eder]

My bell bottoms get stuck in my bass pedal.

But I bet your wallabies feel great on that old Speed King!

 

[Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX]

I grew up playing along to Donna Summer, Michael Jacksons Off The Wall album....

anythign off of Jamioroquai's "Dynamite" album for a modern take.

and Static X's first album Wisconson Death Trip is awesome metal disco

 

[_-_]

Here's my take: Shut off your mind. Avoid all syncopation. Become a percussive caveman. Breathe through your mouth. And keep it dumb.

 

[_-_]

My bell bottoms get stuck in my bass pedal.

That is so true. I'm old enough to have had it happen, often. You had to roll up your pants past your knees. I even saw it happen to Elvin Jones in '69.

 

[JimmyM]

I grew up playing along to Donna Summer, Michael Jacksons Off The Wall album....

anythign off of Jamioroquai's "Dynamite" album for a modern take.

and Static X's first album Wisconson Death Trip is awesome metal disco

Evil disco rules! WDT and Ken Jay both crush, but I really like what Nick Oshiro did with those songs on Cannibal Killers Live. Ken is less showy but Nick is crazy great and doesn’t just poop all over Ken’s parts, either.

 

[JimmyM]

Also, don’t forget to check out hard 70s funk like the Ohio Players, the Commodores (believe it or not, there was a time before Lionel Richie was schlocky), Average White Band, early Kool and the Gang , P Funk, etc.

 

[green glass drum]

I used to tuck my pant leg into my sock....wait...does that sound bad?
Oh...topic. Source?...........Probably a metronome.....a bass drum.......and play with one hand only.

 

[TOMANO]

Listen and play along to a lot of disco. Find where it's comin' from and keep that pocket.

 

[Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX]

Evil disco rules! WDT and Ken Jay both crush, but I really like what Nick Oshiro did with those songs on Cannibal Killers Live. Ken is less showy but Nick is crazy great and doesn’t just poop all over Ken’s parts, either.

yep!! of all of the crap metal that came out of the late 90's/early 00', Static X stood out, along with Sevendust, and Mudvayne

 

[JimmyM]

yep!! of all of the crap metal that came out of the late 90's/early 00', Static X stood out, along with Sevendust, and Mudvayne

Ya, agreed. I was not huge on Mudvayne but I respect the hell out of their playing. Saw their bassist playing jazz once and he really knows what he’s doing. But if they were playing close enough to me, I would go see Sevendust and Static X. Who knew that Edsel Dope would be so good at doing Wayne’s role? He’s not Wayne but he does killer if you ask me.

 

[Adios]

My bell bottoms get stuck in my bass pedal.

I keep extra sticks hidden in my afro

 

[Guy Licata]

I think a huge part of this is first getting the drum sounds, this will inform so much since they're generally suuuuper dry and fat. Getting that sound and feel of the kit in your ears and hands along with listening to those classic recordings a great first start. Also, many of those recordings were pre drum machine, but used tape loops. Beegees talk about this in their documentary, it was initially because their drummer wasn't present

This inspired a lot of studio techniques, sometimes just looping a kick and then overdubbing the hats and snare over that (together or separately) and allowed isolation where they could compress and EQ and effect parts of the kit more than usual etc. Other than that, Disco is really about getting asses shaking, and building your time from the kick up has always worked for me. I generally keep the kick right down the middle and lay back a bit with the snare and hats.

 

[jda]

"here's a weird one...

 

[striker]

Instrumental Disco that has all the essential rhythms and fills.