Using the elbow for raising the pitch

WallyY

Platinum Member
Do you use your elbow to perform the pitch raise? I've been seeing it a lot lately in vids.

What's with this?
I've tried this technique of raising the pitch of the drum by pushing my elbow into the head, but if I use the butt end of a stick it works just as well and isn't so awkwardly wasting motion.
It's not like a technique that's needed to play drums well. I just don't understand the extra body language involved.
 
Sam Woodyard used to do this with the Ellington Band, at least during solos.

I think it's more showmanship than anything. As you've said, it's just as effective to use a stick to press the head down, but doesn't look nearly as cool...
 
I think it's more showmanship than anything. As you've said, it's just as effective to use a stick to press the head down, but doesn't look nearly as cool...

I agree that I think most guys do it to look cool. It really doesn't do anything for me, it's not hard to do or anything. And if drummer A does it, and drummer B also does it, it's usually the same kind of pattern. One stick out of time rapidly tapping the head while the pitch goes up and down. Very predictable. Moves me not. I'd much rather see someone play a tympani, because you can use both hands, and have much more to say.
 
I wonder if there was a perception, real or not, that the elbow was less likely to damage a head. You can strike a head as hard as you want without immediate damage, but I have managed to poke a stick through a head with hard, steady pressure. (Younger days, just wanted to see if I could. Went through the batter side of a snare drum and on through the reso, unfortunately.)
 
I'd much rather see someone play a tympani, because you can use both hands, and have much more to say.

Oh gosh Larry, now I'm getting that funny creative feeling again.
I think I want to add a timpani to my drum set..........


.
 
Showmanship is definitely in there. But also, a hard drumstick can buzz against the surface of the head. An elbow has more surface area and padding so you can really stretch the head and not worry about leaving a dent or anything.

As for the musicality of it outside of the "party trick" realm... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
If a snare head is really tight , the other stick won't do much , thus the elbow. On the toms , the other stick works just fine because there is less tension.
 
I think there might be some confusion about how easy it is.

Here's a couple of pictures to show the right and wrong way to do it.
 

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Do you use your elbow to perform the pitch raise? I've been seeing it a lot lately in vids.

What's with this?
I've tried this technique of raising the pitch of the drum by pushing my elbow into the head, but if I use the butt end of a stick it works just as well and isn't so awkwardly wasting motion.
It's not like a technique that's needed to play drums well. I just don't understand the extra body language involved.


Allows one to easily play a melody on one drum.

You could put a plastic tube in the air vent of your FT, blow into it, change the pitch, there's a vid somewhere of this on YouTube.
 
There used to be a guy here whose whole thing was playing melodically, in the strict sense of the term. He'd have this big drum kit with all kinds of pitched stuff IIRC. I can't seem to recall his name. Anyone remember that guy? It wasn't Zickos was it?
 
Allows one to easily play a melody on one drum.

You could put a plastic tube in the air vent of your FT, blow into it, change the pitch, there's a vid somewhere of this on YouTube.


Watch this drum solo from start to finish: https://youtu.be/99ATD9vTHSE

OH GOSH, I hope this does not re-start a discussion on melodic drumming........


.
 
There used to be a guy here whose whole thing was playing melodically, in the strict sense of the term. He'd have this big drum kit with all kinds of pitched stuff IIRC. I can't seem to recall his name. Anyone remember that guy? It wasn't Zickos was it?

Right, playing melodically, can't do that w/o playing a melody.






Watch this drum solo from start to finish: https://youtu.be/99ATD9vTHSE

OH GOSH, I hope this does not re-start a discussion on melodic drumming........


.



And since he's playing it with The CBS Orchestra, 'The Chicken' qualifies as an orchestral work. Did anyone hear the melody to 'White Christmas' in there during his solo?

Have seen this vid bf, tho not the blowing into the FT with a tube video I was thinking about.
 
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