So, This ever happen to you?

Lennytoons

Senior Member
For the last week or so I've been struggling a bit with my playing. Nothing major, things just didn't feel quite and my feel was off somehow. I tuned up my drums with one that I use as a "reference" and things had gotten a bit lower in pitch. Bringing them back up to perfect tuning didn't help much but it did make the rebound feel much better. Then, I looked down at my seat and the indentions in my rug didn't match my position. It wasn't off by much, just about a half inch. I moved the seat back and VOILA! Amazing that a tiny adjustment could make so much difference. Things are back to normal now and all is right with the world.
 
For the last week or so I've been struggling a bit with my playing. Nothing major, things just didn't feel quite and my feel was off somehow. I tuned up my drums with one that I use as a "reference" and things had gotten a bit lower in pitch. Bringing them back up to perfect tuning didn't help much but it did make the rebound feel much better. Then, I looked down at my seat and the indentions in my rug didn't match my position. It wasn't off by much, just about a half inch. I moved the seat back and VOILA! Amazing that a tiny adjustment could make so much difference. Things are back to normal now and all is right with the world.

Yes and no. I find I'm really sensitive to seat height and snare height/angle; most everything else I can deal with as I go. But I know what you mean, a little adjustment can make a world of difference.
 
For the last week or so I've been struggling a bit with my playing. Nothing major, things just didn't feel quite and my feel was off somehow. I tuned up my drums with one that I use as a "reference" and things had gotten a bit lower in pitch. Bringing them back up to perfect tuning didn't help much but it did make the rebound feel much better. Then, I looked down at my seat and the indentions in my rug didn't match my position. It wasn't off by much, just about a half inch. I moved the seat back and VOILA! Amazing that a tiny adjustment could make so much difference. Things are back to normal now and all is right with the world.

Your sensitivity to these little things will disappear as you stack up the years of playing.

In my early days, I had to have everything just so. Now I can sit at the worst kits in weird setups and I'm not usually too flustered.
 
I have one of those DW Air Lift thrones. If I'm playing for an extended amount of time, I have to adjust up or down to get rid of back stiffness. Stinks getting old
 
I remember reading an interview from long ago with Dave Lombardo (Slayer). During one of their tours he was having trouble playing the fast double bass stuff, and he couldn't understand why. Turns out his tech had inadvertently changed the seat height a bit, and it caused Dave to struggle with his foot speed.

I can deal with most setups, but if the snare isn't exactly where I need it, Im inadvertently hitting the rim all night...like down to the millimeter it has to be perfect, and I hate that about me, I should be able to adjust.
 
I can play any kind of weird setup.. and believe me.. I played some odd kit arrangements. But not ideal - ergonomics is key...

I use the Dave Weckl technique every time I setup.. stool, snare kick and hats. Sit with your sticks hanging down loosely by your sides.. then bring your sticks up to playing position on the snare. then check your feet and the hat position (for me it's the hat edges are almost inline vertically with the snare rim. Once that's sorted out everything else falls into place.. add toms and cymbals and you're good to go.
 
You'll learn to adjust immediately.

Getting used to and living with things in the wrong place? Well, you'll be better able to handle it, you won't be as off our game at a jam session or whatever, but things being technically demanding enough and you want to relax and focus on the music you'll adjust things correctly.

It's the same with guitars. Having played enough of them I can adjust and provide a confident good sounding musical statement, but with my own gear it will be even better and I'll take more risks and be able to go closer to my technical limits as I know I'll be able to pull them off.

Sometimes you get lucky though and these things inspire you to reevaluate how things were and you end up with something even better.
 
I am convinced seat gnomes sneak into my drum room and change the height and position of my seat.

They've been following me for years and years.
 
I like to have everything just so - even down to having the wingnuts on my stands either fully horizontal or fully vertical! Yeah ocd ish i know!
Doesn't affect my playing if they're not..but i still do it!
Been playing so long with everything in the exact same place that i find i play a lot with my eyes closed and muscle memory means i never miss!
 
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I have my drums set up at church just the way I like them (and my church uses MY drums). One of the drummers adjusts the seat (he and I play every other week). Another drummer (who plays maybe once a month) goes up and makes adjustments and it kills me. Every time he plays, I go up there and something feels off, and I swear it's different every time.

However, whenever I play a house kit or someone else's drums, I never make adjustments outside of hi-hat height. Even then, I try my best to return it the way I left it.

I've never been thrown off because my seat was 1/2" off.
 
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