Premier Rock Forum

Mike Greenlees wrote:

Peter wrote:I'm a classic example of the drummer without a practice space.
My playing is terrible because of this and i've been playing for over ten years. Band practice is only once a week. 3 Hours spent forging songs and jamming for song ideas. Total time to practice technique: 0

AAAAARGH!

I've never really had a space devoted to the drums either. I could never stay interested in playing drums by myself for very long, anyway. I've never practiced technique, other than trying to figure out how to play something like Bonham's drum beat on the Crunge or whatever. This is why I still can't even do the most basic drum roll at my advanced age. I could never keep decent time, either, but that's probably another thread
somewhere.

Dude, If you are the Mike Greenlees from Tar, you are an exceptional drummer. I practice to Jackson with headphones on. The fills during the middle of Tellerman are genius, and quite fun to play. If you don't think you are a drum machine in human skin, then god forbid what I must be..

I got my drum set after I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. My arms would go numb after 15 minutes, and I would have horrible hand cramps at first.

My playing time extended itself to 2 hours a night, and drove my wife bonkers. But after awhile, I would have no noticable arthritis problems.

I haven't played drums in a couple of months, as I started to get more interested in singing. Without false modesty, I am probably a better singer than those in my numerous bands (and many other bands as well). I have found that I can sing strong in many different ranges. I am not able to get to the Steve Marriot phase, however.

This does prove one thing however. You can't please everybody, so you have to please yourself. After that (like someone else said) your other bandmates, then hopefully an audience will get into yer schtick.

My band used to practice at least once a week. We played out about once or twice a month. Some weeks when we had a gig or gigs coming up, we would practice more.

We generally spent 4-5 hours - much fucking around drinking and smoking. Usually run thru the set once, fuck around with some new stuff (new songs usually came from one of the guitar players, more or less fully formed, but without drum parts, so "working on new stuff" meant "showing the changes to the bass player and the other guitar player and then yelling at the drummer to play something other than boom ta boom boom ta boom ta boom boom ta".)

Then we would run thru the set one more time. By then we were almost too drunk and/or high to play. We were prodigious drinkers and smokers.

The practice space floor was the world's second largest ashtray. For our second single cover, I gathered up hundreds of cig butts off the floor and lined them up in neat little rows and photographed them.

After being in seriously under-practised (is there such a thing as "over-practising"?) bands for the past few years, I am now doing about 15 hours a week with my new gig. This includes the ubiquitous pot-smokings, talk about pretty wimmens, and shooting down eachother's ideas for a bandname (an issue we will probably decide on by the time our first gig arrives). We also occasionally play for a whole weekend, sleeping in the practice space and stuff.

We need lots of playing time because the songs are pretty much constructed on the spot, via improv -I figure we'll need another six months at least before we've amassed a set that is even remotely satisfactory.

rocker654 wrote:I got my drum set after I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. My arms would go numb after 15 minutes, and I would have horrible hand cramps at first.

I'm looking at the same issue. Unfortunately, I'm a guitar player, which doesn't 'work' anything out, apparently.

I had a great grandfather who managed to work the (non-rheumatoid arthritis). He worked it out by uprooting saplings in the backyard. He was 83, for chrissakes.

mr.arrison wrote:I practice to Jackson with headphones on. The fills during the middle of Tellerman are genius, and quite fun to play. If you don't think you are a drum machine in human skin, then god forbid what I must be..

Ach, Mr.apricot, if you can't keep time, it's because you're practicing to Tar records! Bust out a Scratch Acid album, or Jesus Lizard or Shellac or Silkworm.

Thanks though for the nice words, I'll have to check that song out and see what you're talking about.

I play 2 hours a day. usually just figuring things out on my own. I write alot. it's never complete though because I don't have the other instruments around me, they're just ideas. I concern myself with the sound rather than difficulty, because I'm not technically that great. I might do one simple warmup for ten minutes to get my fingers going.

rayj wrote:

rocker654 wrote:I got my drum set after I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. My arms would go numb after 15 minutes, and I would have horrible hand cramps at first.

I'm looking at the same issue. Unfortunately, I'm a guitar player, which doesn't 'work' anything out, apparently.

I had a great grandfather who managed to work the (non-rheumatoid arthritis). He worked it out by uprooting saplings in the backyard. He was 83, for chrissakes.

I originally was a guitarist/bass player, in my most recent band, I was vocalist/bassist. At first it was really hard on my right hand, it would lock up in to a claw from cramping. After working with those hand squeeze things, and practice, I can probably play 3 hours with breaks, but I think my stint as a professional musician is over--it's just too unpredicable when a bad spell would come over me.

I still have fun and jam with others. That part can't be taken away, and is arguably the whole point, anyways.