Is Anyone a "Hard Drummer"? or "Heavy Hitter"?

Drumdame

Drumdame

Silver Member
My son calls himself a "hard drummer" some would say "heavy hitter" and he is compared to me but when I ever found this guy I thought wow this is a whole new level of hard drumming! Enjoy!

For those of you who consider yourself a "hard drummer" or a "heavy hitter" after watching this do you still consider yourself a "hard drummer"?

Honestly, I'm exhausted just watching him. LOL

 
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I can play like that if i need to, but generally don't

however, I grew up playing in the heavy metal, thrash metal, and punk worlds, so I would say I hit medium aggressive. The speed of the music I sometimes play to does not allow me to hit that "big" and still be effective.

I also never really found that kind of playing to be "fun"...both to play and to watch. After a while, it just becomes unmusical flailing.

As far as hard hitters go, I feel like Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers has about the best combination of hard, but musical playing

I am more into people like:
Anikka Niles: who hits solid, but has great groove and chops

I can't believe this video is 11 years old! I think it was one of her first...

and then this is "hard", but so smooth...Nicko is the man

and -for me- the King
 
People often brag about being a hard drummer, like its a desirable thing, or a badge of honor....I've seen musician ads looking for a "hard drummer" or a drummer describing themselves as "hard." There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but it shouldn't be a pre-requisite. As long as you're not hitting backbeats less than 6" off the snare, I think most people are fine for any context, even hard rock/metal gigs.
 
I think we finally found the drummer in question in this thread!

Help me to get my new drummer playing way softer

Hi guys, Ok so, new drummer, he doesn't read, which is ok with me, my former drummer wasn't. We have practice now 4 times. He's a rock drummer, I know it, he told me it and he used to bash the drums and smack them like crazy, this is how he learnt it and who is he as a musician he said when I...
www.drummerworld.com
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
I can play like that if i need to, but generally don't

however, I grew up playing in the heavy metal, thrash metal, and punk worlds, so I would say I hit medium aggressive. The speed of the music I sometimes play to does not allow me to hit that "big" and still be effective.

I also never really found that kind of playing to be "fun"...both to play and to watch. After a while, it just becomes unmusical flailing.

As far as hard hitters go, I feel like Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers has about the best combination of hard, but musical playing

I am more into people like:
Anikka Niles: who hits solid, but has great groove and chops

I can't believe this video is 11 years old! I think it was one of her first...

and then this is "hard", but so smooth...Nicko is the man

and -for me- the King
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To me is about making it look like I am playing hard (when the song merits it) is about giving the audience a good show. But it is NOT about actually playing hard (you damage your gear, playing hard is NOT really needed, and you damage your body overtime). (Eloy Casagrande take notes).

A long time ago a friend demonstrated to me that he could be louder with just his wrist than what I could be flailing my arm. No he was not superhuman, he just had good technique. Then later on when messing around with guitar I heard the term "Economy of motion" I figured I could apply that to drumming and I did.
When I was in metal band I had to save energy in order to be able to play a full show and also because some of the parts where so fast that I needed to do small moves in order to be able to play them...
So I don't consider myself a hard player, but I can fake it when I need to.
 
I saw the shower scene from Psycho
 
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doggyd69b said:
To me is about making it look like I am playing hard (when the song merits it) is about giving the audience a good show. But it is NOT about actually playing hard (you damage your gear, playing hard is NOT really needed, and you damage your body overtime). (Eloy Casagrande take notes).

A long time ago a friend demonstrated to me that he could be louder with just his wrist than what I could be flailing my arm. No he was not superhuman, he just had good technique. Then later on when messing around with guitar I heard the term "Economy of motion" I figured I could apply that to drumming and I did.
When I was in metal band I had to save energy in order to be able to play a full show and also because some of the parts where so fast that I needed to do small moves in order to be able to play them...
So I don't consider myself a hard player, but I can fake it when I need to.
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exactly...that is also what I was taught/decided to do when I was younger...it also saves on sticks, heads and cymbals
 
Drumdame said:
My son calls himself a "hard drummer" and he is compared to me but when I ever found this guy I thought wow this is a whole new level of hard drumming! Enjoy!

For those of you who consider yourself a "hard drummer" after watching this do you still consider yourself a "hard drummer"?

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roncadillac said:
This video always make me chuckle:

That poor Tama cocktail kit
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I used to play in a church where there was a drummer in the rotaion that played about like that. Just ridiculous...

All I could think watching this was, "These drums go to 11."
 
brady said:
I used to play in a church where there was a drummer in the rotaion that played about like that. Just ridiculous...

All I could think watching this was, "These drums go to 11."
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I believe I ended up deleting the comment because I didn't feel like getting into a back and forth but when I first watched that Michael Schack video on youtube a few years ago I left a comment along the lines of "the groove you played was really cool, you are super tight, and that cocktail kit sounds great, BUT there is no need to beat your drums like they owe you money" and he responded with this long rant talking about "passionate playing" and giving me crap for a comment that ultimately was about 80% compliment and about 20% polite opinion/constructive criticism. It especially annoyed me that so many other people made direct comments like "I would never let this guy play my drums" with no positive statements at all to which he gave them 'heart' reactions and "thank you" replies lol.
 
brady said:
I used to play in a church where there was a drummer in the rotaion that played about like that. Just ridiculous...

All I could think watching this was, "These drums go to 11."
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I call it drum abuse....

even as a kid in the 80's, when i would see Tommy Lee or someone like that flailing away I would just chuckle and think "what are they covering up"
 
I actually really, really like the playing on the video—dude's obviously both talented and dedicated, and the tom groove he plays in places is really sweet. It's just the visuals that are so offputting; they actually remind me of the stick-twirling thread. If the guy had played like that for one small section or something, it might be really cool. Doiong so throughout virtually the entire video detracts from the overall impact, for me.

roncadillac said:
I believe I ended up deleting the comment because I didn't feel like getting into a back and forth but when I first watched that Michael Schack video on youtube a few years ago I left a comment along the lines of "the groove you played was really cool, you are super tight, and that cocktail kit sounds great, BUT there is no need to beat your drums like they owe you money" and he responded with this long rant talking about "passionate playing" and giving me crap for a comment that ultimately was about 80% compliment and about 20% polite opinion/constructive criticism. It especially annoyed me that so many other people made direct comments like "I would never let this guy play my drums" with no positive statements at all to which he gave them 'heart' reactions and "thank you" replies lol.
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Clearly he knew you were right. (Seriously.)
 
As mentioned it's one thing hitting hard, and looking like you are hitting hard. Showmanship is a big part of it. As for me, I can probably hit too hard and too soft at times. Depending on the occasion, I have been asked to take it up and down a notch. But there is no real gain in "hitting hard" when saving sticks, cymbals, and your body and pulling the sound out of the drums and cymbals. Too hard and your 18" crashes will sound like 10" splashes.
 
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If bashing drums makes you feel good-bash away. If twirling sticks pushes your button while drumming- twirl away. But I'm not a stick twirler nor a drum basher.
 
I used to be, but when I began recording myself I discovered that I could produce a much wider variety of sounds when I allowed myself to play with a controlled touch.

There’s a world of nuance to be found in the ppp to f range.
 
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