Dig Deep
The range of variation and expressiveness offered by a single drum is so huge and yet I fear this is being lost in younger drummers today. Unfortunately, marketing and commerce have gotten in the way of art once again. In the drumming community, there is a “hot house” environment as Bill Bruford calls it, where clinicians present amazing feats of athleticism on the drum set which captures the attention of young, impressionable drummers. There’s nothing wrong with this except for the fact that much of this display has nothing to do with music. Let’s call it Drumming Olympics shall we? It does put butts in seats at clinics and sell instructional videos (there’s that commerce thing again).
I’m not teaching drum lessons right now although I might start to one day. If I do, any student of mine will be required to spend weeks playing only one drum and presenting new sounds and ideas they came up with on that one drum. Just when they think they are being relieved of this exercise, I will repeat the assignment with a different drum. A simple concept with profound consequences for musicians seeking to embrace the expressiveness of their instrument. Oh – and I would have my students do the same things with cymbals too! Dig deep and you will be rewarded. And enjoy this clip of the one and only Max Roach.