Drums

[Inferno]

I would like to learn how to play the drums because a few of my friends were thinking about starting a band, but there are two problames: 1) A good drumset is really expensive, and 2) I need lessons and those can also be expensive.

So what I kind of need is some info. Does anyone know of a website that sells ubercheap drums?(besides ebay) And someone told me that drums are mainly self taught, the idea was a miricle for me but is it true?

Thanks

[Syreth]

Well, your best bet if you want to go used is probably either ebay or looking in the classifieds in your newspaper. I would personally go for the classifieds, just cause you can actually visit the person and test out how the drums sound and look at their condition, etc.

As far as being self-taught goes, that depends on your musical background and self-discipline. Taking lessons will make you accountable not only to learn what you think sounds cool, but you will learn a lot of different styles which will make all of your playing more versatile. If you don't know the basics of time signatures and rhythms, then you'll have a rough start when you try to learn on your own. Before you get a set, you can start practicing by listening to your favorite CD's, analyze what the drummer is doing (on the hi-hat, snare, base drum, etc) and you can start to learn some basic beats by tapping your respective hands on your knees and tapping your feet. This will help with coordination as well. When you're not practicing with a CD, then use a metronome when possible and as often as possible. Focus more on playing steady beats at first more than cool fills. Those will come later. If you're playing in a band, your pretty much the backbone of the whole thing. If your playing isn't solid, then the whole group will sound terrible. XD

Well, probably more than you ever wanted to hear from me, but I hope it was helpful. Have fun and good luck!

[Eric]

http://www.music123.com has some pretty good deals on drums and all other musical instruments/equipment. I bought a five-piece kit made by Verve and several extra cymbals and stands. I currently have everything I need, although sometime in the near future I will get better beater heads for the snare/bass/toms. I use Vic Firth classic metal sticks. They are made of hickory and are very high-quality. I have a DW Pacifice DP402 double bass pedal. Here are my cymbals:

13" Wuhan high-hat
14", 16", 18" Paiste PST5 thin crash cymbals
20" Wuhan china cymbal
20" Pearl ride cymbal
8", 10" Wuhan splash cymbals

I also have some moongel pads for tone control on my toms and to keep the snare from ringing too much.

So far, everything that I've bought for my kit has cost a total of a little over $1,000.

I am teaching myself drumming, but I do have a drumming instructional dvd--Flo Mounier: Extreme Metal Drumming 101, which is a two disc set. The first disc is instructional, and includes some basic hand and foot techniques, warmups and stretches to do before you start playing, speed/endurance/control excercises, how to tune and position your kit, and basic techniques utilized in extreme metal like the grind beat, blast beat, and gravity blast (this is actually fairly advanced, but he demonstrates how to do it). The second disc has videos of several of Flo's drum solos and some recordings of Cryptopsy performances. You can learn more about it at http://www.flomounier.com. There is a 3-minute excerpt of a 17-minute solo Flo did in the media section if you would like to see him in action.

I will take a picture of my kit and post a link to it sometime tomorrow.

[Inferno]

Wow you guys thanks! You guys both gave me tons of info thanks sooo much! I'll look into all of these places.

And Syreth I would actually like to hear morre from you you had tons of sweet stuff to say, it really did help make my choices easier to distinguise. And eric the site you gave has ton of great deals!

[Eric]

[Inferno]

Wow! Nice! Lots of symbols!

[Syreth]

Nice kit! I envy your double bass pedal. I wish I had more money to buy something like that. I just play on a junker with two cymbals. I'm thankful for it though.

Oh, something that I forgot to say is that, whether you take lessons or not, it will take a lot of practice. Depending on how coordinated you are, a lot of your skill depends on the effort you put into overcoming coordination obstacles. For instance, your corresponding limbs want to do the same thing usually (your right hand and right foot like to move together) so you'll have to work on training them to move independently while still keeping a steady tempo and rythym. If you have any other questions, feel free. Do you have a kit yet?

[Inferno]

It's kinda funny that's pretty much the same thing my dad said. He told me that it's hard to get good at the drums enless I put an unholy amount of time into it. Lol That's what I plan on doing. Of course It would be nice to get a set first.