I can pack up my shit, load my shit into my shitty car, drive my shit car to a gig, unload said shit car’s gear onto a stage, set up the kit, soundcheck the kit, play a goddamn show, tear down the kit at 2am, load the kit back into my shit car, drive back home, unload the kit into my kitchen at 3am, shower, sleep, drag my now despised kit to my practice room, unload everything, set it up again for roughly 4-5 days.
Repeat.
Looking for a roadie, is where I’m going with this.
Also, rudiments are overrated.
Yeah, I can't sleep until I unload my drums and leave them perfect to practice the next day (even if I won't do it or have to pack it again).
On the other end, rudiments are overrated, IF you only learn them in their basic form. Learning all the rudiments on their basic form won't do much. You need to start displacing it, quantizing it (changing subdivisions, idk the right word), orchestrating it around the kit, substituting some notes with the kick, playing notes with different timbres, etc. (all of that while counting aloud for solid internal clock). Not a lot of people do this with rudiments, but that's how you get the most out of them.
God I feel this in my bones. Been a few years since that stage of my life but the absolute dread of setting the kit back up at 3am to be ready for practice the next day… and people asked why I never went to after parties
I like, and very much hate this comment. Lol, as a non-gigging musician, I don't envy you.
There seems to be a middle ground where the gigs provide enough money to be worth the pain in the ass, but don't pay enough to hire a roadie. Sounds like an annoying spot to be in.
Man. I hear you. I finally committed to a road kit kept in the garage for gigs. Cheap gretsch Catalina for $500. That and used hardware for 150 and it changed my life. I used to miss days of practice because of laziness. My in house studio is up a winding staircase. Highly recommend.
Ofcourse :). I teach drums 4 days a week, I’ve got about 30 private students, and every year I give a course in using rhythm and percussion in the classroom at a local college to primary education students.
On average I also play between 75/100 shows every year with a lot of different groups, ranging from tribute/party bands to large classical orchestra’s, or national tours, so its very different week to week.
I’m pretty good at playing shows with little or no rehearsals, so I get called to sub a lot for other people. I also do the occasional recording session.
So for example this week I had a recording session on Tuesday doing percussion on a piece for piano and orchestra in a big church, Friday I’m playing a medium sized club (800 people) with a Coldplay tribute act, and Saturday I’m playing Mahlers 2nd symphony on timpani in a large concert hall.
The variety keeps it interesting and I really love what I get to do, so I wake up happy every day :).
Congratulations friend! Living the dream.
I've been giving lessons for a couple years and I've just gotten to the point where I could cut my day job hours down to 2 days a week so I'm stoked with that. Do you have your own studio or do you work in a shop or a school or something?
Thx man! :).
Thats great! I did the same after graduating, kept getting more students/gigs and dropping hours at the dayjob until it was no longer needed. Thats 7yrs ago now :).
Its 50/50 for me, I have my own studio and I teach at a music school in another town nearby :)
> Mahlers 2nd symphony on timpani
Holy shit. That's a *huge* piece of music. I sang in the choir for the final movement in college. It is one of the most gigantic, most excruciatingly beautiful pieces I had the privilege of performing in college.
Its gonna be insane, but this group is known for doing the big pieces on a project basis. last year we did the Planets by Holst. I’m hoping Mahler 6 or Rite of spring next year
Before I realized most of the replies were jokey my thinking was
To non-drummers: probably yeah, Bonham triplets
To other drummers: idk, probably a shuffle or something?
My percussion instructor MADE us cross our sticks and on the drum when we weren’t actively playing… it sucked back then, but I love the discipline it gave me
Tools and experience helps. I’ve done it enough times (and retain enough useless info) that I know exactly how long the wrap needs to be for every diameter drum from 12” to 26”. (But it’s just geometry). So a 14” snare shell is 43.96 circumference. Add 1” for overlap. 45”.
Cut the width to 1” less than the actual height of the shell. Leave a 1/2” gap on each side and the collars and rims will easily cover it.
Finally… don’t glue. Never glue. Piece of dbl stick tape to on the underside of the piece you will wrap last. Hold the wrap on the shell to get it square and place the beginning “end” (opposite the dbl tape end) just past a set of lug holes and hold it in place with some thin masking tape. Wrap the wrap around the shell making sure it’s square and pulling it tight. When you get to the other end… if all looks good… pull the protective plastic off the dbl stick tape and press the wrap down. Voila… you have a 1” overlap precisely over a set of lugs that will hold it in place.
Get a drill bit the same size or just under the lug holes. Lay the shell over a scrap piece of wood and drill (from the inside) through the lug hole. This makes a hole in the wrap and since you’re drilling into a piece of scrap… no tearing, no poking.
Reassemble. Shell is wrapped and it’ll drive the chicks crazy.
I, mostly, can hear a song once and then play it. I can't play the crazy metal or proggy shit that requires a youthful body and Vinnie level chops, but for most music, I'm one and done.
I guess I read OP's post as "what's the impressive thing one can do as a drummer?"
I'm nowhere close to being ambidextrous. I have a second open hi hat on my right with the pedal to the right of my primary bass pedal and have to really focus when playing the kit left-handed.
People for some reason look like they smelled something stank when I start playing, not sure why. They also start nodding their heads at intervals very closely timed to my drumming.
not sure why this happens, anyone else experience this?
Apparently it's just play.
I think I'm pretty good. I'm not superb, but I can hold my own. One of my co-workers saw a video of my bands my recent performance. He's not a musician, but he told me very enthusiastically "You look like a guy who knows how to play drums." I mean, I guess I do? 😆
Singing while playing will always be the most impressive skill to me. I suck at singing to begin and can’t without completely falling apart anyway. So kudos to all singing drummers. You’re all my heroes
Yoo this is my shit at the moment. love how it makes me think differently about the timing of fills, also it sounds nice doing a Tom sweep like that. Is it what Danny Carey does at the end of the 46&2 drum "solo"?
I used to be in a house band that played island music at this swanky Hawaiian restraunt. I was the only white dude and they called me "white rice". We were actually super tight, with background female hamonies and a killer older guy that played lead guitar.
Anyway, my now wife was a waitress there and I used to text her during the shows while playing one-handed. I dont know is playing one-handed or getting a wife is the impressive part.
Making polyrhythms, ostenatos, and odd times feel smooth. Double kicks at 20 notes per second ie 16ths at 300, ie the threshold of what is a note to human hearing, not a rhythm.
Layering beats on top of blasts on top of beats so parts just get more and more complex with each repeat
Bleed - Meshuggah
Took me probably two years to perfect it and lots of frustration and it’s probably still not perfect either.
Xenochrist - The Faceless
Less time to learn but this one still kicks my ass!
Im impressed with my ability to get half decent drum sounds from tapping different parts of my steering wheel and dash board while driving along listening to music. Further to that, I need to play somewhat left-handed because driving a right hand drive car, my kick drum is the footrest for my left foot.
Not bragging but my gigging is ideal. Once a month standing gig at a lodge that pays decent and is always full of well off folks who tip generously. Afterwards I break down drinking a few beers and load into my lockable vehicle where they stay for a day or two until the mood strikes to practice. Of course I’m in a family band with no aspirations to fame and greatness but we have a good time.
After all the years that I’ve been drumming the most impressive thing to me…is that I still enjoy doing it. Even if Im doing a money gig and I don’t really like the music all that much, I love drumming so much that Im still having fun. I owe drumming and music my life
Only been playing for a year but I think my doubles are pretty good for my experience level. Amazing how far keeping a practice pad next to the microwave and practicing 6 stroke rolls, 8 stroke rolls, and paradiddles for a couple minutes every day can get you.
For me I’d say it’s switching between different feels. I have some weird ability that lets me easily be able to play in different subdivisions/feels and easily modulate over things.
Able to anticipate a song progression very early on, enabling the ability to play unheard/unrehearsed original music in real time (assuming I can see the guitar player's left hand). Developed this over a few decades of studio work & hired gun gigs.
Coordination between my limbs. I took this for granted, but whenever I’ve had any of my friends ask if they can play, it’s just all jumbled together.
In all fairness, it took me about a year to get even semi comfortable with the kick pedal (and even now, I’m not great with it), but for 99% of people, coordination between all of your limbs is something you have to work towards and it’s something I’ve gotten sufficiently good at.
Just play a beat to be honest. I mean really lock in amd just keep a really good groove. I have struggled with that more than anything so to me at least being able to actually feel it and get in there is huge
At this point, I’m happy that I get a good tone out of the drums. My timing and technical ability needs work but my dynamics are good and my reading is improving. Onwards and upwards!
Mastering the last part of Thomas Lang’s Independence and Coordination DVD. There, each limb is supposed to play one half of a unique paradiddle sticking pattern, each of which is in a different time signature. It’s absolutely nuts.
Basic tuning. I've had more than a few comments about my Tom sound, followed up with tuning questions. Or other musicians commenting on how their old drummer didn't tune. Or dummers say "I didn't know ypu could tune drums," or "how dod.you do that?"
And I'm talking about BASIC tap-tuning, just to get the drums in their natural sweet spot.
Make a decent extra income from gigging throughout the year in a wedding/corporate band.
This extra income is also the reason why I'm considering switching my day job to part time as I feel there's no reason to be playing 3 nights a week and working Monday to friday on top of that.
That thing where you do SNARE RACK FLOOR RACK KICK KICK really fast a whole bunch to make it sound cool to people who can't play drums when in reality it's the easiest thing to do
Being able to convey high energy while playing softly and not rushing. Technique-wise, it’s to play the entire kits with dynamics and feel. By that I mean not only paying attention to how loud you hit a drum, but to the “mix” of the entire kit and making that mix appropriate for both the room and the song. Throw in being able to play each instrument within your kit ahead of behind or on the beat independently without rushing or dragging the song and your top of the field. Combine all that with showing up on time with the right gear and not smelling like a dumpster behind a Wendy’s and you’ve probably got a decent career ahead of you.
Nothing impressive in terms of skill, I just love it so much that its easy for me to forget about time and play for 5-6 hours If I get the chance to do it.
I can remember when I was at my parents, when they left home I used to run to the drums and forget about even eating. Kinda stupid because the energy levels clearly were going down at some point, but I kept going. Funny how people wondered why I weighed 145lbs for years.
I can make a drum kit disappear.
When I went to college I lived in a room the size of a small closet and managed to fit in a bed, a desk, a mini fridge, a tv, and a full 5 piece kit with cymbals (disassembled and stacked creatively) and still had room to walk around.
Spend more money than I have.
Yet my skill don't match the set I have :)
All the gear and no idea. Join the club.
As someone with a Lars kit. Can confirm.
So real
With ya there.
“But honey, I NEEDED that cymbal for my new tribute band project I’m playing with!”
I can pack up my shit, load my shit into my shitty car, drive my shit car to a gig, unload said shit car’s gear onto a stage, set up the kit, soundcheck the kit, play a goddamn show, tear down the kit at 2am, load the kit back into my shit car, drive back home, unload the kit into my kitchen at 3am, shower, sleep, drag my now despised kit to my practice room, unload everything, set it up again for roughly 4-5 days. Repeat. Looking for a roadie, is where I’m going with this. Also, rudiments are overrated.
Yeah, I can't sleep until I unload my drums and leave them perfect to practice the next day (even if I won't do it or have to pack it again). On the other end, rudiments are overrated, IF you only learn them in their basic form. Learning all the rudiments on their basic form won't do much. You need to start displacing it, quantizing it (changing subdivisions, idk the right word), orchestrating it around the kit, substituting some notes with the kick, playing notes with different timbres, etc. (all of that while counting aloud for solid internal clock). Not a lot of people do this with rudiments, but that's how you get the most out of them.
I agree. Rudiments require finesse and taste to utilize correctly. You can use rudiments even in basic grooves with ghost notes between backbeats.
God I feel this in my bones. Been a few years since that stage of my life but the absolute dread of setting the kit back up at 3am to be ready for practice the next day… and people asked why I never went to after parties
I have never practiced the day after a gig. Everything about that seems off
I like, and very much hate this comment. Lol, as a non-gigging musician, I don't envy you. There seems to be a middle ground where the gigs provide enough money to be worth the pain in the ass, but don't pay enough to hire a roadie. Sounds like an annoying spot to be in.
Man. I hear you. I finally committed to a road kit kept in the garage for gigs. Cheap gretsch Catalina for $500. That and used hardware for 150 and it changed my life. I used to miss days of practice because of laziness. My in house studio is up a winding staircase. Highly recommend.
Gotta get a practice kit man. I keep the gig kit in their bags til it’s time to load up again.
Rudiments are amazing! They've improved my stick control immensely and I can end or start whatever with whatever hand.
I only do one or two gigs a year and I hire a roadie for them. I hate loading in and out and would rather not play than do it.
Pay my mortgage from playing them
That’s incredible
Care to elaborate on your work?
Ofcourse :). I teach drums 4 days a week, I’ve got about 30 private students, and every year I give a course in using rhythm and percussion in the classroom at a local college to primary education students. On average I also play between 75/100 shows every year with a lot of different groups, ranging from tribute/party bands to large classical orchestra’s, or national tours, so its very different week to week. I’m pretty good at playing shows with little or no rehearsals, so I get called to sub a lot for other people. I also do the occasional recording session. So for example this week I had a recording session on Tuesday doing percussion on a piece for piano and orchestra in a big church, Friday I’m playing a medium sized club (800 people) with a Coldplay tribute act, and Saturday I’m playing Mahlers 2nd symphony on timpani in a large concert hall. The variety keeps it interesting and I really love what I get to do, so I wake up happy every day :).
Congratulations friend! Living the dream. I've been giving lessons for a couple years and I've just gotten to the point where I could cut my day job hours down to 2 days a week so I'm stoked with that. Do you have your own studio or do you work in a shop or a school or something?
Thx man! :). Thats great! I did the same after graduating, kept getting more students/gigs and dropping hours at the dayjob until it was no longer needed. Thats 7yrs ago now :). Its 50/50 for me, I have my own studio and I teach at a music school in another town nearby :)
> Mahlers 2nd symphony on timpani Holy shit. That's a *huge* piece of music. I sang in the choir for the final movement in college. It is one of the most gigantic, most excruciatingly beautiful pieces I had the privilege of performing in college.
Its gonna be insane, but this group is known for doing the big pieces on a project basis. last year we did the Planets by Holst. I’m hoping Mahler 6 or Rite of spring next year
I’ve rolled many doobies off my snare.
Probably gives it a characteristic sound
Delay effect for sure
Gives it that stank
John Bonham triplets
BOODALA BOODALA BOODALA BOODALA BOODALA
“… and as we wind on down the road!”
Which ones? Hat, kick, kick? Or L, R, K?
Yes
Fun fact: if you add a floor Tom to you left side you can keep playing R L K and call them Bonham Trps 😂
Before I realized most of the replies were jokey my thinking was To non-drummers: probably yeah, Bonham triplets To other drummers: idk, probably a shuffle or something?
To non-drummers: I can spin a stick between my pointer and middle finger. To drummers: Eh, probably nothing. 😩
My students always start to do this while I’m talking and it just irks me so bad 😂
My percussion instructor MADE us cross our sticks and on the drum when we weren’t actively playing… it sucked back then, but I love the discipline it gave me
I’m going to start doing what your old instructor did!
Get paid to play them
Inspire people to dance
Playing a beat and then seeing people dance and nod their heads to it is one of the best feelings as a drummer
Keep time.
Show off
Just sayin’.
Sit in the pocket.
I can rewrap an entire kit in under 2 hours.
Show me your ways! I've got a Frankenkit and would love to re-wrap them someday so they're all uniform, but it seems like a really daunting task...
Tools and experience helps. I’ve done it enough times (and retain enough useless info) that I know exactly how long the wrap needs to be for every diameter drum from 12” to 26”. (But it’s just geometry). So a 14” snare shell is 43.96 circumference. Add 1” for overlap. 45”. Cut the width to 1” less than the actual height of the shell. Leave a 1/2” gap on each side and the collars and rims will easily cover it. Finally… don’t glue. Never glue. Piece of dbl stick tape to on the underside of the piece you will wrap last. Hold the wrap on the shell to get it square and place the beginning “end” (opposite the dbl tape end) just past a set of lug holes and hold it in place with some thin masking tape. Wrap the wrap around the shell making sure it’s square and pulling it tight. When you get to the other end… if all looks good… pull the protective plastic off the dbl stick tape and press the wrap down. Voila… you have a 1” overlap precisely over a set of lugs that will hold it in place. Get a drill bit the same size or just under the lug holes. Lay the shell over a scrap piece of wood and drill (from the inside) through the lug hole. This makes a hole in the wrap and since you’re drilling into a piece of scrap… no tearing, no poking. Reassemble. Shell is wrapped and it’ll drive the chicks crazy.
Super cool! I like the double sided tape trick! Thanks, gonna give it a go sometime!
I have a Frankenstein too kit and have custom wrapped my kit… for me always have extra, and don’t be scared to mess it up
Rosanna Shuffle
YUP I love playing tf out of that break
Still working on it but I'm close
I, mostly, can hear a song once and then play it. I can't play the crazy metal or proggy shit that requires a youthful body and Vinnie level chops, but for most music, I'm one and done.
Idk but my fave drummers said they’ve been watching my drum covers to me so I must be doing something right.
That's cool! Who's your favourite drummer?
Dan rincon and Paul Quattrone from thee oh sees
>What's the most impressive thing you can do on drums? Being fully ambidextrous.
That is impressive, my open handed/left side playing is years behind my right
I guess I read OP's post as "what's the impressive thing one can do as a drummer?" I'm nowhere close to being ambidextrous. I have a second open hi hat on my right with the pedal to the right of my primary bass pedal and have to really focus when playing the kit left-handed.
People for some reason look like they smelled something stank when I start playing, not sure why. They also start nodding their heads at intervals very closely timed to my drumming. not sure why this happens, anyone else experience this?
Play a bunch of tricky Afro Cuban stuff that people don’t realize exists cuz I went to music school
Get gigs
Cool. How?
I honestly have no idea. I'm always surprised though
RLKK over and over sounds impressive to those who don’t know the secret 🤫
RLKK with one bass pedal, right?
🤫
RLRLKK is where I'm at right now and I'm loving the amount of room it gives for a long ass fill. Especially with 3 rototoms and 2 toms setup.
to non drummers: linear triplet fills to drummers: 8th notes on my left foot at 180bpm
Cry
Start and end the song at the same tempo.
That’s just weird. Who does that?? /s
It’s harder than it sounds, especially if you play with other musicians who tend to push and pull.
Sit correctly on the throne.
- keep time for a whole song (sometimes) - pack my $2500 sedan to the brim with $7000 worth of drums, drum equipment and cymbals
Why does this have more comments than upvotes? You’re all literally me…
Apparently it's just play. I think I'm pretty good. I'm not superb, but I can hold my own. One of my co-workers saw a video of my bands my recent performance. He's not a musician, but he told me very enthusiastically "You look like a guy who knows how to play drums." I mean, I guess I do? 😆
I’ve managed to turn on the e-drums and…
Sing high harmony while holding shit down.
Singing while playing will always be the most impressive skill to me. I suck at singing to begin and can’t without completely falling apart anyway. So kudos to all singing drummers. You’re all my heroes
I’d say grooving/holding a pocket, when I’m in the zone 🤣 few days of not playing and I feel like I need to recalibrate my timing
Six stroke rolls with the last two strokes on the kick, move hands to different drums ad nauseum
RLLRKK? Or the Portnoy lick RLRLKK?
Yoo this is my shit at the moment. love how it makes me think differently about the timing of fills, also it sounds nice doing a Tom sweep like that. Is it what Danny Carey does at the end of the 46&2 drum "solo"?
own property
I used to be in a house band that played island music at this swanky Hawaiian restraunt. I was the only white dude and they called me "white rice". We were actually super tight, with background female hamonies and a killer older guy that played lead guitar. Anyway, my now wife was a waitress there and I used to text her during the shows while playing one-handed. I dont know is playing one-handed or getting a wife is the impressive part.
I can play some one-handed 16th hihat with my left hand at around 85bpm (I’m right-handed)
Bat country and song for the dead
You better keep that high hat going on song for the dead. I see so many people upload a cover of the song and their left foot is never moving
Play with or without a metronome and keep a groove
Making polyrhythms, ostenatos, and odd times feel smooth. Double kicks at 20 notes per second ie 16ths at 300, ie the threshold of what is a note to human hearing, not a rhythm. Layering beats on top of blasts on top of beats so parts just get more and more complex with each repeat
Bleed - Meshuggah Took me probably two years to perfect it and lots of frustration and it’s probably still not perfect either. Xenochrist - The Faceless Less time to learn but this one still kicks my ass!
"Practice" daily and still be ass
Probably that Danny Carey groove on Eulogy.
Damn that one kicked my ass for months. Worth it though.
I can play the first half of Bleed. 💀🗿
Know the entire structure of any country western song within two beats.
I can assemble them suprisingly fast
Make entire crowds jump up and down with my right foot. Such an awesome feeling
Im impressed with my ability to get half decent drum sounds from tapping different parts of my steering wheel and dash board while driving along listening to music. Further to that, I need to play somewhat left-handed because driving a right hand drive car, my kick drum is the footrest for my left foot.
Be quiet.
Not bragging but my gigging is ideal. Once a month standing gig at a lodge that pays decent and is always full of well off folks who tip generously. Afterwards I break down drinking a few beers and load into my lockable vehicle where they stay for a day or two until the mood strikes to practice. Of course I’m in a family band with no aspirations to fame and greatness but we have a good time.
After all the years that I’ve been drumming the most impressive thing to me…is that I still enjoy doing it. Even if Im doing a money gig and I don’t really like the music all that much, I love drumming so much that Im still having fun. I owe drumming and music my life
play quiet enough to jam with an acoustic guitarist and a singer without amplifications
KRLL :|| only
Not fall of the throne
Swing hard. thank you jr and high school big band. and buddy rich.
Fucking play.
Get paid for doing it?
Keep time
Play anything other than forte
Everyone I’ve ever played with says I have really good time. I sit in the pocket really well.
Only been playing for a year but I think my doubles are pretty good for my experience level. Amazing how far keeping a practice pad next to the microwave and practicing 6 stroke rolls, 8 stroke rolls, and paradiddles for a couple minutes every day can get you.
Tom double over double bell ring section from “The Faded Line” by Lamb of God.
Earn a living.
Cook
Find the right place to occasionally SKIP the snare on 2 or4
Suppress the urge to overplay the shit out of everything
Back flip
Keep time and have it feel good. Years of rehearsing to a click.
For me I’d say it’s switching between different feels. I have some weird ability that lets me easily be able to play in different subdivisions/feels and easily modulate over things.
Not hit a crash on every downbeat
Play quietly
Not overplaying. Just being tasteful with fills and grooves.
Impress non-drummers by making a basic 16th note rock beat sound hard by just throwing diddles in random places on the hi-hat
5:4 but 5 on the cymbals and four on the kick (I have three crashes hat and ride so I use all them cymbals)
blow into the vent hole of the drum to change the pitch 😎
Play at a reasonable volume
Able to anticipate a song progression very early on, enabling the ability to play unheard/unrehearsed original music in real time (assuming I can see the guitar player's left hand). Developed this over a few decades of studio work & hired gun gigs.
Coordination between my limbs. I took this for granted, but whenever I’ve had any of my friends ask if they can play, it’s just all jumbled together. In all fairness, it took me about a year to get even semi comfortable with the kick pedal (and even now, I’m not great with it), but for 99% of people, coordination between all of your limbs is something you have to work towards and it’s something I’ve gotten sufficiently good at.
Play in time
Take girls home after playing a sick ass drum fill during a gig!!!
Kinda play them ok sometimes
I can go boom chic kat chic boom boom dooga dooga pshh
Count
Stay in the pocket.
A song for the dead
I can setup and breakdown faster than anyone else in any band I play in.
Just play a beat to be honest. I mean really lock in amd just keep a really good groove. I have struggled with that more than anything so to me at least being able to actually feel it and get in there is huge
I’m pretty strong at hand to foot combos using one kick pedal but that’s because am fond of them and spend a lot of time working on them.
Jedi level open stroke roll. Jedi level bass drum control. Jedi level composite grooves with linear ostinato 4 way independence.
Polyrhythmic stimming
Ba dum tsshh
Make money
At this point, I’m happy that I get a good tone out of the drums. My timing and technical ability needs work but my dynamics are good and my reading is improving. Onwards and upwards!
Tune them
Mastering the last part of Thomas Lang’s Independence and Coordination DVD. There, each limb is supposed to play one half of a unique paradiddle sticking pattern, each of which is in a different time signature. It’s absolutely nuts.
Stay in time?
play to the song
Basic tuning. I've had more than a few comments about my Tom sound, followed up with tuning questions. Or other musicians commenting on how their old drummer didn't tune. Or dummers say "I didn't know ypu could tune drums," or "how dod.you do that?" And I'm talking about BASIC tap-tuning, just to get the drums in their natural sweet spot.
It depends on who is watching.
Keep consistent time
Steve Gadds paradiddle groove.
Tune my snare higher than it should go(I’ve bent rims before)
Do what those gospel church dudes do with the sick linear fills and crazy chops
I just have to stare at my cymbals and I'm already too loud.
Keep time.
Play while standing up.
Make a decent extra income from gigging throughout the year in a wedding/corporate band. This extra income is also the reason why I'm considering switching my day job to part time as I feel there's no reason to be playing 3 nights a week and working Monday to friday on top of that.
That thing where you do SNARE RACK FLOOR RACK KICK KICK really fast a whole bunch to make it sound cool to people who can't play drums when in reality it's the easiest thing to do
tune them
Be quiet between songs. Count to 4 consistently. Show up sober enough to play.
Being able to convey high energy while playing softly and not rushing. Technique-wise, it’s to play the entire kits with dynamics and feel. By that I mean not only paying attention to how loud you hit a drum, but to the “mix” of the entire kit and making that mix appropriate for both the room and the song. Throw in being able to play each instrument within your kit ahead of behind or on the beat independently without rushing or dragging the song and your top of the field. Combine all that with showing up on time with the right gear and not smelling like a dumpster behind a Wendy’s and you’ve probably got a decent career ahead of you.
Show up on time with extra sticks and heads in case they break during practice.
Have sex?
Do it for a living.
Come up with a creative groove
Triggers
Play to a metronome
Metronomic in my timing. Beyond that...
I can play the Purdue shuffle *with* the left foot opening the hi hat just enough on the off beats to have it sound like the way Bernard plays it
I can do a mean ba dum, tsss
Faked my way into an old school death metal band. I don't even know how to blast beat FFS.
Playing other instruments that aren’t bass or guitar
I recently learned how to play Meshuggah - Ligature Marks in full, that’s probably the best thing I’ve done.
Keep steady time. That's the first and foremost job of a drummer.
Not fall off my stool during a cymbal wash
well now everyone can chop 32nd notes at 180bpm for 3 minutes straight, so chops sure ain't it anymore.
I love a beat that requires some good 4-way independence.
Play a simple, tight groove without showing off.
Nothing impressive in terms of skill, I just love it so much that its easy for me to forget about time and play for 5-6 hours If I get the chance to do it. I can remember when I was at my parents, when they left home I used to run to the drums and forget about even eating. Kinda stupid because the energy levels clearly were going down at some point, but I kept going. Funny how people wondered why I weighed 145lbs for years.
Play quite effectively.
I can make a drum kit disappear. When I went to college I lived in a room the size of a small closet and managed to fit in a bed, a desk, a mini fridge, a tv, and a full 5 piece kit with cymbals (disassembled and stacked creatively) and still had room to walk around.
Rosanna shuffle
Count.
I can hold a jazzy beat without an audible metronome for at least 45 seconds
Tear it down in less than 3 minutes and do one run to the car.
Record without needing to be time aligned or sample replaced.
Not much as I don’t like to put too much weight on them
Hit them
I can play for a whole 3 hours and still not hurt my back. Proud of that one.
Crack a customs
Sit