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Counting Mixed Rhythms | Finding a Balance On the Drum Set

Finding a Balance On the Drum Set

by Ray Van Rotz

Imagine that you are playing a guitar and one string is louder than the others. Or suppose that you are playing a piano and certain keys are twice as loud the rest of the keyboard. Think of playing a scale and the third drowns out the rest of the notes every time you press it! How weird would that sound? Well that's what some drummers do, but, because they are not playing notes in a certain key, they don't realize they are doing it.

I became aware of this from a couple of situations I recently experienced. The first involved a good player whom I had a lot of respect for. I knew he was a very fine percussionist, drum set player, and a fine musician in general. I was surprised to hear criticisms from other musician friends who said he played certain parts of his drum set too loud, in this case his hi hats. It affected the groove greatly. The bottom line was he had been playing a lot of electronic percussion on pads and it had affected his touch around the kit. When he played on his regular acoustic set, he hit the drums and cymbals like he was hitting pads. He just wasn't aware that he was playing his right hand as if he was hitting a pad instead of part of an acoustic musical instrument.

The second was a personal experience. I was having trouble making certain grooves feel like they should. I came to realize that I was playing my right hand too loud causing me to have tension in all my limbs. When I lightened up and concentrated on a strong back beat and kick, I relaxed and played much more musically and with a much better feel!

Many of today's music requires loud and heavy playing with tons of energy. Often times great players are required to hit the drums much harder than normal, especially in the recording studio. Some producers want a maximum hit on every note to capture the energy produced by hitting the drums hard. They then put in the dynamics in the mix. In such situations it's easy to try and play hard with all four limbs all the time. This frequently creates tension in one's playing and results in a stiff groove and a less than musical track.

Now, when playing a heavy metal or rock track, this might be the preferred way to play a kit. The problem is, when someone's playing a song or a style that doesn't require all four limbs slamming to the max and the player is not cognizant of the difference. Yet, continues to play in the same "stadium rock concert" manner . It's not just about dynamics either. Relaxing one limb greatly affects the feel and groove.

Try this. Pick a groove, any groove. It doesn't matter if it's swing, rock, latin, etc....Play it like you normally would, and then play your right hand softer and see how it affects the feel. You can switch it around and increase the volume of just one limb. You'll find that adjusting the volume of parts of your kit will greatly affect the feel of that groove! You must be aware of what part of the kit to play softly and what to really lay into. Not all 4 limbs need be played with the same intensity.

A good example of this is a Louie Prima shuffle. This is a dotted eighth and sixteenth shuffle pattern on either the hi hat or ride cymbal, quarter notes on the bass drum and solid back beat on 2 and 4 on the snare. If you play this groove with a heavy right foot or a loud hi hat with the right hand, it will swing like a dead cat! Lighten up on the bass drum, just feather it, and it will start to swing. Play the right hand at a light to medium volume and the groove will just float along!

Another example is just a straight rock groove. Playing straight 8ths with your right hand loud will create a totally different feel than concentrating on playing the back beat and downbeat with volume, but playing the right hand relaxed and relatively softly. Try playing Jeff Porcaro's classic groove from "Rosanna" with a loud right hand. It doesn't work! The hi hat and snare are played relaxed except for 2 & 4. All the rest are almost ghost notes! Another good example of great dynamic playing from all four limbs is Bill Berg with "Flim And The BB's." He utilizes the entire dynamic spectrum in his playing. Check out any of those tracks!

Thinking about the balance between the various parts of your drum set will not only make you more musical, it will keep your playing interesting and fresh, and that will make playing music more fun, not only for you, but for everyone in the band.

For 25 years, Ray Von Rotz has been performing and recording with a wide variety of groups and artists out of Nashville, TN. They include Boots Randolph, The Mills Brothers, Englebert Humperdink, Al Hirt, The Jack Daniels Silver Cornet Band, The Grand Ole Opry, shows at the Opryland theme park, the General Jackson, various Broadway shows, the Nashville symphony, and a wide variety of casual and club dates. He is presently performing with 2 different shows on the General Jackson Showboat.