I'm a senior in High School and have relatively zero experience playing with a Big Band. Tomorrow, I've got an audition at another high school since my own doesn't have one and I'm quite anxious and mortified. The piece is "Swingin' For the Fences" by Gordon Goodwin and I'm pretty bad at it. I can keep the tempo and lightly comp, but I lose the momentum when the soloing happens since the tempo is 130 double swing and I'm gritting my teeth coutning in time.

Is there any last minute advice that might compensate for my lack of lavish fills of innovative playing? I'm certain I'll be shaking like a leef too; should I get stoned so I don't freak out? Thank you to whoever reads this and answers!

Has anyone tried one of these in a jazz settings? Im keen to get one sooner or later.

I’m jazz-curious. I personally play a layout similar to Max Weinberg and even Buddy Rich, not because I tried to, but out of pure coincidence. Everything on the kit is ergonomic and set up for the least amount of movement as possible, so everything is tight and low. I can get to and from my main ride without trying hard at all.

Why is it that almost every small jazz drum set I see (hi hat + two rides typically) has the cymbals very high and tilted very far? I played one at an open jam and I hated it. It increases distances way too far, making the logistics of getting from drum to ride to drum just way too much. To me, it’s very uncomfortable, so I’m having a hard time understanding why this is so popular.

What am I missing?

I'm trying to change my cymbal sound to a more dark feel. I've found the dark matter series and I listened to them on thoman's website. The bell is perfect but the bow seems a little on the bright side. My understanding of hand hammering is that each cymbal has its own personality. Is it because of this that these sound more bright, or is this the general sound of the alloy? I also don't want that super dark no sustain steel sheet sound either.... Trying to find cymbals is really hard for some reason. I only want a 22 and 20 inch ride.

So I've had this new 22" agop 30th anniversary cymbal since August and I love it. I've always been a fan of riveted cymbals and have decided I think I'm going to add rivets to it! I don't know how many or where or anything like that but I have the rivets and I know how to drill a hole! Could you guys give me any tips? Do you think it's a good idea?

Thanks!

Hey all, I have been reviewing some footage of my last couple of gigs, and dear Elvin, to I play so many quarter notes triplets. It is my go to comping figure, solo kernel, motif,etc…I can’t get my brain to “unhear” them in song forms and solo motifs..any advice to break out of this? My playing is just waaaay too heavy with this rhythm. Thanks yall

I'm in a band called Pareidolia we are alt rock and about to release an album our previous drummer was a jazz drummer and used various jazz techniques. You'd have to learn our old songs and follow the same general grove and be able to write your own drum parts. We are all 17-18 so any highschool aged people would probably fit best but if you a young adult that's also fine.

Do you guys differenciate between small band and big band cymbals? Tried one of my quietest cymbals with the big band last couple of rehearsals and it sounds really good. Do you have a set for like jazz trios quartet quintet and a set for big band?

Bop and small, low-volume drumming is a new world to me. I have a 22 inch bass drum that sounds absolutely godly for Latin fusion, funk, and top-40 kind of stuff, but its thunderous quality just doesn’t quite fit with the bop sound or feel.

I’ve been thinking about getting a cheap bop kit with an 18 inch bass drum, the de facto standard. However, twice now, I’ve seen some truly phenomenal used shell kits for great prices (Gretsch USA Custom, DW Collectors), but they had 20 inch bass drums. I didn’t buy either of them because I didn’t have the money, but that might change in the future and there will likely be new opportunities for something like that.

I muffled, changed heads, and tuned my earthquake inducing 22x18 bass drum for a really cool gig last week: I got to play drums for a flute choir comprised of 21 flutes, from piccolo to contrabass. Really cool! The two oldest instruments in the world fused together in an interesting way. Relatively speaking, not many drummers can say they’ve had a gig like this, so it was seriously an honor (thank you, Seattle Flute Society)!

So I was thinking. While my giant bass drum was certainly far from ideal for a gig like that, I made it work. How close could I get a 20 inch bass drum to work with bop?

Yea, I’ve been drumming for a long time, but it’s not scary for me to say that I don’t know what I’m doing. That’s especially true for bop and jazz. I’d love some advice about bass drum sizing. A 20 inch is probably the most versatile size and can do almost anything decently. What I’d like to know is if it can appropriately anchor a kit for playing bop, or if I’m better off sticking with the tried and true 18 inch.

Part of me is thinking of keeping my current kit and having a second kit for bop, allowing me to pick the right one for the right sound. Another part of me thinks less is more and I should go down to a single kit that does everything decently, which is where a very nice kit with a 20 inch bass drum can make sense.

There is one more option: I can get an 18 inch bass drum custom made for me to match what I already have: the original “first gen” DW Performance in the blue lacquer. I own the full 7 piece, not because I actually play a 7 piece (I play a 4 piece or less, just kick and snare sometimes), but it gives me the flexibility for different setups. The one drum I can’t really swap out is the bass drum, as I only have the one and only original size. The problem with this option is that DW is going to charge me as if it’s a custom drum, which it is, meaning it’ll cost more than double that of buying an entire PDP Concept Maple 4 piece shell kit, as an example. Or, another way to think about it, the single bass drum would cost almost as much as a used, USA-manufactured, top tier shell kit (DW, Gretsch, Ludwig, etc). The advantage is owning less crap, but the price is hard to justify.

TLDR: is a 20 inch bass drum too much of a compromise for bop? For context, I’m an experienced drummer, but completely clueless when it comes to bebop and related styles, despite me playing traditional grip and having a medium-light touch.

Hi I’ve been drumming for a couple years (recently picked it back up after a hiatus) and I’ve gotten really into jazz. I can play a few songs :

• whiplash (bad at second half)
• hymn to freedom
• Freddie freeloader

I don’t know where to go next, unlike rock where everything is sort of similar, jazz is really stylistic and technical and it’s all kind of overwhelming and I don’t really know what to learn next.

Anybody from the Chicago area know any places that do any sort of jam sessions where drummers can join in? Thanks.

Has anyone hand hammered a 22 inch ride to make it darker sounding? I'm thinking of doing this with a ping ride. Is this a good idea?

I'm having trouble with fast solos when I transition from a 1-2-&-1-2-&-1 (if that makes any sense) cuttime beat to a 3:2 clave solos section on the song "tiger of san pedro". I like to keep hihat for quarter note time, creating a polyrhyrhm that gets muddy (on the kick) when I try to utilize my hands more. Any advice on building effective phrases and combinations?

Any transcriptions I recording timestamps of sick mel Lewis stuff,?,?,? Thanks!

ARe you guys still feathering past 270ish BPM?

I see a lot of people transcribing PJJ, Elvin Jones, Max Roach

And I see a lot of people talking about Jimmy Cobb's and Billy Higgens cymbal playing.

But not so much talk around Ed Thigpen? Is this just my own selection bias or do people not gravitate towards his playing? Like it's just strange to me that Oscar Peterson trio is one of the most killing groups to ever exist but Ed Thigpen feels not so cherished in the drum community.

I’m coming from a funk, Latin, fusion, rock background and just now (finally) getting into jazz. I’ve been on a quest to get a thin, dry ride for bop and generally lower volume playing.

I demoed a 22 inch Meinl Big Apple Dark Ride and absolutely loved it. I bought it, took it home, and started playing on my own kit. I love this ride, I really do, except the bell is just too diminished. Using hot rods, I can’t even really hear the bell, and I play with hot rods quite often. This makes playing anything Latin pretty much impossible, so unfortunately, this cymbal won’t work and it’s going back to the store.

If I could have this exact same cymbal, but with a more usable bell, that would be great! Does anyone have any other recommendations I should look at? I’m aware that in this category of cymbal, each one is unique, I get it. But in general, what should I be looking at? I’m open to all brands, 22 or 21 inch, but 22 preferred.

Thanks!

I've been practicing jazz drums for around a year now and before that I studied classical percussion. Next year I'll apply for another university of music and I'd like to relate both, not to choose one over the other, which is concerning me about my choice of studies.

Since the conventions of practice of jazz (transcribing, playing along, improv) are very different from classical percussion (reading and practicing already-written pieces), how can one make the most use of the skills of each area to the other?

I'm trying to learn PJJ's cymbal beat, and I think I got it but I can't confirm it since there's really no videos of him just playing the ride.

At first, I didn't like PJJ's beat because it sounds like it's accenting 1+3 but now that I've been living with it a little bit it's incredibly bouncy. I also noticed that his hi-hat sound is so crisp, authoritative and loud that maybe his ride cymbal sound is distorted a bit from it. It seems like he's using back grip and fingers to get the bounce that he gets.

What can I do to facilitate my understanding of someone's ride beat?

There are a few rules, the curriculum:

• must be composed within the last 25 years (not just arranged)
• No longer that 5 mins (but it can be cut down)

thanks!