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(What's a drummer seeing, experiencing or feeling when he drums?)
What do
you see when you drum
Or is it that you drum when you see?
Do I have to drum and then see?
Do I have to see and then drum?
Do I have to?
See? And? Then?
Drum?
-YES
He is
feeling what he is drumming. Each and every rhythm has a mood that is
assigned to it. It's something that is close and personal to a drummer,
that's exactly how various, different and unique styles evolve.
When I'm drumming, what I work towards is, to make sure that the overall
sound of the drum set is dynamically and expressively in unison with
the sound of the other instruments. That's when, if you're in a crowd,
the music just hits you like it has taken you by surprise and all you
can do is groove, move, jump and dance! When your guitarist or bassist
plays a riff or a run, that melody line just reaches inside you and
beckons a beat to be played, play that beat. It could be a simple and
straight 4/4th, or it could be a complex, syncopated, odd time signature
- polyrhythmic beat.(note - the description given in the above sentence
might not make much sense to the better acquainted, those were basically
all the fancy words I knew that had to do with drumming.) So when you
are playing that beat and when you are constantly tapping into that
deep level of expression in your drumming you will experience something
unreal. You will see beyond the usual head bangers, pretty faces, pesky
new best friends and rude gesticulators and see where your drumming
wants to take you. When you close your eyes and pictographically experience
your music, that's when you have reached somewhere with the musicians
you are playing with; where you can see the collective expression of
numerous points of view, interpretations of what each one understands
by 'music.' Call it your 'band happy place' if you will!
Have any
of you drummers felt that the beat that you're playing just doesn't
gel? Then join the club. This happens to even the best of the best at
some point of time. All it needs is a little introspection, a little
'letting go', less of mere hearing and more genuine listening. Playing
more isn't always the answer; sometimes silence could be more expressive
than the loudest and fastest of rolls.
I, as a musician lay a lot of emphasis on and constantly look for, the
'life' element in my drumming. Drumming should be lively, should say
something, should be pulsating, should be straight from the heart and
most importantly should be an outcome of constant practice, yes, the
good ol' right right left lefts', paradiddles', triplets and the list
just keeps getting longer and longer; because it's frustration of the
highest order when your heart leads you so passionately but your hands
just don't comply. With both sides of the coin being chiseled and polished
constantly, like they say in the world of corny sayings, 'the sky is
the limit.'
When the
'guy back there, whacking away' starts soloing, that's when he comes
to the forefront and says what he wants to; he has the freedom of expression
and speech with or without the only guideline - time. He could come
up and fluently express himself, as if the drums are singing a sweet
song of the droplets of rain falling into a flowing river or as if an
army of horses is stampeding towards you. At that time of extreme fluency
in expression of feelings and emotions he says to himself:-
"Man did I just play that roll?"
"I sure hope we are getting the check today!"
"Did you see that, no I mean really, did you feel it?"
"You know, I have bills to pay."
"Ok……..Wow!"
"Yeah we better get that check today!"
"Damn I'm good!"
Varun
Venkit
varun_v17@hotmail.com
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