68
votes
Accepted
Why can't drums produce melody?
Instruments don't just produce one frequency at a time. When you play a single note on a melodic instruments (like piano, wind instruments, string instruments, etc.), you produce many different ...
- 11.3k
51
votes
Why can't drums produce melody?
The drums CAN play melodies, but the number of pitches and notes you have available are limited by the number of drums you have (not counting creative applications of "bending" the drum head to ...
- 2,578
45
votes
Accepted
Why didn't classical music use drums?
What you are thinking of as "drums" is really a collection of drums, percussion & cymbals gathered together in such a way as they can be played by one person. A drum kit or trap kit.
This idea ...
- 28k
29
votes
Why didn't classical music use drums?
Classical music did use drums: timpani and bass drum for starters.
...I'm talking where the rhythm is one of the main driving forces
Rhythm IS a driving force in classical music.
I think what you ...
- 59.5k
25
votes
Can the bass be used instead of drums?
The relative dearth of percussion in classical music versus rock is part of what makes those genres sound different. Nothing takes on the role of a drum kit in the classical orchestra. That role ...
- 58.6k
24
votes
Accepted
Why are drums considered non pitched instruments?
A drum is usually considered a non-pitched instrument because it produces a weak fundamental frequency, produces inharmonic overtones, and the pitches it does produce are unrelated to the rest of the ...
- 645
21
votes
Why can't drums produce melody?
No-one's mentioned pans - aka steel drums They certainly are used to play melodies. The main problem is that melodies usually contain long and short duration notes, and drums generally can only ...
- 197k
19
votes
Can the bass be used instead of drums?
In general "classical" music usually has less of a "strict time" feeling than music that typically uses percussion heavily. That's one reason that a conductor is there - to define the time feel, cue ...
- 3,539
16
votes
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Why does American traditional music (e.g. old-time fiddle, folk, bluegrass, etc.) exclude drumming?
I’m sorry you don’t find “spoons, washboards, and flatfoot dancing” an acceptable answer. I would invite you to consider that spoons, washboards, and feet all feature some things in common that drums ...
- 20.9k
15
votes
Accepted
What is a paradiddle?
You're close!
A paradiddle is a four-articulation pattern that alternates hands for the first three articulations but then repeats the third hand. The two patterns are L R L L and R L R R. Fancier ...
- 85.1k
15
votes
Is it OK to watch TV while practicing speed?
Well, the problem is that as you practice, your subconscious mechanism picks up repeated tasks. If you are still "fully present" (I'd call it "trying hard") once your subconscious ...
- 3,941
15
votes
Accepted
What do the labels on drumsticks (5A, 7B, etc.) mean?
I have found the following information on this website:
The letters will tell you the weight of the stick( A, B, S or D):
A (orchestra) is the lightest type of stick out there. This was the
type of ...
- 1,226
14
votes
Accepted
Is timing with left foot (weak foot) a fundamental skill?
The body "learns" motor skills in ways that are specific to body parts. Think about handwriting: If you try to write with your non-dominant hand, you write terribly and it's challenging. ...
- 19.2k
13
votes
Drums in Apartment
Sites like this always get lots of questions about how to soundproof thin walls, and the answer is always that you can't do much. Soundproofing is achieved by having a lot of mass in the walls (and ...
- 22.6k
13
votes
How to play proper time when another instrument is playing out of time?
It's a tough situation. Even if you're able to stubbornly stay right on the beat, it will sound like you're dragging or something is wrong. If you go with the flow, the whole group will speed up or ...
- 28.7k
12
votes
Accepted
Crash cymbal turned green
For your first question. Your cymbal is oxidized, and the green color is called patina
Initially, bare Cu metal atoms react with air to form the pink oxide,
cuprite, Cu2O, which has Cu+1 cations. ...
- 687
12
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Is the main role of the bass guitar to give a pitch to the kick drum?
The main role of a Bass is going to be different depending on the style. My answer is going to relate to Pop/rock.
Rhythm:
The Bass guitar is part of the rhythm section. Obviously the drums are also ...
- 7,110
11
votes
Why can't drums produce melody?
In contrast to the question, the timpani are a drum set that can play melodies (although they are almost always given accompaniment parts only). Indeed, they are tuned to pitches (one pitch per drum) ...
- 14.3k
10
votes
Accepted
Common reasons for poor drummer swing feel?
There are many things that could be going wrong, but in my experience, not swinging (or having a bad swing feel) is usually a result of small technique-related issues. In particular, it can include: (...
- 11.3k
10
votes
Accepted
What does the double 3s mean in these patterns?
Let me focus on the first rhythm only:
The sixteenth triplet takes the place of an eighth note, which together with the quarter note sits in a triplet. Thus, the quarter takes up 2/3rds of a ...
- 747
10
votes
Should I use PA speakers for a full band all the time?
I went down a similar path to eventually starting a full band to accompany me on stage in paying gigs vs playing just for fun. My band has bass, two guitars, drums and vocal mics for all four ...
- 27.5k
9
votes
Is the main role of the bass guitar to give a pitch to the kick drum?
Certainly not the main role! It's going to depend a lot on the style of music played.
In a couple of bands I work in, there are what I call 'listening drummers'. Not every band is lucky enough to ...
- 197k
9
votes
Accepted
Is anything that doesn't have a pitch considered noise?
I think when an instrument doesn't have a clear pitch, the musician's go-to word is 'unpitched', rather than 'noise'. Noise in a musical context often refers to something extraneous or unwanted - e.g. ...
- 46.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Can a drummer hit the snare, ride, and crash at the same time?
I spent the entire 90s being paid (quite handsomely, tyvm ;) to seek & destroy 3-handed-drummer syndrome in midi/sample playback songs & styles for a major instrument manufacturer.
No, a ...
- 28k
9
votes
How to achieve a wet snare drum sound?
As suggested in the comments, this is far more down to how the snare is being recorded than any particular properties of the drum itself. The 'attack' of the snare hit is broader and less focussed ...
- 815
9
votes
Is there a name for this simple drum pattern/fill?
The meter of the song is common time, 4/4.
According to this video by Stephen Taylor the fill, when going from beat 4 to beat 1, is called "the Debbie." I couldn't find anyone else using ...
- 59.5k
9
votes
Accepted
What does this diagonal line in the drums sheet music mean?
That's a rather overzealous notation for a rim click, which is more typically notated as a regular note head with a diagonal line through it (among other options)1. It goes with the indication just ...
- 94.9k
9
votes
Why is there a debate over whether or not percussion instruments are pitched?
There's no debate, there's a whole spectrum from almost unpitched to clearly pitched (e.g. timpani, marimba). There are a lot of weakly pitched instruments in the the middle (e.g. tomtoms: there are ...
- 22k
8
votes
What's the purpose of a drum teacher in today's age?
All teachers bring something to the student that the student cannot get online: experienced observation and training catered to both the strengths and weaknesses particular to the student.
Everyone ...
- 58.6k
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