Learning rudiments.

Interesting stuff- thanks, dude. I am looking forward to breaking this thing in.

Happy race day. Figured I'd share a pic of the sweet old Gretsch "Stop Sign Badge" kit I played at a session yesterday. 13x9, 16x16, and 24x14! 

Plus a couple of other recent kit pics since I was at it. My kit with a last minute porthole job that looks like it was done by a 5th grader, and an awesome Rogers Big R kit from a session down south (check out that Eric Valentine style "drumbrella" above me too)
 

Gday drummer mob. Hardly ever visit non-moto but it’s raining here and a bit of a slow day.

Here’s my young fella’s kit; old Premier with a mix of Meinl and Paiste cymbals. Nothing flash as I’m trying to teach him the value of having to work and save for things, so he’s built the kit gradually with everything second hand. 
He and a couple of mates play together as a three piece, mostly grunge and metal. They won their local high school Battle of the Bands last year as the youngest kids competing (13yo). It’s pretty cool seeing them play the old  stuff.

As for rudiments and lessons; he’s self taught and I’ve tried to encourage him to get the fundamentals right, but apparently playing along to YouTube or jamming with ya mates is more fun 😂

That's the hard part for kids. My son's lessons were kind of a waste. It wasn't until he hit high school and had to compete for band position that he really focused on rudiments. He is an instructor, touring pro and producer. This his snare rack.

His Warped Tour DC view.

This is his studio kit.

Snazzy looking! Know you’re stoked.

Nice-looking Pearl kit! I have played Pearl quite a bit and they sound awesome.

Dude, hell yeah. That looks clean. The rug really ties the room together too

So stoked on…indeed, in this thread. 

We’ve done four already…

That's a killer kit. That method you're instilling in him which encourages slow acquisition is a great way to end up with something personalized and good quality. 

You're right that fundamentals are important, however in my experience it's damn hard to get someone to develop a more disciplined practice routine if their current skill level matches their requirements. As Jojo Mayer put it, "Technique is really the elimination of everything that gets in the way between what you want to do and what you can do". Fortunately nothing exposes limitations like the immediate feedback of playing with other musicians, so the kind of seat time he's getting is beneficial and may naturally lead him there anyways, especially as his trajectory brings him in contact with higher-level players as he gets older.

That said, the teacher in me wants to encourage him to look up some stuff on drum setup & ergonomics. A setup built on a bit more foot symmetry will immediately make him more comfortable since he'll be more balanced. Here's a good vid (this guy's channel is fantastic btw): 

 

Dearest Drummer-Bro and squirrel keeper,

Women in Love from Van Halen II

The intro(how you keep time during the intro-guitar solo) and, indeed, the delayed-intro-drum-track thereafter  along with the brass work and its delicate touch…all…make for a great warm up and skill-set practice. The jazz like timing is just good for you.

The way he goes Dancing on the Ride is good for your soul and Alex provides that in spades on the studio track. The soft-triples on the pedals that Alex pulls off on certain versions of this song are…jus’…Bonham-like and wonderful. 

Dancing on the Ride…from Bonham to Peart…some drummers go dancing on their Ride cymbal in a jazzy sort of way…Alex does this here.  

There are few things more soothing than a 3-beers-deep neighbor learning the drums at 11:45pm on a Monday night. Remember to be considerate and crack a window, it wouldn't be fair to keep the soothing sounds of "Stick Control, Page 2 exercise 4" all to yourself. 

Ordered this mangy thing last night for $165. It's a 1977-1980 12x8 Sonor Phonic. 9-ply 9mm Beech shells with a sharp 45* bearing edge. They were Sonor's flagship line at that point. 



Been wanting a 12x8 for a while now - they do things that can't be done with a 13x9 or 10x7 - and have had google alerts set on old Sonor Phonic and Vintage Yamaha 9000's (precursor to the famed Recording Customs). I almost wrote it off because it looks it sat in a tool shed for a decade, but the fact that it was sold by Wood and Weather drum shop intrigued me. No bubbling or cracking wrap, and surprisingly little pitting on the lugs/hoops... might be a sleeper. That Sonor German engineering/machining from that era carries respect, and the shells are dense and heavy so I'm hoping I'm right. 

Heavy/dense drums with sharp bearing edges basically direct the energy of the drum strike into the resonant chamber of the drum itself rather than being transfered into and attenuated by the shell. No attenuation means no reduction of the frequency range. They're punchy, articulate, resonant, deep, and pure sounding. Usually a single 12" Phonic tom runs $450+ so this thing seemed like a worthy gamble. 

Cymbals are brutal. 

Jonathan from Jon's 3rd Floor Percussion Bazaar on FB makes his own brand of cymbals called "Name Brand Cymbals". Zero marketing or anything but some of them sound as good as thousand dollar brass. They're all over the place sound wise because he's just having fun banging out cymbals but they all sound good in their own tonal way. He'll usually post video clips on the page. You could probably come away with a killer ride, crash, and hats for like $800 total if you did it right. 

I buy used gear 100% of the time but yeah, unless there's a sound clip or video, it's a little hard to know what you're working with.