Limb priority …

[Mapex Always]

@repete , @Houndog ,, don’t be too sure about that. We went through something similar to this in the past , I was just some clown in a basement playing on mommy’s computer pretending to have a drumstick , I mean I’m not no historian of any sort , but that didn’t age well. I wouldn’t want to drop a second bomb with blazing hi hat skill’s.











JUST HAVING FUN!! For all you know , I stink






@drums1225 , basic or simple is not the point , “entry level” or not , the hi hat brings a sense of air and flow to the instrument , a different feel to the other 3 limbs , that is innately lacking otherwise … in my opinion.


Love all these videos , thoughts , and comments … it helps me assimilate the instrument and learn ,, by far the most fun I’ve had here. Thank you all so much , I’ve actually checked in periodically throughout these past 48 hours more then normal , enjoying all of it! I’m being so sincere on the fact that I’m totally fascinated about this subject and how it raises our instrument to another level.


Anyway don’t judge me on this , as I have said before , I’m a different man and a FAR different drummer today , but when I was 19 many many years ago in 1990 we actually had much success with this band .. touring on and off for 5 years , a very good amount of radio play , a nice income with a singing bonus and a decent following ,, BUT , if you can stand the production and “brightness” , I think I was in my early stages of being obsessed with the hi hat ,, I believe I hit it every chance I got lol

Cool side story to this and 3 other video’s , I did not know they existed til a member here saw them a year ago , apparently my old bass player , I hadn’t seen in 25 years , put them up.

 

[Action_Potential]

Autumn Leaves - Steve Gadd, Chet Baker, Paul Desmond. Gadd plays incredible and it’s a masterpiece. Sounds like he’s doing some “stuff” with his left foot here.

 

[Mapex Always]

On the audio / video I posted above from 1990 -

I remember my obsession about the hi hat was just beginning , and I would left stick it whenever I had the chance , BUT it was also the beginning of my left foot becoming more critical in my play style at the time.

This being the reason I posted it , I remember doing left foot hi hat embellishments on that track and another track at that time , I was trying to perfect it from a masterclass I was taking at Richies music center with Kenny Aronoff.

I also always liked the way Sean Kinney from AIC would use left foot hi hat embellishments on the album Facelift. And , that was around the time we recorded that Tribulation album Into The Night.

Good example of Sean using his left foot this way , can be heard better on AIC’s follow up album Dirt.

And maybe , though the “bright” recording does not help , you can hear me attempting it easier on this track here vs A Better Way above.

As to the Steve Gadd reference above , working on the way he grooves with his left foot can really help flush out one’s hi hat play … a more “simple” (ya right) pattern of his use of the “left foot hi hat” as part of the MAIN groove can be found here , a good piece to start learning a more complex left foot.

Anyways I’m a big fan of the left foot still now 30+ years after my infancy of left footed fascination was just beginning , and I still feel like I’m just scratching the surface.

 

[rsmittee]

@Mapex Always check out this exercise. I attended a master class with Rich a few years ago. His stuff is brain bending.

 

[bigbonzo]

LZ would've been a limp beast if JB had prioritized left foot and right hand over the others.

I believe that if he treated all four limbs equally, we would be in even more awe of the man.

 

[5 Style]

I end up playing the hats with my foot pretty much any time when they're not mashed down and I'm playing them with a stick. I can do 2+4 clicks on just about anything in 4/4 and similarly regular patterns on other time sigs. At slower to middle tempos I can play even 1/8 notes too, though for some reason I have difficulty with 1/4 notes, at least on lots of stuff. I've been using splashes on hats too. If I had the ability to put the hat stomps wherever I want them, I surely would because that's a nice way to add another voice. I feel good about at least being able to put them at regular intervals though... as I think that any new great leap of coordination for me might not ever happen!

All that being said though, I think that it is possible to get away with not playing the hats as I think of the drummer Leon Parker, who plays all kinds of stuff, but even when playing jazz is known to be using the same kit that he's used for lots of his music, one that has only a bass, snare and flat top ride cymbal, so he's obviously not doing any hat stomps when he plays that thing. He can make it swing though, with just that.

 

[fenrir]

I end up playing the hats with my foot pretty much any time when they're not mashed down and I'm playing them with a stick. I can do 2+4 clicks on just about anything in 4/4 and similarly regular patterns on other time sigs. At slower to middle tempos I can play even 1/8 notes too, though for some reason I have difficulty with 1/4 notes, at least on lots of stuff. I've been using splashes on hats too. If I had the ability to put the hat stomps wherever I want them, I surely would because that's a nice way to add another voice. I feel good about at least being able to put them at regular intervals though... as I think that any new great leap of coordination for me might not ever happen!

All that being said though, I think that it is possible to get away with not playing the hats as I think of the drummer Leon Parker, who plays all kinds of stuff, but even when playing jazz is known to be using the same kit that he's used for lots of his music, one that has only a bass, snare and flat top ride cymbal, so he's obviously not doing any hat stomps when he plays that thing. He can make it swing though, with just that.

Nice to hear from a fellow Leon Parker fan. So underrated.

 

[bigbonzo]

@Mapex Always check out this exercise. I attended a master class with Rich a few years ago. His stuff is brain bending.

Whoah.....!!!!! In my dreams.

 

[rsmittee]

Whoah.....!!!!! In my dreams.

Right? You should see some of the stuff Rich does. His independence is incredible.

 

[5 Style]

Nice to hear from a fellow Leon Parker fan. So underrated.

Yeah, I read an article about him, either in the NYT or the Washington Post some years ago and he just sounded so interesting that I had to check it out. I manged to find a cheap used copy of one of his CDs shortly afterward and I was hooked... and bought two more since. They're all consistently good in my book, though the style is something that I might have considered a bit too new age/hippy for what I tend to like. What might have come off as a bit boring/static in someone else's hands though comes off as hypnotic on these Leon Parker albums. It isn't just his gear that's minimal (sometimes he's not playing a kit, but a single conga, a cowbell or some other percussion instrument), but the playing itself, which tends to leave lots and lots of open space and can stick on the same groove for many bars, like a loop... He's really got his own concept though and I'd say that it's a unique, beautiful thing...

It seems to me that he must spend most of his energies teaching as I haven't seen a record of his drop for quite a while or even heard of him being a sideman on much recently...

 

[Olderschool]

All I know is that when I play with some "amazing" players, I am more than a bit let down by all of my limbs control...

 

[Mapex Always]

Excellent videos and info people! Thoroughly enjoyed.

Ha! Thanks for some of the Tribulation likes

As a cool exercise I took my left foot out of the equation in sound , but allowed it to remain in context , using all the same rhythmic patterns that I would with my right and left hand on the Super Tumba as my left foot continued playing it’s part without any sound. Absolutely loved it.