Making Things Personal

It was an after hours open-stage club in the heart of the jazz district, and our budding jazz band had arranged to play a set -- our first venture outside the practice room. The resident drums were just awful: oversized mixed-brand; single-headed toms covered with tape and some god-awful wall paper; loud, heavy, clunky cymbals; and a bass pedal cranked so tight it barely moved. And they sounded as bad as they looked! It was a struggle, but we did our set and got a good reception.

While we were playing, a few of the local jazz heavy-weights came in fresh from their gig. They got up next and it was both magical and perturbing. The drummer, one of my heroes at the time, sounded like he was playing on his own set! True, he had far more experience playing on other people's drums, but that doesn't account for him being able to get virtually the same sounds from that rock'n'roll melange that he got from his own tiny 'jazz' kit.

I've heard this same story from other drummers who’d witnessed a truly great drummer on a borrowed set. These artists seem to carry their sound around with them in their hands. It's quite an accomplishment to have a personal sound, but to be able to evoke it at will from an unfamiliar instrument, well that's just plain astounding. Or is it?

I was unable to find any good sounds in that drum set, but obviously useful sounds were there. In the hands of a more skilled player, the drums became not only better sounding, but more versatile as well. This inspired me to look for the sounds available from my own instruments.

When I play on a strange set, I methodically look for 'my sounds' in the drums and cymbals. They’re probably not in there, but if I root around enough, I can usually find something that sounds a bit like me. Every drum and every cymbal can produce a variety of sounds, and diligent exploration can help you get more out of them than you might have expected.

Take the ride cymbal. You can play near the middle of the bow, near the edge, close to the bell, on the bell. Angle the stick downward slightly or lay it flat on the bow for interesting effects. Try lighter and heavier sticks, or different tip shapes. Try modifying your grip: tighten it, loosen it, move control from finger to finger. Try different types of stroke: straight, glancing, dead-sticking.

That's more than a dozen techniques for you to try just on a ride cymbal. And these ideas can be applied around the drum set. So start experimenting and see if you can find your own sounds as well as some new sounds to add to your palate.