Gretsch Bass Drum

What Affects Have Drums And Percussion Had On The Development Of Music - (Part Three)

There have also been developments in other additional percussion with drummers experimenting with different sounds such as the foot cabasa, which is a device with a similar sound to a shaker attached to a pedal and operated with your foot. It is used in various genres but is known to feature in latin music. There has also been a major change in the aesthetics of drums. The drums of the present are known to have many various finishes from a tequila sunburst to having pictures printed on the drums and with custom drum company's becoming increasingly popular modern drummer can create the drum kit of their dreams that can be unique. Genre's that feature drumsThe standard of drums and drummers has increased throughout the existence of drumming, creating beautiful drum kits and very influential drummers e.g. John Bonham. These steady increases in standards lead to drummers being more creative and exploring new genres. This creativity leads to drums becoming a major part of music and being used in a variety of genres. Here are a few Genres that drums feature include:
Rock –The typical rock drum kit is a five piece drum kit that is known to have many cymbals and various sizing of the drums, although this obviously changes due to the drummer's preference. The drum kit has impacted heavily upon this genre. The development of all aspects of the drum kit helped create this genre such as the drums being made more durable and the invention of plastic drum heads. This meant that drummers could play louder and heavier. Rock usually has a time signature of 4/4 although more experimental rock bands have been known to use different time signatures for example 3/4 and 6/8 have been used. Associated playing styles include blues, which is where it evolved from and metal which is what rock evolved into. Stylistic qualities of rock drumming are known to include a strong back beat on the snare on beats two and four; strong emphasis on beat one with the bass drum, bass drum pattern aligns with bass guitar rhythm, strong quarter note feel. A rock drummer's technique consists of the right hand playing the hi-hat and the left hand playing the snare drum. The snare should be struck in the centre of the head to help provide the strong backbeat. Arm movement should be kept to a minimum and the stick movement should come from the wrist and finger. The bass drum is usually played heel up and the hi-hat heel down. It is recommended that beginner start playing the bass drum heel down until their more comfortable and then progress to heel up and drawn the best sound from the bass drum. The hi-hat can be played in three ways, with the tip of the stick on the top of the hi hat for quieter playing, using the shaft of the stick on the edge of the hi hat. This is louder and is used for accents on the hi hat. Great and influential rock drummers include John Bonham, Stuart Copeland, Neil Peart, Keith Moon, Ginger Baker and many more. Notable rock drum makes include Pearl, Mapex, Gretsch, Yamaha, Sonor and many more
Jazz – The typical Jazz drum kit is minimalistic compared to a rock drum kit. The jazz drum kit is a four piece and usually has a hi hat, crash and ride cymbals. Time signatures used within jazz include 4/4, 3/4, 5/4. Jazz is known to have an improvised feel to its drumming but there are stylistic qualities to keep in mind. A strong quarter note feel on the ride cymbal, ride cymbal pattern should lock with the bass line, strong back beat on two and for with hi hat foot, improvised "comping" of snare and bass drum, swung eighth note feel.
The time feel comes primarily from the ride cymbal and hi hat with foot which are predominant in jazz drumming. This is almost the exact opposite to rock drumming where the time feel is provided by the bass and snare drum, due to this it can take a while for drummer with a rock background to get use to jazz drumming. Beat one is not emphasised the way it is in rock and pop music, and jazz rhythms are more technical and syncopated. Jazz drum "comping", comping is a term that means accompanying and complementing a melody or solo. The bass and snare drum comp by playing improvised patterns that fit in with the melody or solo, while time is being kept with the ride cymbal and hi hat with foot. Comping can include filling in the gaps within the melody or solo or by catching the accents. In jazz drumming the technique includes the bass drum being played heel down with the exception of loud big band passages. This is so that the bass drum's dominance is reduced and allows the drummer to open his notes more on other parts of the drum kit. Sometimes in big band music the bass drum is "feathered" on all four beats. This means the bass drum is played very quietly underneath the ride cymbal and is more felt than heard within the music. The hi hat is usually played heel up so the full weight of your leg can provide a dominant sound for the back beats. This is performed by bouncing your leg with your toe on the hi hat pedal. Heel toe is also used but is less common within jazz. The ride cymbal is played with your thumb up, known as the "French grip, for greater dexterity and finger control. Notable Jazz drum makes include Slingerland, Ludwig, Gretsch. Drummers that have impacted upon this genre include Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, and Billy Cobham. These drummers impacted upon jazz in a big way and modern drummer still list them as major influences.
Funk – The typical Funk drum kit is similar to the rock and is usually a five piece drum kit. The main time signature that features within Funk is 4/4 although others have been usedsuch as 3/4 and 6/8. Funk has been associated many different genres such as blues, soul, R&B. Stylistic qualities of funk include syncopated snare and hi hat within patterns, back beat on snare drum not always on two and four, syncopated bass drum rhythm that aligns with the bass line, beat one not always emphasised by bass drum. Techniques used within funk music are similar to the techniques used in rock drumming although there are some important differences. Funk drumming uses a lot of syncopated accents and ghost notes on both snare and hi hat. Hi hat accents are usually played with the shaft of the stick against the edge of the hats, and a ghost a note is played with the tip of the stick on top of the hi hat. The snare drum should be played with stick very close to the head, usually less than an inch away, this is for ghost notes and the stick is obviously further away for the accents. Drummer's that have had an impact on funk include Clyde Stubblefield, Buddy Miles, Earl Palmer, it is believed he was the first person to use the word "funky" to describe musicians, and more recently Chad smith has had a big impact on modern drummers.
Due advancements the drum machine was invented. This meant that drums could be present in songs without the use of a drummer in the traditional sense. This method of incorporating drums can be found in such genres as drum and bass, hip hop, dance music etc. The drum machine sound is predominantly used within in electronic music but there are drummers that recreate these sounds live with the help of electronic drum pads and triggers.
ConclusionIn conclusion I think that the evolution of drums has affected the development of music. I believe this because when researching I found that even the improvement in the quality of drums has helped develop music, for example from the 1930's to the 1960's the music scene was dominated by Jazz and big band music. Then in the 1960's significant developments in the build quality were made that allowed drummers to play heavier therefore creating new music, this new music was rock. It wasn't just the build quality that helped in the development it was also the popularity of drums increased and so did the standard of drumming which lead to drummer becoming more creative and exploring new sounds within music. The affects that the improvement in drums have had, in my opinion are only of a positive nature. There is a case for saying that the development of music had little to do with the evolution of drums and more to do with the change in people's mind set and the change in society. What I mean by this is in the 1930's it would not be acceptable for a band to use swearing in a song but due to events mind sets were changed and people began to have different views. These views began to be expressed within music and with many people having a similar view this music became popular. Another argument against drums being a main factor within the development in music is that the general public now seem to have their own views instead of conforming to other people's ideals. In my opinion these are contributing factors to music developing but I feel that without the evolution of drums the music would be bland and all sound similar. (Words: Andrew Buckley).

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Drummer, Teacher, Author and Columnist for over 15 years / founder of http://www.dansdrumlessons.com - The Online Drum School

Gretsch Bass Drum

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