What do you know about... drums?

I played for 20-odd years in many, many "uneasy listening" bands in the DC area, ultimately retiring with messed up shoulders, wrists, hands and a pretty solid case of tinnitus and "notch" hearing loss that I suffer daily.

I'd suggest anything cheap and acoustic from craigslist. The older lowest lines from established brands, ie. Tama Swingstar, Pearl Export, Ludwig Rockers are all better than current Chinese stuff. If you can find an old set of Ludwigs or Slingerlands go for it.

Clean 'em up and put on fresh heads; Remo Pinstripes on top and Ambassador clears on bottoms. The frosted black dot is a great top snare head. Start with a medium sized stick like a 5B. Heavier players like a bit bigger ie. the Vic Firth Americn Classic Rock and Am Classic metal.

Play along with music and try to learn not to play harder/louder/faster all the time.

Most of all:

USE YOUR EAR PLUGS EVERY TIME!

(I say as I sit here listening to my ears going "riiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg" as they have since 1988)

motomoron wrote: I played for 20-odd years in many, many "uneasy listening" bands in the DC area, ultimately retiring with messed up shoulders, wrists, hands and a pretty solid case of tinnitus and "notch" hearing loss that I suffer daily. I'd suggest anything cheap and acoustic from craigslist. The older lowest lines from established brands, ie. Tama Swingstar, Pearl Export, Ludwig Rockers are all better than current Chinese stuff. If you can find an old set of Ludwigs or Slingerlands go for it. Clean 'em up and put on fresh heads; Remo Pinstripes on top and Ambassador clears on bottoms. The frosted black dot is a great top snare head. Start with a medium sized stick like a 5B. Heavier players like a bit bigger ie. the Vic Firth Americn Classic Rock and Am Classic metal. Play along with music and try to learn not to play harder/louder/faster all the time. Most of all: USE YOUR EAR PLUGS EVERY TIME! (I say as I sit here listening to my ears going "riiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggggggg" as they have since 1988)

This is some solid advice right here.

I played for 20-odd years in many, many "uneasy listening" bands in the DC area

Anybody we'd know?

I was thinking a little more about this topic yesterday and had another thought. Lessons aren't for everyone. I HATED taking lessons and it put me off playing. I had a lot more fun learning from my dad and messing around on my own. I never wanted to be a rock god, though.

oldsaw wrote: I agree with Jerry's recommendations. Practice pads and sticks are cheap and help develop disciplines. They are designed to closely mimic the response of real drum heads. Lessons are a relatively cheap way to determine if either (or both) kids want to pursue their effort(s). Lessons will probably cost of about $30 per half-hour session, but it won't take many for a new student to make a decision. Don't buy a set until you know that at least one of the kids want to dedicate his/her time. And, a good percussionist don't always need some drums: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3zNANjJNio It's a re-post, but a timely one!

Awww, yeah! BR! Remember the scene in the old Barb Stanwyck movie where he does the little shuffle beat with the matchsticks ("Ball of Fire", maybe)?

Anyhoo, I'm an old Punk drummer (use 2b/5b's and hit whatever's closest very, very hard! ), so I probably can't help much, but here goes. First, re-read Jerry From LA's post-twice! Then, have them focus upon just staying on time, and rounding out a few basic beats & rythms. If they can do that, they'll be able to start playing alongside other people much more quickly than most of the kids playing other instruments. There's a lot to be said for the "..holy cow, I'm in a BAND!.." factor as an encouragement.

I think one of the mistakes a lot of drummers make is forgetting that acoustic drums are a tuneable instrument. That little key that comes with the set allows you to adjust the tension on the drum head, and change the sound. It's a little more complicated than tuning a guitar (you have to adjust the tension around the circumferance of the drum, tension each drum differently depending on size, etc.), so a lot of people skip it.

I used to (try to? ) tune mine to the bass player, since we were supposed to be working together. A lot of the "not quite right" sound you hear from garage bands and live acts in night clubs is because the drums haven't been tuned.

I don't know anything about the electric ones, they were in their infancy (and were extremely expensive) back when I played. I have heard that you might want sticks with nylon tips (instead of wood) for them, just to make the heads last longer.

Aside to the other (better) drummers on the thread..I found (25 yrs too late) this guide to tuning..I kind of like it, but I was just wonder about your opinions:

http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/

EDIT: I've played Rock Band exactly once. I actually had to use the real foot technique for the kick pedal to get anywhere near close to the little light blips. Still, when we was done, two people asked "can you teach me that thing you did with your foot?"