i guess i have to add my:2Cents: when i just bought my holly wood in 67/68 (pink champagne) i was in a group and we were doing acid rock and i wanted to get louder and louder i wanted 11 10 was not enough so i bought those metal sticks they had back i n the day and i busted them right up, so from that moment on i decided to try and not brake sticks again and pretty much succeeded except for tips but that's normal ware. so there you have it

It's all good lets have a few beers and get a jam session going... :)

Well put! Everyone develops their own style once they learn all the basics. It is a lot more fun when you don't have to work as hard for the same results.

Now that sounds like a good place to let this one sleep.

Thank you all for the great discussion... now on to that beers with famous drummers thread!!:)

Got to agree, that was a great discussion. Cool1Clapping Happy2

I think I'll weigh in on this as my perspective is probably different than most. My involvement in drumming besides playing for my own enjoyment is in providing rental gear. As such I get to see a lot of drummers playing various different styles and with a lot of differing skill levels. All of them are professional drummers playing to audiences of 1,500 - 60,000. I pay very close attention to what is going on. Here is what I have observed from watching 100's of players up close:

All the drummers I work with are medium to hard hitters. Unfortunately I never get called for rentals for smaller jazz gigs so no 7A's on these shows. The guys that are hardest on gear are the ones with poor technique. A hard hitter with good technique isn't particularly hard on the gear though you would think that is counterintuitive. A medium hitter with poor technique is actually more damaging. Of course, a hard hitter with poor technique is a more serious situation. The worst scenario is a guy that is a hard hitter, uses poor technique and likes his drums tuned into their lowest range.

Having said this, poor technique does not equal a poor musician and I am, in no way suggesting that. To the point of this post, however, poor technique leads to damaging gear. Playing into the instrument as opposed to out of it is just

much harder on equipment. Certainly all these guys break sticks. The stick provided by Tris shows very normal wear for a show. Rim shots eventually damage sticks and how can you play the intro to "Make Me Smile" without some serious rim shots? Playing heavy backbeat rim shots is part and parcel of most rock, pop and country performance. At this level, sticks are considered an expendable expense. I would not expect guys that are playing "Cute" by Neal Hefti to have that issue.

As far as technique in general, percussion has always been a discipline where the motto "if it works for you, do it" applies and I believe supports what Mike T is saying. Technique for a musician, or for any skill position whether that be the arts, sports, computer skills, etc. is our vocabulary. The more evolved your vocabulary, the more eloquent one can express one's self. In the case of music, what we really want to do is to express that which we hear in our head and heart through our instrument as quickly as we can imagine it. Our technique allows us to do that more effortlessly. A street poet may have a very limited vocabulary but still be able to express their emotions effectively and that is indeed an art form. On the other hand, Shakespeare had a complete command of the English language and expressed emotions and ideas that have spanned centuries.

When one practices improved or even modified technique it is for the expressed purpose of improving their ability to express themselves in a more fluid fashion. The point being that this is something to be practiced with the expressed goal of improved performance. If you are spending your performance time focused on technique then you haven't been practicing enough. It's like watching an athlete that is struggling: what you see is someone that is "trying" to play as opposed to just working within "the flow".

There is a big difference between a gifted orater and one who constantly interrupts their train of thought with "um's" and "uh's". The former expresses their thoughts in a coherent and fluid manner. The latter struggles to get his/her point across. That comes from a lot of hard work previously and the same is true for musical instrument performance, acting, dancing, athletics, etc. There are a lot of gifted performers that don't think that much about how they have developed their skills but I assure you there were countless hours of wood shedding to develop those skills. Where it gets difficult is the learning curve. When you start off, a little practice produces big results. As you improve your abilities, the amount of work required to achieve minor improvements is drastically increased. Most of the guys that we consider masters of the craft are the guys that, along with serious natural ability, are willing to put in those kinds of hours to achieve minor, but important improvements. Most guys are not willing to do that and they do just fine. So, in my opinion, both points are valid so long as you achieve the results you desire. Personnaly, I prefer a larger vocabulary.

Tnsquint nicely done. Great post, but I completely disagree!! Ha Ha Just kidding. You have an excellent vocabulary!

Funny stuff!

I agree very well spoken and well put ..... hand me another beer....

Count me in, as long as there's some classic rock in the background.