INFLUENTIAL DRUMMERS, BOOKS & QUOTES

Inspiring Drummers (to me):

Current Time
Dom Famularo, Jim Chapin, Steve Smith, Joe Morello, Joe Bergamini, Steve Gadd, David Garibaldi, Dennis Chambers, Mike Clark, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl, Carter Beauford, Simon Phillips, Rod Morgenstein, Billy Cobham, Elvin Jones, Marco Minnemann, Thomas Lang, Terry Bozzio, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Grant Collins, Virgil Donati, Zoro, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Tommy Igoe

Earlier Days
Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Gene Krupa, Papa Joe Jones, Chick Webb, Baby Dodds, Sonny Payne, Rufus Jones, Big Sid Catlett

Great Drum Books:

Stick Control by George L. Stone
Accents & Rebounds by George L. Stone
Syncopation by Ted Reed
It's Your Move by Dom Famularo with Joe Bergamini
Master Studies by Joe Morello
Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer by Jim Chapin
Classic Tracks by Joe Bergamini
New Breed by Gary Chester
Future Sounds by David Garibaldi
Club Date Drummer by Ted Reed
The Drums by Joe Jones Advanced Funk Studies by Rick Latham
The Commandments of R&B Drumming by Zoro

Great Quotes from Drummers:

Jim Chapin
"Though a great technique is not absolutely necessary, a musical mind is. Techniques must be used tastefully and one should never feel that mastery of a beat means it must be shown off on all possbile occasions ... musicianship comes first and technique second.
Virgil Donati
"Though our initial training is directed at overcoming the technical hurdles, it must not be forgotten that music is much more than this. It is the development of our imagination that really enables us to broaden what is possible on the instrument."
Joe Morello
"Technique is only a means to an end. The goal is to play musically, but some drummers lose sight of this and approach the drums strictly from a technical standpoint. Often, they become so fascinated with speed that they miss the whole point of music. So just studying this book for the technique alone doesn't make any sense. You have to apply the technique to the music you are playing."
David Jones
"When we speak, our words are 7% of our communication, tone of voice is 38% and body language is 55% (the visual and vibe). I am sure that's why dynamic drumming is so appealing to a live audience. Similarly, when we speak on the kit, it's our whole "being" that is expressed - it's a language".
Zoro
"The drumming of soul, funk and hip-hop has a hypnotic effect on people as does every form of rhythmic drumming since the beginning of time.
Fred Below - Blues Legend
"If you're a good drummer you should always be respected and recognized. He has one of the hardest jobs in the band because he's got to keep everybody together; to pull everything together to tighten it up. Then push it out there so it sounds nice."
James Gadson - Studio Legend
"Try to stay calm. Don't get excited and out-play everybody and forget the time. Try to play with the band all the time. The drummer is very much the leader of the band."
Gene Lake
"Whatever you practice is what you bring to the gig."
Billy Martin - Medeski, Martin & Wood
"To me, the funkiest drumming is the lightest drumming. The lighter you play, the funkier you are. I totally believe that. It has to do with nuance and touch. You can't articulate when you're slammin' out a beat."
Tom Brechtlein - Chick Corea, Robben Ford
"I've played all the notes I can possibly play, so now it's easier. It's quicker, it's easier, and I've got the conceptual thing now. It's an ongoing process, but now I have enough tools to communicate what I want to communicate without getting technical about it. I can hear phrases and I understand it. I know the ropes. I don't look at the music from a technical aspect. I go by what I feel is coming from the music. I can also improvise better. I can turn corners without wondering if I did it right. And I think I can kick people's butts a little better now, too."
George Lawrence Stone - Stone-Isms!
A reader writes: "A brother drummer claims that there are only two rudiments in drumming, the single stroke and the double stroke, and that these are all you have to know. Is this right?"
Yes, reader, it's right as far as it goes. Tell the brother there are only twenty-six letters in the alphabet, and that's all he has to know, until he finds out they have to be strung together in some sort of way before they make sense.
His theory was that you can be a sculptor by virtue of owning a hammer and chisel, but you don't really sculpt anything until you have the technique to do it. Likewise, before you can do anything 'shapely' in music, you've got to have the hands to do it with.
The Wheat From the Chaff. An eager seeker after more light on the whys and wherefores of percussion beats his breast in despair over the conflict of opinion apparent in the writings of various drum authorities. Don't let it disturb you, brother. Conflict, or difference of opinion, is and always will be with us, and it is only through the aforementioned that a meeting of minds on any given subject will finally, we hope, be achieved. Get information on your favorite subject from all sources, then separate the wheat from the chaff, as they say up-country, and settle for whatever meeting of minds you may detect.

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