I would say I orignally got mine from my teacher and fellow percusionists way back in my High School band days. I never had any private instruction. Nowadays, it's all from listening to the original song and trying to mimick what was done then as I play with my band. Granted I do a lot of improvisation, but I try to stick close to the original beat. Often times though, I find I wanna change things around to make it sound different & add my own uniqueness to the mix. After all, we're playing mostly for fun, with only an occastional gig. And if something comes out sounding better (or at least good in a different way than the orignal) I'll stick with what I came up with. If it doesn't work, I listen to the recording and play along till I get the licks down decent.

For me, it's a combination of all those you mentioned. Right now, my biggest inspiration and motivation for drumming is my teacher, Michael Lauren. But all those you listed have at one point or another served as a very important source of inspiration as well.

I voted Bandmates because the guitar player in my band, with all the stuff he writes and all, has really put stuff into perspective and context to me. I wouldn't be drumming much if it weren't for him and the band.

The guy is just tremendous and he gets stuff out of me that I can't.