DRUMMER CAFE

I'd just like to buy one to say I have one.  How much money are they?

Be fun as hell at parties.

And I FULLY AGREE on how fast can you play for a whole minute.  You need very efficient technique- end of story.  Now does that technique translate to a drumset or a cymbal as opposed to a rubber pad?  I think the "feel" one needs to develop on the pad with their hands and fingers needs to be again translated to the kit.  At least that's been my experience.  

It's a great feeling to have that effortless balance happening at very fast speeds.  It takes lots of practice, and by all means I have a long way to go, but it makes playing the faster rock (where I've noticed it on some Travis Barker tunes) much more comfortable.  Plus it looks cool doing really fast riding with one hand instead of two (just my opinion).

I think a drumometer would be good for every drummer to explore.  You can't say you hate something until you live with it a while.  Doing that is closed minded.   I think it's actually more important for someone more seasoned than a beginner or intermediate though.  Hey, I'm getting older... if I can expend less effort playing drums, I'm all for it.

Your ears can tell. But you have to train them to hear as precisely as possible and train your muscles and body to 'feel' the subdivisions. I guess what I'm saying is that instead of looking over at the Drumometer for verification, close your eyes and listen really carefully and 'feel' the time in your body. We can manage so much more than we give ourselves credit for. This process of trying to strengthen the concentration and energy put into the senses and into combining them (creating one's own synaesthesia) will yield results in other aspects of one's life where a WFD has no use.


Surely. Speed is part of the game. I haven't said at any point that speed is unnecessary. I have said that I think an over-emphasis on speed is detrimental to the development of musicianship in drummers. I have also said that the WFD doesn't hold - in my opinion, of course - any clear advantage over the methods I have elaborated.

And as for Buddy; sure he was fast - BUT - it wasn't all speed - it was phrasing, and melody, and dynamics that made him so unbelievable. His 'speed' was always in the context of 'music' - not just calisthenics.

I thought it was quite obvious the context I was using the sentence in.  Perhaps you though I was implying that my rights were somehow literally being violated.  I used the word to make bring the point across.  If I decided to “invoke” my rights as to the decision of combing my hair to the left as oppose to the right as a point for my argument then so be it.  Whether or not you think it was a valid way to “bolster” a point is simply speaking for yourself.    But, since you like to take words out of context, I can see your point in that regard.  Frankly, this particular point of yours is stale now.



Hmm, did I mention your point about my use of the word “rights” is stale now?  But besides that, you make a very bold statement here indeed.  In fact so bold that it does nothing but to reduce your own integrity.  Using statements without the slightest backing of facts as a point in an argument holds no weight.  Are you grasping for straws here?  I’ll even let you quote for me on my thoughts about this statement:  


I do not work for them, own this device, or even have experience with it.  In no way have I ever implied that people should go out and purchase one for themselves.  I do happen to have a personal zealous curiosity of this device and I would like to purchase one to see for myself whether or not it is a waste of money.   If it is a waste of money, then I will eventually find this out on my own, and will gladly come here and post my opinions based on first hand experience.



Once again I am not a promoter of this device and therefore am not going around “recommending” this device to anyone I know or to the people reading this thread.  I feel it can be very useful tool and would like to find out for myself.  Once I purchase one, or borrow whichever might come first, my conclusions will be based on first hand experience and objective facts, and will not be drawn from my own subjective opinions nor anyone elses.


I believe that control, technique, and speed will benefit from this device.  From these 3 concepts you can benefit in almost every aspect in drumming.  Now, these are what I merely what I believe, wait until I get a hold of a drumometer myself and then my opinions may change.  Although the metronome can be used for the same purpose, it is not my intention to replace my metronome with it.  The metronome is here to stay, and I will say with confidence that if you could contrast their usefulness on a bar graph, the the metronome would surely tower over the drumometer in usefulness.  I am interested in the ideah that it may keep things interesting, and provide incentive to practice more.  I like video games, and I like getting higher scores everytime I play.

So hopefully I can simplify the root of our arguments here:

---I believe the drumometer can be used as a device where it’s user will benefit in control, technique, and especially speed.

---Most of your focus lies on how the metronome will be a much better tool.  You believe it’s not worth buying a dromometer because the metronome can help you hone your skills in all the areas that I’m saying the drumometer will.  Not only that but the metronome can help develop your other senses such as hearing and touch.  A two fold benefit right?

Well I believe that there is nothing wrong with what you said.  So what is our argument?  It is the fact that you feel the dromometer is a useless device because the metronome will allow to gain all the mentioned benefits even better than the drumometer can, and with a much cheaper price.  Also that using this device might actually be detrimental to ones development as a drummer.  These things may be true, but I will find out with actual objective evidence after I obtain one.  As far as I’m concerned your opinions will never hold any weight with me because your basing your arguments on opinions because you have never owned or used this device.  Likewise, I have never owned one, and therefore my opinions are simply that and should mean nothing to you.  Once I have actually obtained one, I will post on what I think it has done for me.  We find ourselves with diametric positions.  Our opinions about drumometer hold no weight in each others eyes and therefore will be of no use to continue arguing opinion for opinion.  It is obvious that we will not find an agreement boomka.  Although living life vicariously through the advice of others can be done, I choose to find out for myself sometimes.  And this is one of those situtations.  No lesson is learned better than personal experience.  If what you say is true, then let me fail and be a testiment for others.

Once again I will say that I do not recommend that anyone to go out and buy a drumometer.  I think that it will be best used for those who are intermediate or advance players who want to hone their technique, speed, and control.  As a matter of fact if you are unsure, then don’t buy it at all.  Use a metronome because it’s the best tool out there.   I’m willing to take a chance on the drumometer.  And if I find that in fact it does produce beneficial results, I will certainly be posting them and also recommending it.  If I come to realize there is no observable benefits and or worse, my technique suffers, I will certainly post that.

This being said boomka there is a point where I believe it becomes irrational to argue with someone who is at diametric positions with your own.  It become wasted energy.  I just hope you don’t believe that when I don’t respond to your next reply, that its not because I believe your right.  I just know that we will not agree.  I will read your response but will not reply to your post unless you add some new points about the actual crux of the argument and not about the semantics of my words. -- argue about something besides my use of the the word “rights”.  Give some more reasons why I shouldn't get a drumometer instead of reasons why my points are inadequate.  

Been there, Done That, Set a World record that the WFD doesn't recognize and beat a current World record they don't recognize either!

720 singles in one minute using a drumometer and a double pedal. Where is the World record you say?  I was 8 months pregnant so I'd say that being the World's fastest pregnant drummmer was a record in it's self.

Also,
  Beat Seth davis's double stroke record and they wouldn't except it.

Sold my drumometer and have been much happier!

When someone likes to do something, like biking or running... Then let him be and leave that person free of comments and things like that. This and that and speed blabla .. Who cares??! Let him buy the drumometer.

Yeah, that's interesting Lori... you were into that stuff.

Hmmm, maybe it's time to get rid of my twin effects pedal and gajate brackets.  I think I'd be a lot happier.

Playing fast, fun.
Playing in time, useful.
Playing fast and in time, useful.
Playing slow and in time, useful.

Playing fast by itself seems pointless to me, and especially to dedicate so much time to it when playing syncopation and good time/grooves is so much more rewarding for making you a musician and not just an artillery unit. If you win a competition and some cash, congratulations. But if your looking for gigs or to contribute to the art form known as "music" your time is probably spent better elsewhere.

I'd probably play one for the hell of it to see how fast I can go if I saw one at a convention or whatever. But I can't see owning one since it just measures how fast you can go, which, as was said before, can be done by playing to one of records recorded in the last two centuries. It's kind of like jogging on top of a weight scale. There are probably better running surfaces to use before you need to measure youself again.

My two cents,
Jayme

For what it's worth, here's my thoughts....

The problem I see with the drumometer is , to me , it breeds inefficiency.  If you can play 600 single strokes a minute, why not play 300 double strokes. The end result is the same, if your technique is correct, there should be no audible difference.  Let the drumhead do some of the work.  I also can't think of any band context where I would use such extreme speeds, either live or studio, except for a chopsfest solo and this would just be in short bursts.  I think if I was playing a gig, soloing, getting the crowd into it, doing some visuals, and all of the sudden I started playing singles on the snare as fast as I can for one minute, the patrons would end up next door and the club owner would be chucking empty Jack bottles at me..

                                   Just my 0.02

                                     Dave

Cute  

And IMHO you have summed it up perfectly with that statement.