Best Drumming Advice EVER

[RyBu]

OTHER than practice......Skip to the end if you just want to know the advice......

Hey guys, I've been trolling here for a while now and seen a lot of people asking for expert advice. Use the search function and most you will get is "Practice"... granted, it's swell advice, I think I just discovered something that can improve your playing 10 fold... whatever the hell that means.

This is mainly for hard/expert players who nail most parts of the songs but seem to always miss that fill here and there. I discovered the most AMAZING thing.

To uhhh, make a long story short. I moved into my gf's house and she is remodeling the house, so I decided to set up in the room with just sub floor(To you non-contractors out there it's the floor under your carpet, under your carpet pad.... solid wood) to kind of stay out of her/animals hair ya know. I've always played on carpet, ****ty, puffy, ugly ass apt carpet.

Right away after sitting down I felt like there was more 'pop', 'bounce', 'rebound' in my pads. It was not a HUGE difference, but it was still obvious.

First song I played was Dead on Arrival. I had FC all the way up to the part where I normally miss my first notes... it's right around 54 seconds. I always felt like I'm hitting them, but my pads never responded so I figured I was missing. I actually nailed it and finished the song da-da-da-da-da-da. I went to practice mode and tried that part again to see if I could do it, and I did. \

The next song I played was my FAVORITE song, Electric Version. I always 99% this, but miss a good 4-8 notes somewhere along the long fills. I did the song and ended it with -1. (For you non rhythm players, that means 1 miss).

Next the dreaded RTTH... my ONLY 4 star. I have a wopp'n 141,000 on this song... if that. I was playing it, and noticed that after the "wipe out" type hook, I was already at 160. I think I woulda been a few thousand shy of a 5 star (xbox froze with dirty disc error, and now I'm sending it in because it won't stop freezing/erroring/annoying on/me me) but a HUGE improvement for me.

Bottom line, I was doing things I could NEVER do on carpet. Increasing my scores by thousands. I think I'm ranked 18 on solo drums right now, but I'm playing offline (no internet in that room). When I come back, I have hit the 10,000,000 mark and I owe it 100% to hard surface. I know some might think "you just got better"... but I'm pretty sure my skill capped out a little while ago, and from now on it's either luck, or zone that will improve my scores.

I realized after this that our beloved Skitszzo plays on tile... Not saying that he isn't amazing, he is still a great drummer and I'm sure the rest of College Drop-Out would take him over me any day, but I strongly think that playing on a hard surface, rather than carpet will increase your overall responsiveness/rebound and in essence... playing of the game.


**********************************************

My advice is play on hardwood/tile/linoleum(strange?!)/concrete(garage maybe?)/sub-floor(woot!). It has potential to increase your pads responsiveness, and rebound, in turn... improving your score/skill/and fun! Good luck (if accessible)

-Rybu

[TheBEAST205]

I like ginormous walls of text too....

tl;dr

[DrEvyl666]

That's completely ridiculous advice, IMHO. I've played on both and have not noticed any difference whatsoever.

[RyBu]

uhhh and you are.......?

tu;tag

[Teh_Nfsjunkie91]

I like ginormous walls of text too....

tl;dr

That's not a wall of text at all. Way to make a constructive response.

Anyway, yeah, I definitely notice a difference between playing on carpet vs. playing on a solid flooring surface.

[JBabin3xb]

he is right, there is a diffrence. But of course to notice it depends on how soft your carpet is.

[AdamWill2]

I moved my kit from hard floor to a rug to reduce the noise transmitted through my floor to the apartment downstairs. Noticed no difference at all. Okay, it's quite a hard rug, not fluffy, but...yeah, YMMV. is it possible there was just something slightly wrongly set up about your kit and moving it around - not moving it *from* anything *to* anything, just the act of *moving it* - was the fix?

[Punkrockdrummer]

Sounds to me like an advertisement for natural "score" enhancement.

[Thethrax]

It probably has less to do with the carpet itself, and more to do with the spongy underlay underneath.. I do better when my set is pinned down with about 15 large books placed on the aluminum bars since im on carpet. I tried plywood but it seemed to amplify the noise

[zimz]

I've also played on both and have not noticed any different.

So, pretty crazy usless advice.

[polishdog90]

I read all of that for nothing :(.

[KingNuclear]

Contact sensor felt + playing on tile/wood = 99% of the top 20 xbox live drummers.

[DrEvyl666]

uhhh and you are.......?

Someone who plays the crap out of drums in Rock Band, and understands physics fairly well. There's really not much logic in that advice... best way to describe it in scientific terms would be a "placebo effect".

http://skepdic.com/placebo.html

In other words, you have convinced yourself it works and therefore it does.

[Abaddon]

Were you using the same TV and receiver/audio setup? It doesn't mention if you were or weren't... if you weren't, the obvious answer is your calibration on your "regular" setup is off and it is better on the "new" setup.

Of course, if the setup is exactly the same, that isn't a factor, but I figured I would mention it.

[skullpit]

I don't buy it. Maybe if you had your drums set up on a matress and then went to a hardwood floor I'd believe an improvement. I agree with the placebo theory.

[Quastor]

The only difference I've noticed between playing on carpet and playing on hardwood floor is by the end of any given song, on a hardwood floor the drums have slowly slipped further away from me.

[Assault420]

The only difference I've noticed between playing on carpet and playing on hardwood floor is by the end of any given song, on a hardwood floor the drums have slowly slipped further away from me.

Same here my brothers house has hardwood floors, and only difference i have noticed how much my drum set moves forward while i play.

Best drumming advice i can give is master the foot pedal and you shall master this game. Going back on hard and getting 5 stars helped me out a lot on my expert career. Has not helped me beat DFTR yet, but im getting pretty close to beating it now. Hopefully i can be an ANIMAL sometime this week.

[mdouet]

I can't validate this claim having only play on hard tiled flooring, but I would think it would only make a difference if you played on really thick carpeting.

BTW, to call this the best drumming advice ever is a rather silly claim. :p

[WiredRacing]

Yeah I dunno folks... I would say there should be something to this. the carpet is going to absorb vibration and also effect the responsiveness of the bass pedal. If there's nothing to absorb the vibration then it would be expelled through the drum set itself, I presume the pad leading to increased response. Also it's likely that a hard floor is going to be more level and make the kit more rigid.

Anyhow I'm not saying it equals better scores, but you can't say it wouldn't have an impact.. and on some songs, we're talking 1/16th notes, which can be as little as 100ms (perhaps less?) I'd say so when you're getting down to the small fractions of a second you need to be accurate, even small adjustments should be able to makesome tangible impact.

But yes, just as likely is the calibration settings for the new display or stereo he's playing on now.

Actually I wonder if the range for accuracy of a hit varies from song to song based on the tempo of the section? If so, then accurate calibration is even more critical.

Like do 1/4 and 1/16th notes have the same window? I'm guessing not. This could explain why I'm getting hung up on certain songs.

I'm also wondering now if my red drum is screwed as it appears to behave differently when using two sticks to bang out a roll vs 1 stick, when the other pads don't seem to have this issue. Also I feel there is more give when hitting the red pad than the others, which I'm thinking is because it, by design, would be less rigid.. and since the cymbal (green) is less used, the focus for many is on the red pad (as most high-speed rolls are on red too), I wonder how much of an impact that has as well... in terms of drum kit rigidity and such. Definately not something I felt was a problem under Medium or Hard, but these 2nd to last tier expert songs and such with the high tempos and lots of pad movement...

[Micker]

There are so many other factors, you are in a completely new enviroment. Is it the same tv?? Could be the acoustics helping you hear the beat in time better etc..

[TheHip41]

I'm a science teacher, and this experiment would get a failing grade.

You have not successfully isolated the variable.

I can list at least 5 things that could contribute to your scores increasing.

[Project_Mercy]

I have concrete floors. I had to put a rug under it to keep it and me from sliding. It plays a lot better.

I guess if you had really padded/shaggy carpet, it might make a difference. I'd have to put my vote behind the different environment/tv with a different calibration.

[RawWS6]

I know some might think "you just got better"... but I'm pretty sure my skill capped out a little while ago, and from now on it's either luck, or zone that will improve my scores.

-Rybu

This game does take some musical talent, especially on drums. That being said, I don't think you'll find too many professional musicians who would say "Yep that's it man. My skill is capped out now, and I'm playing as good as I ever will."



I'm a science teacher, and this experiment would get a failing grade.

You have not successfully isolated the variable.

I can list at least 5 things that could contribute to your scores increasing.

Excellent post. I'm glad there were plenty of people to add some reason to this thread before I ripped out the carpet in my living room :D