Let's talk about drums. How to improve.

[EricRx]

I really enjoy playing the drums. Who doesn't? I guess because it is something new from guitar.
I need a few pointers to get going. I have no problem hitting the foot petal and a note with stick at the same time and I can alterante foot petal and notes when it is spaced out. I can do either or, but when it changes from foot/stick at same time to foot/stick alternate in the middle of a group of notes I lose cadence. Any tips?

Do drummers tap there left foot? Or..tap with right foot without pressing petal all the way down?

I'm sure with practice I'll get better. Kind of like expecting to nail a guitar solo the first time through.

[mltdwn]

Tapping with the toes of your right foot is actually how they teach you to do it in band after year 1 or 2. So just raise the toes up and down, and actually keep the bass pedal all the way down and just lift a bit and then lower again on the bass note hits.

[ThwompBlock]

Can't really give you any tips, since I'm not a drummer myself, but the song I'm using to practice the whole stick/pedal alternating pattern is Next To You on Hard. Thats the first song I've ran into in BWT that nailed my butt with tricky rhythms, and after I got better at that, the next couple of songs weren't as tough.

[omnithrope]

It's going to take practice.
Real drummers would be tapping the hi-hat out on their left foot.

[EricRx]

Thanks for all of the tips. I did try holding the petal half way down and that seemed to work better, but it's always good to confirm I am developing good habits from the start. Does anyone else play this way?

I've played a few songs on hard just to see if I could do it and I could. My mistake was starting up on BWT instead of practicing a bit more. Oh well.

[ClinTrojan]

im a real life drummer also and most of the rockband songs keep time with the hihat or ride, few fills on expert that you might need to tap your foot to keep time......

Best thing to do with drums is go into practice mode and set it to 50% speed starting out, get through the song and get the feel to the beats and fills, then go for 70% then try 100%....I play drums in real life and alot these songs I cant do on expert.

[pooter]

Make sure you have your chair and drum height adjusted to something that is comfortable. It makes a big difference as far as accuracy. Kinda stupid and obvious, but it took me a lot of experimenting to figure out something that worked for me.

[Crucia]

Hell, I'm playing drums on easy, and only getting four stars. Heh. Apparently I'm just really rhythmically challenged.

Holding the pedal all the way down and only coming up and then putting it back down on the notes for it is helpful, though...I learned that after a couple of hours.

[AdamWill]

Technique really doesn't matter so much in terms of actually nailing stock patterns. I play (Drummania) with terrible technique and it's not a problem at all, just means I need rather strong calf muscles. =) It's purely, and simply, down to developing your muscle memory and instinctive pattern recognition, which means...practice. Just keep playing the patterns you suck at over and over. Don't worry if you still suck, you *will* get better.

there aren't really so many different stock snare / hi-hat / bass rhythms possible in typical 4-4 time, and even odd variants on the stock patterns are really just that, variants - once you have the stock patterns down, you won't have too much trouble adjusting them slightly for variants. And from what I've seen of the song list, HMX didn't throw in anything with a really odd time signature (unlike the bastard Dillinger Escape Plan song in Drummania...), so you shouldn't have to worry about that. Identify a few songs that will teach you the fundamental patterns without too many distractions (I don't know what songs that would be in RB as I didn't get the game yet) and just practice those. Try to focus on nailing the basic pattern consistently, don't let fills throw you off the rhythm and don't worry if you miss them; once the basic patterns are second nature to you, you can start focussing on reading and following the fills and you won't lose your grip on the underlying rhythms.

[ClinTrojan]

Technique really doesn't matter so much in terms of actually nailing stock patterns. I play (Drummania) with terrible technique and it's not a problem at all, just means I need rather strong calf muscles. =) It's purely, and simply, down to developing your muscle memory and instinctive pattern recognition, which means...practice. Just keep playing the patterns you suck at over and over. Don't worry if you still suck, you *will* get better.



yep practice mode is the key to drums :D

[EricRx]

More good stuff!
I have tried the drums at various heights, but I may need to get a stool that is adjustable as well. It's not like I am really frustrated with it at all. I expected a steep learning curve since I have never played the drums. Hell, I remember when I first saw orange notes on GH. I thought I would never get them. Now I move up and down the frets with ease. Like anything else it will take practice. It's a damn fun game!