Overplaying? (drums)

[vx02]

hey, just thought i start something. imho, there's a fine line between tasteful playing and overplaying. whaddya think?

 

[JiveB]

Definitely. Some people tend to play to show off their chops or blazing double bass and whatnot, while some use them properly when the situation calls for it, it's entirely the drummer's call, and it can make or break his career/popularity/what-have-you.

 

[vx02]

yeah true man. actually i shouldve rephrased lah. edit: what seperates tastefulness from overplaying?

 

[Funkifized]

Overplaying = haolian-ing LOL

I also tend to overplay sometimes with ghost notes and hihat barks, now i extinguish some of the fire already... worse thing is sometimes people call it BORING!

Damn it's so hard to please everyone.

But if you want an example of not overplaying, yet with massive chops in the right places, check this out:
http://www.louiepalmer.com/videos/Tiempo de Festival 48kbs audio mono.wmv

right click to save as. this guy is freaking nuts, he's only 19 years old!

 

[blackelements]

I think overplaying is a problem lots of guitarist are suffering from...no matter wat the drummer or bassist is playing...wat the mood is he juz shred like no body's business..or juz play wat he's good at...i think playing the right things at the right time is very impt....

 

[vx02]

funk: whoa man damn sweet man. he's like tommy lang on steroids
blackel: sometimes people just wanna prove something man. we humans are bound to our nature and sometimes our nature calls for abit of haolianing. hahaha.

 

[JiveB]

Well, look at the groovier players.. Blackwell, Rabb to name a few. Johnny Rabb doesn't possess much showmanship but his chops/style is near-flawless. Really like it, plus he rarely shows off the speed cos the songs hardly call for it.

Correct me if I'm wrong though, we're learning new stuff everyday

 

[Vio]

the best way to prove anything is to do nothing, yet accomplish everything.


... or could always do everything and accomplish nothing, that also proves something...

 

[drummar-buah]

overplaying does not necessarily mean haolianing la.

more like.. overusing of ghosts notes and stuff.

also.. the more novice funk players tend to like to use simple displacements of notes. sometimes they use it at the wrong time or sometimes they use it too often in a phrase itself, and it gets boring really.

 

[blurred]

yah i know wat u mean by the novice funk drummers man, i still really dun know when to hold back when playing ghost notes. when is the right time and when is not? wat do u listen for when u dun?

 

[Funkifized]

I was just kidding about the haolianing part. Never see the LOL? Overplaying = playing something that doesn't belong to the music OR play too much (i.e. so many notes, so little taste).

Mike Portnoy overplays a lot IMHO. But he's getting better.

 

[drummar-buah]

ohhh hahah!! okok paiseh i din see

yea although mike is one of my favourite drummers sometimes his songs contain to much drumming and he's gotta loosen up and not choke the songs with his power drumming. rather let it breathe..

 

[vx02]

+1 to that. hahaha. but i heard he's quite a clinician.

 

[drummar-buah]

i have a video of one of his clinic

and imo, take no offence to mike portnoy fans. keep in mind i am a huge fan too. anyway in that video.. mike was just playing nonstop.. or shall i say banging non stop? at first it looked so impressive.. wah!! SO FAST SO FAST! then slowly..i got bored.. cuz it's.. basically.. banging.
he was just playing nonstop la. that's his drum solo.. wasn't much of a constructive composition.
althouh. i can honestly say.. right now my feelings about that video. the only thing i'm so darn impressed with is his brute strength and his stamina to play fast and loud and.. nonstop. ya..
other than that.. the video.. okok only la.

peace out..

 

[Vio]

i preferred Simon Phillips' solo... 8)

but i'm still a Portnoy fan. He's a good instructor even in his videos.

 

[faizal_rocks]

Less is more. Period.

 

[vx02]

hahah true true. but too little makes it too bland, too much makes it too cluttered. haha its like a good espresso man. just the right amount of coffee and milk. actually more like the perfect woman la haha. beauty and brains. lol.

 

[Funkifized]

I personally like solos with a musical structure... fast fast fast loud loud loud = :x

If i wanted to see that kind of drum solo, i might as well go hear a washing machine... lol! I'm not suggesting anyone's doing that though. Portnoy's solos were a hell lot better in older videos, IMO.

 

[punkcore]

I guess alot of younger or new drummers (no offence) tend to wanna show what they can do rather then playing for the good of the band or the song for that matter. As a drummer, ur the backbone of the band, so sometimes overplaying only makes the band sounds messy or not tight.

But the flip side is that when you actually play for the band or song ppl say ur boring or ordinary.

 

[ixora05]

meh. as a newbie i'd rather err on the side of caution. part of what I like (IMHO) about drumming is that for the most part you're not the frontperson of the band but you're still necessary. I'll respect a drummer who can function to keep the band on time well rather than one who solos like hell and bores me after a min-and-a-half of banging.