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Not trying to start a flame war. Was curious what people had to add to my 2 cents. Curious what people's counterpoint is to the subject.
With all the new technology at a musicians disposal nowadays, it's interesting to see the diverse paths it's taken down. We've got things like autotune to help the music industry put together superstars with very little talent, but good looks. I can't say that technology is the problem, much like guns arent the problem when people get shot with them. it's the people using them for the wrong reasons that end up being the issue
I don't think using bass drum triggers should be considered cheating. What I do think is that in cases where it's used in certain applications (specifically "extreme" metal) it gives a false sense of power that isn't really there. Guys like Vinnie Paul, Tommy Lee, and many others use triggers in live situations and in the studio. Not because they play so fast that they wouldn't be heard without them, but because it's a quick fix to get a solid sound. But I think something is lost in the translation. Imagine John Bonham playing the intro to good times bad times (ya know, with that quick double he does w/ his foot?) using triggers. Hell....the engineering on drum beats like when the levee breaks would have the soul completely removed from them if they had been given a quick fix of using a bass drum trigger, because it negates using a mic on the kick drum in the first place. Kind of the same way autotuning is a quick fix to get it right on the fly instead of taking the time to get the take right.
On the flip side of the coin you get guys like Dave Lombardo who can play VERY fast and simply don't use triggers at all. If his dynamic level was negated and not heard on songs like angel of death, it would sound like any other modern day death metal band.
Which brings me to "extreme" metal drummers. To build your entire foot technique around the neccesity of needing triggers is like having a guitarist that can play so incredibly fast, but if you put them on an acoustic guitar you could never hear what they were doing even if you put the most sensnsitive microphone in the world up to their acoustic. Or like someone who can play really fast on a keyboard, but only on a b3 organ with no velocity.
Firstly.. when you refer to your genre as extreme, where do you go from there? what's more extreme than extreme (unless u count the band?). I think the whole faster=better kinda gives alot of new drummers the wrong idea. They blast through as many variations of a single stroke exercise like a horse with blinders on. Leaving things like groove, feel and dynamics to the wayside for the sake of focusing on speed alone. Then in the end their only claim to fame that sets them apart from thousands of other drummers in the same genre is how fast they can do it...which one would presume leads to 360bpm+ videos on youtube. It's a bit like watching somebody build a ship in a bottle...becoming bored with the process, so taking it to the next step and learning how to build hundreds of them in hundreds of bottles at record speed.
Curious as to what people's opinions are on this. AGAIN...NOT TRYING TO START A FLAME WAR BETWEEN METAL DRUMMERS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. Not all metal drummers fall into this. I love metal music (even the stuff that uses triggers). Guys like lombardo, brann dailor, chris pennie, ken schaulk are a total inspiration to me. So don't think i'm dissing on something i've never taken the time to appreciate.
With all the new technology at a musicians disposal nowadays, it's interesting to see the diverse paths it's taken down. We've got things like autotune to help the music industry put together superstars with very little talent, but good looks. I can't say that technology is the problem, much like guns arent the problem when people get shot with them. it's the people using them for the wrong reasons that end up being the issue
I don't think using bass drum triggers should be considered cheating. What I do think is that in cases where it's used in certain applications (specifically "extreme" metal) it gives a false sense of power that isn't really there. Guys like Vinnie Paul, Tommy Lee, and many others use triggers in live situations and in the studio. Not because they play so fast that they wouldn't be heard without them, but because it's a quick fix to get a solid sound. But I think something is lost in the translation. Imagine John Bonham playing the intro to good times bad times (ya know, with that quick double he does w/ his foot?) using triggers. Hell....the engineering on drum beats like when the levee breaks would have the soul completely removed from them if they had been given a quick fix of using a bass drum trigger, because it negates using a mic on the kick drum in the first place. Kind of the same way autotuning is a quick fix to get it right on the fly instead of taking the time to get the take right.
On the flip side of the coin you get guys like Dave Lombardo who can play VERY fast and simply don't use triggers at all. If his dynamic level was negated and not heard on songs like angel of death, it would sound like any other modern day death metal band.
Which brings me to "extreme" metal drummers. To build your entire foot technique around the neccesity of needing triggers is like having a guitarist that can play so incredibly fast, but if you put them on an acoustic guitar you could never hear what they were doing even if you put the most sensnsitive microphone in the world up to their acoustic. Or like someone who can play really fast on a keyboard, but only on a b3 organ with no velocity.
Firstly.. when you refer to your genre as extreme, where do you go from there? what's more extreme than extreme (unless u count the band?). I think the whole faster=better kinda gives alot of new drummers the wrong idea. They blast through as many variations of a single stroke exercise like a horse with blinders on. Leaving things like groove, feel and dynamics to the wayside for the sake of focusing on speed alone. Then in the end their only claim to fame that sets them apart from thousands of other drummers in the same genre is how fast they can do it...which one would presume leads to 360bpm+ videos on youtube. It's a bit like watching somebody build a ship in a bottle...becoming bored with the process, so taking it to the next step and learning how to build hundreds of them in hundreds of bottles at record speed.
Curious as to what people's opinions are on this. AGAIN...NOT TRYING TO START A FLAME WAR BETWEEN METAL DRUMMERS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. Not all metal drummers fall into this. I love metal music (even the stuff that uses triggers). Guys like lombardo, brann dailor, chris pennie, ken schaulk are a total inspiration to me. So don't think i'm dissing on something i've never taken the time to appreciate.
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