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Brendan Bache

Professional drummer and teacher at Liberty Park Music

Cymbal Selection for Intermediate and Advanced Drummers

Categories Buyer Guide Drums

At a glance… 1. Cymbal anatomy 2. Cymbal size 3. Cymbal weight 4. Cymbal finish As a drummer, you are likely to want to experiment with new cymbals at some point, but where do you begin? Knowing what sizes and finishes to buy can be difficult and daunting, but this article will make this process easier. Cymbal Anatomy I recommend some brands in the article aimed at beginner/intermediate drummers. If you haven’t read it, take a look. To summarise, all of the below brands are safe bets when shopping for new cymbals. Zildjian Sabian Paiste Meinl Istanbul Agop Istanbul Mehmet … Read more

Cymbal Selection for Beginner and Intermediate Drummers

Categories Buyer Guide Drums

At a glance… 1. Cymbal sizes 2. Cymbal brands 3. Budgeting 4. Cymbal ranges Cymbals play an incredibly important role in shaping the overall sound of a drum kit and are as important as the drums themselves. A good quality, well tuned drum kit can be made to sound terrible with poor quality cymbals. Unlike drums, cymbals can’t be tuned to fit different musical applications. Once you have a cymbal, there’s very little you can do to manipulate its sound. Therefore, shop wisely and choose cymbals that you are confident will work with your drum kit and compliment the music … Read more

Drum Terminology

Categories Drums

At a glance… Types of drums Types of cymbals Hardware Maintenance items Drum heads Drum anatomy Rhythm terms   Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand. – Stevie Wonder So to help you get started with this new language, here is a list of essential drums vocabulary.     DRUMS The bass drum is the large drum at the bottom of the drum kit and has a low pitch. It is played with a pedal. The snare drum goes between the drummers legs and is most commonly 14 inches in diameter. Wires on the bottom … Read more

Choosing the right Drumsticks: Sizing, Tips, Brands and more

Categories Buyer Guide Drums

At a glance… 1. Sizing of drumsticks 2. The tip 3. Drumstick brands 4. Beaters, mallets, brushers, and rods The drumstick market is saturated with choice. Every brand has every stick weight, length, girth, and shape imaginable, which makes it increasingly difficult to make a decision. Which weight should you go for? What is the best length for your style? Which tip shape works best for you? Which brand is best? This article will answer these questions and leave you with a clearer idea of what you want from a pair of drumsticks. Sizing If you’ve spent any time shopping … Read more

Practice Guide to Become a Better Musician

Categories Music in General Music Practice

We all know that practice makes perfect. Therefore, it is important to learn the right way to practice. By incorporating the right habits, you can make your practice sessions more efficient, and thus improve more quickly. In this article, I will be introducing my article series, Making The Most of Your Practice. This series of articles will help you set realistic goals, overcome your weaknesses, and develop your musicianship so that you can become a better player. Why should you practice your instrument? Before we look into the right ways to practice, we need to understand why practice is important. … Read more

A Guide to Buying a Drum Kit

Categories Buyer Guide Drums

At a glance… 1. Drum kit anatomy 2. Brands 3. Configurations 4. Material 5. Shell thickness 6. Hoops 7. Finish 8. Models Buying the right drum kit is an essential first step in your life as a drummer. After all, if you enjoy how your drum kit sounds, you’re far more likely to practice. Many factors need to be considered when you choose a drum kit, and making this decision can be a daunting task. This article will help you understand a lot of the terminology used by drum manufacturers, the drum kit market, and which drum kit is right … Read more

Making the Most of your Practice: Make Your Music Groove with Tempo Changes

Categories Music in General Music Practice

Aside from dynamics and articulation, what other musical elements can we use to make music groove? This article will answer this very question. Pulse/Tempo Pulse is one of the most obvious ways in which popular music and classical music vary. Popular music is commonly characterised by a steady pulse; any changes in tempo are usually sectional and rubato is not used as often as in classical music. Classical music is more susceptible to changes in tempo. Rubato, rallentando, accelerando, and other such changes in pulse are more commonly used and are imperative in creating the desired expression. Regardless of these … Read more

Making the Most of your Practice: Make your Music Groove with Dynamics

Categories Music in General Music Practice

Groove? Groove is a word familiar to most musicians and non-musicians, but it is a concept shrouded in ambiguity. “That band grooves!” or “This doesn’t groove at all” are the sort of things that people say to express an opinion or feeling about music. However, groove is certainly not abstract, but it covers so many musical aspects that it is easier to comment on groove than to single out each aspect. This article will define the word and look at key aspects which create groove. All music should groove but not in the same way. In popular music, groove is … Read more

Making the Most of your Practice: The Metronome – Part 2

Categories Music in General Music Practice

In my previous post I introduced you to the Metronome and shared a technique that I call ‘metronome reduction’. Metronome Displacement In many ways Metronome Displacement is similar to Metronome Reduction. You’ll be playing at a moderate or even fast tempo while the metronome is set to an extremely slow tempo. The metronome will be your guide, informing you whether or not you’re in time. I highly recommend starting this exercise after step 6 of Metronome Reduction (a click on beat 1 of every bar), that way you will have had enough time to internalise your starting tempo. The key here is … Read more

Making the Most of Your Practice: The Metronome – Part 1

Categories Music in General Music Practice

The ability to play in time, one of the most fundamental skills that a musician must develop, is to play with a consistent, even, and steady pulse as well as playing rhythmic phrases with accuracy and precision. Playing with good time is just as important in solo playing as it is in an ensemble environment. Without a good sense of time, the music will lose its momentum, fluency, and ultimately its groove—a word we will discuss in a future next article. Given that time is such an important skill to develop, as musicians we should know exactly how to develop … Read more