Musical Drums!

Q: What do you call a drummer that breaks up with his girlfriend?
A: Homeless.

Q: What's the last thing a drummer says in a band?
A: "Hey guys, why don't we try one of my songs?

...and so on and so forth. If you've ever been in a band, you know how often jokes like these pop up! As much fun as they are, I actually think drums are quite underrated by most people. The rhythm section alone can make or break a song, raise the intensity of the music, and completely dictate the direction of the music. In fact, if I am just jamming with people, I tend to grab the bass or the drums...

Part of the misunderstanding comes from the common misconception that drummers don't have notes or melodies to play...therefore less "musical" than other instruments. But that's actually quite mistaken. The big timpani kettle drums in an orchestra are tuned very specifically to different notes. African drums of various varieties are tuned as well, with a stand out example in "talking drums" (I'll probably talk about that in another post). ...and even regular drum kits are tuned. The art is to chose proper tuning, and know when to hit what drum.

Here's a fun video by someone I've followed for a little while..and it's brand spanking new for 2009. He clearly tunes his drums for each song, and the resulting arrangements really make you see how "musical" drums can be. Plus...anybody who plays arrangements of Super Mario, Tenacious D, and the Macgyver theme song is pretty damn cool. Check it out!