Hey. I saw someone talking about starting drums and getting lessons. I'd recommend lessons when starting out, it doesn't have to be for long, I took lessons at school for the first six months or so and got a lot out of it.
Someone said lessons are a waste of time and stopped after three lessons, but quite frankly if you've only just started out I don't know what you would have expected from just three lessons.
Lessons are good because firstly you're not always the best judge of your own playing, secondly you have someone to make sure you pay attention to the boring yet necessary details that most ppl are tempted to overlook, and lastly the chances are a teacher has a good idea of what to learn when, at what pace and what you might want for certain types of music.
Lecture over

I agree, even though I haven't got lessons yet. Never got around to it, and I never had the money.

Is heel-up the best way to do double bass? Or does it just depend on the person playing?

Yah saying lessons are a waste is a very silly statement, they obviously help if you have a good teacher and an open mind. Even pro drummers at the top of their game still take lessons, so what does that tell you?

SlayEmAll1986, there is no best way, it's most definitely down to personal preference. Though heel up using the ankles is the most popular for high speed. Quite a few fast double bass players use heel-toe double strokes as well, though this is less popular due to the need for triggers.

Lessons definitely help. I've had drum lessons for about three years, though I found only the first 1,5 years useful. Just practise A LOT after that (one of course when taking lessons) an you'll be fine.

For metal, yes. You get a lot more power with heel up than you will with heel down.

Defininately. When I started drumming I couldn't get used too heels-up. But when used to it you will get more power and control etc. out of it. I have never seen a (metal) drummer play double bass any good with heels-down.

I believe George Kollias plays heel-down.

According to this video he does not, but his heel is pretty close to the ground

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMGqhYVwOJA

I just got this stuff today, Groove Juice. It's for cleaning cymbals and HOLY GOD DAMN does it work. My cymbals had never been cleaned before EVER and they look brand new. They didn't even mess with the logo on the cymbals themselves.

I also got a cymbal bag since I desperately needed one. I'll post pictures of my set when I figure out how.

Nice, Groove Juice eh? I recently bought some Paiste cymbal cleaning shit, but it doesn't really work. Haven't cleaned my cymbals in four years and I didn't see any major difference.

Have you guys seen this yet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0W59Z4a ... re=related

He's using two Sonar Giant Step's i think, which seem to be similar to Duelist's? Pretty impressive!

Sounds retarded actually. That fast? Using four pedals isn't really cool.

Sounds similar to my first reaction, but the more I watch his stuff the more I like it. Who cares if it's cool or not, he's using available technology/equipment well. Go back several decades and people would have said same the thing about using a double bass pedal, times change.

I am literally the happiest guy alive. A few days ago i order a 16" Paiste Alpha rock crash and it came today. It was used but in really awesome condition. So i was happy about that but after i came home from band practice today i find that my really awesome parents had bought me the Alpha metal pack which consists of 14" hi hat, 17" and 18" crash and 20" ride. They really are amazing cymbals. They look and sound beautiful. Add that to my 16" Alpha china and i have, what i think, a great cymbal collection. So happy right now. Just needed to share this.

I know how that feels. Feels good man.

That's really sweet! I have a 14'' Alpha crash and a 10'' Alpha splash. Great cymbals!

you don't happen to be named Kirill and live in New York, do you...

No sir. My name is Nolan and I live in Kansas.

Guys I need your help, in August I'll be moving to Europe. I'm not bringing my drums but there's three cymbals I want to bring. However, I have all my stuff to bring so I was wondering how I should bring them with me. I'm kinda scared of putting them in a cymbal bag and then putting that in my stuff I'd prefer to bring it as carry-on but I'm not sure if they're too big to be brought as carry on. Also, if I'd bring them as carry on, does anyone know of cymba lbags that have extra space so I could put my laptop with them (don't want to put that with the rest of my stuff of course)?

My mother was telling me the rule to bring something as carry on is that it needs to be able to fit under the seats in the plane. If this is true or not I'm not sure but the thing is two of my cymbals are 20" so I'm really not sure how to proceed. Thanks!

Well, there are certain rules for the size of your luggage on the Airplane. I don't think you can keep the cymbals under your seat or something. The last two times I had to fly I could only bring one piece of luggage, max weight of 10 kg and the size couldn't be bigger then a backpack... I'm thinking we're both talking about the same thing (carry-on you call it?). If it had to fit under the plane' seats then you're propably screwed. I would just pack those cymbals very well and ship them to Europe

But I think that there are cymbal bags big enough to also fit your laptop. By the way, were are you moving to in Europe?

Yeah we're talking about the same, people here call it "carry-on luggage". I think shipping it would be incredibly expensive though especially with an insurance to make sure they're handled with care.

I'm moving to Trondheim in Norway

Shipping internationally isn't that expensive, just go with USPS. Your cymbals will fare a LOT better with them packed up properly than on a plane.

Nuff said. VD is ridiculously good.

Hey guys, I'm wondering, I was thinking about buying a drumkit for some time and since I'm relatively short on money, I want something as cheap as possible. Really, as long as it sounds it's fine with me. What I wanted to know, is how much could a kit with an acceptable number of pieces could cost me at the lowest? Say I want to be able to play (or at least try) beats Philthy Animal Taylor does, you know, nothing too flashy, 80ies "rocking" metal beats, could be doom too, or something like Autopsy. Also, is a double bass drum necessary for that kind of playing? Thanks.

Is there any Long and Mcquades in your area? You might be able to get a rent to own or a rental drumset that is probably not the greatest quality but is something you definitely learn on as a beginner

There's stores only in english Canada so I'm out of luck.

If you're in Montreal I could see you my old drum set since I'm moving. Alternatively, in Montreal you can rent a practice space with a drumset for something like 15/$ at a few spots. You could also check craigslist.

About needing a double bass, for rock stuff you wouldn't need one at all. Traditional doom wouldn't need a double bass either for the most part. It really depends on how/what you want to play. If it's slow enough any double bass part you could learn with one foot.

nah, I'm from Québec city. Well I talk to some dude and I could get a decent kit (single pedal) for 200 easily on lespacs.com or such websites. Otherwise I guess I can buy another bass drum separately?

I'd suggest getting a double pedal, not a second bass drum. It would be a huge waste of money to get a second one so soon. I'd even say you should start learning with a single pedal. I find that most drummers that immediately start with double bass are horrible when it comes to mastering the use of the high hat and they don't know when/how to use it

Hey Metal archives drummers. We're a death/progressive metal band looking for an experienced drummer that would suit our style. We play entirely for fun (we're all university students) but we practice frequently, record professionally, and gig regularly. We are looking for a drummer who is more motivated than our previous one and who is around our age group (18-22).

If interested, I'll send you a recording of one of our songs, and we could arrange a jam if it suits your style.

Can anyone here gravityroll? I've been trying to perfect it and it just isn't working for me.

I've been looking for a new snare lately. Came across the Mapex Black Panthers. The Machete, Sledgehammer and The Panther have all sounded really good. Anyone used any of these before? I'm not sure which one i prefer yet. Also can any recommend me any other good snares that i can check out?

I can at medium sorta speeds. How long have you been practicing it? It's taken me a year or so of on and off practice with it to really get it tight and usable in any way, I'm still way off the sort high speed gravity rolls you see in brooootal death.

Honestly, I just bought a pair of sticks and worked my way up from their (you can find free alternatives to a practice pad at your home, I bet). My set is actually in the corner of my living room, I just play it when no one's around to be bothered by the noise, unless they tell me they don't mind.

You mean a pedal set that relies to both the bass drum and high hat?

I can...if I do it slowly, while concentrating very hard, and while doing nothing else. I guess that really counts as a no, huh? I know what I'm supposed to be doing, but at this stage, I have to dedicate my entire concentration to it, so it's practically useless. I'm still trying to blast at a decent pace, which is probably what I'll learn before moving on to gravity blasts.

One thing I'm noticing recently is the improvement in my double kicking. I'm managing to get them faster than I ever have and actually keep them in time. This is a very good achievement for me, and I'm going to do my best to harvest it.

Same here Mikey, I've just cracked (well sorta) the ankle motion for high speed double bass. My top speed has gone from 200 to 230ish in a matter of months, though I obviously can't hold 230 for that long.

Anywho nice work man, I know how long and painful the road to high speed double bass is!

I'm not even sure how I'm doing it. But it's good. Just got to keep working at it so I can keep it going for long periods and in time.

Greetings!
I need a drummer for an online death metal project!
Anyone interested and capable of recording can pm me!