Some of my worst gigging experiences were the result of me not bringing a rug to place under my drums. Sometimes I forgot to bring it, but sometimes I was told that either the stage was carpeted or there was already was a drum rug I could use.

Drum kits that are not secured to the floor tend to slide ALL over the place while you play. I’ve finished songs with my bass drum more than a foot away from me. That’s a difficult reach for even the most flexible drummer! Sliding can happen with hi hat stands and even floor toms too. Some of you young players may not know this, but most manufacturers put metal spikes at the bottom of the bass drum legs and on the bottom of the hi hat stands. If you are playing on a soft enough surface you can expose these spikes by turning or removing the rubber feet on the bass drum or turning the metal screws on the hi hats allowing the spikes dig into the floor (or carpet).

Old Faithful - This rug has been on the gig for 19 years and running!

Sometimes spikes into the bare floor  is enough, and in fact, there are a few drummers who prefer to play this way, I know Steve Smith does. I assume he likes the livelier sound of the drums bouncing off the bare floor. However, many times the spikes will not grab the surface the drums are sitting on (like linoleum or concrete) or you might be playing on a nice floor that you’d prefer to not gouge. Sometimes even a carpeted surface (especially at clubs that book a lot of shows) will be loose and the drums will shift around. An interesting cat to check out is the jazz (and funk) drummer Bill Stewart. For some strange reason he seems to prefer to let his hi hat stand slide all over the place and he has become quite skilled at corralling it with his left foot as he plays. It can be entertaining, though a little distracting from his fantastic playing. Click here to watch Bill Stewart wrangle his hi hats.

What can help keep your bass drum in place is to make sure the bass drum legs raise the front of the bass drum enough that the weight of the drum is resting on the legs and not the hoops. Be careful to not raise the legs too much because you’ll change the angle that the bass drum beater hits the bass drum head. Besides giving your spikes a surface to dig into, another way to secure your kit is to use a manufacturer that places velcro underneath their bass and hi hat pedals to grab onto the carpet. I especially like this. My DW 8000 pedals do not budge as long as there is carpet to grab onto.

Another reason to ALWAYS bring your drum rug, besides keeping your drums in place, is that you can use your drum rug is to mark your territory. Often stages are just big enough to fit all the players and if you’re trying to set up your kit only to find out that your bass player’s giant 8×10 cabinet is in your way and she’s nowhere to be found, you’ve got a problem since many players don’t want you touching their stuff! The first thing I do once the band has figured out the stage set up is to throw my drum rug down to mark my territory. This way the other players know where I’ll be and not take my space while I’m getting the drums out of their cases. So it’s helpful to find a rug that is roughly the size of your setup.  A 4′X5′ rug purchased at K-Mart works for me. I’ve used the same one for 19 years.

If you’ve forgotten your rug and the surface you need to play in is slippery like tile, or maybe you’re playing an outdoor gig, try using using the floor mats from your car. I’ve never tried this, but I remember getting this piece of advice many years ago and thankfully I’ve never had to try it out.

So even if you hear, “They have a rug”, I advise to always bring yours. I like mine because it feels like a little piece of home is with me no matter where I play!

Below is my email response to a bandmate when we were discussing whether or not to use songwriting forms (or formulas). He was advocating a more abstract approach and the email was my response.

I think the most important aspect of drumming is understanding song forms. Song forms are the foundation on which most popular (regardless of style) songs rely. I won’t delve completely in the subject, but there are many websites and books which explain songwriting forms much better than I can here, but essentially I think a drummer needs to be aware of the Verse-Chorus (Bridge), Verse-Bridge, Blues, AABA (usually in jazz) forms.

Being aware of the song form lets the drummer know when to fill, change parts, and create contrast and interest by building and juxtaposing rhythms and tones.

I also discuss in the email the time it takes to get to these particular elements in a song. For instance, you are usually going to lose a listener’s interest if an Introduction of a song lasts longer than a minute or so (there are, of course, exceptions) and popular songs tend to get to the Chorus or Verse Hook by a minute into the tune. My advise is to take notice of the song form similarities in the music you enjoy. Try to notice the common elements. Does the first Verse sound different than the second Verse? Etc, etc.

Here’s the email:

All of music follows a formula. Major and minor scales have an exact formula and from these scales, familiar sounding chords and chord progressions are derived. From these familiar progressions, familiar arrangements also arise. Of course rules are made to be broken, but if too many rules are broken you lose the listener. Think of really abstract, avant guard music. It can be interesting, but it rarely makes a deep rooted connection in the listener because the music is so far out there it is only getting appreciated on an intellectual level. When a listener is immersed in familiar territory, then surprised, that’s what really tickles the brains.

The formulas of music construction are universal throughout all cultures of music. There are obvious variations, but the human ear/psyche has certain innate expectations. I agree that what makes a particular piece of music interesting are the unexpected parts, but these parts need to fit within familiar formulas for the unexpected parts to stick out and be noticed. For example, the Beatles loved to change keys in the bridges of their songs or shape the arrangement in odd groups to emphasize a vocal part like the part in Back in the USSR where they sing, “Back in the US, Back in the US, Back in the USSR”. The rest of the song sits firmly in a familiar formula.

So, just like a G chord progressing to a C chord sounds “right” to the ear (you could call it a formula) there are song arrangements that the human ear expects too. I think these expectations can be used to our advantage so when something unexpected is composed, the impact is much stronger.

I’m not arguing that an intro always needs to be 8 measures and the following sections need to fit in a cookie-cutter formula, every interesting song has its tweaks, but there are very basic things that a majority of popular songs (and I use that term to include popular indie music) use to keep the listeners’ attention. These include: repetition, tension/release, continuity, and contrasting sections. Songs generally move from less complex to more complex and also tend to emphasize and repeat verse elements in the beginning of the song and chorus elements at the end of the song, all of which keeps listeners’ attention.

As an example, I think Spoon takes advantage of these techniques, that is, using songwriting “formulas”  without sounding formulaic.

Here are the arrangement elements of “Finer Feelings” from Ga Ga Ga:

Intro: 4 measures (verse starts 10 seconds into the song)

Verse 1: 8 measures, 6 measures (chorus starts 37 seconds)

Verse 2 (add percussion): 8 measures

Chorus: 8 measures, 8 measures

Bridge: 8 measures, 8 measures, 4 measure breakdown

Verse 3: 8 measures, 6 measures

Chorus: 8 measures, 8 measures

8 measures of sound effects (the unexpected part)

4 measure vamp/re-introduction

Instrumental Chorus: 8 measures, 8 measures, 8 measures, 8 measures, 8 measures

Virtually ever song on their album is as formulaic as this, but they use these arrangement formulas to create unexpected and very enjoyable moments. Also, the sounds that they choose to plug in to these song writing formulas are unique too. So I think the lesson to be learned is that you need to keep one foot in familiar territory and the other foot in unfamiliar territory, but always recognizing that repetition, tension/release, continuity, and contrasting sections are essential for making interesting music. So if we compare Spoon’s composition to [our song] I notice that the introduction starts with a repeating theme, however when it moves from the vocals singing “doo do do doo doo doo” to the next section where the band comes in playing the same theme it pushes the verse out 45 seconds into the song and I think the riff has lost its impact but getting repeated. I’m not suggesting that we need pull out a stopwatch and slideruler to compose music, but in music timeframe 45 seconds is a long time to keep a listener’s interest before moving the music forward by getting to the verse. The chorus (the main theme of the song) doesn’t start until 1:15 into the song. By this time in Spoon’s song they’ve arrived at the chorus twice.

I think as musicians we can experience the subtle changes in the music with more emphasis because we experience the music viscerally and kinetically so changing from the vocals singing a theme to a guitar playing the theme will feel like a much greater change compared to someone who’s only listening to the music. I believe that it’s our challenge to put ourselves in the shoes of the listener and continually push the music forward while emphasizing repeating themes within a framework, then within this framework we introduce the element of surprise.

Sorry to practically write a whole book on this subject and this is last time I’ll bug you with it if you disagree with what I’m saying, but in my past I’ve played with many “good but not great” bands and have wondered where the differences lay so I really delved into what made one band or song more interesting than another song and happened upon these songwriting techniques and noticed that all bands regardless of style used these arrangement techniques 99% of the time and local bands I see or played with did not.

I found this exercise when digging around for my tax papers! A metronome is required. Start at a slow tempo and play straight through. Once you get comfortable, try it a various tempos, but not continually faster, trying mixing up the tempos. Experiment with setting the metronome as quarter, eighths, half, and whole notes.

brad frank drums great timing exercise

The idea is to feel the juxtaposition of the various subdivisions. When you get comfortable playing any subdivision (locking in with the metronome) you will be able to better feel when you are rushing or dragging once the metronome is not  on. For example, if you can feel septuplets (dividing the beat into 7 parts) versus sextuplets (6 parts) you’ll be able to develop a sense of when you are rushing or dragging the subdivision because sextuplets will feel like quintuplets (5 notes per beat) or septuplets. Getting comfortable with this exercise really helped me to feel steady with my timekeeping when I didn’t have a metronome to rely on.

You can play alternating sticking starting with the right or left hand. Also try playing it with double strokes. Download the PDF: Rhythm-Timing Exercise

Currently I am recording all the audio portions of my video tutorials using the amazing, and free for mac owners, Garageband. I own Logic, but I’m still in the learning phase with that software! Anyway, one of my biggest problems was the fact that I was experiencing a large reduction in audio quality and volume when I was dumping the raw Garageband tracks down to an MP3 in iTunes.

My tip for you Garagebanders is to not mixdown or send the file to iTunes with your interface on. After recording I’ll save, quit Garageband, shut off my interface (I use Tascam US-1641 16 channel mixer), turn Garageband back on, THEN mix and dump to MP3.

I can’t explain why, but when I mix and send to iTunes with the interface off, I can set the recording levels MUCH higher without getting any distortion. Actually, I don’t use the level indicators to set my mix. I just use my ears. When recording individual tracks I set the levels as high as possible, just shy of the tracking clipping or distorting. When balancing the levels for each track in the entire mix, I’ll turn down the tracks that need to be quieter, rather than turning tracks up that need to be louder.

I have the master volume turned all the way up. Even though signal is totally buried in the red, as long as you don’t hear distortion, you’ll be fine.

When you are ready to send a Garageband song to iTunes, select: Share/Send Song to iTunes/

Make sure to change “Audio Settings” to “Highest” and then select 192 bitrate. Those are the settings that seem to work the best for me. The audio is still going to be quieter than a professionally mixed and mastered song, but your track will be a little bit louder and sound better!  Please let me know if you’ve discovered a better technique!

Click here to download the PDF

 An instructional video to this lesson this week  is in the works, but I thought I’d post a sneak peek at the lesson.

Very keen observation/advice that rings very true with me:

“Everything for me revolves around my instrument. It’s been with me longer than anything else in my life. My ability to be a good father, husband, friend, composer, teacher, kite flyer, gardener, pet owner is reflected in my relationship with the drums. When I’m in the groove with work, everything else falls into place for me. I know that sounds simple, but it’s true. There’s a cosmic relationship between what you put into your music and what life gives you back.”

- Jimmy Chamberlin, Modern Drummer Magazine, February 2010

A question I’m am frequently asked is who is your favorite drummer? So recently I decided to sit down and list all the drummers who have influenced my playing. For the the most part they are listed in order of influence, but since it’s such a long list it’s hard to be completely accurate!

I’m sure I’ve forgotten at least a few people and the list will continue to grow. I will try to keep it updated.

My drumming influences are:
John Bonham
Steve Gadd
Alan Dawson
Omar Hakim
Phil Collins
Stewart Copeland
Bernard “Pretty” Purdie
Ringo Starr
Jim Keltner
Alex Van Halen
Buddy Rich
Paul Wertico
Philly Joe Jones
Liberty DeVitto
Stephen Perkins
Phil Rudd
Nigel Olsson
Clyde Stubblefield
Dave Weckl
Dennis Eliott
Dennis Chambers
Mick Fleetwood
Carter Beauford
Charlie Watts
Levon Helm
Neil Peart
Jeff Porcaro
Mark Craney
Teddy Campbell
Lars Ulrich
Jack DeJohnette
Steve Ferrone
Stan Lynch
Dave Grohl
Max Roach
Peter Criss
Roy Hanes
Bill Bruford
Vinnie Colaiuta
Larry Mullen, Jr.
Steve Smith
Peter Erskine
Papa Joe Jones
James Bradley, Jr.
Lenny White
Terry Bozzio
Billy Cobham
Max Weinberg
Gene Krupa
Zigaboo Modeliste
Bill Stewart
Jo Jo Mayer
Carlton Barrett
Joey Heredia
Gary Chaffee
Chad Smith
?uestlove
Tony Williams
Dom Famularo

In my younger years Rush’s Neil Peart was my Drum God. I must have spent thousands of hours worshiping his playing. Many of my licks today are direct descendants of Mr. Peart. As I got older my focus shifted toward subtlety and song writing. Jim Keltner became one of my new gods. His colors and grooves are shear genius. From him I have also “borrowed” many great ideas.

Something happened to me, and at first this may sound strange, disrespectful, and even blasphemous, but I heard my Gods suck. “Suck” might be a harsh word, but I saw two performances that were less than godly.

The first fall from grace experience was at a PASIC conference when I met Jim Keltner backstage before his clinic. He was a nervous wreck. So nervous, I was surprised that he even made it on stage. When he finally got up there, I have to be honest and say he stunk the place up. His playing was so off and shaky that he actually apologized. More on this in a moment.

My second unholy moment came after picking up Neil Peart’s instructional DVD Anatomy of a Drum Solo. I haven’t listened to his playing in a while so I thought I would gain some insight that elusive drum solo that I used to fantasize about playing for my high school talent show! There were moments on this DVD that Mr. Peart was…just not great.

How could the God of Prog Rock and the A-list studio drummer “suck”? Then something clicked…and it’s one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned.

In these situations Keltner and Peart were not in their usual element. In other words they weren’t doing what they are famous for. After checking out the solo material in Peart’s DVD I watched the extras included at the end of the disc which included a live performance of “Tom Sawyer”. It still gave me goose bumps. I realized that when Neil was playing his solo ideas he was exposing his creative inspirations in hopes to spark others imaginations. When I listened to his finished product in “Tom Sawyer” I understood that he is a master of progressive rock drum composition and capable of creating percussive excitement even in the non-drummer. How many people still crank up the stereo for his four giant fills in the middle of that song?

Jim Keltner is a first-call studio drummer who’s played on so many albums I guarantee that even if you haven’t heard of him, you’ve heard his playing. When Keltner apologized for his poor solo at PASIC, he explained that he needs to be playing along with music. He’s an accompanist, not a soloist. Like peeking behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz, I realized that behind the facade of my drum gods are mere mortals. Average people who have worked very hard to capitalize on their strengths. Kudos to them for going out on a limb and showing a less polished side of themselves.

I’ve been down on myself so many times after watching the speed of Buddy Rich, or feeling the groove of John Bonham and think that I will never be that good. The lesson I’ve learned is that there ARE things that I am good at and are uniquely me. I need to capitalize on these elements when I perform and not think about how someone else would play it better than me. Everyone has their weaknesses, even your heroes, but the best have learned to focus on their strengths.

No matter what level of player you happen to be listening to, if you listen for the unique human element you’ll hear something pleasantly surprising, even with people who have never touched the drums before.

I know this isn’t a unique revelation. Like the song says, you’ve got to accentuate the positive, but I thought I’d just share a moment when this finally clicked for me.