Drummer

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A drummer is a musician who plays the drums, particularly the drum kit, marching percussion, or hand drums. The term percussionist usually refers to a person who plays classical or Latin percussion.

Contents

1 Musical significance

1.1 Pocket Drummer
1.2 Studio Drummer

2 Drummers in the military
3 References
4 External links
5 See also

Musical significance

A session drummer at practice

A good drummer requires an ear for rhythm and musical form, and must act as the rhythmic driving force for an entire ensemble, despite many jokes that hint they are not true musicians. A drummer's main contributions are keeping a steady tempo and providing a "feel" to the music (such as a shuffle pattern, a swing pattern, a blast beat and others). Other contributions include playing fills to transition between phrases and tempo changes, emphasizing ensemble hits (notes played by most of the other musicians in the ensemble), and providing melodic and rhythmic tension.

Pocket Drummer

In the most general sense, a pocket drummer plays within the bounds (pocket connoting a defined boundary) of the music. The most important elements of staying in the pocket are keeping solid time, playing the appropriate groove, and putting fills where they are supposed to be without over or underplaying. Successfully playing in the pocket demonstrates not only a drummer's technical skills and years of training, but also his discipline and respect for preserving the fidelity of the particular music he plays. The term pocket drummer is often defined by what it's not. When an advertisement for a band seeks a "… pocket drummer for a jazz band…", the underlying message is that the band does not want someone who overplays, or improvises (unless of course it's appropriate for the music), or becomes irritated when asked to play things repeatedly, or doesn't make an effort to work as a team player in helping the musicians find the best sound.

Four well-known contemporary examples of this playing style are Ringo Starr of Beatles fame, Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Phil Rudd of AC/DC.

Studio Drummer

Ideally, a studio drummer is a drummer who can play well in any musical genre (or combination of genres) asked of them. In the studio setting, a drummer will often be given a sheet of music to read with one or two words describing the style. From this basic information, an accomplished drummer will understand the groove and feel of the song. Some of today's most famous drummers, such as Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Gary Chester, and David Garibaldi, have spent extensive time as professional studio drummers.

Drummers in the military

Before motorized transport became widespread, drummers played a key role in military conflicts. The drum cadences they provided set a steady marching pace, better then than often accompanying wind instruments such as flutes (signal instruments such as bugles have another primary function), and kept up the troops' morale on the battlefield. Military drummers were also employed on the parade field, when troops passed in review, and in various ceremonies including ominous drum rolls accompanying disciplinary punishments. Drummers are no longer employed in battle, but their ceremonial duties continue. Typically the buglers and drummers belonging to the companies (which often have one of each) are massed under the sergeant-drummer and on the march play alternately with the band of a regiment or battalion.

Even more than in Europe (and its (ex-)colonies), military music was a well-established tradition in the Orient. When Emir Osman I was appointed commander of the Turkish army on the Byzantine border in the late 13th century, he was symbolically installed by the handover of musical instruments by the Seldjuk sultan. In the Ottoman Empire, the size of the military band reflected the rank of the commander in chief: the largest were reserved for the Sultan (viz. his Grand Vizier when taking the field). It included various percussion instruments, which also became generally adopted in European military music (as 'Janissary music' though until then it was never specifically associated with those crack Turkish troops) after the failed siege of Vienna which started a general Turkish fashion. The pitched bass drum is still known in some languages as the Turkish Drum.

It was a tradition in units of the British Empire's military forces for drummer boys (who commonly occur in other countries, requiring neither military training nor physical manhood) to administer corporal punishment (commonly flogging). If the drummer boy did not strike hard enough, he would be lashed himself by the drum major, his own senior, who was also charged with branding deserters and 'bad characters'. Such punishment stopped circa 1881. [link] [link]

References

External links

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