Is less really more when it comes to drum kit size? I often ponder this as I haul, setup and break down my 7 piece drum kit back and forth to gigs. Could I actually be happy with only a couple of toms and just a few cymbals? How about no toms at all and nothing but a set of hi-hats to groove with – I thought; no way how could one possibly… - then I took a good look at a group called the Fearless Flyers with Nate Smith on the drums. Very humbling.
https://youtu.be/LfjEgfEzu-8?si=O5ZDoFEvU-9xzAzp
Nate utilizes just a snare, kick and hi-hats, and absolutely blew me away with the grooves he provides for these guys. In the first video I watched he dropped a stick during a solo and continued one-handed and finished it off spectacularly - you could see the bass player, Joe Dart, laugh - in utter amazement - at what he did.
I, too, was stunned and proceeded to watch everything I could on this guy. He does more with that minimal amount of gear than a lot of us can do with our big multi-tom and cymbal set ups. His hi-hat prowess sent me into hyper practice pad mode; brushing up on one-handed multi stroke rolls and working on the Moeller 3-stroke Method.
I have had the occasional gig where only a minimal set up was provided. Once where I showed up to a barn party as a conga player only to be put on kit because the drummer didn’t make it. The “kit” provided by the guitar player, was a bass drum found at the dump, a snare that was almost decent, some lousy cymbals and a stool that was literally - a bale of hay. It turned out to be one of those defining moments in my endeavour to being an “absolute professional no matter what the circumstances are” type of guy. It taught me to make do and groove no matter what and just play the songs, not the drums.
Once again this minimalism tested my ability to groove no matter what the gear – or even the type of music involved.
As a teacher, I encourage more advanced students to try what I am calling the Nate Smith Challenge:
- Set up only one kick drum, a snare and just the hi-hats and play like a kid in the sand box.
- At first, begin by playing to what ever music you can already groove to.
- Later, begin playing to music that you don’t usually listen to.
The challenge here is for the drummer to look at the minimized kit as if there is no other choice – as if that’s all that is available. As a drummer, it is your job to make it work no matter what amount of gear or type of music you are playing.
In time, you will realize the fact that using less can be more and it makes you pull more out of what little you have at hand. When you are back on the big multi-tom kit, you’ll find there are now endless options in your tool belt and you’ll have a hard time running out of ideas as long - as you don’t busy your mind too much. Learning how to leave some hard drive space in your mind can actually help you pull off those amazing riffs.
Which leads us into my next post that will look at drummer Gavin Harrison’s CPU Theory. A very interesting way of looking at drumming and something I am now passing on to my students. It will change your way of thinking and playing – so watch for that upcoming blog post.
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