About the Origin of the Drumset

Before we get into drumming , let's look back at the origins of modern music , it was the boom in modern music that led to the birth of the original drum set in the 20th century . Here's what I've compiled about the origins of the drum kit.

Origin of the drum set

The drum set, also known as jazz drums, originated in the United States. It is a combination of drum-based percussion instruments. The word "jazz" does not refer to a British royal title, but rather to the name of an early black American musician known as Jazzbo Brown. Brown. Early jazz was a form of music used by lower-class black people in the United States to entertain themselves, and when this famous black musician played, people often shouted excitedly, "Jazz, one more!" When the famous black musician played, people used to excitedly shout "Jennie, one more! Later, this music was named after this black singer. It is customary to call it "jazz".

Jazz drums were born in the 20th century as a result of the boom in modern music.

In 1571, the first blacks were shipped to the Spanish colony of the Americas, and since then millions of black slaves have been sold to the Americas, the arrival of black slaves not only brought their labor force, but also for the Americas to bring a new music culture? Music and dance that originated in Africa.

For the indigenous blacks of Africa, their dance and music is also part of their language, through music to express their various feelings, especially in some important ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, festivals, and other important moments, people are always gathered in the tribes or villages to sing and dance, and this is an important musical instrument is the drum.

Drums are the traditional musical instruments of the African people, originating in West Africa, people in the performance of the drum hanging on the neck, and is a few people (at least two people, or even seven or eight people) to play together, pay attention to the process of playing with, and this drumming has thousands of rhythms. This wooden drums not only make the African residents of the entertainment tools, musical instruments and products of African culture, but also their contact and alarm tools, is one of their languages.

Until the beginning of the 19th century, the black slaves in the Americas still maintained their traditions, especially in the cities that were then under the influence of Spain and France, such as New Orleans, capital of the Mississippi, in the state of Louisiana.

But after 1861, during the American Civil War, because the main labor force on the estates of the American South were black slaves, the slave owners of the South were afraid that blacks were plotting against them through the language of this drumming, so they forbade the black slaves to use their traditional music and musical instruments anymore? drums. And this move led to the very birth of modern music.

When blacks tried to express their feelings through music, they had to adopt white instruments and play white melodies. This move could be seen as a tangible expression of black musical talent, as blacks were not just interpreting white music, but interpreting their music in the American musical style. This led to the birth of black and white jazz at the end of the 19th century. It was also the birth of jazz that elevated the status of percussion instruments in band or orchestra playing. Jazz drums look like a row of drums on a rack. The drummer plays it with great vigor and prominence, and the rhythmic three-dimensional drumming is resonant and melodious. In our country, people according to its appearance and customary call it "frame drum", the drummer's performance is commonly known as "playing the frame drum".

The earliest Jenn on the drum is very simple, only the drum, snare drum and cymbals. People put the drum on the ground, set up the snare drum, kick the drum with their feet, and then put a stick on the ground and hang a piece of cymbal. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the American Civil War was over, and the blacks who could sing and dance acquired many musical instruments from the disbanded army. Such as big and small drums, cymbals, etc., (these instruments almost became the main instruments in jazz later) talented blacks to all kinds of drums and cymbals skillfully combined in ~ together, it became the prototype of jazz drums. They put the big drum on the stand on the ground, configure a drum pedal. And then the snare drum and cymbals hung on both sides of the drum. In this way, a person can manipulate several percussion instruments at the same time. Later, through development and improvement, it slowly evolved into the modern jazz drum. With the continuous development of jazz music. Drummer's skills also continue to improve, the humble device can no longer adapt to the needs of the band and drummers, so the percussion combination gradually added a few removed the strings of the snare drum, playing tom-tom tom, and drums, snare drums echoed very beautiful, and later they issued the sound named "tom-tom" (TOM--TOM). The sound they make was later named "tom-tom" (TOM--TOM). Our customary name for the "tom-tom drum", because the tom-tom drum type system is very much like a water poke, some also call it "bucket drum".

With the development of jazz, the pedal cymbal was added to the mix. Until the development of a sound system, easy to maneuver, with two drums, seven or eight tom-toms, eight or nine suspended cymbals of the world's percussion instruments.

In the mid-twentieth century, rock and roll (Rook) was popular in the United States, and then set off a strong whirlwind in the world, due to the changing rhythms of the jazz drums and drummers superb playing skills, and quickly became an indispensable combination of rock and roll percussion instruments. Rock music with its strong metal sound and rich and varied rhythms, so that people produce the sound of shaking and rolling feeling, especially to attract the young people's favor.

Holding the Drumsticks

The two most important concepts that influence the inertia between the hand and the drumsticks are the control of the drumsticks and the swinging of the drumsticks.

In terms of control, there are three main ways of holding the sticks.

1. Straight wrist:

The left and right hands hold the sticks in the same way, with the thumb, index finger, middle finger pinch in the drumstick in one-third of the place, the ring finger and the little finger naturally close together and gently affixed to the back, do not affect the stick's movement, the palms of the two hands relative to each other, pay attention to the symmetry of the two hands and the balance, the drumstick striking point to be relatively centralized. Timpani, trapezoidal xylophone, etc. are basically played with this wrist method.

2. Standard style:

The right hand such as straight wrist style, the left hand tiger's mouth clamped about one-third of the distance from the end of the drumstick stick, and rested on the joints of the ring finger and the pinky half grip, the index finger and the middle finger naturally curved, the whole hand shape is half a fist shape. Palm inward. Hold the stick with the thumb of the tiger's mouth, and use the ring finger and little thumb to hold the stick in place, with the two drumsticks at about ninety degrees. The left hand strikes with a flipping force. This wrist method is mainly used to play snare drums, as well as jazz drumming.

3. Snap Wrist:

Holding the stick with a straight wrist is more or less the same, but the hands should be turned inward so that the palms of the hands are facing downward, and the two drumsticks are focused on the point of impact, and the two sticks are at an angle of about ninety degrees. Marimba, steel sheet piano, jazz drums and indoor playing snare drums, etc. are used in this wrist method.

★No matter how you control the sticks, you must use your arms, wrists, and fingers, especially your wrists and fingers, so that your hands become one with the sticks, and you can move the sticks naturally and easily.

In terms of swinging: there are two common types, one is the GRADSTONE STYLE, the other is the MOELLER STYLE.

1. GRADSTONE STYLE:

The key to this type of swinging is the use of the natural center of rotation, and the natural inertia of the drumsticks by gravity. Drumsticks from the drum surface above the position of one or two inches, the natural upward lift, the center of gravity is the center of rotation of the stick, pull the stick upward. Hand-held to about the same height as the ear, the center of rotation as the stick axis, the drumstick stops here, as if thrown backward and tilted down on the back side, the movement process is natural and easy to use the natural inertia of the turn, swing and action; as a bar scales of the axis of action. When swinging down, the use of drumsticks affected by gravity and hit down to the drum surface naturally hit down, the inertia of the rebound is applied to the power of the upward throw after the downward strike, completely to the center of rotation for the overall movement of the main axis. This minimizes the muscle tension in the arm and improves the average speed, and also applies the back three fingers to control the drumsticks to achieve a better effect, which can be used in fast and fine percussion points.

2. MOELLER STYLE:

The key to this type of swinging drumsticks is to drive the wrist with the arm, and the wrist drives the drumsticks, and the force is transmitted to the tip of the stick in waves; such as the feeling of a gray whip. Drumsticks by the drum surface above about one or two inches position, the arm drives the wrist, drumsticks follow the move, wrist lift to the height of the ear, stick tip forward. The wrist is lifted to ear level, and the tip of the stick is moved forward. The arm drives the wrist down to strike the drumstick, transferring the force to the drumstick. After striking the drumstick, stop the drumstick to a certain height and control it with your wrist and fingers.

★The above two ways of swinging the drumsticks have their own different feelings of use, GRADSTONE STYLE can make the stick's striking point more energy-saving, and can make a faster and more detailed hit, and the muscles are less tense. The movement between the fingers and the natural movement of the drumsticks are coordinated, and the MOELLER STYLE transmits the force from the arm to the wrist to the drumsticks in waves, effectively controlling the direction of the movement, which is very useful for large movements or positional changes. The arm, wrist, and drumsticks move as one.

★No matter what kind of swing or stick control method, the ultimate goal is to make the stick and hands one, without any obstacles. When practicing, start at a slower speed for each point, and experience the difference in stick control, the speed of lifting the stick and swinging it down successively, which is useful for controlling the volume and the movement of the cymbals and other striking surfaces to change the point of impact. Practice more, feel the difference between the hand and the drumstick, fingers, muscle control and the relationship between the stick, think more, there will be unexpected gains!