It’s all about the Bpm’s baby
There is one thing that every drummer should own and I can guarantee it’s not what you’re thinking. It usually comes in a small package, has a few buttons, and can be adjusted to fit your needs. What is it? It’s a metronome, and it’s the one piece of gear that is most often forgotten. I usually get two different responses when I bring up the met: #1 is “Dude my timing is great, I don’t need to play to a met.” Or #2 which is “I will always have one by my side!” I can always tell who the seasoned vet is by the response I get ( and it’s not #1 in case you were wondering). Let me first clear the air on the metronome because I feel that it has a bad rap…when all it wants to do is help. I find a lot of people feel that the met is just for those who’s timing sucks and they cant keep the tempo regular. However this is FAR from the truth. It’s about giving you a foundation to play upon, allowing you to run wild and have one less thing to focus on. I mean let’s be honest for a second. You are using every limb you have and within a split second your brain is having to calculate and troubleshoot what’s going on around you and within the music. That’s a lot to deal with. On top of that you have the vocalist who is dragging the music and you have the guitar player who is getting faster with each measure. Ok, still not convinced? Here is a challenge for you… while you’re driving today find out what the speed limit is and without ever looking at the speedometer go the speed limit. No peeking!!!! Shouldn’t be a problem right? I mean you drive all the time. You’re probably the best driver ever to hit the road, well at least that was the last argument when the girlfriend was sitting next to you. Now find a radio station, and for the entire length of a song that comes on maintain the speed limit. Now about every 30-45 seconds check to see how you’re doing. So how did you do??? I can guarantee that your speed fluctuated from fast to slow, and what happened when you added music?? I’m sure it got even worse. Now you understand why your car has a speedometer and why you should play with a metronome. You’re not a bad drummer but we all fluctuate and need something that will keep us in line when our emotions want to get the better of us. Now my final thought is this- if you still feel this is a load of crap then do me the favor and just go buy a met. Practice with it and see for yourself. You WILL benefit from it! Your fills will not be rushed or drag and you will become a more solid player..nothing but good will come from this.
Here are a few of my met suggestions:
Korg MA-30 $29.99
Boss DB-30 $39.99
Boss DB-60 $79.99
Boss DB-90 $169.99
Yamaha Clickstation (great met but hard to find, compare it to the db-90)
A few tips when looking for a met:
- It has to have a headphone jack or else when the band gets cranking you’ll never hear it.
- Don’t cut corners, invest in a nicer one. It’s functions will serve you later on down the road.
- Test drive it!! If you’re at the drum store get a few different types and compare them to each other.