4 of the Most Crowd-Pleasing Street Drummers with Absolute Talent

It is not uncommon that genius musicians started out performing on the street. Bruce Springsteen, Bono and Arcade Fire are some hugely influential artists that got it all started busking. Street drummers are a different breed - drumming is not something that can entertain easily as a solo act. But some of the artists below made a name for themselves doing just that!

Larry Wright

This New York drummer is the quintessential street performer. Based in New York, Wright is known for being one of the first street performers to use buckets as drums, using what you might call a home-made drum kit.


This busker rose to fame decades ago and has appeared in documentaries, commercials and music videos throughout his career and still plays in various locations around New York. Most recently he appeared in the short film The Yellow Card, a documentary based on subway performers in New York City, where Larry Wright and his wife Sonia Wright are one of the main acts in the film as they play their music and are being interviewed.

Dario Rossi

This Italian sensation is one of the most famous street drummers of modern times, having toured various cities through Europe including Amsterdam, Berlin and London and has appeared on numerous television programs. At only 12, he started an intense concert activity with some local bands mainly the Lost Angels, with whom he was interviewed during an episode of the radio programme Demo from Radio Rai, Italian National broadcaster. Being popular as a drummer, he is also a percussionist as well as a composer. Despite many busker-style performers coming from lowly beginnings, Rossi is a musician with technical training as well as street-cred. He teaches drums and rhythmic solfège in his own studio in Genzano and at the Arte Musica School in Frattocchie. Find out more about his work in his official site.

Baard Kolstad

This 17-year old artist plays a traditional drum set and has been getting a lot of press and hits online after appearing on the Norse Talenter, Norway's version of America's Got Talent, before he was eliminated. Having posted a bunch of videos online, Kolstad is generating a lot of buzz and has apparently got the attention of the music industry. With more and more artists emerging in unique ways (YouTube, Facebook, etc.), it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this teen will make it big someday!

Joe Buckets

35 years old and originally from Rhode Island, Joe Buckets living in Seattle is one of the popular street performers in his area. Joe also plays the harmonica and a small keyboard at his side. When the energy is just right, he says people spontaneously break into dance and sing along. He gained popularity by performing in Oxford Circus and London Waterloo Bridge. Recently Joe, had his drum kit confiscated by police after noise complaints when playing late into the night. After the incident, the drummer left a message behind for passers-by expressing his distaste for the police department.

Larry Wright was one of the pioneers who popularised street drumming in the streets of New York city with a few buckets and drummers like Dario Rossi and Baard Kolstad has completely smacked it out! Being the icons in the field of street drumming, they have become the trend setter to the young talents with their amazing skills. Hopefully they will become the inspiration for a new breed of drummers in coming days.


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Just Beat it with World's Top 10 Female Drummers who Inspired Generations

The world of drumming is often thought to be dominated by men, especially in the smaller niches of heavy metal and rock. But many female drummers have emerged in recent years and they were inspired by some of the greatest female drummers on this list. These artists have pioneered their art and shown the guys a thing or two about what it takes to be a truly great drummer. So if you are just getting into drumming, take a look at these top 10 female drummers who would surely inspire your dream.

Sheila E.

Source: theguardian.com

Sheila E is one of the most influential female drummers of the past 30 years, offering drumming on albums and studio records by Prince, Jennifer Lopez and Kanye West, she received a Grammy nomination for her successful career that spans as many years as styles of music she is accomplished in and with a back catalogue featuring recording on Prince’s Purple Rain, she remains the iconic figure she deserves in the world today.

Meg White

Source: richardhartog.photoshelter.com

Meg White is one part of the duo The White Stripes and has a made a name for herself as a no-frills drummer that keeps things simple and basic. The White Stripes have achieve critical success and acclaim around the world and being the backing beat for a band with only two members, her influential style truly made the sound of the band.

Karen Carpenter

Source: photofeatures.com

One of the greatest successes of female drumming has to be Karen Carpenter of the Carpenters. Her influence spanned many instruments, but starting out drumming is where she made her name. Not only an accomplished drummer, pianist, musician and singer, she is regarded as one of the greats of modern song writing and will go down in history as being an influencing factor for many of the women on this list.

Moe Tucker

Source: rollingstone.com

Maureen Tucker was the famous drummer for The Velvet Underground, a truly influential group that went on to spawn a revolution in song writing and new rock and roll music as the punk scene emerged. “Moe” would often use mallets to beat the toms and stood up to get into the spirit and created a band of followers who loved her timing and her insistence on never using cymbals.

Kate Schallenback

Source: pinterest.com

As drummer for the Beastie Boys in the early years, Kate spawned many fans for her energetic style that was sure to influence many female Beastie Boys fans into taking up drumming. Later moving on to join Luscious Jackson on tour for many years, she also drummed in the punk band the Lunachicks to relative success.

Janet Weiss

Source: npr.org

Janet Weiss is one of the most energetic drummers of the modern age, using all of her kit with flair and talent that make many professionals jealous of her skills. She has drummed for Stephan Malkmus, The Go Betweens as well as Bright Eyes. She is in demand for a reason, and just one of those reasons is pure natural talent alone.

Sandy West

Source: fanpop.com

Sandy West was a fantastic female drumming talent that started her career in the 70s. Drumming for the Runaways, she toured for almost a decade before working on a solo career after the band split up. She continued to influence a new generation of drummers in the late 70s and 80s, yet sadly succumbed to cancer in 2006, though her influence and sound still lives on to be enjoyed by so many today.

Cindy Blackman-Santana

Source: sfjazz.org

Cindy Blackman-Santana is a modern jazz and rock drummer that has such an amazing natural talent that it is little wonder why so many artists have used her tracks as the backbeat of their music. Having starred on the drums for Lenny Kravitz and a host of well-known superstars, she has recorded several jazz albums under her own name and is also known for being married to Carlos Santana.

Patty Schemel

Source: zimbio.com

Patty Schemel is better known for being the part of the Courtney Love-led rock band Hole. She rose to fames during her early 2000s and drummed alongside Love during her solo career. Time did fly quickly for Patty and after living in the fast lane for a year or two she met producer David Ebersole; who was fascinated when Schemel showed him those vintage home movies and backstage footage which was personally accounted by her. It helped David to make a biographical documentary called Hit So Hard, which accounts Schemel's close association with Kurt Cobain, the ascent and fall of Hole, and the hard road confronted by ladies in the music business.

Elaine Bradley

Source: diffuser.fm

This accomplished drummer is the backbone of the American Rock band The Neon Trees. Widely regarded as one of the best drummers of her generation the 30 year old is a multi-instrument musician, playing the drums, guitar and vocals to add to her talents. Elaine is one of the drummers to look out for in the future and one of the most influential drummers of the past 10 years.

If you want to become a great drummer in the world, why not start today? There are plenty of ways to get into drumming and being at the back of the band doesn’t mean you aren’t less important. Be the beat of your band and be inspired by these great women drummers of recent years. You never know, you could be an addition to the list one day!

Why Electronic Drum Kit Is Arguably Superior To Acoustic Drum Kit?

The drum is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world, and is thought to be one of the first known percussive tools for communication and music. During the evolution of the drum kit, we have seen hundreds and thousands of innovations and inventions that have turned a simple beating of an animal hide into a precision art form that is quite literally the beating heart of any musical band.

Whilst the acoustic drum has been with us for hundreds of years in its modern form, the drum kit itself is an ever evolving part of a range of percussive instruments that have continued to encourage better manufacturing techniques, brighter and more acoustically defined sounds, as well as better prices and availability.

Some of the electronic drum kits have come onto the market in recent years that have blown away their predecessors in terms of sound authenticity as well as range of functions, but it wasn’t always that way. The first electronic drum kit is thought to have been created by The Moody Blues drummer, Grahame Edge, in collaboration with Sussex University.

The idea of the electronic drum kit was that the electronic pads were hooked up to a synthesiser that recreated both drum sounds and other sounds. The electronic pads were positioned similarly to a regular acoustic drum kit and were used solely as a trigger mechanism to playback the synthesised sounds.

Innovation Built On Evolution

Modern electronic drum kits work in a similar fashion, but there has been much innovation in getting to the modern-era kits. One of the bigger innovations has been in the trigger pads themselves having a more traditional feel to them thanks to the varying rubber and polymer surfaces, allowing the drummer to get more feedback with each strike.

Whilst the move from transistors to integrated circuit boards has meant that the synthesised sounds created by the large sound generator units has all but disappeared, the size of the controller units have shrunk and made it possible to produce tiny starter or beginner kits that are contained in a single unit.

In the modern era, huge innovations have taken place to produce some of the best sounding electronic drum kits available. The beginner kits are often cheaply produced, never the less produce a decent sound, but the professional grade electronic drum kits are manufactured and designed to create sounds that are indistinguishable from a regular acoustic drum kit.

Professional Electronic Drum Kits

Kits such as the Yamaha DTX 950k series electronic drum kit offer studio grade modelled drum sounds as standard and offer a huge range of variations and other sounds in a sounds library. This allows users to effectively “tune” the kit to their specifications and perfect the sound to replicate just about any popular acoustic kit on the market. Add these studio-quality drum sounds and modelling features to the reduced size of an electronic drum kit compared to an acoustic kit, and you can see why they have become so popular. 

Whilst playing an e-kit, there is a distinct noise coming from where the sticks strike the pads, but often these are manufactured to be muted as much as possible, whilst still providing effective feedback when playing. This offers the chance to play a full modelled drum kit on an electronic kit with a pair of headphones, to reduce noise in a domestic environment.

Built For Professional Studio Recording

The on-board software of many of the intermediate range kits is highly realistic and professional sounding compared to regular acoustic kits, but with the professional electronic drum kits, this leads to a higher ability. Thanks to the latest technology, newer kits have added functionality with computers that allow you to use the latest recording software such as Cubase and allow for an added library of sounds and drum modelling to be used in a recording setting.

With electronic drum kits you get a smaller kit to play with which is easier to transport and store, ability to use headphones for practise and reduced noise and the ability to hook your kit up to a computer and access the rich library of studio quality drum modelled sounds for a recording situation is like none other, making electronic drum kits one of the most versatile musical instruments and pieces of modern technology on the market.

For a new drummer who is still struggling to decide which drum-kit to choice, you can have a look at this : WHAT ARE THE BEST DRUM KITS FOR BEGINNERS

Complete Drum Kit Buying Guide for The Next Great Drummer

Choosing your first drum kit can be a tough decision not only because of the range of kits available from the different brands, but the price is something that beginners first worry about. But don’t worry; there are plenty of different types of kit for all audiences and for all budgets.

So what makes a great first kit for beginners, and what makes the best kit for gigging pros who want something they can rely on night after night? Let’s look at some of the best drum kits and brands available on the market today.

Acoustic or Electric?

The first choice you have to make when purchasing a drum kit is the type of kit you want and need for everyday playing. There are two main types of kit available - acoustic kits or electric kits. Acoustic drum kits are the traditional type of kit that contains snares, kick, and toms that use drum skins and circular rims to make the sound.

The electronic drum kit has come a long way since its early years and now provides drummers with an alternative kit that is lightweight and small in size and with an amplified electronically produced sound that comes with all manner of different effects and natural tones. Electronic kits are a great choice for a beginner as they can be cheaper in some cases, and are also perfect for a professional looking to gig with something reliable and modern.

Beginner, Entry-Level or Pro?

Kits come in all different sizes from beginner 5-piece kits that contain all you need to get you started, up to entry-level kits that expand the range of drums and cymbals as well as more advanced kits that can be placed on a rig and added to if and when you need to.

For the majority of people, a simple 8-piece kit that contains a bass drum, snare, two toms, a floor tom, a high-hat, a ride and a crash cymbal is the perfect place to start. It has all you need to perform all of the drumming duties required, without being too complicated and causing you to under-performing when you need it most.

Choosing the Best Brand for You

There are a number of different brands that are well-known to produce some of the highest quality drumming equipment, cymbals and skins to give you the ultimate in tone and power.

Pearl, Mapex, Tama and DW are some of the best-known brands to offer a range of drum kits for beginners, entry-levellers, professionals and enthusiasts alike. Each with a range of standard kits that contain all of the drums and cymbals that you need to start, as well as offering a range of added extras to add to your kit, they also have the range of drums necessary to create a fully customised kit yourself.

Pearl have been in the game for a long time and are at the forefront of the drumming world with a number of famous drummers having played their equipment and launched signature series. One of the best-known Pearl drum kit ranges is the ‘Export’ series that includes professional quality rims and set-up to give you the best sound possible. The Pearl ‘Reference’ range contains some of the best equipment in the industry, and is used in recording studios the world over.

Tama for Quality

Tama are well known for their expertise in the world of drums, and have a large range of equipment on offer that is widely attainable for any drummer of any ability. From the ‘Swingstar’ entry-level range right up to the ‘Starclassic’, Tama has something to offer everyone. Why not choose the Tama ‘Silverstar’ to hone your skills with and work up to implementing some of the fantastic add-ons available for just about every kit.

DW Drums offer over forty years of innovation at the heart of their kits and allow anyone to pick up and play with a range of beginner and entry-level models. DW Drums are played by some of the modern world’s best drummers these days, so why not get behind some of these beautifully designed kits such as the ‘Design’ series that offers pure tone and class at every level.

Boost Your Playing Style!

No matter your level of ability, drumming has been made easier than ever to get into with a range of kits available for anyone of any ability for just about every budget. If you have the money to spend, why not choose a brand name that has proved their design and tone such as Pearl, who offer you only the very best.

If modern sounds are your idea of drumming paradise, why not opt for something in the DW Drums line-up to get that perfect tone that you are looking for. If you are a beginner and are looking to boost your ability and playing style, you’d never regret opting for a Tama kit that is made to measure for your playing style. You never know, you could be launching a new career with your shiny new drum kit at hand!

How to Set Up a Drum Kit for the First Time

So you’ve bought your new drum kit, scoured the world of music shops to find the exact setup you need and are ready to become a drumming legend overnight. There’s just one more thing you need to do before you start rocking the neighborhood – set up your drum kit properly!

In this article, we will explain how to set up a 5  piece drum kit – a beginners’ kit that the majority of people new to drumming will have in front of them.

Firstly, what you need to do is to assemble the main components of your kit and lay them out in front of you. This will be easier to do if you have purchased an all in one drum-kit that contains everything you need, but if you have bought separate parts, skins, cymbals and so forth, you may wish to keep the items separate.

Locate All of the Attachment Parts First

The majority of beginner kits come with a frame attachment for mounting the toms onto the bass drum, so let’s start with the biggest item of the kit. The bass drum is the main drum that brings together all of the other components to create a solid base for the drums. In beginner kits, the skins are usually already attached to the frame itself, so place the bass drum on the floor and find the stabilisers that attach to the bottom.

The stabilisers stop the drum from rolling, so make sure that they are firmly attached and are spread out enough to stop the bass drum from rolling. You will find two slots on top of the bass drum that allow the attachment of the two toms on top. Find the attachment rods and use the included drum key in the kit to secure the two rods in a vertical position for now.

Use the Brackets to Secure the Toms

On the two toms, you will find attachment holes on the sides so grab your first tom (the smaller one) and lower the hole onto the pole that is attached to the bass drum. The smaller tom should be positioned on the left side of the bass drum as you sit behind it. Use the drum key or thumb screw (whichever your kits supports) to tighten up the drum onto the bass drum. When it is secure, you can move onto the next tom and perform the same installation method.

The final attachment of your drum kit setup regarding the bass drum is the foot pedal. This pedal usually comes in two pieces – the foot pedal and the beater. These two pieces slot into each other and usually attach with a spinning nut to secure them together. Lift the bass drum up slightly and slide the bass drum foot pedal underneath it. Secure it to the bass drum with the nuts on the foot pedal to make sure that the pedal doesn’t move around at all.

Setting Up the Floor Tom

Many beginner kits also include a floor tom that is a large standing tom slightly smaller in size to the bass drum itself. This drum is relatively easy to set up and usually comes already assembled. Simply find the three legs and slot them into the slots on the bottom of the floor tom and secure them with the thumb screws. Position this floor tom to the right of the kit as you sit at it.

The snare drum has a few special features that separate it from the other drums that need to be treated carefully. First of all the snare has a tensioner system on the underside of the drum that gives this particular drum its distinct sound. Open up the special snare tripod that has a triple arm attachment at the top and place the snare on it. Then tighten the nuts underneath so that the snare is secure, and move to a comfortable height for your playing at the left hand side of the bass drum.

 

Now On To the Cymbals

The cymbals in your drum kit usually come in separate boxes for shipping purposes but are relatively simple to set up and get started. A beginner’s kit usually consists of a high-hat system, and two larger cymbals known as the ride and the crash. Each has a sturdy tripod stand, so let’s set those up firstly.

The two larger tripods are used for the ride and the crash cymbals, so fully extend both of the tripods and remove the thumb nut at the top of each tripod and place the cymbals over the top of the vertical rods. Ensure that the felt dampener is under the cymbal to get the best sound quality and resonance.

Tighten the thumb screws over the top of the cymbals and place the cymbal tripods behind the bass drum so that the ride cymbal comes in over the kit between the snare and the first tom, and that the crash cymbal reaches over the kit beside the second tom.

High-Hat and Foot Pedal Setup

The high-hat is a little trickier to set-up, but should only take a few minutes to do. Remove the vertical high hat rod from its tripod and set the tripod up to stand freely. Place the bottom high-hat cymbal in place over the rod and secure it to the bottom “tilter” section of the tripod facing upward.

Then insert the high-hat rod, making sure that the tilter washers are in place and secure the higher cymbal to the rod between the felt washers. Tighten down the thumb screw at the top and you are almost ready to go.

Ensure that the foot pedal for the high-hat is of correct length so that you have full freedom of movement in the pedal, whilst the high hats do not completely close when the pedal is not pushed. Alter the tension in the chain by moving the higher cymbal up and down the upper rod and securing it tightly to allow the cymbals to close shut together when the pedal is pressed.

The last part of this tutorial in how to set up a drum kit for the first time is the drum stool itself. This is easily set up, usually by pulling the legs out and sliding down a fastening thumb screw underneath the seat. Secure the screw when you have found a comfortable seating height and there you have it, You are now ready to start rocking your new drum kit!