Bob

I was thinking about Jimi Hendrix and how unorthodox his guitar playing was. Not only did he play a right handed guitar upside down left handed but he pushed every boundary of rock and roll. He often played under the influence of drugs and admitted it freely. Many consider him the greatest rock guitarist ever. There was an equally adventurous music pioneer who performed three decades earlier. Fueled by drugs and an incredible imagination not to mention impeccable technique was the saxophonist Charlie "Yardbird" Parker. Bebop jazz stretched traditional jazz grooves to their limits with speeds of over 200 bpm and incredibly complex harmonies and rhythms and Charlie, or Bird as most called him, was the best ever. I'm wondering if there is a drummer who has come along and defined a generation of drumming in the last 100 years. John Bonham comes to mind as does Max Roach and Art Blakey. Neil Peart should be considered. Any other suggestions?

It’s ironic that drummers use bundles. Technically a bundle consists of 10 straps each containing 100 hundred dollar bills. That’s $100,000. Great for small venues.

"Fluke" Holland was a true stylist. He invented many of the train beats used today. Another great drummer from Tennessee.

When I play jazz I'm almost always on the ride playing open handed as many jazz players do. The vast majority of the time I lead with my dominant (right) hand. I'm confused too @Eyal. I say do what feels best for your situation. That's probably the best guideline.

I really like what I saw in the video @David. However I could barely hear your mellifluous voice.

@David you look more like John than Ringo. The guy in blue looks like Ringo. Maybe you should have been a guitarist.

Jazz players have been playing open handed for over 100 years. It's actually the way all drummers used to play back in the day. If I started all over again I would choose open hand. However I don't think playing open handed promotes ambidexterity any more than playing close (closed) handed. Very few people have "learned" ambidexterity.

John Mayall, Paul Butterfield, Allman Brothers, Captain Beefheart, Buffalo Springfield, Van Halen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Doors, Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Mountain, Bob Dylan, Velvet Underground, Steely Dan, Eagles... And don't forget Parliament-Funkadelic!

I thoroughly enjoyed her discussion on how she approaches compositions. I was equally disappointed when she started playing. I found the music she produced was predictable and a bit contrived.

Found this old pair of sticks still in the original packaging. These humongous drumsticks appear to be for marching drummers. Each stick has a series of grooves and rings that fit into these grooves. Supposedly you adjust the rings to keep your grip at the exact same place on the stick. The package label says "Stop Creeping Hands." I should have given a pair of these to my daughter when she started dating.

It's OK to play with a little buzz. In fact I did last night.

I've checked for buzzing every day but haven't detected any sound coming from my sticks other than an occasional burp.

Alien freaks and Fausto Cuevas have entered my house. No they don't stiff waiters. They just have no tips. They are both just wooden rods beveled on the edges with manufacturers ink. The Promark is a skinny .485" and 16 1/2" long. The Vater is a hefty .610" diameter and 16" long. They are really fun to play! Made for drums but can be adapted to cymbals. If you want volume ( @Grant ) the Vaters may be the ultimate weapon. Finesse players will prefer the Promark timbale sticks.

This comes from the 1973 Slingerland Drum Co. catalog. The company thought these would be the biggest step forward in drumsticks since the invention of the lathe. Two layers of oak laminated over a core of bamboo. They were touted as being long lasting which makes sense as they were hard as rocks. I haven't seen any lately.