Quotes About Drumming

With every record, with each band, I just try to make a song good. I'm not so much focusing on my technique. There are a million better drummers than me. I try to adapt to the songwriter; I try to adapt to the situation and retain my sort of melodic power. My goal is for the band to be good.

I don't care about technique. I have kind of been pigeonholed as a technical drummer since I was in Dream Theater for all those years, but it's actually very far from the truth.

Drumming completely eclipsed my life from age 13, when I started drum lessons. Everything disappeared. I'd done well in school up until that time. I was fairly adjusted socially up until that time. And I became completely monomania, obsessed all through my teens. Nothing else existed anymore.

The drums tell me everything. Everything else registers a millisecond later.

I don't use a Beatmap; I don't use any click track. Any time I count off, it's just in my heart. Sometimes I'll go off the feel of a crowd, like if they way they're bouncing is a little quicker than the song, I might kick up the tempo a little bit. I see where the crowd is at. It's nothing drastic, but all the tempos are from my internal clock.

It was actually drumming that gave me the stamina to get into sports later.

I started drumming around the same time I came across this part of American history. But there seemed to be a way forward playing drums. There didn't seem to be a way forward being fascinated by a piece of history.

Listening to John Bonham is just a sheer celebration of his playing - it can't help but fill you with so much joy.

When Sepultura played in B, because of Iggor's drumming, because of the way the songs are structured, it's very different from Korn. So, it opens up a whole new world.

A lot of young drummers have a tendency to really overplay. Sometimes simple is better, and the notes that aren't played between the spaces are bigger than the notes that are.

I can't think of a more natural experience in my entire life than playing with Mike Dean, Woody Weatherman again. I really learned how to play with them in terms of drumming.

I want to keep pushing the limits for drummers and expressing myself.

I've always liked Dennis Chambers, he's real flashy.

Drumming was the only thing I was ever good at.

I like to drum for various theatrical things.

It seemed to Thomas that the stars were drumming in the moonless deep.

That's what a drum is all about - it gathers people in and holds them.

Egyptian drumming happens to be a favorite of mine. It's a really simple instrument, but it's really difficult to play. You can take it anywhere with you - you can play it in your room, in an airport. It's very quiet, so you explore the quiet side.

I thought of Gene Krupa's drumming, his staccato drumming. I went and put 'Misirlou' to that rhythm.

Gene Hoglan is one of my friends, and when I watch him play, I'm blown away; I can't believe what his body can do.

We drummers all know that our mother's heartbeat was the first instrument we heard. As a race, we've all been trying to get back to that womb. That's why rhythm makes us move... dance.

I grew up using hearing aids, and I had speech therapy and so forth, and that helped me to develop a passion for music and helped me to develop my drumming talents.

When I do a press roll, I use the traditional grip. Sometimes I flip it around; for a louder crack on the two and four, I use the new grip.

When I was drumming with Mick Fleetwood I thought I looked half mad. I thought I looked half crazy.