Special note from Richard-
I am inching toward publishing a drum book that I’ve been working on for
… a while. Although it’s a dictionary of drum terminology, it has more
in common with an encyclopedia. I am now looking for photos and
illustrations of drum related material (drums, percussion, hardware,
innovations) to accompany about 50 of the entries. I’m interested in
images that illustrate specific principles as well as evolution,
achievements and the unusual. For example, I’m looking for photos of
Sleishman type pedals, cha-cha pedals, vintage consoles … in fact,
anything interesting that will help me illustrate the function and
history (and overall awesomeness) of drums and drumming. Many of the
things I’m looking for have appeared in past issues of NSMD.
If you would like to help with this project, all I can offer in return
is a photo credit and warm fuzzies. You can reach me at richard@drumyoda.com. Thank you for your attention.
PS: There is an early draft of the book on the NSMD website:
https://www.notsomoderndrummer.com/not-so-modern-drummer/2015/10/5/drum-dictionary?rq=dictionary
Consider for a moment the following bits of wisdom:
• At a wine tasting: “We only drink merlot”
• From an online ad for a 16-inch cymbal: “I won't play it 'cuz I only play 18 inch crashes”
• And how about this morsel from years ago: “There’s no place for the saxophone in jazz”
It crops up all the time: the invisible, immovable line that divides the acceptable from the unacceptable. There’s nothing wrong with setting some standards and adhering to them, but sometimes a well meaning guideline morphs into a thick black line that is not only arbitrary, but can be ill-informed, ill-advised, inconsistently applied, and perhaps all of the above.
Now before I get too involved in this, I must confess that I too only play 18" crash cymbals ... except for a couple of 17-inchers that are among my favourites. I don’t much care for 16-inch cymbals either, but the one on my practice kit does the job. Hmm ... I guess if I’d had some hard-core rule in place, I might never have given those cymbals a chance.
Aside from such rules sometimes being arbitrary, they are too rarely re-examined as things evolve. I’m sure glad nobody listened to that early jazz theorist who, I think we all would agree, was pretty clueless about what the sax meant to jazz. Unfortunately, zealots often get it wrong.
Creating a standard and making it an absolute can cut you off from opportunities. The fellow who only plays 18” cymbals is missing out on a lot of great sounds. Moreover, he may not be matching his equipment to the needs of the music.
Rules help us to manage our lives day-to-day, but they need to be re-examined from time to time. Situations change and sometimes so should the rules. So what do you do when you find a rule too restrictive or at odds with your reality? Maybe it needs to be revisited to see if it needs an update. Or maybe it's no longer relevant and it's time to toss it aside completely.
Want to learn more about breaking rules? “Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly - the Dalai Lama"