Years ago, I was sitting alongside my teacher, Ralph Humphrey, in a private lesson. We were at the drums, and he was demonstrating a stroke. When he played it, it sounded as big as the wall. When I played it, it was puny. I couldn’t figure out how we could make the exact same motions and achieve two totally different sound qualities. After more study with him and a deep dive into Freddie Gruber’s concepts, I could finally achieve the same sound qualities as Ralph and understand what was preventing me from executing it in the first place: tension. To begin, let’s first understand the two primary sound qualities: legato and staccato. Legato produces a long, open sound that allows the entire spectrum of the drum’s fundamentals to resonate (highs, mids, and lows). Staccato is the opposite—short and tight—emphasizing only the high frequencies. I strive to play with a legato […]

August 2024 Issue