technique or groove

Sam Ulano. That was beautiful. Music. You have to make music.

Technique is the way someone gets something done. Billy hit the scene (for most people) with MO with technique that literally changed the way players play drums. Had that effect on me, anyway. Even if everyone did not go open handed, his right hand punctuations on crashes changed the world for how most drummers use their left hands which were mostly confined to snare drum in rock and pop music. Cobham's technique was a simple thing, really. Is there a drummer in the modern world not influenced by the freer use of the left hand?

So, if technique is the way, the methods we get things done, it must be important. For some it is Mel Lewis. For others it is Buddy Rich (showing my age here). For others it is the technical gymnasts coming at us from every country on the globe who seemingly have maxed out physical limitations of human bodies on a drum set. I do not see people getting any more coordinated, or faster. I believe the physical limits have been reached.

Will be interesting to see where things go from here.

Thanks for all the replies.
I came to drumming from a more physical and also emotional side. When i first started drumming i use to slam the drums and play ginger baker solos from my head and try to sound like my favorite music that was, billy cobham in MO. i think i'm good at copping a sound and i went straight to traditional music from all over the globe. now i utilize those rhythms and attitudes and there seems to be no end in sight. i have yet to really study drumset as a musical instrument but it is more of an amalgamation of all of my influences. If i can I'm happy to play a stripped down kit because i know enough grooves and can improvise so it challenges me to think about how to evoke the feel i want without relying on a large kit for inspiration.

today at my klezmer rehearsal i brought a cajon and worked on arrangements and played softly along. When i get to the gig I'll set up a 5 or 6 piece kit w a hi hat a ride a crash maybe throw in a splash. i feel like i can get away with much less these days. I just started throwing a small tom on the left by the hat so i have 3 across and a floor tom. i have noticed guys like Dennis C and Chad W with that set up. it really opened me up one day at the gig i was so much more melodic and freer to express myself. went for years never even bringing a floor tom to gigs not feeling the need to have it. i was bare bones after going through the dbl bass huge set thing already as a youth. i think it was out of necessity to bring less equipment but also made me learn how to play with people. Now i'm looking at incorporating more odd sounds again when i can but seem to be happy with a good sounding 5 piece kit.

Oh yeah what i was going to say... I used to slam and hit my knuckles and they'd bleed and drop sticks and what have you. after 40 some years playing i'm feeling much more confident i won't drop sticks or hit myself in the face with a stick. i guess that is learning technique (s) and really the old sayings are true. less can be more. and more is also more and less is also less
happy hollandaise

" i guess that is learning technique (s) and really the old sayings are true. less can be more. and more is also more and less is also less
happy hollandaise"

LOL. I recently did a recording session with a four piece kit. Actually, it was the guy's five piece kit, but when I went to tune the drums a lug snapped. Argent drums. I don't think they get any cheaper. Matter of fact I now have the drums at my house for a renovation which I'm sure the guitarist will appreciate. Nine lugs were broken. The previous owner literally epoxied two broken lugs to the shells. What a mess.

Anyway, using less was definitely less. He thought I did fine, but playing four pitches was limiting for me. I took my TrapKat next time around. That's limiting, too, but not as much.

I can see less as more in certain musical contexts. Is more more, or just what it is? Pianos do have 88 keys, and few pianists use them all on any given occasion. That is seen by keyboards with 78 or 61 or less keys on them. Is that less is more, or just less for what is needed?

Since coming here and seeing links to lots of vids I was not aware of, watching guys play MO stuff with a four piece drum set is like watching a carpenter build a house with a hand saw. You can do it, and I truly appreciate a good hand plane, but it's a lot more fun and faster with power tools. Just sayin'.

Interesting story/analogy, Asaph. Funny thing.... Somehow I could never
get my head around the "less is more" concept. For me less is just less
and more is just more. When it's time for less, then it works and likewise
for more. Don't get me wrong, I understand the meaning behind it, but it
seems to have become a rule of thumb. The first thing a person will preach
when someone is over playing is 'less is more'... Why?! Just play what you're
supposed to play.... Is less still more when more is required?

Heck, snare, kick and hi hat. Thats all each one of us needs right?! What's all
this double kick, 3, 4 and 5 toms and cymbal stuff? After all. less is more isn't it?

It does seem logical to me that the music defines what is necessary. I was playing fusion with that 4 pc. I felt lost to create. I'm glad I brought a bunch of cymbals.

I would not expect BC to show up with his big rig for a call playing renditions of Dave Clark 5 songs. Hmm. That gives me an idea. Has any band ever done fusion stuff to the Monkees? Bring the big rig!

Yeah, using more stuff is not necessarily so much
about about playing more licks but rather having the
vocabulary.