Help with bass drum triplets

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I was a regular around here. Lots of ups and downs in the markets, trying to make a living and just plain stuff getting in the way. I haven't stopped listening to the great music Boomer and fellow musicians are playing, I just don't have as much time.

One thing I have been doing is playing drums in a band again and if you're an amateur drummer you know how you consider yourself fortunate if you can play at an amateur level where everyone still shows up regularly. Anyway, I've restored most of my basic chops playing blues and rock, occasionally straying into a tune like "White Room."

I've run into a wall with bass drum triplets thinking about playing some Zeppelin tunes. The thing is I can't get the right separation between the hand strokes and the bass stroke. I can rip off great triplets both left and right hand double strokes on the snare, but the minute I do left/right/bass drum it turns to mud.

Have I forgotten how long it took me (as a youth) to do triplets on sticks where I just need to push through? I guess I'm answeing my own question here, but I just thought I post this for any thoughts or tips you guys may have.

Peter

Hi, Peter,

Good to hear from you again. Take your triplets in speed steps.
Whatever speed it is that you can work them fluently and evenly,
work them at that tempo 2 to 3 minutes at a time. Think about
doing them in sets as you would in a gym lifting weights:

Do a two minute session, rest 30-45 seconds and do another one.
do maybe 4 to 5 sets of these. You can adjust the speed, length
and number of times you do the exercises according to what works
for you. Remember, the focus should be control. Triplets are one of
those patterns that's really appealing when done at speed. So what
usually happens is few have the patience to work through the actual
exercises that get you there. It's actually a somewhat demanding
pattern in that it demands you to be fluid and even for it to sound
good. No secrets or shortcuts... Persistance and time is what will get
you there.

I hope this helps, Pete. Let me know how it's coming along.

Don.

Hey D Slam, thanks for your reply. I sort of knew there's no substitute for wood-sheddng this project. I guess I forgot how long it takes sometimes.

Since I can't get on the kit every day, do you think it's good enough to just work the pattern at my desk? Finger, finger, foot-stomp.

sduraybito wrote:Hey D Slam, thanks for your reply. I sort of knew there's no substitute for wood-sheddng this project. I guess I forgot how long it takes sometimes.

Since I can't get on the kit every day, do you think it's good enough to just work the pattern at my desk? Finger, finger, foot-stomp.

Of course that helps, but I find when I work out a given pattern that way
and then go to the kit and try to apply it in that setting, I quickly learn that
there are some compensations that must be made: Pedal, sticks, the action
and feel response I get off the heads, etc.

Truth is, there's nothing like practicing and working out patterns on the actual
instrument itself. But we can only do what we can do and do the best with
what we have.

Practice, practice, practice, but I remember back in the day - Bonham, Brewer, Paice, everybody and their brother doing triplets.

A couple of things that might help. One, do the triplet as a simple drop. Bang. da, da, dum. Tom, floor, bass. As you get the feel of the three strokes in tandem you can build it up to a pattern from there.

You can also do the pseudo-double bass gig by getting your bass and right hand alternating on your floor tom. Do left hand strikes on your snare on quarter notes. As you get used to doing a roll with your bass and floor tom your right hand will begin to edge in for the triplet feel.

Well, here I am a month later and I'd say I've gotten maybe 25 percent better at this but I'm in no way ready to debut it publicly. I like Asaph's idea of the triplet as a drop and as a one-time thing I've started using it to finish off a tune. But as soon as I try to string triplets together it gets real ugly.

So i'm not bagging it entirely, but I've got another pressing question that I will post under "E-drums as a second kit."