I started out playing keyboards and I must admit to this as day I  am a lousy pianio player. I learned bass cleff, of course, during my piano education from my mother but somehow found it easier to master than playing in the treble mode. I can fake it on guitar, and some brass instruments such as trombone , tuba and barritone horn. Forget any woodwinds such as flute , clarinet or any version of the sax.

But put me behind a drum kit and watch out!

Not only prog drummers were known to be the craziest members of their respective bands but others such as Kieth Moon, John Bonham and others. I respect Bruford for his discipline but his drumming was, and still is out of this world. I have all his Earthworks albums.

What makes us so crazy?

When I was serving in the forces as a pilot i was always told that I was not the best pilot, but the craziest!

My dogs get frightened when I get behind the kit and the cat is nowhere to be seen.

What  makes us so crazy?

I dont know....but drumming is a very primal, aencent tradition...maybe drummers are just in tune with there cave-man, savage indion side, whille other instruments R for more organized or controled people.

But phil Collins and RINGO is a drummer that isnt crazy...OR R they? LOL

holy crap! i have deas and dreams and whatever from drewamtheater, and i must say that drummer is good as hell! i also say them play here in minasota when yes came up! that drummer is really goodd!

because the best drummers are also hyper active... and if you're not, you aren't as good as those that are....

Carl Palmer is the most hyperactive guy I've ever seen.. and then he drinks coffee... I found that scary!! 

I feel attracted to the drums since quite a while and I'll start playing them next summer.

Hope I'm getting crazy too then

I think drummers are crazy because we want to emulate are heroes.  As corny as that sounds, I remember that I saw some footage of Keith Moon when I was just starting out, and I was like, "Wow, I want to BE that guy.  That looks like a lot of fun."  That, or we're crazy cause we all watched the muppets when we were little and Animal Brainwashed us.

I'm not sure you would associate  Neil Peart with craziness. Seems one of the most level-headed guys in rock.

See.

right...

I don't speak Klingon

I read somewhere that Pete Townshend of The Who once said that Keith Moon was "the soul of the band". I agree with Townshend. When Moon died, the sound of the band changed a lot, and they disbanded 4 years after Moon died. Kenney Jones, Moon`s replacement, wasn`t  "crazy" as Moon, and his style, while being a good drummer, never fitted in The Who.

I don`t think that John Bonham was "crazy". He was one of the best drummers in Rock. He drank a lot, that`s all. But I don`t think he was hyperactive as Keith Moon was.

I don`t think that all drummers are specially "crazy" or hyperactive. Musicians are "crazy" or not, and I don`t think that it is related to playing an instrument like the drums. Jimi Hendrix in the Monterey Rock Festival in 1967 burned his guitar. Keith Moon and Pete Townshed destroyed their instruments in concerts. Ozzy Osbourne once bit a bat on stage in the 80s. He received several doses of anti-rabies vaccine after doing it! Peter Gabriel likes to "swim" in the audience in his concerts. Gene Simmons spits fire from his mouth in concerts! AC/DC `s lead guitarist Angus Young still uses his school uniform in concerts (he is nearly 50 years old, I think!) and he also shows his nude arse in concerts! Who is more "crazy"?

To be a good drummer, one really needs talent. It is not simply to hit the drums "in random". You need to have rhythm sense, something that many people, some musicians included, lack. It requires good coordination of hands and legs, technique for how to hit the drums and the cymbals, technique for how to take the drumsticks, a lot of practice. Technique for how to hit the bass drum pedal. Even good ears to tune the drums, which, if you don`t have an electronic drum tuner, you have to do it manually using a specially designed key. You also have to learn to do "tinge" sounds: when to play loud and when to play soft, how to improvise when necessary, etc. Drummers also read scores.Some of them also learn to play the piano and other percussion instruments. They are "real musicians" like guitarists, keyboard players, etc. Playing the drums is not like hitting the stew-pans in the kitchen.

I remember hearing a great story about Ringo Starr and Paul MaCartney, although I cannot vouch for it's validity.

MaCartney is not usually known for his cutting remarks (usually John's purview) but during the break up of the Beatles, Ringo was quoted in an interview, as saying that he was the best drummer in the world. Paul responded a few weeks later (in another interview) saying:

'Best drummer in the world? He wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles!'

Heh!

sigod wrote: I remember hearing a great story about Ringo Starr and Paul MaCartney, although I cannot vouch for it's validity. MaCartney is not usually known for his cutting remarks (usually John's purview) but during the break up of the Beatles, Ringo was quoted in an interview, as saying that he was the best drummer in the world. Paul responded a few weeks later (in another interview) saying: 'Best drummer in the world? He wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles!' Heh!

Paul was referring to himself,obviously since by the late 60's he had passed all the other Beatle members in proficiancy on each of their instruments in turn. He is after all,the only ex-Beatle to release solo albums where he plays all the instruments himself. I'd like to see Ringo attempting that!

Pixel Pirate wrote: sigod wrote: I remember hearing a great story about Ringo Starr and Paul MaCartney, although I cannot vouch for it's validity. MaCartney is not usually known for his cutting remarks (usually John's purview) but during the break up of the Beatles, Ringo was quoted in an interview, as saying that he was the best drummer in the world. Paul responded a few weeks later (in another interview) saying: 'Best drummer in the world? He wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles!' Heh!   Paul was referring to himself,obviously since by the late 60's he had passed all the other Beatle members in proficiancy on each of their instruments in turn. He is after all,the only ex-Beatle to release solo albums where he plays all the instruments himself. I'd like to see Ringo attempting that!

I have Paul`s "McCartney" album from 1970. He plays all the instruments in that album. At least as a drummer, I still prefer Ringo Starrr. Paul also played the drums in some songs in "The White Album", the double album titled "The Beatles" (in "Back in the U.S.S.R", with also John and George H. on drum parts; "Dear Prudence"). He played good drums in "Dear Prudence", but the drums in "Back in the U.S.S.R" are not very good, in my opinion. Ringo left The Beatles for about 2 weeks during the recording of that album because he was tired of waiting for the rest of the band in the studio. They always arrived hours later after Ringo, and he was tired of waiting. He was finally convinced to return to the band before a T.V. appearance of the band playing "Hey Jude". He was received in the studio with flowers over his drum kit. I read all this information about the "White Album" in Mark Lewisohn`s book "The Beatles:Recording Sessions" (1988).In the same book, producer George Martin praises Ringo`s work, saying that "he was very solid, like a metronome for us, and he rarely did mistakes while playing the drums during the recording sessions" (more or less as I remember). it was more frequently to repeat recording takes due to mistakes done by the other 3 members than by him.

I recently read in a website in the internet http://members.tripod.com/~taz4158/beatles.html - http://members.tripod.com/~taz4158/beatles.html

an interview with John Lennon done in 1971. He said that George Harrison and him were tired of being Paul`s sidemen, so they split! Paul`s ego is very big! But in another interview Paul (for Playboy Magazine,  1984, also available in that website) was humble and he ever praised George and Ringo`s work with The Beatles.