Analysis of Ringo's drumming style

This is a nicely produced video analysis…

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Good analysis! I always knew Ringo was a pretty special drummer because it’s so difficult to copy. She explains it well. And it’s great to see these young kids loving the music of my youth.

yup, good to see somebody actually PLAY the drums, like an instrument, not like a lunatic… also the girl has good timing, if only she would CARESS the cymbals a touch more when recording… (playing live, that would be fine) - anyway, great job all around :slight_smile:

To me, it’s similar to the style of drumming I hear in Black Sabbath. It’s not necessarily complicated or hard to play, but it’s not just beat keeping.

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I was watching Sam Dunn’s “Pre-Metal” video a few days ago, before posting on another thread, and was reminded that Bill Ward was essentially a Jazz drummer. He could hit the Heavy Metal type accents (the simple kick intro to Iron Man is classic), but his creativity with fills and accents was great. It’s kind of an “artsy” way of playing IMO, as I played in two bands with a Jazz drummer (the same one), and while he was scolded by the keyboard player in one band as being “too loose”, the fluidity of his playing was actually an asset in most cases. My background as a drummer, with Rock , was much more beat-centric, so I appreciated the difference.

Keeping time well is certainly an asset for a drummer, but so it creativity and fluidity in many cases. And “taste”. I always thought Frank Beard of ZZ Top was an outstanding drummer, though some of my musician friends weren’t as impressed. He was no Neil Peart obviously, but he was always spot-on with what the song needed (excepting the drum-machine produced albums :wink:).

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wait… wasn’t Frank Beard’s parts in Eliminator written and then programmed by Terry Manning?

Sorry, to throw this spanner in the works after so many years… I only asking? :slight_smile:

edit: Ok maybe it was a long time ago, you can look it up for yourself…

http://repforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php?topic=5689.0

btw. Terry Manning is Compasspoint (the legenday studio in the Bahamas).

Oh yes, that’s what I meant by the “drum-machine” comment. As I understand it, neither Frank nor Dusty Hill even played on that album, or had very minimal input. I think they got the paychecks though, so they didn’t complain. :wink: It was essentially just Terry Manning and Billy Gibbons fiddling around with synthesizers (a lot of the bass parts especially), a drum machine and samples (I think they used a Linn Drum?), and of course Billy’s guitars and vocals. That album was incredibly revolutionary, and in large thanks to Terry I believe, though it has garnered it’s share of criticism for the ‘manufactured’ sound.

Thank you for that link, I learned a few things I didn’t already know. That re-master of El Diablo is horrible, they wrecked the snare sound and everything else. Terry seems to agree. I don’t know how they did “4 hands” on the guitar, but that’s interesting to know!

I know Sven loves ZZ Top, so maybe this isn’t a complete thread hijack. :slightly_smiling_face:

This is why many great musicians are overlooked.

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Was it Lennon, or was it McCartney that once said, “Ringo??..He isn’t even the best drummer in The Beatles!” :grin:

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I believe it was McCartney. At least, I read one time that in a studio recording session for one of the albums, one of the well-known songs I think, they laid down tracks and then Paul stayed or returned that night and re-recorded the drums himself because he didn’t like Ringo’s performance. The next day on playback, everybody knew, especially Ringo, but nobody said anything.

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That is sooooo British…

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Many of Ringo’s idiosynchrasies were due either in part or in full to the fact that he is a left-handed drummer playing a right-handed kit. He could have chosen to play open handed but instead plays orthodox right-handed, which makes it awkward to play certain type of fills.

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True…probably why the tom fills in ‘Come Together’ go the reverse way around the kit to what might be expected - starting with floor tom and finishing on the rack tom.

And in the process turning out one of most iconic fills in rock history! I tried to copy it but it won’t sound right (I’m an - average at best - right handed drummer).