Why drums?

[vurt]

it's genetic.
the great apes also use wood knocking as communication.

[Odd Fella]

I've often wondered the same thing as the OP, it's a fascinating question. Perhaps the kick / snare duo mimics footstomps and handclaps, a very natural human way of generating rhythm since forever. The low frequencies of kicks / footstomps physically shift the most air... a downbeat might sort mimic a heartbeat?

Africa is surely very important in terms of the musical development of what rhythms work. The djembe goes back thousands of years, and you can hear how you can get both low and high tones from the same drum:



I guess as time went by, people experimented with different kinds of drums, the larger ones accenting the lower frequencies.

Culturally I think black music began to dominate from gospel and soul, and so much western music off-shot from that. Someone once observed that white congregations in churches instinctively clap on the downbeat which sounds leaden and crap, while black congregations instinctively clap on the offbeat, which gives all the energy.

The rhythm at 50 secs in the video is nice.

I am not a fan of modern Urban Music, which I guess is the modern term for what used to be called Black Music. Now there is way too much emphasis on the kick drum, which is often irritating as you can't listen to a song at normal volume, else the neighbors complain. Started in the 90s if I remember correctly.

[Odd Fella]

There are black pads on all drums (see screenshot), probably to silence the beats and not to interfere with the playback

Ah ok, yes you got it. Those are mutes. Something Alex Van Halen could use on his cymbals on some songs.

Those coincidences... And did that song make you decide to become a drummer?

No I was four when I encountered drumming. My mom was friends with a neighbor who's teenage son was a drummer. We visited one day and he let us in his room to hear him play.
My mom covered her ears and had to listen outside the room.
I stood there in front of the kit absorbing everything and loved it.
Of course now i have tinnitus and lower back problems but goddamit it was worth it.

I actually prefer Talk Talk's earlier stuff, when they still used a lot of synths, and Simmons drums.

Ok so you like the simmons sound over acoustic. I'm vice versa but can appreciate the simmons sound in ie: reggae. Early reggae not anything current and definitely not reggaeton.
The only thing reggaeton is good for is Shakira shaking her ass.

Not really. I like acoustic drums as well. But I associate the Simmons sound with my teenage years, they used them a lot in the early 80's. I liked the juicy full sound, like on this popular song from 1983:


Yes, drums are terribly loud. There used to live a drummer a couple of houses down the road. He used to play with his windows open, what a noise Now it is quiet, maybe he died from Tinnitus.

[VOODOO U]

Africa is surely very important in terms of the musical development of what rhythms work.

I heard "through the grapevine" that when consuming specific plants, rhythm from percussion serves as a language similar to machine language of computing.
So each percussion beat becomes binary where hit is On (1) and no hit is Off (2).
This communication of specific rhythms into a body that has taken the specific herb(s) allows one to be induced into a trance state among other abilities.

Culturally I think black music began to dominate from gospel and soul, and so much western music off-shot from that.

It began to dominate from day one when Africans came to other lands.
It all started with drumming which led to Jas etc etc.
Blues is another one. Rock N Roll and Country music come from the blues.

[VOODOO U]

Not really. I like acoustic drums as well. But I associate the Simmons sound with my teenage years, they used them a lot in the early 80's. I liked the juicy full sound, like on this popular song from 1983:

I prefer Hitline.

[vurt]

some nice tabla stuff in here, and the drummer on the kit is pretty good too