Rimshots

[tonewheels]

What is it with drummers and rimshots?

The majority of them these days, the first thing they do after they've set up is hit a really loud rimshot. Thanks for that, I really needed that pain in my life.

And more and more I'm finding them consistently playing the bloody things throughout the gig.

They've spent top dollar on a great sounding snare and all they want to do is make it sound like a deafeningly loud biscuit tin. Fortunately I'm getting older and less tolerant so that's always the last gig I do with them. And for try outs I'm adopting a zero tolerance approach too. If they're trying out, one rimshot and they pack their bags. If I'm trying out, one rimshot and I walk. It's the only way to be certain. This pestilence must be stamped out entirely.

Edited May 22, 2016 by tonewheels

[mr zed]

Ah.....but is it a rimshot or a miss?

[tonewheels]

[quote name='mr zed' timestamp='1463950672' post='3055310']
Ah.....but is it a rimshot or a miss?
[/quote]

Nope this is deliberately hitting rim and skin simultaneously as hard as possible just to reinforce the neanderthal stereotype.

Edited May 22, 2016 by tonewheels

[Dad3353]

Sad, isn't it..? Some 'bassists' slap, too. It stems from the same glands, I reckon.

[Lozz196]

Rimshots are very irritating, purely down to the volume. A drummer I know does them on every hit on the snare and is deafening as a result.

[probablypike]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1463957628' post='3055388']
Sad, isn't it..? Some 'bassists' slap, too. It stems from the same glands, I reckon.
[/quote]

Aha. Somehow I cant imagine drummers doing nothing but rimshots the whole way through namm and other drum get togethers, though (unlike the bass equivalent).

[SpondonBassed]

I thought for a moment that "Rimshots" was one of those weird drinking games that first year Uni students are expected to play.




Carry on.

[Zenitram]

I thought you meant the nice sound you get when laying the stick on the skin and tapping the beat on the rim. Used in quieter passages usually. Is that also a rimshot? I'm a drummer so I should know these things, but I don't. I don't think I've ever hit a rimshot as described in the original post.

[Jakester]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1463977795' post='3055416']
Rimshots are very irritating, purely down to the volume. A drummer I know does them on every hit on the snare and is deafening as a result.
[/quote]

They don't *have* to be played at ear-splitting volume. It's not the technique that's the problem, it's the application of it, in just the same way that a bassist who refused to turn their amp down is also overbearing. Of course, it's probably down to the fact that everyone else in the band is amplified and turned up way too loud, and the drummer has to play hard to hear themselves...

Edited May 23, 2016 by Jakester

[Jakester]

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1463996803' post='3055570']
I thought you meant the nice sound you get when laying the stick on the skin and tapping the beat on the rim. Used in quieter passages usually. Is that also a rimshot? I'm a drummer so I should know these things, but I don't. I don't think I've ever hit a rimshot as described in the original post.
[/quote]

A 'rimshot' is generally described as stick striking rim and skin at the same time. What you're describing is sometimes called a 'rim knock' (though my old man used to call it a rimshot).

Edited May 23, 2016 by Jakester

[Hobbayne]

The drummer from The Specials was nicknamed 'Prince Rimshot' He was an excellent ska drummer.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1463996803' post='3055570']
I thought you meant the nice sound you get when laying the stick on the skin and tapping the beat on the rim. Used in quieter passages usually. Is that also a rimshot? I'm a drummer so I should know these things, but I don't. I don't think I've ever hit a rimshot as described in the original post.
[/quote]

You're thinking of 'cross-sticking' (although other terms are sometimes used, including, wrongly, 'rim-shot'...). Both techniques are effective; all the more so for their rarity. As usual, it's a question of dynamics. 'Variety is the spice of life' and all that, what..?

[MoonBassAlpha]

I love the sound as a tonal accent. If you use it all the time it isn't an accent....

[Cosmo Valdemar]

[quote name='Jakester' timestamp='1463996936' post='3055572']
A 'rimshot' is generally described as stick striking rim and skin at the same time. [/quote]

How do you do that?

[tonyquipment]

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1463996091' post='3055556']
I thought for a moment that "Rimshots" was one of those weird drinking games that first year Uni students are expected to play.




Carry on.
[/quote]

😂 strait outta the arsenal

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1464003293' post='3055639']
How do you do that?
[/quote]

http://youtu.be/mwjIdD0gbQ4

[TheGreek]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT09wbZ6eqs

[blue]

Rimshots, not high on my list of issues or concerns. If a drummer can keep time and groove I'm good.

Blue

Edited May 24, 2016 by blue

[ras52]

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1464102157' post='3056566']
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT09wbZ6eqs
[/quote]

"I wanna rim shot" is a lot easier to sing than "I wanna cross-stick" :-)

[leschirons]

Used properly and tastefully, they're a great tool. A lot depends on where on the stick you're hitting the rim. When I used to play regularly, I'd sometimes throw one in but the rim contact was only about 4" from the stick tip. I found this kept the volume right down but gave the required effect. Muscle power aside, the nearer to the hand that the stick contacts the rim, the louder (and more annoying) it's likely to be.

I've met a couple of drummers who can only actually keep time if their playing super loud rim-shots and once they're in the habit, all is lost.

[Cameronj279]

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1464003115' post='3055637']
I love the sound as a tonal accent. If you use it all the time it isn't an accent....
[/quote]

This...our drummer is a heavy hitter and often does rim shots but knows when not to.

Everything in its place is a good thing.

[Bassman Sam]

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1464003293' post='3055639']
How do you do that?
[/quote]

I can point you to some adult websites that demonstrate this well.

[bigd1]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1463957628' post='3055388']
Sad, isn't it..? Some 'bassists' slap, too. It stems from the same glands, I reckon.
[/quote]
Now that really made me laugh, that did brilliantly put

[Truckstop]

When I was younger and used to play in metal bands, our drummer used to do blast beats with rim shots. Utterly deafening but sounded sick as chips.

Back then we were just obsessed with making as much racket as possible!

[ivansc]

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1463996803' post='3055570']
I thought you meant the nice sound you get when laying the stick on the skin and tapping the beat on the rim. Used in quieter passages usually. Is that also a rimshot? I'm a drummer so I should know these things, but I don't. I don't think I've ever hit a rimshot as described in the original post.
[/quote]
That is the (Nashville/country/cool latin) standard cross stick.