Music on drums

[br]Iam just pondering how does a drum works, unlike other musical instruments such as guitar, piano, violin, etc.. can't express major and minor scales and chords, it is just played according to beats in a period of time.

The question is why drums cannot express major or minor scales or chords,?

what makes it different than other musical instrument?

Nobody seems to have jumped in here, maybe because it's a guitar site, I don't know 🤔

I will take a stab at it. I bet there's probably some drummer out there who has a kit tuned to every note so he has a full octave. After all the piano is a percussion instrument. But why bother? Its not like other instruments. And its more than just about keeping time. To me drums are absolutely critical. Take the drums from Tom Sawyer. What have you got?

I'm learning drums now and all I hear drummers talk about is find the right "thump" that you're looking for. I haven't heard anything other than that about tuning.

I have to ask a question.... Can you tune electronic drum to specific tones?

You probably can Sno but I don't know how to do it. But there is a huge amount of plug ins out there.

I think it would be good to point out that, though drums are not a melodic instrument, they lack nothing when it comes to being a powerful force in music. Drums were probably the first instrument beyond the human voice, or clapping, or foot stomping. That heritage is deep and it works below the level of the concious mind, down where the brain can't get in the way. Drums are the Primal Instrument.

"From the earliest days, to offer up praise, they used rythum.

All the world's been the stage for comming of age of rythum.

Because they will never capture or cage the rapture and rage of rythum.,

It all comes down to beating rhythum, pouding from the cradle to the grave"

Jimmy Page stated that he took his ques for his lead parts from Bonzo (his drummer)! In other words.... One of the worlds most renound guitarists, turned to his drummer to for inspiratiion and direction as he soared above the crowds.

Drums are clearly quite powerful to music, despite (or maybe even because) of the lack of melodic potential. I would never sell them short.

Originally Posted by: snojones

I think it would be good to point out that, though drums are not a melodic instrument, they lack nothing when it comes to being a powerful force in music without it. Drums were probably the first instrument beyond the human voice, or clapping, or foot stomping. That heritage is deep and it works below the level of the concious mind, down where the brain can't get in the way. Drums are the Primal Instrument.

"From the earliest days, to offer up praise, they used rythum.

All the world's been the stage for comming of age of rythum.

Because they will never capture or cage the rapture and rage of rythum.,

It all comes down to beating rhythum, pouding from the cradle to the grave"

Jimmy Page stated that he took his ques for his lead parts from Gonzo (his drummer)! In other words.... One of the worlds most renound guitarists, turned to his drummer to for inspiratiion and direction as he soared above the crowds.

Drums are clearly quite powerful to music, despite (or maybe even because) of the lack of melodic potential. I would never sell them short.

This is so very true and powerful. There's a reason drums are the go-to instrument for trancework and shamanic journeying, and it's exactly this.

Wow!, nice explaination, I like the flashback of the emergence of drums into the music.

Just what I thought: when singing without a musical instrument, we clap while we sing songs in order to keep rhythm and tempo of singing, likewise drums can keep the music go in a rhythmatic way.

To the original question; yes, drums have a pitch. They resonate within a note range. Since a drum head can be tuned within a range of 'tightness', it's not a specific note but a range within which that sized drum head can be tuned. Everything that makes a sound is a pitch. Drum heads too.

With that being said, since it's not a melodic instrument, generally the ear doesn't care about the pitch of drums as compared to the surrounding music.

So, for the other part of this discussion, the best advice I've ever about being a good guitar player is by loving a great drummer. When you've got a great timekeeper that really knows how to play, it's where the magic happens.

In the thread, about John Bonham; Zep's Kasmir is a lesson in time signatures. Jimmy Page has never been one to adhere tightly to a signature. Very loosey-goosey. In Kasjmir, there are guitar parts that, I think, are 6/4 but other instrumentation that is 3/4 then you have Bonham playing a very straight forward 4/4.

It's why that snare drops like and anvil throughout that song. All that off-signature stuff between snare hits makes that metronome-like drum hit just crush it.

God bless Robert Plant for insisting that Bonzo join Jimmy Page's new band back in the laste 60's!

Originally Posted by: spcharles24

[br]Iam just pondering how does a drum works, unlike other musical instruments such as guitar, piano, violin, etc.. can't express major and minor scales and chords, it is just played according to beats in a period of time.

The question is why drums cannot express major or minor scales or chords,?

what makes it different than other musical instrument?

Drums absolutely have a pitch! So do cymbals (although cymbals have so many clashing frequencies it is harder to distinguish). So, all sounds have a pitch, although sometimes they have multiple pitches / overtones at the same time, creating lots of dissonance.

If you sample any sound and place it on a keyboard, you'll be able to hear the melodies. Even farts could be used, as I did in this video for a silly spooky kid's show... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIDq8waQpWg

1. Drum sounds are typically quick sounds / transients. And we are not accustomed to listening to their pitch. A typical rock kit is not meant to be used harmonically in context. If a snare drum is tuned to D# and the song is in C Major, we probably don't even notice it. Sometimes a snare will have a lot of RING in it, and can be tuned for the specific song, so it won't clash.

2. Kick drums are so low that the pitch doesn't register as clearly for us. There's also a high "click" element to the kick, but that's also on the opposite extreme. It's such a high, short, click that we don't notice it.

3. Toms are the most obvious drum in a kit that have a pitch you can distinguish, along with the snare drum (especially when the snares are turned off). But these are also not meant to be relevant to the harmonic context. So long as the pitches don't distract or sound OUT.

4. Drums (or more broadly percussion instruments) that are meant to have an important pitch are called Pitched Percussion. You'll hear that all over the orchestra. Timpanis, etc. There's also a whole "sub-family" of instruments like Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Tubular Bells, that are specifically meant for playing melodies.

As far as rock drummers, Terry Bozzio has set up gigantic drum kits all tuned to specific pitches / scales, as well as samples and midi triggers synced up with them. Personal trivia: Terry let me sit behind his kit and play around with that stuff one time in his studio.

Anyway, this is all to say that yes, percussion instruments can be (and are) used for melodies and chords!

-Carl.

Thanks a lot, really helpful