Need some drumming help with Pour Some Sugar On Me

Fassa Albrecht · #1 10-26-2008, 09:27 PM

I suck at drums. I really do.

Anyway, I can't get the drums right for this Def Leppard song, partially because I don't use an electronic kit.

Does anyone know how to play this, or can they work it out? I can't read drum tab otherwise I'd do it that way.

Deluge Of Sound · #2 10-26-2008, 09:53 PM

You could try it with one arm tied behind your back...

8guy · #3 10-26-2008, 10:03 PM

Dang you beat me to it, or ask Mutt wich Drum machine he used.

msquared · #4 10-26-2008, 10:07 PM

You don't need electronics to play this, but you do need a good sense of dynamics to pull it off properly. Rick Allen gets a lot of crap for being a one armed drummer who plays a lot of simple stuff by necessity but he was an accomplished drummer even before joining Def Leppard and was more or less forced into the simple drumming role by Mutt Lange, who had a goal for the band of playing music more suitable for arena performances. When Rick Allen simplified his drumming to suit his gig, what persisted was great feel and sense for coming up with effective drum parts which complimented what the rest of the band were doing. None of that went away when he lost his arm and is all over the Lange era albums if you know what to listen for. This is an example of a drum part which is simple but has some tricks to it.

On the hats you're keeping 8ths, but the offbeats are essentially ghosted. From a dynamics standpoint they're fairly low compared to the snare and kick hits and are providing more of a pulse than filling an outright timekeeping role like you see in normal rock drumming.

Snare is on 2 and 4.

The kick part is a bit weird if you don't have practice with drums since you're getting into 16th notes, but it follows the guitar so it should be easy to pick up. As with the usual rock beat the kick is played on the 1, but there is also kick on the & of 1, and the "& a" of 2. Everything but the kick on the 1 is played fairly softly, so it's not really a punctuation like the kick on the 1.

Ekim · #5 10-27-2008, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

I suck at drums. I really do.

Anyway, I can't get the drums right for this Def Leppard song, partially because I don't use an electronic kit.

Does anyone know how to play this, or can they work it out? I can't read drum tab otherwise I'd do it that way.

Well you don't HAVE to play it just like on the CD. My main instrument is the drums and there are songs where I just say "screw it" and do my own thing. If you don't have electronic drums you're never going to make it sound "right" anyway.

Munjibunga · #6 10-27-2008, 12:13 AM

Here's a pretty good video where you can see and hear a little bit of what the drummer's doing.

Phalex · #7 10-27-2008, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

You could try it with one arm tied behind your back...

My drummer actually has a girl from the audiance duct tape his left arm behind his back for this tune.

He says it's harder for him to get the right feel for the drum part with two arms. No only does he nail it, but it's funny as hell, in a totally tasteless and inappropriate way.

Krügmeister · #8 10-27-2008, 08:45 AM

...How did he earn the legendary status of being an "accomplished" drummer? I've listened to all thier abums before and after the accidents and I heard nothing that I would match to Carmine/Vinnie Appice... enough of the "Buddy Rich" comparisons.. he was a decent rock drummer with normaish chops.. end of story.
Good for him for not letting his disability define him.

msquared · #9 10-27-2008, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krügmeister

...How did he earn the legendary status of being an "accomplished" drummer?

I never said he was Elvin Jones.

Settle down.

phxlbrmpf · #10 10-27-2008, 09:29 AM

The one thing that jumps at me about this song is the really dominant snare, it might sound nice if you hit the crash cymbal along with it occasionally.

keb · #11 10-27-2008, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 8guy

Dang you beat me to it, or ask Mutt wich Drum machine he used.

...and dang, you beat ME to it...

Krügmeister · #12 10-27-2008, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msquared

I never said he was Elvin Jones.

Settle down.

Ok... I'm settled down now

**cheezewiz** · #13 10-27-2008, 01:41 PM

Drum machine. Synth bass. Completely processed vocals. Ya gotta love Def Leppard... NOT

fenderhutz · #14 10-27-2008, 02:02 PM

The guitar player is only one "S" from actually being great.

Fassa Albrecht · #15 10-27-2008, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phalex

My drummer actually has a girl from the audiance duct tape his left arm behind his back for this tune.

He says it's harder for him to get the right feel for the drum part with two arms. No only does he nail it, but it's funny as hell, in a totally tasteless and inappropriate way.

Epic!

Seriously, all the times I've tried to play, I've put one arm in my t-shirt.