[jimmy]

I'm going to say that I think there is no such thing as 'pocket' drumming.
One could can play in the pocket, but still have a musical influence besides time keeping.
Pocket drumming is more feel orientated style where you place yourself as a member of the band and basically groove.
I think that flamboyant drumming can fit into to a pocket, such as with Neil Peart or John Bonham (esp.), but when you come into simpler styles of music, the flamboyance of your pocket may shrink.
If you aren't playing in the pocket, you're just playing drums, you're not acting as a mature musician.

[JD_McJayderson]

There's one other little thing I like, and it's what I call, the "Hihat Slur", and it's where you open the hihats slightly, strike them, and then close the hihats again. Kind of makes this slurring sound. Really good at the end of a bar, to break up the sound, and add another effect.

[tas4499]

I'm a minimalist. I think a pocket groove with personality, taste, and creativity speaks more loudly to me than acrobatic flamboyance.
I think my appreciation for Steve Jordan probably sums it up. I suppose that puts me somewhere in the middle as well.

[Lukeykookey]

Well,
Aninuilienuct I haven't got a diddleydoo what you're on about but you just go and spam somewhere else.


Personally I love a real groove with good fills. I like it when every 8 beats is ever so slightly different. I like subtlety and fills that match the music. Theres no point throwing in a killer 16 beat fill over a slow song.

A good example is this guy, it just doesn't gel properly although he is fast and competent, he needs to just chill it out a bit more and make everything more fluid as a whole IMO

YouTube - Pete playing drums at AFC

I kind of like the gospel type of playing, BUT it is a little too over the top for my liking. I like some of the stuff they do though. I do find though that their emphasis is too much on speed and thats to the detriment of their timekeeping.

I like to get a tune like 'Editors - Bones' (

YouTube - Editors - Bones (official)

)and do a cover without copying the original drummer, but throwing my own influence over it, making every 8 beats slightly different and having nice long fills that build...

I hate coming on here late, its nearly midnight and I am getting THE URGE TO PLAY NOW!

[Kansmacker]

Great thread; here is my take. Different musical styles tend towards more "pocket" or reserved styles. Folk, folk-rock, acoustical and vocal-intense styles and soft jazz would be a few examples.

Classic rock and blues, IMO, are best served when the drummer "drives" the band and can communicate with the other musicians. The big question is when does the drummer serve as accompaniment to his group and when is the performance better served by a drummer who drives the band, providing a strong percussion background and pushing the overall power of the group.

Being a rock and blues drummer, I prefer a driving style, although I can read music and have occasionally provided a low-key background. Look to the styles of Baker and Bonham as opposed to Graham Edge who followed and directed the Moody Blues through complicated time-changes and acoustical segways.

Kansmacker