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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhat Makes John Bonham Such a Good Drummer?
I found this vid about Bonzo's techniques. All I can say is HOLY CRAP! Anyone who thinks they are just another rock band have not been listening at all.
ZZenith
(4,107 posts)is the way Bonham hit the drums. Anybody can hit a drum hard but it can choke the drum past a certain level if you dont do it right. Bonzos technique allowed him to hit hard while drawing the sound out of the drum, providing power while still letting them sing. Couple that with his perfect pocket and you have one of the all-time great Rock drummers.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)of why Bonzo was an outstanding drummer. I got the feeling he could have gone on for hours.
The other thing, what I have always contended was the basis for their greatness, was their influences. I read stories about all the blues Plant and Page listened to together. I did not know about Bonzo's influences, though: jazz and James Brown (I'm sure there were others, but that's what the vid mentioned.) I think they were talented enough to really hear and understand different techniques, and they were playful enough to try different methods of incorporating those techniques into their music.
ZZenith
(4,107 posts)Bonham used to carry palettes of bricks up ladders all day long for a living, and I think that gave him a tremendous amount of stamina.
Thanks for posting the video, I really enjoyed it - especially the music notation in real time.
Alpeduez21
(1,734 posts)Which I think means he could hold them light and still hit hard if that makes sense.
Contrarily, Neal Pert used the lightest sticks. Still a good drummer but a different sound. Led Zeppelin used cool recording techniques.
Microphone placement and where the drums were played that a lot of bands didn't do.
That band was full of geniuses.
ZZenith
(4,107 posts)Two Beyerdynamic M160s slung over a balcony railing capturing his warm-up set they had put in a stairwell in an old English castle. He was warming up to go track the song in the main room when they noticed the slap back echo was in perfect time with the song. I love recording for that reason - sometimes one is never sure whats actually going to work until its stumbled upon.
But you probably knew all that!