The Big Thing Almost Everybody Gets Wrong About Jazz Drumming

Love 8020? Click here to watch a fun video about 3 "controversial truths" about great drummers - • 3 Controversial Truths...
Check out Hutch's KZbin video, "To Feather or Not to Feather" - • Video
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Chapters
0:00 - intro
2:09 - learn more about us
2:27 - what is feathering
3:46 - but we don't hear feathering on recordings
5:39 - how do we know anybody feathered?
8:09 - why feathering was (maybe) forgot
11:08 - Ed Thigpen and Case Closed
12:39 - Hutch interview teaser/outro

[@koolBOY8323]

too many people forget that the kick beater is just a drumstick for the foot, and as such should have the same capabilities as a drumstick in hand. ghost notes, accents, regular taps, etc. be it feathering or complex double kick patterns, our feet should get the same attention our hands do.

[@GuitarKitchen]

Good point - I think it used to be a hand drum before the foot pedal was invented!

[@gregkavonius2146]

I love accenting my bass hits when playing at church. One of our high school students is starting to play drums so we are trading off with drums and percussion. He was playing the kit today and I had to turn down his bass mic & tried my best to teach him about foot dynamics. It does take a lot of practice and is really fun when you get it down and also helps you developed your own unique style.

[@stevencarreiro5080]

The thought that "your feet should receive as much attention as your hands" while sounding reasonable = ostensibly laughable. Trust in practicality folks ..leave the gymnastics to those so annoyingly inclined.. Make grooves groove

[@ayoungethan]

@@stevencarreiro5080 I think a lot of it has to do with physics of tuning range. For example, melodically and harmonically, bass notes are generally thicker (more harmonically rich, taking up more vertical space in the mix) and so as a result often more sparse because it's easier for it to get cluttered and muddy. You have to shape the sound of the bass drum a lot to emphasize attack in order to avoid that muddiness. So then precise and appropriate note placement becomes a much more important skill. For this reason, I'm much more interested in being able to play singles, doubles and occasionally triples in any combination of shifting subdivision patterns (a lot like Benny Greb's Language of Drumming) than I am being able to play continuously fast. Note placement in the grid. Dynamic range is another form of control that is arguably more musical than playing fast. But I read all this in the OP's message, too.

[@oldgoat381]

I am telling all of you this as a bass player A lot of us love it when you guys feather on a 4 groove, it makes us both sound better

[@ARGBlackCloud]

I saw Art Blakey a couple of years before his passing, small kit tuned high , bass drum sounded like a tenor tom , and yet I remembered he feathered everything that wasn't accented on it !

[@mentalitydesignvideo]

I studied with Charlie Persip and Chico Hamilton. The first was all about feathering (and accenting, of course), the second was more about playing musical figures between the snare and the bass and playing very steady simple patterns on the bass (like charlston or a simple pickup note and One), but feathering in between or whenever you can. Plus I observed the following drummers up close: Elvin Jones Vernel Fournier Ben Riley Greg Hitchinson and a couple of big names that escape me, it's been 30 years. -- all were feathering. So there you have it, from the heart of the rabbit hole.

[@lucasroorda5929]

This takes me back years - one of my first drum teachers was a really, really old school jazz drummer. I was a 15 yo just getting into metal and playing soft was... not on my mind. He literally put his hand an inch or two behind he head so that my beater could not go beyond, and had me play medium swing. It was almost humiliating at the time (almost - he was being very nice and soft spoken otherwise) but it really taught me to feather the bass. Indeed, feel not hear. It gives texture to the beat, not sound. Now I gotta practice it again.

[@Strellock]

I like how the old school cats called the upright bass bass violin or bass fiddle! Question for the next instalment - What about feathering outside of jazz?

[@frederickvondrasek5618]

...I've been listening to jazz for fifty-plus years and have known for a while I need to be at least a little more about drumming--at least. I honestly feel like I've learned more about jazz drumming in the last 15 minutes than I did in half a century, and all presented in a context of clear, historical analysis. Thanks.

[@JustASnack]

An important distinction (I think I heard either John or Quincy say this in a video somewhere) is that, whilst you don't notice it when it's there, you definitely notice its absence once you take away the feathering completely. This rings extremely true when I'm practicing and playing with recordings.

[@MichaelWashingtonAE]

☝️ Exactly! It's felt

[@blindteo5808]

Here's the perspective of a bass player. I once was at a clinic given by GT Hogan, one of the greats from Houston, and he Illustrated how Feathering the bass drum actually makes the bass sound clearer and louder. He played a course without Feathering the bass drum, and then another while Feathering and the difference was significant

[@BrianH020]

The "felt and not heard" is exactly how I was taught. Hate to say it, but I think most of the time today, feathering is akin to doing long math by hand on paper. It's a skill that should be taught and learned as a fundamental. But using it in a practical context, unless you are playing pure jazz (as a style or in actual use in a strict acoustic setting sans mics), is probably not going to be necessary. As an aside, I found it humorous back in the day when Dennis played with the Buddy Rich big band (very first VHS concert) playing Sister Sadie. He's playing the jazz cymbal beat, but his BD setup (contemporary w/muffling) combined with the miking made his "4 on the floor 'feathering'" seem excessive. Not his fault at all mind you. Just my opinions... Nate, well done as usual 👍😗

[@derrickburwell7777]

"Felt, Not Heard", and "K. I. S. S." Two principles I live by and have incorporated in all styles! 👍🏾

[@ccshumshum8104]

thats how buddy did feathering, probably habits from his early big band days, four on the floor and such. its the thing that allowed his drumming to have such drive, and when neglected it doesnt really sound the same, which is why a lot of the burning for buddy tribute performances feel off compared to how buddy played.

[@jeffreywegener8841]

@@ccshumshum8104 but according to Freddy Grubber he did accent the 2 & 4 at the same time .

[@dorianrustik6880]

its usefull while playing on a big band, that being a pro one or a school one.

[@robertdore9592]

I absolutely love John Riley; he's a real 'keeper of the flame' along with guys like Kenny Washington, Marvin 'Smitty' Smith, Adam Nussbaum and the like. Whets more, these guys actually teach too.

[@harryrathien1082]

Bass drum "feathering" has changed its meaning over the years. Whats being discussed here is more of an offshoot of feathering is teetering on the edge of involuntary. Hear me out... In the 1920s and 30s, dance bands had trap kits with 24", 26", and larger bass drums. All being struck with a fat lambs wool beater. Feathering a bass drum back then produced more of a low-end rumble than a punch. A great example of this is Gene Krupa. Listen to Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall concert for numerous clear examples of this. Move forward to the late 1950s and bass drums got a lot smaller. They were also tuned a lot higher and being struck with a hard compressed felt or wood beater. The low end rumble of feathering was gone, but the habit was still there. Most drummers eased up to the point where the beater was making very little if any contact because it sounded bad. But they still feathered because that's what they were used to or taught to do.

[@loko306]

This is my favorite video of your channel so far!

[@GoGoGoRunRunRun]

Reminds me of layering techniques in electronic music. Different sounds seamlessly form a new sound together. If you take away a layer, the sound falls apart. Layering is used for all kinds of sounds, from drums, basses, leads to atmospheric background stuff etc. and if it's done well, it can become hard to tell what the individual layers are doing even for the person doing the layering, without soloing individual tracks. With more complex background sounds, it creates all those different patterns and accents as the layers interact and this in turn can accent other things happening in the song. Basically similar to the interaction of cymbal and bass drum you showed in the video, but we have much more tools available to form and transform sounds, not just playing techniques. For me it's always really interesting to learn about such things. I used to go to jazz clubs with friends that sometimes played there, but I didn't really know much about the techniques behind it.

[@bobblues1158]

I played with Thad and Mel. Sat in front of Mel. Bass Drum. I learned. Play tenor. Yes-" meant to be felt, but not heard ". And that was exactly what Mel said when I asked him about it. Mel was a baaaaad cat!!!!! Great coverage of this subject.

[@ReverieDrumCo]

One of my favorites! Thank you Nate!

[@davidjperkins1710]

Glad you finally got to this...I have seen JD, Elvin and Tony up close and they all feathered. (oldest guy in the room here probably). Plus I have a friend in his 90's who played big band and saw most of the founders of the genre and he talked about feathering- his first touring gig he was told by the bandleader that his job was to be "felt, not heard"- a lost art for a past style perhaps but I will say..Elvin's bass drum accents were mind blowing in the middle of that muted 4 on the floor.

[@8020drummer]

I love that we have first-person confirmation. I've seen elvin, but did not have a view of his feet, and wouldn't have known what to look for at the time ;)

[@williamperri3437]

I can’t remember the exact James Brown song at the moment but I think it’s “Make it Funky” that has a “Four on the floor” bass drum feathered technique on that track. Regardless, I haven’t seen most typical cats feather the bass drum on JB tracks but it sounds amazing and feels just right on “Make it funky” and “The big payback.” As for Jack, JD and Roy Haynes are it as far as I know as the top dogs still alive from that legendary time period of the Jazz of the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. I love both!

[@Ypsilon8Tube]

Awesome series Nate!!

[@matstellving]

I think that the best benefit with feathering 4/4 is that you keep the foot busy and not bored. You probably play a little less bassdrum accents, wich probably makes your sound more breathing. And therefore Better swinging.

[@MichaelSoucy]

Appreciated the Ralph Peterson mention. He was one of my favorites.

[@michaelburkley4613]

This is great and can help both drummers and percussionist . Much Thanks. 😊

[@TruthAndMoreTruth]

Incredible information, THANK YOU!

[@seanecmc]

I once had a lead trumpet player tell 4 on the floor wasn't jazz , lol. I saw Ed Thigpen do a clinic where he challenged the audience to say when he stopped playing the base drum volume wise, to know avail of course.

[@stevehelland6789]

Great video. This was something I was taught by a few instructors and local pros decades ago (would've taken me way too long to figure out on my own). It makes a huge difference in the overall feel, it helps you lock in with the bass player, and it helps you develop your four-way coordination to the point where your whole body just sort of forgets what each limb is doing individually, and plays as one unit. I began to associate it with Muhammad Ali's "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" aesthetic. Dance lightly (but solidly) on your feet, and then sting 'em hard when it's time for the big accents and fills. 😎

[@toddmorganofficial9333]

There's a drum clinic that Mel Lewis did in the '80s where he asks a whole room full of students to raise their hand if they play constant 4 to the bar on the bassdrum. Nobody raises their hand. He then immediately says, "Okay, every one of you is WRONG!"

[@webstercat]

Feathering allows your feet to “dance”. Also it is a time keeping device.

[@thelonious-dx9vi]

This is pretty great. I'm not a drummer, I play guitar. But I'm serious about real jazz music, and you really taught me something here that I'll remember. Cheers.

[@chchchch33]

A favorite topic of mine:) I play drums and piano, and i always feather the bass drum. It took a while to get it, but i have seen many of the great drummers from paul barbarin to elvin and they all did it. It's something you have to do on the gig, because every room is different and the bass drum will be too loud in some rooms and that's where you really get the hang of it. (If you're playing miked up, you may have to tell the sound guy not to turn up your bass drum, 'cause he'll see the signal and just assume it should be loud.) It looks like you're doing it w the heel up Nate, but i think being able to do it w the heel down gives more one more range and is better for one's balance. Of course we do it heel up, too, but most of the guys i saw did it heel down and i prefer that too. Back to playing piano--when i play w drummers that don't feather, their beat feels flimsy. I always really miss feeling the bottom. Also feathering really helps expand one's ability to play a variety of shuffles. Being able to play a solid bass drum makes a ton of difference with shuffles. Last but not least, feathering also really gets us to shift to playing bottom-up rather than top-down. And then you can do either/or, or blend things in different ways.

[@tdrummingw8262]

Congratulations on 100K subs!!

[@MichaelWashingtonAE]

I saw Elvin at the Shinjuku Pit Inn and a day later at a clinic at a music store in Shinjuku in 1999. He feathered in the gig and then talked about it at the clinic. I saw him last at the Tampa theatre in 2001, still feathering. I saw Tony when I was a teenager at The Thoroughbred Drum Expo in Tampa, he talked about feathering and about how he held his sticks and gets his sound. That was in 1996 when I was 19

[@analog_ape]

Great video, thanks!

[@justinrensel8518]

Excellent video my guy

[@michaelstevens8]

Nate, great Video as always. Most of the time it's good to be skeptical when anyone says Always do this or Never do that. It's all about what's appropriate for the Song/Genre. With some styles of Jazz absolutely like, New Orleans, Swing but louder. Definitely with Bop. With Hardbop, Cool, Modal, Soul Jazz, Free Jazz, sometimes Yes, sometimes No. With Third Stream, Jazz Rock, Smooth Jazz, Jazz Funk, Acid Jazz, and Hip Hop Jazz, usually no feathering, but not always. Thanks.

[@WilliamSlaght]

Great video! Love your videos! This one leads me up to a couple of questions. What exactly was this "distortion" that feathering caused with the recording engineering of its time, and why it was better to have it omitted? Also if our ears are used to hearing the music without the bass being feathered, what could be the consequences (both pros and cons) of newer recording technology being able to now, let's say, capture it more clearly? How would it benefit a track nowadays? Or even with the better and newer technology, feathering should still be completely silent, hence perhaps used purely to benefit time-feel? I wouldn't really know. I'm just wondering if I should really implement feathering, or if it's not as wonderful sound-wise as it can feel and then becomes a hassle when mixing. I remember hearing by few that the great drummers nowadays mostly all feather the bass drum, one example being Chris Dave. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts about this, even though I'm aware this is more the technical side of sound engineering moreso than it is about playing the drums as a drummer.

[@MonacoRocha]

Love Your Vids Brother !! You Know A LOT OF STUFFssSS ....

[@asherbarreras7168]

You can hear the feathering on Live at the Pershing with Vernel Fournier. Jorge Rossy feathers masterfully. It is felt and "heard" by the bassist that plays with drummer who feathers, and much appreciated! It helps create a sympathetic vibration that helps the acoustic bass sound off and lock up.

[@peterpots74]

Joe Farnsworth’s latest album ‘city of sounds’ had some great examples of feathering that you can actually hear. My teacher in the past Howard Curtis has told me of someone he knew who saw Tony Williams feathering seven steps to Heaven or Joshua extremely fast tempos back n the day backstage w/miles…

[@jonrwert]

I'm lucky, I was taught from the beginning by my band director to feather. It was strongly reinforced by the local jazz drumming heroes at jazz camps and later private lessons. I just thought you "had" to feather to play jazz, especially in a big band. Related to a comment below, yes it's possible to feather with heel-up technique, I use both. Heel down is slightly more comfortable but I use heel-up feathering probably 90% of the time because of the flexibility in playing everything else that way, usually just heel down if I know the tune is a more chill groover, usually slower tempos. I'd recommend getting comfortable both ways and using what feels best in the moment. One more thing, for people working on this, think about the classic technique consideration of stick heights. If you want to play a soft note with the hands you obvious use a lower stick height. Same for the kick beater. In other words, think about not letting the pedal come back as much, keeping that beater very close to the drum, you'll develop the control and feel quickly focusing on that.

[@joemilsom]

Check out 'Dark Prince - Live' off the Trio of Doom album with Tony Williams, Jaco Pastorius and John McLaughlin; you can hear Tony feather the kick drum during the drum intro.

[@mejsjalv]

A lot of it gets pretty much lost for those of us who play mostly electronic drumsets. Never heard of it before, pretty interesting stuff.

[@MrBarryhutch]

Interesting talk, I’ve practiced playing the quarter note on the bass drum a lot with swing mainly for big band standards, but the more contemporary bop tunes I feel that rule doesn’t apply so much, some drummers playing the quarter note more with hi hat to keep things driving..like when Peter Erskine played “Birdlike” on the album “Cables Vision”

[@jonathandorr2234]

🙏🏾It seems easier, to note, if we as wh drummers learn early about right side alignment, where time is held for the boom-boom,and left snare sound is the💥 descriptive constant. The feather, is the bubbly encourage-💨 ment of ‘feeling’ held between bd and snare. 🤔At any moment , visceral attention will wax and wane, while cymbals, hold an idea, for the 🫵🏽bass. Tickle them👀 , so Max taught at U-Mass, with Archie Shepp, and many greats. I was a stage hand there, and worked a 🇯🇲reggae band , for 30yrs, but when I was born , the first music , I heard was a jazz drummer. 💥

[@markjames8664]

It would be interesting to talk more in general about things drummers do that you can’t “hear”, as this happens even in rock. The brain filters out a lot of what is picked up in the ear. Example: a steady background noise that you don’t notice unless it suddenly stops, the strange silence of a house when the power goes out.

[@GaaraOfTheFunk606]

In the studio stuff I can still usually hear when it’s there or not! Imo it helps to be like “audio-engineer-brained” about it. Usually we expect a more high-frequency attack from the kick but w feathering it’s like a low “punch” to look for

[@jeffreywegener8841]

Fantastic. It seems like people forget bass drum patterns meeting feathering . Like yeah do the old Chapin book bass drum exercises & don’t feather or just feather. No ! Thanks & thanks for getting me on to some of the newer jazz guys I didn’t know . I love Hutch , Blade , etc but they’re a few I didn’t.

[@ACLOCKWORKDRUMMER]

Great vid nate

[@gmike912]

Brilliant!

[@jukesjointOG]

1) Tony could do anything he wanted, any time. So, there’s that. I will *never* forget the time I saw him live, and count myself blessed for having had the opportunity. 2) Max *definitely* feathered the bass drum, as he mentioned it more than once in interviews (as shown in your video), and if I remember correctly, at a talk he gave I was again, grateful to have been able to attend. 3) The older swing drummers didn’t really “feather;” like Max said, they slammed it. So even if Kenny kept playing on all four, it was still pretty radical to at least make it *sound* like he wasn’t. 4) My teacher, who was an old school bopper who spent some time playing with the big bands, small modern combos, and who was even on the road for a time with Billie Holiday, played that way, but often de-emphasized playing on all four in a jazz context, because he said one of the few complaints he got from other bandleaders about his students was that they “played the bass drum too loud” (a lot of us were jazz converts coming from R&R). Consequently, I’m pretty ok at dropping bombs, but suck real bad at feathering. I know that it sounds like I’m blaming my teacher, but actually, I’m well aware that all of the drumming things I suck at are because I never practiced enough. Thanks for the very thorough exploration of the topic!!

[@gitarmats]

That's pretty interesting!

[@DyneDrumming]

I'm definitely not traditionally taught, so this isn't something I'd heard of before today. So interesting though. Gonna try to incorporate that into my playing some today.

[@jcbozich]

“You coulda knocked me over with a feather…” heading for Riley’s book right now…

[@martinbladelvan1949]

Maybe it's like the bass-strokes that conguero's play in salsa music. Luis Conte explained during a clinic: when you listen to salsa recordings the bass stokes on conga's are often barely noticeable (except during solo's). This can put autodidact conga-players on the wrong foot: they play the bass strokes way to soft. That's o.k. for a pop music recording: the producer and/or sound engineer don't want to hear a strong bass-stroke because that sound gets in the way of the mid low frequencies from drumset, bass guitar and electric guitar. But when you play tumbao during a salsa gig, you need a very strong bass-stroke to keep the rest of the band together. Maybe it's the same with bassdrum feathering: very important for the band to hear on stage but not so much for an audience or on a recording.

[@brunoroy2665]

This is the topic that I have the most questions about! Nobody or almost talk about it and it's still a mystery to me! I'm not even sure it makes that big of a difference in the sound and the groove of the band because nobody showed an exemple with and without the feathering on the same song! Or at least that I'm aware of!! I'm really looking for some more explication! Keep up the great work!!!

[@brunoroy2665]

Explanation

[@johnmckenna1776]

Check out this Elvin Jones interview, at the 7:38 mark he does an example of developing a theme on the drums. They show his bass drum foot a bit later & he looks like he's feathering, and with a wood beater! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIqUmnWvntihq68 What do you think?

[@davideleouet]

Thanks for this !! Always so interesting. There’s also two videos I was thinking about as I was listening this one. A Mel Lewis clinic where he emphases the necessity to feathering the bass drum and an other video I don’t remember the title (edit : The Drum Hang of Chris Smith) where we can also think about feathering the snare drum and comping with the kick. Just to add some ideas… 😅

[@davideleouet]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWnClK2hoNCVf80

[@davideleouet]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipW1oZ6ehsumpLM

[@dividedwords]

Great video, 80/20! Thanks! Does anyone know which recording 05:43 is?

[@johnmckenna1776]

It seems that "feathering" is all about supporting the upright bass sound & not overpowering it. That said it would make sense to practice unaccented + accented notes on the bass drum. Also in watching the foot as it does this technique, I noticed it's mostly heal down & very relaxed, this may be hard for those who play mostly heal up with a lot of tension in the ankles & feet. Maybe a relaxation exercise would help to develop the relaxed sensitivity needed to properly feather a bass drum. Developing the feet is as important as developing the hands, it's just a bit harder & often neglected. Cheers!

[@jessemoneyhun3621]

Yes, perfect!

[@AustinMello]

This makes me so happy. I spend a lot of time trying to marry my feathering with my bass comping and it's nice to think that my head and heart are in the right place.

[@percussionboy4357]

A couple eyewitness thoughts: (1) I saw Jimmy Cobb (KIND OF BLUE) on a club gig in the ‘90. I was sitting to one side of his kit, where I could see the pedals, and he feathered a lot-it seemed like his natural habit, something he didn’t have to think about. (2) When Tony Williams was teaching group classes at Drum World in SF about 30 years ago, he was strict with students about things he thought were important-for example, he insisted we learn to play traditional grip. But I don’t remember him ever making sure we feathered the kick all the time, or even saying we had to feather at all. I would bet he could feather himself when needed, simply because he was such a student of what people like Art Blakey had done in the tradition before him and didn’t neglect anything. (3) Feathering might be less relevant now that the upright bass is amplified on jazz gigs. I believe feathering mattered as a way of filling out the walking bass sound in a small room (club) when the bass player wasn’t mic’d, and didn’t have an amp; the kick drum and upright bass, both playing a walking rhythm, combined to make one fat round sound in the room.

[@curtisburns]

Keep featherin' it!

[@Parisbeat]

In the video, you asked if Jack Dejohnette feathered the bass- listen to “Ain’t Misbehavin” off of My Foolish Heart with the Keith Jarrett trio.

[@markhedges1194]

One of the biggest problems is, if you have a first generation electronic kit like I do, that's the kit that does not recognise feathering the kick drum, you just get no sound. This is why for me, if I have a choice about play Electric/Electronic or Acoustic or latest generation Mesh Head USB Triggered Electric/Electronic kit, then Acoustic Kit wins every time! For me, playing acoustic is much more sensitive, and therefore easier to play dynamically as the music requires.

[@brendonmasters]

When do we get rid of the chain and just play with rebound? Tried that once and realized how hard real drumming is. Music is humbling

[@ashtonweigelmusic]

Hey Nate, Does the rule still apply for accents that fall on downbeats? For example, for a quarter note on beat 4, would you stop playing on beat 3 and then resume on beat 2?

[@MrPetedrums]

A few observations…. To get a real experience of what you are talking about you have to be extremely intimate in the performance space. Up close. Like the first seat at the Vanguard next to the drums. I have seen and heard many drummers doing this. Kenny Washington last week at the Zinc bar with Ted Rosenthal. Louis Hayes. Billy Drummond, Joe Farnsworth. I sat next to Elvin all night and he played the bass drum all of the time. It sounds great if it’s done really well. One thing that the old guys told me years ago like JR Montrose and Nick Brignola…….be able to play from the bottom up, not always top-down. Put some ass in that thing! Peace

[@cfusilier2]

Curious if there’s any thought to foot technique (heel up or down, slide) or adjusting the bass drum pedal. All in all though, the concept of feathering captures my mantra for drumming. You might not notice when I’m there, but you’ll definitely notice when I’m not there.

[@NudePenguin]

Maybe uncalled for but this is how I was taught: Heal down, Move up your foot on the pedal and put enough pressure on the beater so it nearly touches the drumhead (to minimize way and force you need to use). In this position its enough to move just your toes up and down to produce a hit.

[@8020drummer]

It's doable with heel up. I don't alter my technique much. I think it's just getting the muscle memory to play it really softly. As John said in the text, tho, worry about the timing first, then the volume

[@gregoryhills9249]

One can sense Klook’s feathering on those crude recording of him with Charlie Christian.

[@kaiowens1616]

I am honestly surprised how few people do this. I feather nearly all the time and it really makes a difference in feel. Just don’t be too loud on it for risk of turning the song into rock

[@Funkybassuk]

Might be a dumb question but surely this feathering technique can be used in other styles of music as well, then?

[@MichaelWashingtonAE]

Oh my God! Lol Exactly what I thought! 😅 "Who's gonna tell me if I got it or if it's hot trash?" No holds barred so to speak, of course, Hutch will

[@stuartlusk7643]

I’ve always feathered in a big band situation but never in a bop setting.

[@torocruz1192]

I got fired for not feathering a bop gig in Brooklyn my G. Never again!

[@matthewahern575]

When I started learning jazz stuff I learned from Tommy Igoe’s books and so for a long time I feathered the bass drum whenever I was swinging, and it felt good. Then I was playing at a jazz jam one night and an American dude was there scouting for cruise ship auditions and gave me his card (I’m in Manchester UK). At the audition he gave me one piece of advice - stop feathering the bass drum. He never explained why and I should have asked him. Since then, I’ve stopped doing it. I presumed that it was detrimentally affecting time or bass drum independence, or maybe I was just doing it badly. So I’ve been pretty confused about the topic and still am! Great to see a video on it though!

[@skateforzero357]

This may be one of my favorite vids that you've done. As an a drummer who's been largely self-taught at playing jazz, feathering always confused me. Sure, you can hear the accents. But it's almost impossible to hear the feathering on those classic recordings.

[@jamesscott6661]

This is sage advice

[@CassStevens]

Looks like the Hutch video doesn't exist any more. Is there another version?

[@robertodelatorre1464]

You don't need to do it all the time but need to know how to do it. Feather worth it.

[@MonacoRocha]

What Book Would U Recommend For a Beginner Jazz Drummer But I've been playing since 1965 I'm OLD 66 Brother Never Too Late... I'm getting a 18 BD 12 Tom 14 FT. I got some very old K;s...

[@martinlentini]

Listen to Max Roach's great solo on Stompin' at the Savoy (with Clifford Brown), fine feathering it's pretty noticeable.

[@mikebarker9187]

same for hi-hat

[@aaronknight9759]

Many players have a kick drum rock sound designed for attack and power. It’s very difficult to have a smooth, feathered sound and feel with that scene. Also, many modern pedals are designed for speed and power, this makes it even harder.

[@mikestix78]

Something interesting I’ve seen is Chris Dave will feather even when playing hip hop/Dilla style grooves

[@frankspikes7858]

Feathering is cool. I know how to do it. I just don't find a need for it. I play mainly funk, rock, and blues. So the bass drum is very apparent!! It stands out because it needs to.

[@DIGITALSWOON]

finally someone addresses this

[@themole2024]

Feathering is basically a heel down technique. The tough part is transitioning from heel down to heel up for doubles or accents. Not an easy transition for me.

[@8020drummer]

[Gilbert Gotfried noise] Calling BS, as a guy who plays heel up. It can be done, it just requires practice ;)

[@lucasgoudie1851]

@@8020drummer I would also say that feathering requires muscle groups more similar to heel up than heel down because youre maintaining spring tension to keep the beater so close to the head.

[@danielchernau3503]

Jo Jones feathered heel up.

[@therabbiofrhythm]

Nice... interesting -

[@WyattLite-n-inn]

The great Mel Lewis came up to me once while I was playing and repeatedly shouted “PLAY YOUR BASS DRUM!!”” “GET THE FK OUTTA HERE !” , I yelled back , at first not recognizing him, to which he shouted back .. “ I KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT, I’M MEL LEWIS !” Indeed if you listen very closely to “Miles Smiles “ you can hear Tony Doing it between accents.. Not ALWAYS but sometimes . kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWnClK2hoNCVf80

[@russellesimonetta9071]

It,s a thump for the guys on the band stand! It,s from the old days where the thump was important to reinforce the stand up bass. Just keep the time!

[@DavidGigoDrums]

We'll have to ask our grandfeathers

[@InYourDreams-Andia]

Interesting. I've always thought of the kick as on/off, due to the genre I play, (Glitch big beat) or at least in lower dynamics , with medium/strong accents. With quieter bands/genres with those very soft hits, I'm having trouble fathoming, until the clip...Where the difference btwn a feather hit then an accent is like night and day, and so totally HUUUGE!

[@yonickyg9719]

Wait, was this part 4/4? Will there be part 1, 2, & 3, or is it just implied ?

[@8020drummer]

part 2 at least. Gotta interview hutch. (this is part 1)

[@yonickyg9719]

@@8020drummer dude luv your channel... (the comment was an attempt to be funny/silly... implied... get it... felt not heard ... implied... 4/4...) i know i suk ! lol

[@donnieolaughlin1758]

Smash that like button

[@chrischilton2245]

Feathering in modern terms is playing ghost notes. It is a lost art that only jazz purest still incorporate into their playing.

[@patrickselden5747]

☝️😎

[@russellzauner]

Feathering is chug life for jazz drum

[@darioconstain]

“This is cousin mary” Damn i can barely hear the bass drum 😅

[@jefferyperkins4668]

The Bible on bass drum playing is colin bailey’s book.

[@johnburke568]

5:24

[@alexg4284]

i thought elvin, tony, jack et. al still feathered

[@theicnot]

Feathering, yes,,,on 26" bass drum, big dance halls,,,,,,that's where it coming from....Now you do what you want to do with it. In context of music and instruments and venue,,,,