From Tourniquet: A thank you, drummer talk, and more...

Someone shared with me that there's been some posts about drumming here lately - (thank you for the kind words) - so I thought I'd share a Facebook post I made a few days ago which I hope you find interesting. Please follow us there if you haven't already. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044529305855

"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." —James Dean

I ran across this photo yesterday and it brought back a lot of memories. The year: 1986. The location: industrial area somewhere in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The purpose: promo photo shoot for distribution in Los Angeles.



Then without knowing a single person in LA – not one – I left the comfort of everything I knew in Wisconsin and drove off, heading southwest on my 2055 mile journey to pursue my musical dreams. Despite the realization I would arrive in a huge city of complete strangers, what I DID take with me was this: my degree from University of Texas in business communication, my medical knowledge from working with a top pharmaceutical company, my lifelong passion and knowledge of classical music, my varied musical background as a fan of everything from progressive metal to Dixieland (thanks Mom and Dad), my love of literature - especially a fondness for the works of Edgar Allan Poe, my faith in God and a love for the treasures found in the bible, my love for animals, my endless fascination with nature, my interest in the quirky and unique, my ability to play guitar (I learned guitar and bass because our awful little band called Nile that my two brothers and I formed - needed another guitar player, and we had an “extra” drummer to fill in for me), and my hundreds (thousands?) of hours behind the drum kit, trying to learn everything from basic beats to complex polyrhythms, all the while hoping to develop my own unique style.

At that time, I thought of myself as only a drummer. Period. I played in Trouble as a drummer. I auditioned for Slayer as a drummer (actually, twice - as they called me back for a 2nd audition - then Dave Lombardo came back and nobody got the gig. Trivia: we played "Angel of Death" twice at the 2nd audition - gotta keep them feet moving). There’s a popular joke about drummers: “How many musicians are in your band” “Well, there’s four musicians - and the drummer.” I never dreamed that as a result of all the intangible things mentioned above, plus a desire and willingness to fill a need, I would go on to write nearly 80 songs with Tourniquet - plus more when the solo albums are included. Every note, every guitar riff, every vocal line, every harmony, every word. (with a few exceptions noted below)

There are a few things that encompass the great honor of being in Tourniquet for me: 1. The realization that no matter what era or album of ours you choose to listen to – no matter who is on that album, fans instantly react: “Yup – that’s Tourniquet.” 2. The fact that from Stop the Bleeding to Gazing at Medusa, and every album in between - fans have their own "favorite album". We see this every time we post a song from a particular release. 3. That God has used this music - and the never-changing bold lyrics - to reach people at the darkest times of their lives, encouraged believers to seek God further, and see things in a way no other lyrics have dealt with. I thank the countless fans who continue to share their Tourniquet stories with us.

So all that to say this: don’t be afraid to redefine yourself, to try something new, to follow your dreams and develop your passions for honorable things in life. Be grateful for every step you arrive closer to where you want to be - and be sure to look up and thank God, who makes all things possible.  – Ted

 “20 years from now you, will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” —Mark Twain

For those interested, here’s a list of all the songs I’ve written, so far… We’ve been told again and again that they encompass all the things Tourniquet is known for. Maybe some of your favorites are in here:

Stop the Bleeding
THE TEST FOR LEPROSY  
ARK OF SUFFERING   
WHITEWASHED TOMB   
SOMNAMBULISM   

Psycho Surgery
PSYCHOSURGERY   
VIENTO BORRASCOSO (DEVASTATING WIND)   
VITALS FADING   
SPINELESS   
STEREOTAXIC ATROCITIES   

Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance
IMPENDING EMBOLISM   
PATHOGENIC OCULAR DISSONANCE   
PHANTOM LIMB   
RUMINATING VIRULENCE   
GELATINOUS TUBERCLES OF PURULENT OSSIFICATION
DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM   
THE SKEEZIX DILEMMA

Vanishing Lessons
BEARING GRUESOME CARGO
PECKING ORDER
DROWNING MACHINE
PUSHIN’ BROOM (music only)
VANISHING LESSONS
ACID HEAD
K517 (drum arrangement only)
TWILIGHT

Carry the Wounded
CARRY THE WOUNDED
WHEN THE LOVE IS RIGHT
HEADS I WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE

The Collected Works
PERFECT NIGHT FOR A HANGING
THE HAND TREMBLER  

Crawl to China
CLAUSTROSPELUNKER
CRAWL TO CHINA
ENVELOPED IN PYTHON
WHITE KNUCKLIN’ THE ROSARY
IF I WAS THERE
BATS
PROPRIOCEPTION
TIRE KICKING
IF PIGS COULD FLY
STUMBLEFOOT
GOING, GOING…GONE
AMERICA

Acoustic Archives
TRIVIALIZING THE MOMENTOUS, COMPLICATING THE OBVIOUS

Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm
BESPRINKLED IN SCARLET HORROR
DRINKING FROM THE POISONED WELL
MICROSCOPIC VIEW OF A TELESCOPIC REALM
THE TOMB OF GILGAMESH
ERRATIC PALPITATIONS OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT
IMMUNITY VECTOR
INDULGENCE BY PROXY
THE SKEEZIX DILEMMA PART II

Where Moth and Rust Destroy
WHERE MOTH AND RUST DESTROY
RESTORING THE LOCUST YEARS
DRAWN AND QUARTERED
ARCHITEUTHIS
A GHOST AT THE WHEEL (music only)
MELTING THE GOLDEN CALF
CONVOLUTED ABSOLUTES (music only)
HEALING WATERS OF THE TIGRIS
IN DEATH WE RISE

Antiseptic Bloodbath
CHART OF THE ELEMENTS
ANTISEPTIC BLOODBATH
THE MAIDEN WHO SLEPT IN THE GLASS COFFIN
CHAMUNDA TEMPLE STAMPEDE
FLOWERING CADAVER
86 BULLETS
LOST LANGUAGE OF THE ANDAMANS
FED BY RAVENS, EATEN BY VULTURES

Gazing at Medusa
SINISTER SCHERZO
LONGING FOR GONDWANALAND
MEMENTO MORI
ALL GOOD THINGS DIED HERE
THE CRUSHING WEIGHT OF ETERNITY
THE PEACEFUL BEAUTY OF BRUTAL JUSTICE
CAN’T MAKE ME HATE YOU
ONE FOOT IN FOREVER
GAZING AT MEDUSA

The Slow Cosmic Voyage to Wisdom
MISSION TO MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1

(PLUS SOLO ALBUMS)
Ode to a Roadkill
MONKEYS
OWLS
LOONS
LIONS
WHALES
WOLVES
ODE TO A ROADKILL

Ancient Christmas
THE NIGHT INNOCENT BEHELD INNOCENCE

Onward to Freedom
ONWARD TO FREEDOM
THE SLAVE RING
THE NOBLE CASE FOR MERCY
LET THE WILD JUST BE WILD
NO SOUL
IF I HAD TO DO THE KILLING
VIRTUAL EMBRYO
ANIMAL CROSSING AT THE RAINBOW BRIDGE
DROWNING IN AIR
CAGE 23

Ted, thank you for this and for all your music! Tourniquet has been my favorite metal band since I was in college and I got a copy of Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm (followed closely by Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance). I was blown away by the musicianship and the intelligent and bold Christian lyrics. As I was developing as a metal drummer when I was in a band, your work was an inspiration to me. I thought Gazing at Medusa was fantastic and I can't wait for the next album!

Would love to see you make an entire album like the Gazing at Medusa song next go around. The best vocal performance of any Tourniquet song on that particular track IMHO. Just a stellar vocal performance on that particular track! Would love to see Deen handle all the vocals on the next one.

On a related note, was really hoping for the Deen/Spitz Christian thrash album that never happened:

2017:
“Spitz previously revealed “about an album and a half” of material had already been written and said the band members will come together in early July to begin recording.”

Ted, thank you for sharing that.

Pethead wrote:Ted, thank you for this and for all your music! Tourniquet has been my favorite metal band since I was in college and I got a copy of Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm (followed closely by Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance). I was blown away by the musicianship and the intelligent and bold Christian lyrics. As I was developing as a metal drummer when I was in a band, your work was an inspiration to me. I thought Gazing at Medusa was fantastic and I can't wait for the next album!

Thank you - great to hear. I think you may like the upcoming album...

average joe wrote:Make an entire album like the Gazing at Medusa song next go around and you will have something. I’m sure that has a lot to do with the best vocal performance of any Tourniquet song on that particular track. Just a stellar vocals performance on that particular track! I suggest having Deen do all the vocals on the next one.

Was really hoping for the Deen/Spitz Christian thrash album that never happened:

2017:
“Spitz previously revealed “about an album and a half” of material had already been written and said the band members will come together in early July to begin recording.”

For Medusa, I asked Deen if he would be interested in singing on the entire album, to which he instantly agreed. Buuut... he was so busy at that time with The Dead Daisies and other stuff that it came down to a scheduling issue. He finally had a small window to get in the studio to do it, and time got too short. Really thankful for his title track vocals - which, I agree - are phenomenal... He's back in Journey now, and super busy, but we haven't yet decided on vocals for the new album.. (except Aaron, who will do screaming for sure)

There’s no doubt you have great skills. Both as a songwriter and a drummer. Plus you tune your drums better than most other people. I like the tight and natural sound you achieve. 

That said, I can’t deny that I like the chemistry you had with the Psycho Surgery lineup. I wish that lasted longer. 

Any chance of you jamming on some old school Slayer on YouTube? I’d love to see that! I can’t recall you ever playing double bass faster than Scott Travis. It would be great to see you match Lombardo or Hoglan.

I’m also curious what that would have potentially looked like had you been offered the spot on Slayer in terms of your beliefs. Fascinating story!

average joe wrote:I’m also curious what that would have potentially looked like had you been offered the spot on Slayer in terms of your beliefs. Fascinating story!

I was thinking the same thing!

1986 was when Slayer were full blown on the “dark side” lyrically. We know it’s a gimmick… but nonetheless, words can sometimes affect us. I love Slayer musically. But when I know a certain lyric is coming up, I almost cringe. For example: the “hail Satan” part on Alter of Sacrifice. Mostly Kerry and Jeff’s stuff. Tom is a Catholic. Although I’m not sure if he was practicing in his private life. I guess we could assume that Ted would also just view it as a job and brush off the conflicting beliefs. The only difference between Tom and Ted is that I think Ted was a lot more serious about his spiritual walk. Not that I can judge Tom…

Hey Ted,

What member of Slayer did you talk to the most and get along with?

TZ75 wrote:There’s no doubt you have great skills. Both as a songwriter and a drummer. Plus you tune your drums better than most other people. I like the tight and natural sound you achieve. 

That said, I can’t deny that I like the chemistry you had with the Psycho Surgery lineup. I wish that lasted longer. 

Any chance of you jamming on some old school Slayer on YouTube? I’d love to see that! I can’t recall you ever playing double bass faster than Scott Travis. It would be great to see you match Lombardo or Hoglan.

I might put up a vid sometime playing to Angel of Death, or a similar fast "hit" of theirs. As for double bass speed - when playing the same 4/4 beat over and over - is one thing. However, double bass incorporated into unique beats and fills is quite another. Keep in mind, in the studio, literally all things are possible with a few clicks of the mouse and/or basic programming skills. But live? Here's rehearsal footage of Aaron and me working on "Besprinkled in Scarlet Horror" in a sweaty rehearsal room somewhere in North Hollywood. BTW - I've seen all three of those drummers you mentioned live (Scott even with Racer X) - they all play really great. And - the songs they play to have relatively short sections where the double bass is really fast. Who wants to hear fast repetitve double bass for entire sections of a song? Kind of like hearing a guitar solo all played at 100 miles an hour... https://youtu.be/igb6wURdcbg

Ted Kirkpatrick wrote:

TZ75 wrote:There’s no doubt you have great skills. Both as a songwriter and a drummer. Plus you tune your drums better than most other people. I like the tight and natural sound you achieve. 

That said, I can’t deny that I like the chemistry you had with the Psycho Surgery lineup. I wish that lasted longer. 

Any chance of you jamming on some old school Slayer on YouTube? I’d love to see that! I can’t recall you ever playing double bass faster than Scott Travis. It would be great to see you match Lombardo or Hoglan.

I might put up a vid sometime playing to Angel of Death, or a similar fast "hit" of theirs. As for double bass speed - when playing the same 4/4 beat over and over - is one thing. However, double bass incorporated into unique beats and fills is quite another. Keep in mind, in the studio, literally all things are possible with a few clicks of the mouse and/or basic programming skills. But live? Here's rehearsal footage of Aaron and me working on "Besprinkled in Scarlet Horror" in a sweaty rehearsal room somewhere in North Hollywood. BTW - I've seen all three of those drummers you mentioned live (Scott even with Racer X) - they all play really great. And - the songs they play to have relatively short sections where the double bass is really fast. Who wants to hear fast repetitve double bass for entire sections of a song? Kind of like hearing a guitar solo all played at 100 miles an hour... https://youtu.be/igb6wURdcbg

I see your point. 

But one song I do like hearing fast double bass (all the way through) is Gene Hoglan’s performance on Death is Certain (Life is Not). 

Some might say that playing a song like “Mission to Macs” is harder to listen to than a song with fast double bass all the way through. Because some stoner doom is played at a snails pace or a sloth. Droning a distorted note can be very hard to enjoy if you have a short attention span. Lol


(Clarification)

My comments are meant as a comparison (not to criticize). I want to make that clear because of the cold lifeless nature of communicating on the internet.

TZ75 wrote:Some might say that playing a song like “Mission to Macs” is harder to listen to than a song with fast double bass all the way through. Because some stoner doom is played at a snails pace or a sloth. Droning a distorted note can be very hard to enjoy if you have a short attention span. Lol


(Clarification)

My comments are meant as a comparison (not to criticize). I want to make that clear because of the cold lifeless nature of communicating on the internet.

For sure extreme stoner metal like Mission to MACS is not to everyone's liking. I mean extreme as in Sleep's Jerusalem album, which I totally love. Cool Dark Angel tune by the way - I watched a live version of it too!

I hate to say it, but Christian metal has almost always been a knockoff or imitation of what a secular band did before. Ted is the exception. He is a creative leader in (for lack of a better word) “underground” heavy music. He writes outside the box with very unique lyrics. 

My favorite Ted riff is Vitals Fading. Although it sounds very similar to what Carcass did on the Heartwork album. For the most part, Ted is completely original.

Ted Kirkpatrick wrote:

TZ75 wrote:There’s no doubt you have great skills. Both as a songwriter and a drummer. Plus you tune your drums better than most other people. I like the tight and natural sound you achieve. 

That said, I can’t deny that I like the chemistry you had with the Psycho Surgery lineup. I wish that lasted longer. 

Any chance of you jamming on some old school Slayer on YouTube? I’d love to see that! I can’t recall you ever playing double bass faster than Scott Travis. It would be great to see you match Lombardo or Hoglan.

I might put up a vid sometime playing to Angel of Death, or a similar fast "hit" of theirs. As for double bass speed - when playing the same 4/4 beat over and over - is one thing. However, double bass incorporated into unique beats and fills is quite another. Keep in mind, in the studio, literally all things are possible with a few clicks of the mouse and/or basic programming skills. But live? Here's rehearsal footage of Aaron and me working on "Besprinkled in Scarlet Horror" in a sweaty rehearsal room somewhere in North Hollywood. BTW - I've seen all three of those drummers you mentioned live (Scott even with Racer X) - they all play really great. And - the songs they play to have relatively short sections where the double bass is really fast. Who wants to hear fast repetitve double bass for entire sections of a song? Kind of like hearing a guitar solo all played at 100 miles an hour... https://youtu.be/igb6wURdcbg

I like the funny Woody Woodpecker part at the beginning of the song (just before the fast alternate picking starts). Is it a cowbell? Even the descending guitar riff sounds like a cartoon.

Ted can be fast on double bass drums, as we can hear in the title track of Gazing at Medusa. Check out the part starting at 2:43.

I've heard insane double bass speed by other drummers, sure. Some of it I've heard only on records but some have done it live.

For example, Rhino had very fast feet on Manowar.

Check out the drum solo part on Manowar's Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy.




The drum solo part starts at 7:45 and it has fast double bass drums here and there, but check out 11:05 for a bit longer ultra fast double bass section.


But for absolutely insane speed there are bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse.
Check this out:



Some of the bass drums that we'd think must be played with two drums, he's only using one foot and one drum.
And when he uses both feet, the speed is insane.
There are many death and black metal drummers who are able to pull it off live, and sure it's impressive.

But at the end of the day, while it's impressive to do some fast double bass drumming, I think there are more impressive ways to use the bass drums.

One good example is Ted on Melting the Golden Calf:




A big part of the song has constant double bass drumming, but what makes it interesting is how Ted changes the double bass speed seemingly effortlessly. He switches between three (or four) different speeds on his feet while keeping the same constant beat with his arms. Really impressive stuff.

And then there are parts like at 2:27 where his feet do some wild tricks that kinda make the bass drums sound like a running motorcycle engine or something
I recall hearing Vinnie Paul (RIP) from Pantera doing something like that too. Anyway, that kind of stuff is much more rare in metal than ultra fast double bass drumming and for me it's more impressive too.

@Ted Kirkpatrick - Thanks for your music. STB was one of 12 cds that made the trip with me to W. Africa in 97/98 when space was limited. That album, Bride's Silence is Madness, VR's Human Sacrifice, Deliverance and Morty's self titled were complete game-changers for me (and so many of us). You made Christian metal a real thing. What a legacy! 

Now my adult daughters are fans as well! When my oldest was about 3/4, for some reason her little brain was obsessed with The Skeeziks Dilemma and would listen to that song on a loop, as children are wont to do. 

Great to hear from you!

Airola wrote:Ted can be fast on double bass drums, as we can hear in the title track of Gazing at Medusa. Check out the part starting at 2:43.

I've heard insane double bass speed by other drummers, sure. Some of it I've heard only on records but some have done it live.

For example, Rhino had very fast feet on Manowar.

Check out the drum solo part on Manowar's Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy.




The drum solo part starts at 7:45 and it has fast double bass drums here and there, but check out 11:05 for a bit longer ultra fast double bass section.


But for absolutely insane speed there are bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse.
Check this out:



Some of the bass drums that we'd think must be played with two drums, he's only using one foot and one drum.
And when he uses both feet, the speed is insane.
There are many death and black metal drummers who are able to pull it off live, and sure it's impressive.

But at the end of the day, while it's impressive to do some fast double bass drumming, I think there are more impressive ways to use the bass drums.

One good example is Ted on Melting the Golden Calf:




A big part of the song has constant double bass drumming, but what makes it interesting is how Ted changes the double bass speed seemingly effortlessly. He switches between three (or four) different speeds on his feet while keeping the same constant beat with his arms. Really impressive stuff.

And then there are parts like at 2:27 where his feet do some wild tricks that kinda make the bass drums sound like a running motorcycle engine or something
I recall hearing Vinnie Paul (RIP) from Pantera doing something like that too. Anyway, that kind of stuff is much more rare in metal than ultra fast double bass drumming and for me it's more impressive too.

I agree about Vinnie Paul. He wasn’t super fast, but he had some cool patterns and amazing control. 

Listen to Scott Travis play this intro! It’s very Pantera (Vinnie Paul style). I love powerful groove patterns!

A few things - When you hear ridiculously fast double kick in songs - usually extreme death metal/metalcore, what you are hearing played is most likely the drummer using a "heel/toe technique" (unless you're hearing drum programming/drum machine or other easily accessible studio tricks: play one or two measures, then copy/paste all you want, slow down the track to record, then speed up for the release, etc.) As for the heel/toe technique, many drummers and others consider it cheating. I am personally not in that camp at all, as it takes time and skill to master, but I can appreciate how some see it that way. Again, many of the extreme death metal drummers do it. It's a technique where you get two strikes with a single motion instead of one. So your legs are going at one half the speed of the kick sound. It's almost always done with a special kick pedal - usually an Axis Longboard pedal. Too hard to describe the technique in words. If you're interested, here's a video showing how it's done. https://youtu.be/xHqkxHaQ-bI

That said - drummers generally don't really try to outdo each other with speed. For the great drummers, speed - with feet or hands - is only one part of them striving to be the best they can be. More importantly - at least to me - is trying to treat the feet as just another pair of hands. So you end up being able to do lots more with the kicks than just machine gun style double bass. There's a hundred other things drummers work on that are far more difficult to master than just playing fast, like mastering polyrhythms (playing 2 or more things at the same time - kind of like walking, chewing gum, balancing something on your head, yo-yo in left hand, ping pong paddle in the right hand bouncing a ball - all at once. But the pinnacle seems to be having your own unique style, where people know it's you playing when they hear it. How quickly can we recognize Neil Peart on drums? John Bohnam? Simon Phillips? Bill Bruford of King Crimson? That's greatness...

Speed for speed’s sake gets boring. As great as some of these power and black metal drummers are, give me Bonham any day.

Yeah I think the drummer in that Fleshgod Apocalypse video is using the that heel-toe technique, as his feet are making this sideways movement in the fast double bass parts. I guess that's one way to achieve "extra" kicks.

In extreme metal the extra fast blast beats also require some sort of special technique that allows the drum stick hit the snare more times than what a had would physically be able to hit. I guess the ordinary drum roll is based on something like that too.


What comes to unique style, with Tourniquet I think there are certain details in many songs that just wouldn't be there if the drummer was someone else than Ted.

There's this special attention to detail in many drum fills and the way the cymbals are used, the usage of bass drum triplets etc.
But then many songs also have a part that goes way beyond that.

Here are a few examples:

STOP THE BLEEDING
Tears of Korah
3:05-3:25 and especially the last part of that
Harlot Widow and the Virgin Bride
2:04-2:14


PSYCHO SURGERY
Psycho Surgery
3:37-3:54
Viento Borrascoso
2:01-2:07


VANISHING LESSONS
Pecking Order
2:39-3:00
Pushin' Broom
3:10-3:37

THE COLLECTED WORKS
The Hand Trembler
4:04-4:28
This seems like a very simple thing, but it's exactly what I like in Ted's drumming. Others would play that with a more regular beat, but here we have bass drum, snare, hihat, ride, china(?) and toms all doing simple stuff but in an order that makes the rhythm be out of ordinary and very lovely.

MICROSCOPIC VIEW OF A TELESCOPIC REALM
Drinking from the Poisoned Well
5:20-7:15

WHERE MOTH AND RUST DESTROY
Convoluted Absolutes
3:05-3:24
Healing Waters of Tigris
4:49-5:12

ANTISEPTIC BLOODBATH
Chart of the Elements
3:19-3:46
Flowering Cadaver
2:20-3:07

GAZING AT MEDUSA
All Good Things Died Here
4:18-4:39

Ted Kirkpatrick wrote:A few things - When you hear ridiculously fast double kick in songs - usually extreme death metal/metalcore, what you are hearing played is most likely the drummer using a "heel/toe technique" (unless you're hearing drum programming/drum machine or other easily accessible studio tricks: play one or two measures, then copy/paste all you want, slow down the track to record, then speed up for the release, etc.) As for the heel/toe technique, many drummers and others consider it cheating. I am personally not in that camp at all, as it takes time and skill to master, but I can appreciate how some see it that way. Again, many of the extreme death metal drummers do it. It's a technique where you get two strikes with a single motion instead of one. So your legs are going at one half the speed of the kick sound. It's almost always done with a special kick pedal - usually an Axis Longboard pedal. Too hard to describe the technique in words. If you're interested, here's a video showing how it's done. https://youtu.be/xHqkxHaQ-bI

That said - drummers generally don't really try to outdo each other with speed. For the great drummers, speed - with feet or hands - is only one part of them striving to be the best they can be. More importantly - at least to me - is trying to treat the feet as just another pair of hands. So you end up being able to do lots more with the kicks than just machine gun style double bass. There's a hundred other things drummers work on that are far more difficult to master than just playing fast, like mastering polyrhythms (playing 2 or more things at the same time - kind of like walking, chewing gum, balancing something on your head, yo-yo in left hand, ping pong paddle in the right hand bouncing a ball - all at once. But the pinnacle seems to be having your own unique style, where people know it's you playing when they hear it. How quickly can we recognize Neil Peart on drums? John Bohnam? Simon Phillips? Bill Bruford of King Crimson? That's greatness...

Alex Van Halen is also identifiable. Even if he had played with another band. He has that certain trademark sound and production to his drums.

Airola wrote:Yeah I think the drummer in that Fleshgod Apocalypse video is using the that heel-toe technique, as his feet are making this sideways movement in the fast double bass parts. I guess that's one way to achieve "extra" kicks.

In extreme metal the extra fast blast beats also require some sort of special technique that allows the drum stick hit the snare more times than what a had would physically be able to hit. I guess the ordinary drum roll is based on something like that too.


What comes to unique style, with Tourniquet I think there are certain details in many songs that just wouldn't be there if the drummer was someone else than Ted.

There's this special attention to detail in many drum fills and the way the cymbals are used, the usage of bass drum triplets etc.
But then many songs also have a part that goes way beyond that.

Here are a few examples:

STOP THE BLEEDING
Tears of Korah
3:05-3:25 and especially the last part of that
Harlot Widow and the Virgin Bride
2:04-2:14


PSYCHO SURGERY
Psycho Surgery
3:37-3:54
Viento Borrascoso
2:01-2:07


VANISHING LESSONS
Pecking Order
2:39-3:00
Pushin' Broom
3:10-3:37

THE COLLECTED WORKS
The Hand Trembler
4:04-4:28
This seems like a very simple thing, but it's exactly what I like in Ted's drumming. Others would play that with a more regular beat, but here we have bass drum, snare, hihat, ride, china(?) and toms all doing simple stuff but in an order that makes the rhythm be out of ordinary and very lovely.

MICROSCOPIC VIEW OF A TELESCOPIC REALM
Drinking from the Poisoned Well
5:20-7:15

WHERE MOTH AND RUST DESTROY
Convoluted Absolutes
3:05-3:24
Healing Waters of Tigris
4:49-5:12

ANTISEPTIC BLOODBATH
Chart of the Elements
3:19-3:46
Flowering Cadaver
2:20-3:07

GAZING AT MEDUSA
All Good Things Died Here
4:18-4:39

Wow - I gotta say - I'm truly impressed with your list! If you're not even a drummer - truly, truly impressed! I went to our Bandcamp and checked them out. You found linear beats, polyrhythms, double bass shuffles, etc. Usually it's drummers who notice things like in The Hand Trembler, Flowering Cadaver (one of my Top 5 personal favorite riffs I've ever written) , or All Good Things Died Here. You an expert, dude!