question about Larry's drumming

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marik

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for all you drummers out there, would you consider Larry a great drummer compared to other drummers from professional bands? is his technique good? i heard he kinda 'breaks' the rules cuz he taught himself. does he 'hit hard' compared to most drummers? i never see him with his arms crossed when drumming, but all other drummers do this, what does this mean?
 
Nowadays, Larry hits quite light for a rock drummer. He isn't regarded as a great drummer in musician circles but he fulfills his role in U2 to a tea and he is integral to their sound.

That being said he would never be regarded as a "session" musician...even Larry would admit this...

Kudos to him for the Vertigo tour though - the set is pretty upbeat (i.e. no b-stage stuff) and he is holding it all together night after night...

As for his technique, I can' t really comment as I am not a drummer but he does do some unique things (i.e. his one floor tom is on his left hand side etc...)

Cheers,
Brady
 
Larry is not considered great in musician circles. In fact, I have friends who are studio/session drummers that I would consider better. But like bradyvox said, Larry fits the part for U2. He plays perfect with their style and he has even come up with a few good beats along the way (i.e. Bullet, Please, and Streets).


On an unrelated note, the drummer from Kasabian is unbelievable. I would recommend seeing Kasabian just to watch him.
 
Yes, I have to admit, Larry is not one of the great drummers. I've been playing the drums for about a year and a half and I can play most U2 songs.

However, even though his beats are not very hard to play, some of the songs are quite physically demanding, such as Electric Co., Out of Control, I Will Follow.

Electric Co. is one of the few U2 songs that I find hard to play, as well as 40 and Please. In contrast, I think 'I Will Follow,' 'New Year's Day,' 'Beautiful Day,' and 'All Because of You,' are easy beats to play.

bradyvox said:

As for his technique, I can' t really comment as I am not a drummer but he does do some unique things (i.e. his one floor tom is on his left hand side etc...)

Cheers,
Brady
Click to expand...

Actually he has 2 floor toms, the standard one on the right, and one on the left that not many drummers have.
 
I think Larry is really bringing it on this tour. He sounds much much stronger and is hitter harder than he did on the Elevation tour. And he looks like he's actually enjoying himself, whereas before he always had that painful grimace look on his face. Go Larry!

That being said, he's no Jimmy Chamberlin or Danny Carey.
 
well i am actually a drummerand hears what i have to say.

hes not among the best(its easy to say keith moon and mitch mitchells are the best and larry mullens isnt close to them) but by no means is he bad.

he has somewat of a different sound to himself especially in the 80s(like for war and boy)

i had a chance to play like a song on drums myself and didnt find it too challenging(2 weeks to get it down perfectly)

Id also like to note his drumming is becoming more an more dissapointing as U2 releases more albums(hes less creative and the beats just arent that good anymore)
 
As a bass player, I hate drummers in general. "Good drummers" are usually the ones who just frigin crazy and try to come up with a some crappy little fill for everything. I like a nice steady beat that sounds good to play along too. I pretty much learned the bass by playing along to U2 albums, so I love Larry.

One of the best drummers, imo. Certainly not a drumbags (my deragotory term for drummers).
 
There is banging a drum and there is getting a feeling out of it. Larry acheives the latter. Any tube can bang a drum..........me included. Larry is solid, watch toward the end of bad on rattle and hum and see larry in full flow.
 
A band is only as good as it's drummer! For U2's music? No need for Larry to get all Danny Carey or Carter Beauford-ish. Larry reminds me of a laid back Jon Bonham and there's nothing wrong with that. :|
 
Apparently to brian eno or lanois larry is one of the most powerful drummers he hits quite hard.
I'm not a drummer but I can drum and he has alot of stamina in his playing as well and he keeps the beat very tight it's quite hard to keep up with him. His drum rolls are immaculate (hailing from his days in the artane boys band).

You can't really define a technique for drumming but in the earlier albums his military style drumming could be heard...he's developed into quite a minimalist he only plays for the song.

And you don't need to cross your arms all the time cos you can play what you are playing on a ride cymbal (usually the largest one on the right) thats why he does cross his arms much.

But all the different snare sounds he uses is quite good aswell i don't how he does that yet probably tightens and loosens the snare.
 
marik said:
why do so many other drummers always have their arms crossed when playing?
Click to expand...

Because the hi-hat is located to the left of the snare. And that is because we have to control it with our left feet, because we already have our right feet occupied with the bass drum. The most common and basic beats are played with the hi-hat, snare, and bass drums.
 
This is my final thought on the matter: Larry is a true musician, while most drummers are simply drummers. Drummers=drumbags. Every memember of U2 is a musician, that's why U2 is the best band to ever record.

End of Story (for all Boys and Girls).
 
marik said:
so then why does Larry almost NEVER cross his arms? are his hi-hats located elsewhere? does he not use hi-hats?
Click to expand...

lol, of course Larry uses a hi-hat. and for every drummer, the hi-hat has to be basically in the same position, the left of the snare. Larry uses the hi-hat most of the time. sometimes he crosses his arms, for some tunes he uses both arms for the hi-hat while alternating one with the snare. go to the elevation boston video, you can see him using the hi-hat in: Elevation, UTEOTW, Stuck, Kite, I will follow (whole song is arms crossed), sunday bloody sunday, in a little while (cross arms whole song), bad, bullet (cross arms whole song), and walk on.

in the elevation boston video, you may not get a good look. but go to the popmart video, and when the camera is behind larry in songs such as new years day, the thing that looks like a cymbal that larry hits most of the time during that song is the hi-hat.
 
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It seems to me that he taught himself to rock the hats with right hand instead of the left and when he hits the snare he moves his right to the snare and hits the hats with his left. Somewhat unconventional but visually it looks cool because you can exaggerate the arc of the left hand because you have all the time in the world to bring it down on the 2 and the 4. The early footage of him playing he does this pretty much exclusively but he started moving away from it in the 90's and worked in a more traditional cross armed style. I've noticed that he goes back to his old habits sometimes when playing the older songs. When we play New Years Day I sometimes work the "Larry's Backwards Hat" style in just because it's fun and looks cool.
 
Too funny everyone says they can play Larry's drum parts...but when they sit down behind the kit and try to play with click tracks and sequencers ( like Larry does) they sound horrible. Most U2 tribute drummers I hear don't play or sound anything like Larry.

Alot more going on than you folks think
 
Infinity

Yes, I have to admit, Larry is not one of the great drummers. I've been playing the drums for about a year and a half and I can play most U2 songs.



Hahaha now that is a laugh! It takes one year just to figure out how to hold the sticks much less play anything correctly. I can guarantee you stink..would love to laugh seeing you try to play any U2 song. Maybe after 15 years of practice you will undertand what I mean.
 
marik said:
so then why does Larry almost NEVER cross his arms? are his hi-hats located elsewhere? does he not use hi-hats?
Click to expand...

Sure you have been paying attention?

And to whoever said that after a year, they can play most of Larry's parts... prove it. Not saying you can't. Just a friendly challenge.

Post a U2 clip of you playing a few U2 songs - live with a band - including any sequenced parts that are in the song in question.
 
Sure you have been paying attention?

And to whoever said that after a year, they can play most of Larry's parts... prove it. Not saying you can't. Just a friendly challenge.

Post a U2 clip of you playing a few U2 songs - live with a band - including any sequenced parts that are in the song in question.


There is not a snowballs chance in hell this person with 1 year on the drums can play any U2 song or anything else for that matter. I've heard people with 20+ years experience unable to play U2 songs and with click tracks .
 
clint said:
Sure you have been paying attention?

And to whoever said that after a year, they can play most of Larry's parts... prove it. Not saying you can't. Just a friendly challenge.

Post a U2 clip of you playing a few U2 songs - live with a band - including any sequenced parts that are in the song in question.


There is not a snowballs chance in hell this person with 1 year on the drums can play any U2 song or anything else for that matter. I've heard people with 20+ years experience unable to play U2 songs and with click tracks .
Click to expand...

Bollocks! I don't think it's impossible. It isn't likely. But some have a natural talent and others have to work up to it.

My challenge was if you can play as you say, post a clip. Not necessarly to call them out on it. Just interested in seeing their playing.

I can agree that even natural talent usually doesn't mean one can play effectively along with a click or sequence but I suppose it's possible.

(Improbable but possible)
 
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