Nicko's drumming technique

Actually, Nicko has done some really steady hi-hat work as well. One of the prime examples (imo):

Seventh Son live, from Maiden England. That mid part. Even though it's the same pattern all the time, it's damn steady, for such a length.
 
Forostar said:
Actually, Nicko has done some really steady hi-hat work as well. One of the prime examples (imo):

Seventh Son live, from Maiden England. That mid part. Even though it's the same pattern all the time, it's damn steady, for such a length.
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That's true, and that's why i think, as an overall package, Nicko is better. Clive set the tone so to speak, but Nicko just took it to a whole other level
 
Lego said:
I happen to be pretty fast with double kick drums... but I do play more modern-style metal. I can understand how some drummers use it as a crutch, a constant pummeling that takes the place of any real groove. In that sense, it can be pretty un-drummerish if over/mis-used.
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I can see this. But I suppose musical crutches are something that any musician deals with, it's less abut the technique/instrument/effect/etc and more about the player. If used correctly, these things can only enhance your style.
 
Well, I like your admiration for Nicko, nuno, but I wouldn't judge these guys too early (as overall package) on the basis of one song. There's a lot to discover, when you (try to )focus purely on the drums.

What do you guys think of this:

Clive plays his least spectacular drums on Maiden's most succesful album (or at least their most "classic" and first mega-succesful album).
Nicko plays his least spectacular drums on Maiden's least succesful album.
 
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Yes. I did not mean to pretend that the drummers were the main reason for this success and failure respectively. But a funny coincidence.
 
Forostar said:
Personally I find it difficult to hit a snare with my left hand and hit a bass drum with my right foot at the same time (when it's one of a 16th beat e.g.)
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Not exactly my problem... I almost never hit a kick and snare together. When I play, it's conversation between left hand and right foot. But when I go double bass, my timing is usually off on the left foot. If it's late I can fake like I'm swinging it, but I hit it early just as often.
 
I have no problem with it when I solely play right foot (but then it's no double bass playing of course). But continuously alternating left and right foot while hitting snare as well, never was a good point. I remember that when I played double bass drums for a short while, I often filled up the "gaps" with double bass, instead of filling it completely up (also during snare).
 
Forostar said:
I often filled up the "gaps" with double bass, instead of filling it completely up (also during snare).
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Yep, that's where I go when I go there. If you know what I mean. I just like throwing in a quick 16th, for instance:

Code: 
   1 e & a 2 e & a
LH         x
RF x   x
LF       x

Just a quick thing to spice up the ol' boom-boom-bap.
 
Been thinking about this.... who has more groove in his playing, in your opinion? Clive or Nicko?
 
Nicko has more groove because he's the "slower" drummer between the two. Clive still had tons of grooves for such a dynamic drummer. both seem to be clockwork timing wise, at least from the videos I've seen with Clive. apparently he had issues with it before they fired him because of his rockstar life. both are/were really tight drummers with great basics.
 
listen to Ghost of the Navigator from RIR during the solo. Nicko's foot is mad at that bass drum. Almost swore he had double bass (if he didn't and I missed it). he also explained the most difficult song he has done is Sign of the Cross
 
Re: the double bass thing. Nicko was well established as a drummer before bands started using two bass drums, or the double bass pedals. It would have taken a lot to "re-learn" his technique to accommodate them, if he had wanted to. And he was always clear he didn't really want to. A bit like some guitarists not liking a whammy bar I guess, but only using as much vibrato they can get with their fingers.

I'm glad he never succumbed (well, apart from that one song). I think it kept a bit of Maiden's originality by stopping them going down the double-bass-pummelling route too often in place of more considered songwriting.
 
I think it came up on another thread, but I'm a real Clive fan. He was tight as anything but with a real groove. It suited the aggression of those early recordings but gave the band a slight swing, which was, and still is, very rare in metal.

Nicko is, to me, much looser than Clive and can, lately, get a bit behind the beat. That's fine in some styles of music but not, for me, in metal. I want a drummer to lead the rhythm, even if it means being slightly ahead. Nicko seems to have gone from too fast in the '80s to too slow in the '10s.
 
2Mins said:
I think it came up on another thread, but I'm a real Clive fan. He was tight as anything but with a real groove. It suited the aggression of those early recordings but gave the band a slight swing, which was, and still is, very rare in metal.

Nicko is, to me, much looser than Clive and can, lately, get a bit behind the beat. That's fine in some styles of music but not, for me, in metal. I want a drummer to lead the rhythm, even if it means being slightly ahead. Nicko seems to have gone from too fast in the '80s to too slow in the '10s.
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Well worded. I hear that as well.
 
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