First things first. Download your free groove transcription here.
Whiplash was unrealistic. I get it.
Not the film I'd necessarily study for my "double time swing". And Andrew Nieman, upon graduation, likely would've been the most "Buddy Rich" bartender in FiDi for a few years.
But did it get some things right? What about the "bloody hands" scene?
Well, I've certainly never iced my hands before a practice session, nor put my hand through a drum head. (At least not an Emperor.)
But I have taken plenty of "hard looks in the mirror". I've found myself lacking in comparison to some bar - intrinsic or extrinsic - and used that rage to power some pretty ADHD practice.
I call it "the cave".
And the more I talk to great drummers - as I'm lucky to be able to for the podcast - the more I realize it's kind of a universal. It's a focused effort on just one thing. It's opening the hood, and letting all the engine parts sit in the driveway until you fix it.
The most common - the type we see in Whiplash - is the "rage cave".
It's not "normal"/"healthy" practice. Its something beyond. It's probably not even the most optimal for mental health, or even skill acquisition!
It may not even be "causal" to great drummers. But it's correlated. It's what's bound to fall out when a burning desire to be better meets cold here reality.
But thats not the only cave. Players like Chris Turner, Madden Klass, and Nathan Schingler have a passion more fueled by love than comparison. Others, like Anika Niles, Stan Bicknell, and Zyck "The Freak" Wyatt have a "discipline cave", that's not fueled by frustration, but harnesses the power of discipline to accomplish goals.
Anyway, in this video, we explore all those types of caves, before finally asking "do you need a cave" to become great?
Know you'll enjoy this one!