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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Buddy Rich vs. Neil Pert

Here's a great video for drummers, engineers, lover of drums, and musicians everywhere. It's basically a video that illustrates two ages of drumming, first with the legendary Buddy Rich, then with Rush's Neil Peart. While Neil is great, I can't help but feel that Buddy is at least a step beyond both in dexterity and energy.

A couple of things to notice:

1. Check out the angle of Buddy's snare drum. When was the last time you saw an angle like that?

2. Buddy's drums sound like one instrument while Neil's drums sound disconnected from one other by comparison.

3. Buddy's stick work at 4:40 is amazing! What control the man had.



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12 comments:

Anonymous said...


jazz drummer vs rock drummer. rich was a beast!

Anonymous said...

I consider Neil Peart to be extremely overrated. He is excellent technically, but his feel was always very stiff. I couldn't stand it! I saw the Rush documentary, in which he is receiving lessons to develop better "flow". I found it funny, but was impressed that after years of great success, he was willing to step back and re-evaluate his playing. Then I listened to the recent Rush record, and lo and behold it worked! His playing on it is great! Way better than the stiff playing on their older records!
Still not as great as Buddy Rich though...

Jef Knight said...

Oh ya!

Two of my faves. Peart's rock senisibilities shine through pretty clearly, but there's just something about Rich that I always liked. I think it's that 'floats like a butterfly' thing that he does that seems to stem both from the jazz feel and the tradition grip that really seals the deal for me.

Cheers

CaptainVictory said...

Apples and oranges. Both guys are legends. To say one is better than the other is snobbery. (Like THAT never happens in music.)

sculley said...

My drum teacher is a big proponent of that kind of snare angle.

hackgnar said...

Watch Peart at 4:10-4:15 ... that speed and agility could go toe to toe any time with Buddy Rich...

Anonymous said...

I think it is pretty clear that Buddy Rich's solo has more dynamics, higher energy, and a greater variety of both techniques and rhythms. It's not snobbery, just evaluating what I'm hearing.

Anonymous said...

Well the Buddy Rich parts have a nicer room sound as well, so he has a bit of an edge there. The recording for Peart sounds stark and non-human. Rich just has better taste in my opinion- not interested in Pearts big band sound, geez...

pc said...

I don't like Buddy Rich very much. He's excellent, that's true. He's very technical, he's very fast, he's so accurate that he's almost perfect... but these are not the only things to hear in a drummer.
I think Buddy is very respected in USA, but in other countries a lot of other jazz drummers are more appreciated. Tony Williams and Elvin Jones, for example. And in XXIst Century, Antonio Sánchez, Marcus Gilmore, Eric McPherson, Anton Eger and Tishawn Sorey (to name a few) I like all them much more!
I'm not talking about perfection, I'm talking about creativity and amusement.

pc said...

I can't stand Neil Peart either... :)
Except his drumming on "YYZ", which I consider great! And his solo on the live version of "YYZ".

Anonymous said...

Buddy developed chronic back problems in the later stages of his life. This largely down to posture while playing the drums and this is effected hugely by the angle and height of the snare.
He also had a 9 year head start on Peart as he started drumming professionally (!) at the age of four. Peart didn't even start learning the drums till he was 13.

Rand Bliss said...

Both are excellent drummers no doubt, but it isn't fair to compare because they are both acknowledged experts in their respective genres re: jazz & rock.

When it comes to versatility I'd like to see a similar 'comparison' with ELP's Carl Palmer involved. I believe he could play practically anything well and better than most.

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