Mental Health For Drummers - Alex Rüdinger
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- Опубліковано 31 тра 2024
- Faster Hands & Feet (in 10 days)
► www.Drumeo.com/faster/
Drumming is as much mental as it is physical. If you’re in a negative headspace, playing can be a much-needed distraction as well as a great outlet for negative feelings.
Alex Rüdinger is a drummer known primarily for his work with metal bands like Intronaut, Whitechapel, and Revocation. In this important lesson, he talks about how drumming and mental health are related, how he’s been able to take his experiences with anxiety and depression and use them in positive ways to push his drumming, and how routine can get you into a good mental zone.
If you’ve ever dealt with similar issues - or know what it’s like to be impatient or hard on yourself - you definitely don’t want to miss this lesson. Drumming has “really made me a better version of myself than any other career path could’ve done for me.”
0:00 - SONG: “Brimstone” by Whitechapel
3:36 - Introduction
7:22 - How drumming can help your mental state
11:00 - Alex’s warm-up routine
16:17 - Writing an album during a challenging mental period
21:39 - SONG: “Tripolar” by Intronaut
28:28 - Getting outside of your comfort zone
31:36 - Advice for beginners: Be patient and go easy on yourself
36:44 - What it means to listen to music
42:47 - How to be productive when you’re mentally exhausted
48:55 - Advice for drummers struggling with mental health
51:42 - SONG: “Third Depth” by Whitechapel
55:50 - Q&A
About Alex:
Alex Rüdinger is an incredible metal drummer whose first big break came at the age of 18 when he was able to secure the drum chair for Threat Signal. Since then, Alex has played with bands such as Good Tiger, The Faceless, The HAARP Machine, Conquering Dystopia (featuring Jeff Loomis, Alex Webster, & Keith Merrow), Whitechapel, Intronaut, Revocation, Monuments, Evan Brewer, Ordinance, War Of Ages, and Cognizance.
Follow Alex:
►Facebook: / alexrudingerofficial
►Instagram: / alexrudinger
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#drumeo #metaldrumming #alexrudinger
Need something to push your double bass playing? Click here: ua-cam.com/video/ZATtQ7bQDVw/v-deo.html
Friends, when is the day that all this so valuable for drummers has subtitles in Spanish? ..please see us do something about it, regards!
@@hectormaciel6800 We started a Spanish UA-cam channel here: ua-cam.com/channels/w-S9SuQhYU10jp4dGCZCqQ.html
@@DrumeoOfficial Oh great! I just subscribed, although I see that it has few videos I hope that they will add more and more videos with subtitles in Spanish, not only videos of exercises and learning technique that are excellent but also videos of interviews with great musicians and drum artists like Lang, Harrison, Hoglan among so many others, it would be great to have in Spanish the advice and tips of these great musicians, hopefully little by little they will double to Spanish and upload these valuable videos. Of course Thanks drumeo for everything you do for the world of drums ... thanks and regards!
My son is 9 years old with anxiety and ADHD. I just ordered him a drum set hoping it will help him. 👍👍
Ayy that’s great
Having both ADHD and anxiety, it’s been amazing being able to drum. It’s a great outlet and I hope he does well with it! Keep us updated :)
Best Choice ever!
imo adhd helps for metal cuz having good reflexes help, ik first hand the best of luck to him
Great! I'm also a therapeutic drummer, have ADHD symptoms.
PTSD from sexual abuse at a young age, society doesn't give a shit that it was an older female and I'm male. Drums saved me.
You're not wrong, and it's such bullshit. But I feel like in today's world more people than ever are starting to take that sort of abuse more seriously. I am sorry for what happened to you and I am glad music has supported you when no one else did.
Because people assume guys are automatically the aggressors and pervs.
Same thing here buddy. Much love.
I’m so sorry for what you went through, but I am overjoyed that you’ve found something that helped you through it
"Yeah,playing drums allowed me to really express my feelings and anxiety"
*Intense heavy metal in the background*
exactly.
Gajdoss Sebestyén probably metal is the most stress relieving music
it released the aggression you never knew that you built up over the years
Life. 🥰
As a metal head. Metal and classical music turns off my anxiety.
So, I used to have an issue with self harm. It confused even me, because I felt like after a certain while, that I HAD to do it. It was odd, I had never dealt with an addiction before, but that's almost what this felt like. I spoke with my therapist about it, and he explained about the endorphin rush that your body experiences while self harming, and it wasn't a bad thing. Obviously the self harming was awful though, so we discussed different ways to get that rush. He mentioned working out, going for a run, hitting a punching bag. I asked about drumming. He said it was perfect. That's when I started to work on my endurance while drumming. I had played casually at that point, but I really started to hone in on the physicality of it. That helped me stop harming. It's been over 10 years since I've last self harmed, and drumming absolutely helped me with that. I'm not a great drummer, by any means. I love it, I enjoy it, and I'll be doing it for the rest of my life.
Thank you for sharing Derrick! It's not easy to put yourself out there. So glad to hear drumming has had such a positive impact on your life. 🙂-
This was a great read
Absolute champ. Thanks for sharing. All the best to you.
I just wanted to tell you that you’re not alone here and thank you for putting this personal chapter of your life out there!! I used to cut as a result of trauma that happened to me at 12 year’s old and throughout my adult life also. I have also found replaced this self harm habit. God Bless guy’s!! 🙏
Thank you for sharing such a personal story. I know I speak for everyone here when I say how proud of you I am for not only kicking a negative habit but replacing it with a positive one.
This resonates.
Destroy that china
@@pookapookyoyo3095 I thought of him throughout that Intronaut part too.
But where is one?
No pun intended?
Alex Rudinger is definitely one of my new favorite drummers. The precision he plays with is flooring, and his part writing is dense but not show-off-y.
Agreed
You just read my mind
Agreed! He and Gavin Harrison play very different music but for some reason they remind me of each other a bit. Hyper-precise and seem like they're just incapable of overplaying, no matter how many notes they play.
This is probably the most important drum lesson ever made.
It's always a good day when Drumeo posts
That Tama starclassic walnut birch with Meinl cymbals sounds amazing!
Drumming is my theraphy and passion 🥁🥁🥁
Pretty cool to see Alex on Drumeo! People need to see an example of how you turn something that pretty much avoid you of doing anything into something so beautiful. It's like his drumming is a mission - so he can reach thousands of people and show them that they can make it as well! Hope this gets millions of views!
I actually discovered Alex ON Drumeo I’ve been listening to his material ever since 🥁💪🏼
This might be the most important Drumeo video ever! I deal with depression and anxiety from bipolar disorder and PTSD, and I have always struggled with the connection between my music and my mental health. It's so reassuring to hear Alex discuss the impact of routine, discipline, and pushing limits!!! I'm trying to get from "intermediate" to professional at age 41, and Drumeo is my daily devotional for my drumming spirituality.
Wait wut? 76 minutes of Rüdi on Drumeo? 🤩🤩🤩
I resonate with Alex's anxiety. However, this shows that consistency, dedication, discipline, and most of all Love for your craft takes you a long way.
Just wanted to say that as someone who also has suffered from depression since my teens, I'm 55 now, and later anxiety after a tragedy in my life, and being a fellow drummer, I would like to commend you for being brave enough to talk about this subject. I think there are so many of us suffering in silence with shame because you're afraid that the moment your peers and fans hear that you may be mentally ill , you will be shunned or labeled as an un cool weirdo or something. The sad truth is this happens. Another aspect of this is this is the time many young people start to use illegal drugs. They don't understand what is happening to them or they don't want to accept it . They know though that the drug they just tried made them feel better and they begin the horrible cycle of self medicating. That only makes things worse. It's time to stand up and support each other. No one asks to be mentally ill . It just happens sometimes for no reason. Thank you again for shedding light on the subject. Your playing is otherworldly.
This was the best one yet. I did not know this about Alex, I have been watching his videos for years. I have to say when you watch his videos or any other top level drummer you're seeing the tiniest tip of an iceberg that took many years to achieve and I don't just mean musically, mentally too. You know this if you play any instrument or do something for a very long time, that takes practice and skill. I'm 1/100th of the drummer he is but even still it has helped me immensely.
Alex Rüdinger is a powerhouse of a drummer, one of the most technically proficient drummers out there in my opinion.
ADHD, Anxiety, and Depression. Teaching and music are my outlets. Thanks for spreading the word. Know science, no stigma.
Man, I can personally relate to a lot of the things he feels. I’m a huge metal head, and I struggle with severe anxiety and mental health issues everyday. White Chapel is one of the bands that got me into metal as a kid, so i think it’s awesome that y’all had him come talk about this. Great interview. Drums have pulled me out of very dark places there’s no better form of therapy. Another good subject would be Drug addiction-or addiction in general, and drumming. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for this instrument and it’d be cool to hear someone else’s take on that topic.
I don'''t have the time to react, so i have to type this.
"Catharsis" is the word to describe what people feel when they listen to music as a reflection of their mood.
Alex, I’m 47 years old I’ve been listening to metal my whole life. I’ve been playing drums for 20 years. Your fast playing I don’t hear it as fast as regular people hear it so I know what I’m listening to. I first saw you play on a reaction video a drum teacher did on UA-cam. His reaction to you is like a young kid watching Michael Jordan play. You are like the Michael Jordan of drumming. The words this drum teacher was using were things like he is not human, he is a cyborg. Your level of playing is like a master of the drums. Pretty bad ass stuff he was saying about you. And I have to say I agree with him.
I'm that drummer that always thinks "Im not good enough" " Ill never be that good" "I have so much to work on" "will i ever get to that level"
It's super tough. Took me out of playing guitar for almost a full year.
It was comforting to hear that I'm not alone and that my favorite drummer can talk about it.
You're the man, Alex. Thank you for all the content and inspiration.
Remember the Polyphia disaster, they usually only let you hear what they want you to hear ;)
This was a fantastic discussion. I'm struggling a whole lot myself with things that are ridiculously simple to others but for me, is really hard, and that's speaking and driving.
I have a fear of driving, which probably spawned from several people I knew who sadly passed away in car accidents. I need people to drive me to my gigs whenever I have them, which makes me feel like a huge inconvenience. I'm slowly getting better with it but I can only imagine how far I'd be in the industry if I could drive a car more often.
I also have a bad stuttering problem. It's not really present in my videos because it's so much easier to talk in front of a camera for some reason, and I don't stutter during performances (say I have to talk into a mic) but for some odd reason, I can't talk on the phone well to save my life. I can make it through a call, but I'm left feeling like an idiot afterwards. I find myself ignoring certain calls because I can't speak properly. I'm very good around people in person, and I would even consider myself very open, but certain things like phone calls really mess with me. I absolutely love getting calls from Sweetwater, for example. It's great when they ask about my gear months after purchase, but it will always linger in my mind how awkward and pathetic my stuttering was during that last conversation I had with them.
Bottom line is, my issues have really slowed down my drumming career. At the same time, this discussion inspired me to be better, and to work on what actually needs work, rather than hide from my issues behind a camera all the time. Hope you all are doing well :)
Thank you for talking about this, Alex. I struggle with anxiety and depression a lot and I really appreciate when people open up about their issues publicly.
"You get out of it what you put into it" that really resonated man, thank you!
Why have I never heard of this guy? Absolute beast mode.
Hopefully you've heard of Travis Orbin? Alex was one of his students so that's how I found him years back.
Dude mad props for coming on here and talking about this. I’ve struggled with anxiety my whole life. Really enjoyed this lesson
My favorite metal drummer. Good timing, play musical, clean detail and amazing technique
Intellectually gifted guy that hasn't got proper treatment when he was a kid and now depressed and self-destructive. Drums are saving me too from mental breakdown. The sense of liberation and empowerment that being able to drum to heavy and fast tracks gives me is incomparable
Wow. Thank you Alex for opening up like that and sharing that about yourself. I know what you shared will help thousands as well as myself. This interview is a real inspiration to those who may be struggling with depression and also struggling with their development as a drummer. Love your drumming Alex! Take care. - James in Pennsylvania.
He is such a genuine and awesome person, I love Alex's music too. very inspirational. I have autism and metal drumming has helped me build confidence and fight anxiety
I was a drummer for 30 years and I miss it but I mountain bike now and work at a bike shop. I've leaned 50 percent of mountain bikers are musicians or former musicians. There's a pocket you get into with both and it's therapeutic. There's so much info about how both can help with depression, addiction, anxiety. The mountain bike community is so supportive too. Hope this helps someone.
I've struggled with low self esteem for almost 35 years. Drums have been like a sanctuary for me for the most part under those years. But I'm far from free from my struggle. Unfotunately the last 3 years have affected my drumming in a bad way. Didn't get better when I had to do surgury on both wrists, and haven't played drums after that, except a couple of weeks ago, when I tried for a few minutes, discovering that I lost almost all stick control and stamina in my hands.
It's unbelievable how good Alex have gotten in so few years both in drumming, but also in video production and editing, reading notes. My 33 years drumming have just made me an acceptable/mediocre drummer. Seem to be stuck at this level since 12-15 years ago. 🙃
I play drums for about an hour per day as a “workout” and it works for me. I love it. I’ve been playing for 20 years and I’m 30 years old. It is something that has been my outlet for longer than it wasn’t in my life.
Drumming is my way in throwing away my boredom and anxiety throughout quarantine, really takes a toll thi
I am a metalhead and also play drum, I have to say Ash's tee shirt choice never fail me!
you guys have no idea how much this dude motivates me. thanks for having him on!
No master list of extreme metal drummers is complete without this man, Alex Rudinger!
Drums are definitely healing in many different ways! 🥁❤
As someone with extreme anxiety, thank you so much for this video!
Can’t say enough about his playing it’s at the highest level and so jealous of all the different setups Bravo &Cheers 🤘🏼🥁🤘🏼
man, that could be the best ride cymbal i’ve ever heard in my life.
That new Intronaut album is absolutely awesome in every respect, and Rudy's drumming is just...Well, you're seeing it. I love this guy.
Check out the podcast The Downbeat with Craig Reynolds for more great content with Alex! He’s been on there twice with more insight into what he talked about with Drumeo
Ive been waiting for this awhile.
I’ve been dealing with depression and anxiety for years. Since october last year it was a real struggle for me to get behind the drums. What has been a huge love of mine, has suddenly become a very negative experience everytime i played.
Im slowly getting back at the level I was before.
Thank you for bringing up this topic Drumeo.
Those first few words before the first song... he summed up my life, basically.
One of my favorite drummers, hell yeah Rudy! So cool that he’a so open and helpful about mental health. Such an amazing guy.
I remember when I was 16 and I had big big dreams of being a drummer, but the anxiety and depression that followed made me completely unwilling to do anything with my life. Years have passed and I had this dream in my mind, constantly lurking somewhere in the back of my head. I'm 28 now, and last year I took a beginner drumming course for adults. It wasn't that exciting, but it ignited my passion back again. This, mixed with the fact that I had my own space to practice, which is currently my basement, helped me immensely. I will never be a professional drummer, nor am I going to be objectively good on them, but at least I can be proud of myself for finally taking care of my passion. I also learned not too focus too much of the fact that I lost an opportunity of being a drummer - if I ever get to the point in which I can at least cover songs from my idols, I don't need anything more. I just want a taste of what it is to be a drummer, I don't need a full plate as I know I cannot get it anymore. It's just too late and the only reasonable thing is to just accept it...
These days it's simple.... I see a new video from Alex and I click "Like" first and then watch it😉. Keep up the great work Alex.👍🤘
#mentalhealthmatters
Rudi is a real gem. Great player and great guy.
I suffered with chronic anxiety for 20 years and I am a drummer. It has take me 5-7 years to learn what I need to do to live with the coping skills. This is a wonderful story and I love how you use the anxiety to "feed the craft" Super inspirational!!!
Speaking as a drummer with a faculty of mental health issues, this video was not only helpful, but enjoyable and reassuring. Alex, you have a good grasp of internal philosophy, maybe more than you realise, and you are genuinely helping the world with this video, and well done to drumeo for putting it on. I know this will just look like a random comment in a comment box, but I’m a human being with very parallel issues to yourself, and this video has helped me feel supported. (Hi) hats off to you.
This definitely came up at the right time. Quarantine is making drumming really hard right now, mental health is getting in the way for sure.
At last Alex got on Drumeo, it's really cool to see an artist from other perspective, and Alex is absolutely nice dude and everything he said makes absolute sense! It's cool he was brave enough to talk about such an important topic!
The part about finding the motivation to even get to my kit is SO Present in my life.. This is amazing to hear from someone I'd NEVER Have thought would have this issue. I'm going thru this right Now...
Heard him talking about this on The Kopercrabb Podcast and had to search it out. Huge respect for Alex for taking on this topic - not to take anything away from all of the drum instruction/lesson videos out there, but this is one of the best. Never had any issues with depression my whole life until the past couple of years here and there, nice to hear a drummer perspective on this. Thanks Alex!
I've ptsd from my service I was also a side drummer. Didn't play for 28 yrs until last year. Its a big help
Intronaut is fucking amazing... the previous drummer is amazing, but Alex is on the same level, but Alex didn't leave anything to desire! Amazing drummer!
A gear guide for Alex' drum kit would be wonderful. Btw a great video to an important topic
Read the description of literally any one of Alex's videos, he lists everything.
He's not playing his own gear in this one. The kit is a Tama Starclassic walnut/birch. I'd like to know what the snare is, cuz I can't tell...
Wow, thank you for posting this!
More Alex Rüdinger! Love this guy!
Thank you for your courage Rüdi!
this was awesome! Thx for getting this subject on the table!
absolute joy to watch this guy play.
MAN, this is awesome! I needed this in my life right now.
I'm 55, love the Drumeo posts. Have played since 5th grade. Bands since 8th grade. Alex is on a level I haven't seen before. Awesome sound and Master skills.
I’ve been waiting for this video, since I missed the live session. But damn! Alex deserves all the praise in the world. What an incredible drummer!
He sounds so good !
Very inspirational too.
Good stuff Drumeo! Drumming helps me with my depressive symptoms as well, bringing my best self out of me. Cool drummer.
You're such a wonderful person, Alex. Thank you Drumeo for posting this video.
Interesting clinic! Thx Alex! And Drumeo!
First of all: Thank you Alex and Thank you Drumeo, this is by far my favorite drumeo video
ALWAYS do what you love most with passion, even if you are in bad shape, bad days or whatever what you're feeling. When you do what you love, you'll always feel a little bit better.
Alex LOVES drumming so much to the point of creating nerdy stuff with his own drums or cymbals stands and its SOOO creative. Dude could be a genuine designer haha.
Also, he pointed out something very important: there's day that you feel you're horrible in drumming and there's day that you feel you are outstanding... Actually, it's in nature of the human being feels this way in everything in life, and I'll use myself as an example: when I used to study architecture a lot of students were incredible creative or had amazing skills with those architecture software, creating realistic stuffs and I was like "man, I'm horrible, I'll never be able to do that, I'll never graduate". All I'm saying is that in the end of the day it's important for YOU to not compare yourself to other people, you need to compare YOU with YOURSELF to get a better discipline and be better in any particular subject or stuff you're struggling. NEVER LET THAT BE A BUMMER FOR YOU!
I love Alex, he's one of the best in the business and such a cool guy. Thanks for having him on Drumeo.
Very good Alex,thanks.
I didn't think I needed this, but I did. Thanks Drumeo💙
Very relatable, thank you so much for doing this Alex.
Awesome drummer - love his setup and style.
Great lesson and testimony! Loved it! I'm 55 been playing drums since I was 9, and I'm still learning new stuff!....Keep on Drum'n!
Glad to see Alex here! Great drummer and an inspiration for all of us!keep up the good work
I love Alex's honesty!! I get in my head a lot and it affects my drumming often!
Awesome! Thank you for sharing this information. Very inspired ! Cheers Alex and Drumeo. Love you guys!
A Damon Che shoutout! Never thought I’d hear that amongst all the quality info and beautiful playing; much needed watch
Great video! Love Rüdi and his grooviness!
Been struggling a lot with my mental health recently and this came in the right time. Also holy shit the drums sound good!
China is superb
I just found this guy today. Watched several videos before this, and like...... wow. Not a metal drummer exactly (But did grow up on Pantera/Slayer), but I kinda gave up on drumming on and off and have realized over the years it's from alcohol abuse and other mental blocks. Been dealing with so much regret from it all, but back to playing a ton. Alex is my fav metal drummer now. that instantly. Didn't know about him 4 hours ago. But the dynamics he uses reminds me of Brann and Danny. This video though was massive though with addressing mental issues. Thank you Alex and thank you Drumeo. This is massive to me.
Haven't even gotten to watch the video yet, but what an awesome topic, and coming from an already awesome drummer. This is fantastic, can't wait to watch it.
What a guy! So inspiring and full of great advice and knowledge. You'd never know Alex has these struggles until he talks about it. Dudes a legend!
this was fantastic. thanks to this dude and drumeo. and 👍 practicing with the office on in the background
Absolutely loved watching this. thank you so much Alex, and Drumeo... for understanding the need of making these issues more open, transparent discussions around mental health. Drummer's high was a perspective I never really thought about, but makes total sense. The way Alex performed was phenomenal. And I just want to say how grateful I am to have seen this video guys.
Thank you, Rudy! Really appreciate you going beyond drumming here and sharing your thoughts.
Wow so first off thank you for sharing this. I was actually in the middle of a drummer “mental breakdown” evidently when you were releasing this lol. Coming from a similar background way back in the day (drummer for Destroyer Destroyer) and playing with Intronaut quit a bit (‘04-‘07 ish) I can really resonate with a lot of what you’re laying out with regard to the trappings of wanting to excel and having to deal with pretty much constant anxiety at my heals. This has really helped me and a lot of others I’m sure to feel not so alone in these times. Thank you so much Alex and Drumeo!!! 🙏🙏🙏🥁🙌
Those cymbals! Sounds absolute amazing. Wow
Third depth sounded amazing!!!
I have been struggling with double pedal to get to the 200bpm and above speed. I try to be patient and enjoy the ride, but this kind of video really help to keep that focus. Thank you Drumeo.
I love this video! Drums are the best therapy in my opinion.
Alex you seem like a really good guy. your personality really shined through this. Great drumming and the perfect outlet.
Thanks for this, really helps to see a pro talkin´about this stuff. Thanks Alex, Ash and Drumeo!
such an amazing drummer and human being!
my absolute favorite modern metal drummer 💚
Alex is awesome. Kudos for talking about his anxiety and challenges. Doesn’t show in his playing which is always exemplary.