The Metronome is your friend. It is a trusted companion.

Do you practice or make use of a metronome when you are sitting at the set?

Posted - 02/19/2010 :  06:06:54  

I used a metronome when I was first learning drums. It helps ingrain a sense of timing when you have a tendancy to speed up. It helps when learning rudiments.
After a while you develop your own sense of timing and you have control over slowing down or speeding up. I always keep a metronome on hand.

Posted - 02/25/2010 :  14:09:05    

I started playing at 8 yrs old. After many years I became very accomplished. My foot was faster than most drummers' left hands and my timing was impeccable. Fast forward many years and I started playing the banjo (the drummer in bluegrass) and others would tout the metronome and I thought that wasn't for me because I was a drummer. Haa! I must have been smoking those no-name smokes again. While the knowlege of timing helped me accelerate the learning curve, my timing had deteriorated to ammateur status (almost).
I have since bought another kit and the metronome is a vital part of every instrument I play, not only for timing, but for a learning gauge.