Dillinger Escape Plan’s Billy Rymer Releases ‘When I Lost My Bet’ Drum Video

As the drummer of thrash-kings Dillinger Escape Plan, Billy Rymer is known for insanely fast and complex beats. He recently released a video on his own YouTube channel of himself playing along to Dillinger Escape Plan’s ‘When I Lost My Bet.’

The video gives fans and aspiring drummers a top-down look at Rymer ang his kit. This bird’s-eye view displays exactly what he’s doing as he plays through the frenetic starts, stops and grooves of this song.

The clip also gives a clear shot of Rymer’s kit, which may seem sparse compared to the monstrously large kits used by many metal and rock drummers today. He plows through the song brutally and precisely, using only three cymbals and a hi-hat, two toms, one snare and a single kick with no double-kick pedal. The video shows how efficiently he draws out many different sounds from a minimal number of drums and cymbals.

Rymer is no stranger to giving instructions on drumming. He’s done instructional videos before, showing off some of his own tips and techniques. He spoke with Music Radar last year about his approach to the strange rhythms and time signatures he uses in much of Dillinger Escape Plan. One of his tricks is called the "block method." He said he finds a time signature like 7/8 and counts it in 4/4 by adding accents in the right places to make it match. He admitted that he doesn’t actually count beats when he’s playing, but thinks of sections of a song as words that string together.

“This may not work for everybody, but for me, I just memorize the rhythm,” said the eclectic drummer. “And really just focus on the rhythm as if it’s another language.”

The band released their fifth album, ‘One of Us Is the Killer,’ back in May. They’ve been touring relentlessly since then, finishing their latest leg in August.