I love jazz and I set up the kit completely different to get out of my comfort zone. Here's a video of Cindy Blackman.https://youtu.be/RyXYFtsqym4
Cindy,s not playing by the rules, there are none for freestyle. That's why tec. drummers often can't do it. Cindy's not keeping time at all. The bass player is outside having a cigarette, the guitar is tuning his axe and the lead is messing with the chicks. No time to keep. Cindy is putting stored riffs together in her head real fast and then putting them on the drums.
You can put riffs together in your head anywhere or time of your day. When you play by rules, you need to be in front of a kit because they are set and you must do it until you do it correctly. That part does not exist in freestyle. It's unlimited and you make the rules, sometimes as you go along.
I carry chop sticks around most of the time and in a pause, I'll start playing my riff on what ever is around me to see how it will sound before playing it on my drums. There is no beat to it. A beat is a rule and we are not playing by the rules, remember ?
As an example,.... Her cymbals see little action, they are periods and comma's and we aint typing we're drumming. At 458 or so you see her loose it for a sec then quickly do something she falls back on because she's used to it. It happens. Eventually she runs low on stored riffs she's put together and starts a grove and a beat simply to put together more riffs. I seen Peart do it playing big band, he simply looks at his BD at one point and keeps a grove for a few, then goes on to what he is inventing as he goes along. The more you have in your head, the less you need to go back to the rules. This is why I carry chop sticks around a lot, you can do it all day anywhere, but people around you may throw things or shoot at you because it wont sound good first couple times you do it, and when you are on try 60, they might nuke ya.
The best advise I took was given by Rich just before he battled Animal on the drums.
...... Band ? Who needs a band ?,.....Drums ? ,....Who needs drums and then did what I just explained in my post,...took out some sticks and literally played the stage on his way to the kit. ..........BR.
Don't listen to DrumBob's advice, it's ****ty. Just remember, no rules, so when you're playing the steering wheel or kitchen stove or empty box and water bottle,....if you can do it there, you will be able to put it on a kit later.