This is just a video of drummer Benny Greb laying down some awesome grooves in his studio. Notice the different combinations of snare, and bass drum tones he uses together, and the kind of feel he puts into his grooves. Enjoy!
Drum soloing is a concept that can be interpreted into a million different ways. It can vary greatly depending on the style of solo, whether there is musical accompaniment, the tempo, and a hundred other variables. Personally I prefer watching and listening to solos that happen over a vamp (Repeating musical figure, song section, or phrase) or if theres no musical accompaniment, that have some kind of time-feel (weather is be a jazz, reggae, rock etc…) established underneath. To me, this creates more opportunities to be creative within a certain style, and to construct a solo that is actually somewhat musical. I tend not to like Free-time (no time or feel established) solos, because I find it hard to relate musically to a solo that has no steady time, or implied style or feel. Don’t get me wrong, these types of solos can be amazing if they are played well, but I prefer groove based solos. One great way that I have found to help me solo over a groove piece of music is to use a motif. A motif is simply one repeating musical figure or idea that you can use over and over in a solo. I usually create a one or two measure motif in my solos, and then fill in every other one or two measures with improvised material. In the example below the first measure is the motif, and the slash marks in the second measure represents the improvised section. This whole phrase can be repeated many times in a solo, and keep it interesting to the listener. 
Motif
Another way to keep a solo interesting is to create some kind of figure at the beginning or end of each 2, 4, or 8 measure phrase that you can use many different ideas over in the same solo. This is similar to a motif, but instead of using the exact same idea or lick every few bars, you are simply playing the same rhythmic phrase or accent pattern every few bars, but in many different ways. You are now improvising over the entire phrase, but using this accent pattern to bring some sense of consistency or musicality to your solo. See the example below.
Rhythmic Phrase
Try some of these ideas and concepts out the next time you have to solo, and hopefully they will help you create a well constructed, musical solo that you are happy with!
One of my favorite drummers, and drum soloists in particular, is Benny Greb. He is extremely musical and interesting to listen to so enjoy one of his solos!
