thunderbird13 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Like a lot of bands we are in the unfortunate position of looking for a new drummer and as usual there don’t seem to be many around .The inevitability of this is that as soon as we find some who can keep time, has their own kit and doesn’t appear to be an idiot then they’ll get the gig. Anyway last night I sat down with Guitar Pro and muted all the instruments apart from drums so that I could practice our set list so that whenever we auditioned drummers I could focus on what they are playing. Then I had a realisation – in most of the covers we play ( Free, Cream , Clapton etc) the drumming on the record is very sparse and leaves a lot of space for everyone else. However almost every drummer we’ve had seems to play as much as possible ( and as loud as possible) with pretty much the same riff going most of the time with the occasional stop. This would be like a guitarist soloing all the time or me slapping triplets all the way through “Cocaine” Now I can’t imagine another instrument where this would be allowed [size=2]So have I been unlucky and never played with a really good drummer or is it just that there are a lot of mediocre drummers out there and I keep meeting them because they’re the only ones who audtion ? Or am I being too critical [/size]? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Bad drummer's mantra: I sit at the back. No one cares about me. I have lots of expensive drums and cymbals. I must hit them all, regardless of the song. Good drummer's mantra: I must do my job and keep the groove. My job is to make the songs sound good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkypuncher Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 A Drummer is the most important member of a band,he is your driving force,loads of dodgy drummers out there. there are only a handful of good drummer in each town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntLockyer Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I stopped playing drums to play the bass (although I still have a very nice 60s Ludwig kit). Most drummers I've met have been rubbish exactly as you describe. People just don't listen and it's fairly easy to learn a couple of beats and have at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monckyman Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I hate drummers who only have one volume. Full. Forget your carefully crafted dynamics, your light and shade, the delicate arrrangements, all f***ed coz he`s loving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Monkey Love God Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Here's a great one now and set to become truely fantastic! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzROP3AbzYc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzROP3AbzYc[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Loads of very good drummers round here but you need to find one who fits. Personally, I think that might be asking a bit too much to expect them to be your perfect choice, but I do expect them to bring something along to the party and then it is a question of a degree of movement into moving the whole thing on. Our guy is technically very adept, IMO, but favours a heavier type of music, but he pulls me his way and I pull him my way so we meet in the middle and both get something out of it in a learning type sense. I don't suggest what he plays but we talk about where we want the song to go ...we are suggest parts and styles etc and then vote of how well that fits our collective band thinking re that song. All you need from a guy is the ability to be told and to listen and to work to the common good and have fun. Everything else is down the food-chain. If you need/have/want to dictate everything, you'll need to pay them to be interested. An example of an open mind is..I originally wanted a funk groove drummer, primarily, but we ended up with a guy who likes Whitesnake, Purple and Zep. But as everything evolves, it really works, IMO. All you need is a good player and not a bone-head thinker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
originalfunkbrother Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 I wish every budding drummer would stop and pay attention to John Robinson. The world would be a much better place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 [quote name='punkypuncher' timestamp='1319195243' post='1411069'] A Drummer is the most important member of a band [/quote] +1 A band can only ever be as good as its drummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Monkey Love God Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Who is this John Robinson of whom you speak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 [quote name='thunderbird13' timestamp='1319194442' post='1411046'] me slapping triplets all the way through “Cocaine” [/quote] Your point is....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 It took us years to find a drummer who was good but only into the odd get together, mostly they at least wanted a gigging band, luckily we found a decent one in the end, I'd like to set up a similar thing closer to home but the thought of trying to locate another drummer is putting me off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 [quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1319194939' post='1411061'] I have lots of expensive drums and cymbals. I must hit them all, regardless of the song. [/quote] Being a hawker of the rootsier end of things, I [i]dream[/i] of the day when a drummer turns up with no more than a snare, a hi-hat and a couple of sticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 As a bit of a drummer - Who cares if I get bored and put a load of fills in as long as I keep time and dynamics? Sometimes the reason someone has a load of cymbals is 'cos just hitting the kick and snare can get dull! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 [quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1319461281' post='1414301'] As a bit of a drummer - Who cares if I get bored and put a load of fills in as long as I keep time and dynamics? Sometimes the reason someone has a load of cymbals is 'cos just hitting the kick and snare can get dull! [/quote] ha ha ...you wouldn't gig much then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntLockyer Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 [quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1319459227' post='1414271'] It took us years to find a drummer who was good but only into the odd get together, mostly they at least wanted a gigging band, luckily we found a decent one in the end, I'd like to set up a similar thing closer to home but the thought of trying to locate another drummer is putting me off. [/quote] That would have suited me down to the ground. I'd do that now if I had somemeans of practicing at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Our drummer has Toms but never brings them. It makes a massive difference not having a stickmeister wandering off around his/her kit and being dedicated to the groove. Does some amazing stuff on the hi-hat instead. There are some good drummers around and they are all busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeBrownBass Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 2 of my best mates are drummers and a bloody good one at that so i've never had to experience these issue's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 [quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1319468229' post='1414429'] Our drummer has Toms but never brings them. It makes a massive difference not having a stickmeister wandering off around his/her kit and being dedicated to the groove. Does some amazing stuff on the hi-hat instead. There are some good drummers around and they are all busy. [/quote] How is doing a load of fills on the hats any different from doing fills all around the kit? The way I see it is: As long as all my kicks and snares are in time and at the right level, no-one's really going to notice anything else, so I might as well amuse myself. Sure, for some drummers they may have to abandon anything outside the basic rythm to keep time well, but I seem to do OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 I tend to like one mounted and one floor tom plus decent cymbals. Am a sucker for a great crash but also agree it is the hi-hat that makes the funk....and it isn't anywhere as intrusive. Going round the kit fills more than once or twice in the set would piss me right off and as with bass slap, the general rule is one bar is more than enough time to say something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 (edited) Firstly, not a lot of people play the drums; they're too loud, too expensive (not just to buy, but also you're constantly having to replace sticks and heads and suchlike) and you get a whole load of blisters and sh*t. Most people would rather play other instruments. Plus the ones that do play drums, like me, are mostly mediocre at best. That's because the noise and injury issues I pointed at earlier put a lot of people off doing real hours practicing. Not to mention you need endurance to play a lot of songs, not just in your fingers or hands, but your arms and legs and maybe even your body as a whole. The only way to improve on that is to do hours of excercises. Boring, boring excercises. Unlike scales, you actually need to do these excercises to play even simple things like the offspring, bullet for my valentine and foo fighters. There is a BFMV song I practised for over a year every day and I still couldn't hack the 8th notes on the hihats all the way through the song. My point is this; finding a good drummer is hard, because [i]being [/i]a good drummer is hard! I remember an article in the guardian a few years back that I think summed it up really; there are a dozen wannabie superstar performers and guitarists out there for every half decent drummer when you're starting out, but as soon as you make it big, the drummer becomes the most replaceable member of the whole band (usually). The really good drummers are usually either in multiple bands at once, chasing bigger more established acts or both. For your second point, yes. A lot of drummers as i said before are not really that good but unfortunately they try to cover up their lack of talent by playing stupidly complicated beats and fills in the most innapropriate places. I would like to think I am not one of those type of drummers. I try to play what the song needs. Being a multi-instrumentalist I think helps, seeing as I tend to have a more detatched view of each instruments' role in the song. The thing about being a [i]really [/i]good drummer though, is that you don't have to f*** around with a load of fills and stuff to show you're good; just playing a simple 4 bar beat and putting your own [i]feel [/i]on it is enough to show everyone you're really good. My advice would be to keep looking. I ended up taking up the sticks myself simply because we could not find a drummer but obviously I accept that it's not something that everyone can do so I would only reccomend this as a last resort unless you would actually like to take up drumming. It's like finding a marryable bird, you know they're out there somewhere, you just have to keep on looking Edited October 24, 2011 by EdwardHimself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 [quote name='AntLockyer' timestamp='1319467714' post='1414419'] That would have suited me down to the ground. I'd do that now if I had somemeans of practicing at home. [/quote] You need a cheap electronic kit for a bit of home practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1319468921' post='1414447'] I tend to like one mounted and one floor tom plus decent cymbals. Am a sucker for a great crash but also agree it is the hi-hat that makes the funk....and it isn't anywhere as intrusive. Going round the kit fills more than once or twice in the set would piss me right off and as with bass slap, the general rule is one bar is more than enough time to say something. [/quote] It depends what type of music you're doing really. If you're into something a bit heavier then sometimes a big buildup or finish can be quite beneficial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 [quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1319461035' post='1414297'] Being a hawker of the rootsier end of things, I [i]dream[/i] of the day when a drummer turns up with no more than a snare, a hi-hat and a couple of sticks. [/quote] our drummer often only turns up with a snare bass hihat and crash (despite the fact that he owns six complete kits) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 [quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1319469981' post='1414474'] It depends what type of music you're doing really. If you're into something a bit heavier then sometimes a big buildup or finish can be quite beneficial. [/quote] which can all do done by someone who knows what he is doing with the config I have given. Big kits are for big stages and big egos. The next question is can the guy tune it..and if he can't ..then back to square one and find someone else. The number of drummers in bands round here who can't tune a kit... and that is 90% of your sound check sorted..or not...!! Same applies to all instruments, of course, but drums especially. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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