Newfoundfreedom Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Is it the worst thing in the world? We've just found out our drummer is moving away so will no longer be in the band. I'm pretty sad he's going because we're just a bunch of mates who play together, and it was the drummer and I, who have known each other for several years who started the whole thing off. We're nowhere near gig ready anyway, but things were just starting to come together and sound like music. So here's the thing. The social side of the band is much more important as far as I'm concerned than going out gigging. None of us are professional musos and it's never going to be about money or how many gigs we can get in. It's far more important that we get along as mates, the music is almost secondary. So basically, I don't want to put out an add for another drummer and bring a random stranger into the band. This isn't helped by the fact that we're all English people living in rural Bulgaria, so that fact that we met each other, got along, and all happened to play instruments was a one in a million chance anyway. So amazingly, I have another couple of English friends moving to the area in 4 or 5 months time, one is a guitarist and the other a drummer. Problem solved, both from a social and a band point of view. Our lead guitarist is absolutely dismayed at having to manage the next few months without a drummer, even though we're not a gigging band, have no gigs arranged, or any kind of pressure or timescale. I just don't get it. I actually think that it will be a really good opportunity to get ourselves playing well together. To be able to hear one another without competing with the volume of a drummer, and generally tighten things up. So to the voices of experience, is it all going to fall apart without a drummer? Or, as I believe, could it give us a kick up the @rse and help us to tighten up our own timing and playing and help us to hear one another better, therefore to play better as a unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naigewron Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 (edited) We don't have a drummer at the moment, so we play the drum tracks from our demo recordings through the PA and play along with those. It's not ideal, but it works. I feel that practising those songs completely without drums would make it really hard to get a feel for the song, especially on bass, but if you can make it work I imagine it will massively tighten up the feel and the groove between the remaining members. Edited November 12, 2018 by Naigewron 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 It can really help you as a bassist I find. I was in a drumless band and it was great for me and the guitarist to gel and play off each other. It made me play more percussively and play more notes to support the song and drive the rhythm, so now with a drummer I lock in a lot more and emphasise his playing which works well under two guitars. In short do it. One, because you have no choice, and two because it will make your playing as a unit so much better. Slotting in a new drummer should then be easier. And with a drummer you'll notice there's one more round coming in from the bar! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 I'd say that 4 or 5 months is a short enough time to wait, basically, and get the new formation off to a good start from an equal footing for all, and no acrimony from current members with some understandable reticence. A few 'get-together' evenings to keep the social side of things in place, with an optional jam session or brain-storming in the meantime, and make the new arrivals feel as if they're joining a new, fresh, band from Day One. There's no problems practising without a drummer per se, if everyone is up for it, but if there are doubts, have patience, I'd say. A few months..? Some folks wait years to find the right team, and some never find 'em at all..! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuzzie Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 I feel for you Have you thought about a Beat Buddy Mini in the interim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Perhaps the lead guitarist has just realised he'll no longer be able to justify turning up to deafening volumes? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 We often (i.e. mostly) practice without a drummer. It means we can meet and practice at front room volume and work on aspects like backing vocals, song structure, lyrics etc. Periodically we will record these on our phones, share them with the drummer and then meet to put it all together. Works pretty well as we are all too busy to meet at the same time most weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naigewron Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 10 minutes ago, cheddatom said: Perhaps the lead guitarist has just realised he'll no longer be able to justify turning up to deafening volumes? Haha, nice one 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundfreedom Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 1 hour ago, Cuzzie said: I feel for you Have you thought about a Beat Buddy Mini in the interim? I'm sure one of the lads mentioned having a drum machine. That could help if things get desperate, but I honestly think it'll do us good to go without for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundfreedom Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 1 hour ago, cheddatom said: Perhaps the lead guitarist has just realised he'll no longer be able to justify turning up to deafening volumes? Strangely that's not a problem. We have one of those rare beasts, a shy guitarist. We spend most of our time trying to get him to turn up. 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundfreedom Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 1 hour ago, bassbiscuits said: We often (i.e. mostly) practice without a drummer. It means we can meet and practice at front room volume and work on aspects like backing vocals, song structure, lyrics etc. Periodically we will record these on our phones, share them with the drummer and then meet to put it all together. Works pretty well as we are all too busy to meet at the same time most weeks. Sounds like a pretty good arrangement to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuzzie Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 No worries We have done that and just locked in together for riffs, paid divedens when we did a gig and couldn’t really hear the drummer as he had an electric kit, and not monitors, so it was only slapping pads like a tiny handclap! I quiteblike the beat buddy to regulate self play too 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Personally I'm not a huge fan of rehearsals without the drummer...possibly there's a sense of resentment that we're paying for a studio when we could actually be doing it in someone's front room. But mainly it simply doesn't feel right - I can rehearse without a singer or a rhythm or lead guitarist, but if there's no drums then it completely changes the feel of the practice, and i get a lot less out of it. Fine if you're using the time to write new material, or once in a while you're work on arrangements or learning/breaking down specific riffs, but not for five months, Do you have any way to record the drummer before he moves away? If you can, get a recording of just him playing all your tracks, that you can play back through the rehearsal room PA. Should be enough to keep you ticking over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 30 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said: ... I can rehearse without a singer ... We're the opposite. Our singer is the raison d'être of our band, and we all lock into the lyrics, tone, expression of his performance. Yes, we can work on stuff on an individual basis, in any combination of guitars, bass and/or drums, but without the song itself, there's nothing really to work with, as a rehearsal. No rhythm guitar..? No big deal. No lead guitar..? We'll hum those bits. No bass..? Summit's missing, but the band plays on. No drums..? Oh-o. That's me, so I wouldn't know what they do without me..! (Not actually true, as the singer plays fine drums, too, even on my 'lefty' kit. He was the singer/drummer in the band, back then, when I was playing bass, before Our Youngest took that spot and we all moved around to our current roles...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 41 minutes ago, Dad3353 said: We're the opposite. Our singer is the raison d'être of our band, and we all lock into the lyrics, tone, expression of his performance. Yes, we can work on stuff on an individual basis, in any combination of guitars, bass and/or drums, but without the song itself, there's nothing really to work with, as a rehearsal. No rhythm guitar..? No big deal. No lead guitar..? We'll hum those bits. No bass..? Summit's missing, but the band plays on. No drums..? Oh-o. That's me, so I wouldn't know what they do without me..! (Not actually true, as the singer plays fine drums, too, even on my 'lefty' kit. He was the singer/drummer in the band, back then, when I was playing bass, before Our Youngest took that spot and we all moved around to our current roles...) yes, it is going to vary from band to band...possibly my choice is influenced by having a very unreliable singer in my last band, so we got used to working on everything else in his absence. From my perspective it wasn't really a long term issue - I wouldn't want to practice for four or five months without a singer, but as a one off or even a couple between recruiting a singer, it's not a big issue (actually, I've probably practiced for a few months without one, getting a band up and running before we could find a singer) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongebob Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 My current doesn't have a drummer on purpose. We're electric bass, acoustic guitar, 2 vocalists. I put it together originally because I was fed up playing with poor drummers. I used to play myself, and whilst not being a big-head, could do better than most of our ex-sticksmen, even not having playing for about 25 years! The gigs have been good, and it gives me more of a percussive role as well as providing the low end. Obviously, it depends on the style of music you're playing...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundfreedom Posted November 12, 2018 Author Share Posted November 12, 2018 8 hours ago, Monkey Steve said: Do you have any way to record the drummer before he moves away? If you can, get a recording of just him playing all your tracks, that you can play back through the rehearsal room PA. Should be enough to keep you ticking over. Sadly not. We never really got to the stage where we had any specific tracks down. We were only a few rehersals in and none of us had played for years. Also it was one of those putting the house up for sale to "test the market" kind of things and it sold within a week. So one week it was all systems go. The next week he was packing up his kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyd Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 It does depend on genre, but playing without a drummer can be a nice change of pace and like @spongebob says, it gives you a chance as a bass player to change style and focus more on rhythm. It's maybe a bit unfair, but there's some truth in the Chet Baker quote: "It takes a pretty good drummer to be better than no drummer at all". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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