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View Poll Results: If the drummer lags behind a little... | |
Slow down with him. Gotta stay tight with the drummer.
|    | 41 | 51.90% | |
Keep going and signal that he's falling behind so he can catch up a few seconds later.
|    | 38 | 48.10% |
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10-11-2004, 08:50 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Ireland | |
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Get a new drummer 
Seriously though, the drummers function is primarily as timekeeper, if he/she cant keep time whats the point?
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10-12-2004, 02:16 AM
|  | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by jenderfazz Say you're jamming and the drummer slows down a bit during an especially long bit (such as a guitar solo). Should you, as a bassist and contributing member of the rhythm section, A) slow down to make sure you stay tight with the drummer, or B) keep playing at the tempo and look at the drummer to get him back up to speed? | Your poll is (as usual with these things!) missing the crucial options :
C) Sack the drummer!
D) If C) not possible - Leave the band!
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10-12-2004, 09:47 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: UK | | Time is everyone's responsability.
I think it depends entirely on the moment. If the drummer begins to drag as the guitarist races off, maybe it's best to nod the drummer to pick up the pace with the lead? If the drummer slows down with the singer, then maybe go with the drummer. In the end, if the drummer cant keep tempo with the band he aint a good drummer!
In any given scenario it's always going to depend on what the entire band is doing, there are no predefined rules and what makes you a good musician is your ablity to read what everyone else is going to do. Quote: |
Originally Posted by Aaron Way off topic comment of the day- What's also nice about being a bass player is that you also get to define the harmony. If a guitarist is playing C, F, G - you can make it into a Db maj7 b5 (or aug 11), Gsus7, Csus, Fsus2, Dmin7, Eb6, Amin7, AbMaj13, etc. | Did you dig that out of a text book perchance?
Last edited by Howard K : 10-12-2004 at 09:57 AM.
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10-12-2004, 08:33 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Whitmoretucky MI | | | It is everyone responsibility for sure. But the question was what happens if the drummer does slow down. So what you are saying is you have to babysit the tempo because of your drummer or a drummer. IF he slows down and no one else does it sounds like crap! I hate it when they do and let the bottom fall out of a tune but you have to stay locked in and play with even more feel to make up for the loss the lagging tempo created in the song. But if the drummer knows the tune and song well enough it shouldn't be an issue. If he/she is supporting the harmony of the song correctly the tempo will take care of itself. If the drummer is just playing a beat to the song your playing and not carrying the song with his/her kit then that's when the tempo issues happen. |
10-12-2004, 10:23 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: NWPhx | | Our drummer has *SERIOUS* timing issues and also lacks skill. I have to speed up/slow down CONSTANTLY with this guy and it drives me out of my mind. There's nothing worse than playing with a drummer who can't keep a steady beat. THAT is why i'm leaving my existing band cause this drummer has a hard time with even the most basic stuff. Covers we want to do we just can't do right, even simple songs like Incubus' "Drive" or Dramarama's "Anything" because he has the beats all wrong, and it makes it seem like we can't do a cover right. The other players in the band can play just about anything, but that drummer......  GRRRR........
We'll play a gig along with other bands, and I swear EVERY drummer just schools this guy we have and I have to admit it's pretty embarrassing... 
I voted for "dump the drummer/leave the band"
Anyone looking for a bassist in Phoenix? 
Oh, to answer the thread, the Drummer is solely responsable to keep the time, and no other. He shouldn't be following anything but the beat in his head.
LEB
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10-12-2004, 11:25 PM
| | | | what do i do if the drummer slows down? well, if he's doing it to make a change and we're improving, then yea, i'll go with the flow. if we're in the middle of something and he starts losing speed like a dying battery, I make sure to give the coldest stare possible, and if i don't recieve a reaction (pulling his ass back in line) i usually stop the band to address it in a practice situation. |
10-13-2004, 12:02 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Kansas City | | | As a drummer who has dealt with plenty of bass players and guitarists who can't keep proper tempo to save their lives, I vote to stick with the drummer if you're in the middle of a show and stop the song and work on tempo if you're in rehearsal.
(Note: As a bass player who has dealt with tempo-challenged drummers I vote the same way.)
There are a lot of valid reasons during a show that the time might fluctuate and it's not a big deal usually to stay with the drummer as long as the change isn't dramatic. The important thing is that the band sounds like one big cohesive unit rather than like a bunch of people tripping over their shoelaces. When you're onstage, you're a team. You support each other. If someone is having problems, you make it look intentional if you want the overall group to look good.
Of course the reverse is true in rehearsal. That's the place to iron out the wrinkles, and if you or another player are having consistant tempo issues then it needs to be dealt with. Tempo IS everyone's job. Guitarists and bassists practice with metronomes too, not just drummers. There's a reason for that.
There was a great quote (which I can't remember unfortunately) by Carlos Santana in a recent interview where he talks about having to sack a former drummer because when the band would fluctuate tempos, the drummer would be dead-on solid and refused to waver. Santana plays with some of the best musicians in the industry, but this cat thought he was more "right" than the other guys. The solution: he hired Dennis Chambers. |
10-13-2004, 11:28 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Bellingham, WA | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Howard K Did you dig that out of a text book perchance? | Nope, it was just a thought that came into my mind. Earlier that day a guitarist played a chord consisting of C,F,G and I played a Db as the root, I just thought it was really cool.
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10-13-2004, 11:33 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Pacific Northwest USA | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield Your poll is (as usual with these things!) missing the crucial options :
C) Sack the drummer!
D) If C) not possible - Leave the band! | Ok Bruce, but (assuming that not every drummer in your recent history is dead perfect) would you care to answer the question?
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10-14-2004, 02:40 AM
| | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by bimplizkit Ok Bruce, but (assuming that not every drummer in your recent history is dead perfect) would you care to answer the question? |
That is my answer to the question!!
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10-15-2004, 09:38 PM
| | Registered User
Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Basses | | Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: SLC, Utah -USA- | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by RicPlaya You have to hang with him. The crowd won't know the difference if the song is 2 bpm off the original. But make sure you bob your head, look at him to speed it up. As a bassist I always want to glue it all together but you have to stick with your drummer and stay locked on. As long as the song is played with emotion and you guys are selling it sort of speak then stay with him. If you push or pull I found it sounds like poo! |
+1. One drummer I play with will often drag the tempo(or speed up) and it's annoying. I just try stay with him and keep things grooving. If it is a drastic change, I move back and start watching his kick-foot to lock in with his tempo. There's no pushing or pulling him, he doesn't ever think his tempos are wrong. I'll talk to him (tactfully I hope) during a break about any tempo changes or if the tempos where too fast or slow.
He makes playing with a drummer who has steady tempos a real treat, so at least he adds contrast! 
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11-04-2004, 01:28 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: montreal, qc, Canada | | | So much for conclusion. Deadlocked at 34-34. Makes for a cool discussion though! |
11-08-2004, 08:59 AM
| | gone to Longstanton Spice Museum | | Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK | | | I would attempt to subtly nudge him back up a bit, but if it really wasn't working, i'd settle back and concentrate on keeping it steady & together
all humans speed up and slow down... even virtuoso musicians exhibit tempo variations... and a slight shift in tempo can add to a lot of music...
I recently attempted to transcribe (with the intention of arranging them for string quartet) a few difficult Frank Zappa guitar solos by importing the audio into Cubase, synchronizing the tempo across the 140 or so bars, then focusing on one bar, sometimes 1 beat at a time, and writing the melody as a separate melody, so you can hear easily whether you got it right or wrong...
and it's surprising how the tempos of even monster musicians like the FZ band alumni vary.... you wouldn't notice any variation just by listening to it, but it was up and down all over the place...
it's just part of being human i spose | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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