drummers who play bass guitar and vice versa

[davidsmashdrums]

I'm in the TB category of:

professional drummer who plays bass on the side for: composing, drum and bass students I teach, and just grooving in a different seat of a band.

Like Levon Helms, Steve Jordan, Brady Blade, ext drummers who play other instruments to make there main instruments stronger, I do that.

Bassist should really get to know (or get ti know better) there rhythm section partners: the kick, snare & hi-hat; the whole picture of the drum set too.

I'm sure there are plenty of bassist who can get down on the drums too and their groove on there home base instrument shows the understanding of another instrument-

IMO

David Mahoney

http://www.davidmahoneymusic.com/gigs.html

http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=280695

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[chuck norriss]

I play drums too. Not long & not well, just been teaching myself to play for the past year or so.
Just kick, snare, & hats. Sometimes crash+ride. For acoustic, snare & brushes w a kick drum is always nice. nothing more. i like to keep it simple & try to make it fresh using minimal kit

[davidsmashdrums]

That's it but you understand your drum brother that much better to musically communicate at your home base the BASS

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[jaywa]

Some bassists are frustrated guitarists... I'm a frustrated drummer. My best friends on the local music scene are all drummers and whenever there's a drum clinic in town I try to be there.

It must be working cause on several gigs I've been told (by drummers) that I "think like a drummer") and also there have been many times I've heard a song on the radio for the first time and it will come to a drum fill and the fill that's played is EXACTLY the drum fill I heard in my head. Kinda weird.

The flip side of that is that I can be very demanding of the drummers I play with and that has gotten me into trouble a few times and/or just made certain musical situations less enjoyable for me than they would have been if my standards weren't so high.

[davidsmashdrums]

YEAH YOU RIGHT!

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[hbarcat]

A little over a year ago I took the plunge and bought a Roland e-drums set. It took me about 6 months @ 5 hours/week to get to the point where I was comfortable playing with all four limbs coordinated, () but once I got to that point everything began to groove. Wow - drums are so primal!

I'm starting to pick up some of the nuances of individual drummers in the same way that I've done for bassists over the years. I'm really digging the timing of Brian "Brain" Mantia and particularly his work with Primus on the Brown Album. His snare hits are perfect.

[Hoover]

I played drums in high school and college. Was never great, but I could groove and think outside the box, and it really helped my ability to communicate with drummers (and write compelling drum charts). Recently sat down at a kit for the first time in decades, and man was it sad! I suck now!

Slightly germane: A good friend of mine who is an excellent drummer but does not play any stringed instruments once picked up my Chapman Stick and within 15 seconds was playing cooler stuff on that instrument than I ever could after two years of practice!

[Mediumhero]

Ive been playing drums for a little over 2 years and bass for about 6 months. Drums are my primary instrument which I also play in a band (mostly me playing either instrument with the guitar player) but I play bass on the side just because I feel like it.

I started with guitar about 6 years ago and played on and off for about 3. Never really got into it. But then I found drums, which for some reason got me into bass as well.

[davidsmashdrums]

yep, my last year in college Loyola University New Orleans. There were not enough bassist to fill all the combos, so I started playing up-right bass. I had an old K on loan from the school then Katrina 2005 took that bass. And about 2 years after that I started playing electric and love it ever since. It's my other vehicle drums is first electric bass is 2nd

It's awesome for teaching young drummers when you can rip Day Tripper or We Will Rock You the smile is awesome!

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[bassteban]

Drums dominate the sounds in my head but I got steered this way(bass guitar, also some DB)eons ago, no stopping now. I very much appreciate the drums & bass connection, though. Wifey & I are likely gonna grab a electro-drumset for the lil ones soon, & if so, I will POUND the b***h mercilessly.

[davidsmashdrums]

YEAH! beat them!

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[Stilettoprefer]

I am primarily a bassist. On occasion I'll sit down at the kit at school tht lives in a practice room and work on my rhythm a bit. This morning I got tired of playing bass so I put together a kit from whatever drum stuff was lying around (snare, Tom mounted on a cymbal stand with a cymbal on it, hi hat, and a bass drum with no pedal) ended up with the bass drum on a table thingy and hit it with one hand while I had the hi hat and snare going. Ended up with a fun jam session with an awesome guitarist.

[pacojas]

agreed. if you play bass you are cheating yourself if you don't at least play drums when available. when i'm at a drummers house or at rehearsal they have to pry me off the traps.

makes you a MUCH better bass player! cheers.

[MakiSupaStar]

For the record, I'm the village idiot behind a drum kit.

[knumbskull]

i'm a bass player and drummer. currently my bands are about half and half, and i do occasional session work on drums.

it's weird, i am a total gear-head with bass, but with drums i really don't care what equipment i use as long as it doesn't break... that might be TB's influence...

[hover]

I've been known to smash the heck outta my drumset....love playing drums. sometimes more than bass. better at bass tho, I think.

[Pacman]

Moved to miscellaneous, where music related topics belong.

[elavate7]

my brother is a drummer....so i got a little drums in me. in the gospel scene, alot of the bassist were drummers first, i guess thats why they are so good. i dable with the drums alittle, but im no drummer. im more of a strings guy playing guitar as well. i do agree that learning drums a little as well helps your bass playing ten-fold

[sanchorb]

Actually I think this situation is more common than you might think. I remember that I payed a lot of attention to the music of the era when I was 5 years old, and spent all day listening to the radio. I was born in 1971, so you can do your math and infer what was mostly the sounds of those times...disco!! Being disco (at least for me) mostly bass and drums, I discovered that I loved the rhythm, and not payed a lot of attention to melodies. That made me play bass with a broom and grab a couple of sticks and bang away since being a kid. Mostly a bass player, but I liked the drums so much that I purchased a set, and the happy part for me is that all those years of stick banging to the couches and using an imaginary pedal paid off. Obviously not a pro drummer, but I notice that friends who try to play the drums can´t seem to be able to coordinate hands and feet, no matter how hard they try.

It is very useful that a bass player knows how to play drums, because it gives you a better understanding of them and makes you know what to ask from a drummer when playing bass, also allows you to understand how important good drummers are. Sometimes as a bass player (IMHO) you get kind of "lazy" because the drummer carries the rhythm and you just assume that beat is there, but when you turn yourself to the drums and see that you have to concentrate to keep that steady beat, is there where you understand the work that is required for you to "get aboard" that groove with the bass.

My kid, 2 years old, and my nephews and nieces, from 1 1/2 to 7 years, are banging on the drums and taking shots with the bass, and I am happy that they have the chance to have access to the rhythm section, at such a young age, I would had loved to have access to bass and drums very early. Maybe here I will see if the bass-drum duplet is as common as I think it is.