Auditioning drummers

[SocaPimptastic]

My band just lost our drummer (moved away) and so the search begins for a new one. We have got a few drum auditions lined up, but thing is, we can't decide on the best way to audition them. As bass players what are some of the things you look for in a drummer (besides the steady beat) and any tips on auditioning exercises?

[Downunderwonder]

I'm a card carrying member of Mediocre Bassist Club myself and picking you and rest of band probably qualify also? If you're really into screening drummers in minimal time you could ask them to crack out a shuffle and then a reggae beat and see if you can play the opposing one with them without them losing the plot.

Otherwise just give them a few of your tunes with different grooves to bring to audition. If you're lucky enough to find more than one non smelly non alcoholic drummer with his own drums and transport then get into callbacks with some more tunes and jam some.

[T2k5]

We've always used this way regardless of the instrument: Give them material to practice a week or two before the audition and see how they handle it. If they can't play the material we gave at all, they've pretty much failed. A few mistakes here and there won't matter.

If all goes well, we'll see how quick they learn new stuff by playing them songs they weren't told to practice and checking if they can play them on the spot. This is more of a personality test; It doesn't matter if they screw up a bit if they don't constantly panic over their mistakes. The more they learn on the spot, the better, of course.

Showing a good attitude and trying as hard as they can goes a long way if they did learn the material we gave before the audition. We rarely "practice" individual playing at band practice anyway, everyone should know what to play when we get together.

Before or after the audition we tend to go grab a few beers and see how the new guy fits in our odd bunch.

If everyone in the band liked the new tryout and we don't have anyone else to test, we'll call him over for normal band practice. If everything goes well again, he's in.

[busmandan]

I've auditioned so many drummers in my life that I can pretty much tell how they're going to play by watching them set up their kit. I'm not kidding.

Here's what I look for. First and foremost is meter. I've had drummers who could only play at one tempo - regardless of what tempo you start the song at, they migrate it to "their" tempo. Second, I look for technique. If I've got a guy flailing away behind the kit like Animal from Sesame Street, I'm passing on him even he's doing OK on the song - because at some point the band will reach a point where his/her poor technique will become an issue.

Finally, I look for musicality - especially if you're doing original material. I don't think I should have to point out to a drummer where accents should be or where the beat needs to change. I don't want to hear the same fill over and over, either. I usually ask them if they play any other instrument and how they came to play drums - and my experience has been that drummers that play other instruments are much more musical than drummers who have only played drums.

[Freddels]

I recently went through this. We picked out some good tunes that had different styles. One was a very syncopated groove that is quite difficult for drummers. They were all given copies of the tunes (or at least the names/artists of the tunes) so that they could prepare. It took us almost 2 months to finally find the right drummer. That one syncopated tunes showed a lot of weaknesses in many of the drummers. Some didn't even prepare and thought they could just wing it . . . wrong! Some only had one tempo or one basic beat. Some couldn't deal with dynamics and had one volume. I can usually tell within the first tune if it's going to work out or not.

I am also very sensitive to drummers that speed up when the energy gets going. I don't like to fight to hold them back. A good solid drummer is wonderful to lock in with. We ended up with about 3 drummers that were good and could easily do the gig. Then we had to narrow it down and decide.

[StuartV]

1) Have them play something from all the different genres you play. Some drummers can rail Rock Beat #1 all day, but don't know a shuffle from a waltz.

2) Have them play some fast stuff and some slow stuff. Some can rip off 16th note kick drum fills like nobody's business, but can't actually play a slow ballad.

3) Have them play some loud stuff and some quiet stuff. Only good ones can do both (and sound good at it). Many only have one volume, period.

4) If you want to test their independence, have them play Honky Tonk Woman (the drumset part AND the cowbell part).

Beyond that, it depends on what your band is trying to do. Being able to read music may or may not be relevant. I put a lot of value on people who can read music, but there's a lot of bands where that just isn't relevant for the drummer.

[MNAirHead]

Stuart... am I toatlly off by this (you're more drum qualified)


We always pick something.. have the drummer pick something

Then we'll have a list of 10 they can pick from.. we then say "let's play it super quiet in 1/2 speed" Something like "Crazy Train"

I really never care about their mad chops.. it's always volume control and tempo management.... cool personality first.

[SocaPimptastic]

Thanks guys. Lots of good ideas. I've played with multiple drummers before and always decided if I liked them by feel. So I was looking for something more focused on which to evaluate them. Appreciate all the help.

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by busmandan

I've auditioned so many drummers in my life that I can pretty much tell how they're going to play by watching them set up their kit. I'm not kidding.

Here's what I look for. First and foremost is meter. I've had drummers who could only play at one tempo - regardless of what tempo you start the song at, they migrate it to "their" tempo. Second, I look for technique. If I've got a guy flailing away behind the kit like Animal from Sesame Street, I'm passing on him even he's doing OK on the song - because at some point the band will reach a point where his/her poor technique will become an issue.

Finally, I look for musicality - especially if you're doing original material. I don't think I should have to point out to a drummer where accents should be or where the beat needs to change. I don't want to hear the same fill over and over, either. I usually ask them if they play any other instrument and how they came to play drums - and my experience has been that drummers that play other instruments are much more musical than drummers who have only played drums.

Really good points. Musicality is, for me, the ultimate acid test. A skilled drummer with a professional attitude - who actually thinks and plays like a musician - is as rare and valuable as just about any player you can conceive. Worth his weight in platinum, so to speak.

After conducting a screening interview (which I hope you do), I would assign three or four diverse tunes as audition material. Select tunes that will test his ability to play in various time signatures, at various tempos, in various styles, with various kinds of "feel" - and with taste - including some material that calls for multiple transitions from one tempo or style or time signature to another.

If your band plays original material, even better: Provide him with tracks for a couple of unfinished songs, and ask him to come prepared to add his own part(s) at the audition...

MM

[StuartV]

Originally Posted by MNAirHead

Stuart... am I toatlly off by this (you're more drum qualified)


We always pick something.. have the drummer pick something

Then we'll have a list of 10 they can pick from.. we then say "let's play it super quiet in 1/2 speed" Something like "Crazy Train"

I really never care about their mad chops.. it's always volume control and tempo management.... cool personality first.

I don't think that's a bad approach. If a drummer can display good volume control (playing both loud and soft, when called for) and solid tempo management, then he or she is probably going to be solid overall.

However, I still think that it's important to pay some attention to all the different genres you're going to play and give some thought to checking the drummer out in each of them.

Different genres each have their own feel. A swing pattern in blues has a different feel to the "and" notes than a swing pattern in a country song. Jazz tends to emphasize using the ride cymbal as the clock where rock uses the kick drum.

A drummer with solid time and volume control when playing in "their" genre (say, for example, classic rock), might lose it or simply not sound right at all, if you ask them to play, for example, an up-tempo shuffle or a country swing tune or a jazz standard. Jazz is my favorite kind of music, but my self-evaluation as a drummer is that I sound decent on rock and blues stuff, but suck big green donkey weiners if I try to play jazz standards or something like a bossa nova, samba, etc...

If all your band does is play rock, then it's not such a big deal.

I definitely agree that mad chops are of secondary importance behind volume control, solid time, and a good-sounding groove. Otherwise, I wouldn't be working very much....

[AwkwardLoudness]

In addition to the helpful advice above, let me add...

MAKE SURE THE DRUMMER KNOWS HOW TO TUNE HIS KIT

[jumps off soapbox]