Just yell at him while he's doing it. This is not a sensitive, pull him aside, sort of talk. If someone is playing over me talking i will yell "HEY, I'm trying to talk! Quiet down."
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Diplomatic way to make the drummer stop drumming?
- Thread starter bassicmike
- Start date
Exactly. Pulling him into another room is treating him like a child and possibly far more disrespectful than just addressing the matter quickly. This is a matter than can be dealt with cleanly and frankly, especially since it's putting the rest of the band at a disadvantage when everyone's important conversation is being interrupted. And the rest of the band should be willing to remind him when he's getting disruptive; it shouldn't be a thing that falls to one person unless you have a very controlling bandleader.
if he is just drumming to drum.... tell him that it makes it difficult to do whatever else needs to be done, talking, setting up, whatever. If he is so thick that he can’t get that, tell him in a more assettive way.
If he is trying to work out a pattern or rhythm ask him to do it on his knees or have a practice pad off to the side.
From the drummers perspective it is less loud where he is at and he probably doesn’t realize hoe it is projecting into the rehearsal space.
As a life long drummer I have been guilty of this on a couple of occasions. It was the “hey man, keep it the F*** down that worked.
If he is trying to work out a pattern or rhythm ask him to do it on his knees or have a practice pad off to the side.
From the drummers perspective it is less loud where he is at and he probably doesn’t realize hoe it is projecting into the rehearsal space.
As a life long drummer I have been guilty of this on a couple of occasions. It was the “hey man, keep it the F*** down that worked.
Both of those questions are irrelevant to a drummer.
Just remove the top off his drum stool, that will shut him up.
Operant conditioning doesn't work on drummers. Neither does diplomacy, something to do with intra-cranial insufficiency if my drummer brother is a representative sample.
Drummers need the Pavlov treatment, keep a rolled up magazine on your amp. Like dog training.
We have the same problem with our lead guitarist and keyboardist... both have major attentional problems... I just simply stop talking and wait until they realize they are being rude. When they finally stop I say, "Thank you" and continue talking. That's the diplomatic way, though other less diplomatic ways are way more tempting.
i'm with those who would advocate simple, short and sweet, honest and direct communication. beating around the bush and attempted manipulation is something no one likes and something which everyone smells. who trusts 'indirectness'? and, indirectness causes/reinforces more of the same behavior you're trying to extinguish.
re: expletives = sometimes the truth is harsh...wxpecially for those who try to avoid it! good luck taking control of the noise!
...no drummer, ever, asked that question...except as a joke!
(actually: some do!)
MDBass
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“Hey, chill out for a second while we sort out this chorus.”
No need for yelling or passive aggressive nonsense, but he shouldn’t be working out licks during band rehearsal unless it’s specifically what the band is working on/talking about at the moment: that’s what practice is for.
Good advice thus far, but what hasn’t been mentioned yet, is that playing while the band is talking sends a very specific message: “I could care less about important band discussions” or “I don’t pay attention to band discussions, because I don’t feel like I’m a part of the band,” or “I’m incredibly bored at rehearsal, so will do something fun on my own first chance I get.”
Without knowing your band or the entire story, my first thought is “what can you do to make the drummer feel valuable and included in important band decisions?”
Leave the room. Seriously unplug your bass and walk out of the room. Either you’ll be able to better hear each other talk because you left the room or the drummer will walk out to see what the hell is going on meaning they have to stop playing. Drum kits are not as easy to move. Use that against them lol
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wmhill
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usually hucking beer bottles at em works for a while. When that doesn't work anymore,then you fire em.
Drummers do this when the other instruments are talking about keys and chord changes and minor sevenths and other things that drummers have zero interest in. You can't make him take an interest in this and he has no reason to feel like he's being left out. He's bored. You can't avoid having to have these conversations but you can tell the drummer that you understand this isn't relevant to him but he needs to be quiet while you work things out.
Buy each member of the band a bull horn and as soon as he starts playing have everyone pull out the bull horn and point it at him and start shouting at him.
Yes. It's not about including him. He just needs to be mature enough to appreciate that if it isn't about him, he needs to respect his bandmates when they are working things out.
