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Drummer as Lead Singer?

#41
Sounds like your singer is talented and has commitment. He spent money on an eDrum kit just for training? Yep. If he's cool with it you should give it a shot. I was in a band with a drummer who sang a few songs and it was always cool. If your music is proggy, all the better.
 
#42
Both my best friend from high school and my own brother are very competent singing drummers. It's not as uncommon as one might think.

The latter and I are currently playing blues and funk together and he more or less fronts it from the drum kit and sings probably 65-70 percent of the lead vocals. He sets up a small kit so he's visible and often puts it front and side on our stage so all of us in the band are equally on a line together.

My own experience with it has been problematic, but I'm a very reluctant vocalist to begin with.
 
#43
Works great just line up in a row with the drummer on the side stage with his hi hat/mic facing the crowd. The novelty of a singing drummer impresses the average fan and now you make more money on a three way split. I know a bunch of people(my wife included) that hate a frontman(or woman) singer who doesn't play an instrument.
 
#45
Tough Choice.
It can but done but there are a couple of things you need to think about.

Rule number 1: Music First. What serves the music most? Visuals aside, how do you sound best? Do you have the chemistry and sound that just "works" when you're a power trio? Or does it work better when you have a fourth dude in there? You'll need to play out a bit with this lineup to answer that.

However: There is a reason that drummerfronted bands are the exception to the rule. It's nowhere near as cool looking.
But the important thing that most people don't think about is the singing. The singer's diaphram is in the wrong position, and the drum playing competes for air. This is why so many of the big pop stars with dance acts use taped vocals: you can't dance like that and sing well at the same time. Same for drums.

Check out these names: Marvin Gaye. Steve Perry. Steven Tyler. Karen Carpenter. Phil Colins. Don Henley. All are/were gifted singers who started out on drums. All of them gave up drums for public performance to concentrate on singing. Colins and Henley stuck with the drums in concert the longest, but they had other frontmen (Gabriel and Frye) in the band, and at the heights of their solo careers, both knew that no one was coming to their shows to hear them play drums. So they hired drummers.

Unfortunately, drum kit is the one instrument that forces a singer to decide between the voice and the instrument. You can't excel at both.
 
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#47
Like others here my initial thought was also "get the drummer front and center"

Bass on one side, guitar on the other. If the bass and guitar also sing a bit of backing have their mics turned slightly towards center so the audience see the three of you bouncing off each other. Not only do you only have to spit any take three ways instead of four, you might get known as "that band with the drummer right up front singing". Anything that sets you apart from the usual bands is generally a good thing.
 
#48
Clearly didn't work out for Don Henley and the Eagles.

Iirc their greatest hits album was the best selling record of the 20th century, when all was said and done.

Not to mention The Band, Rare Earth....etc.

Put him up front if/when possible. Should be fine.
 
#49
mancefine said:
So, I'm in an odd situation with my band. We are currently a 4 piece (vox, guitar, bass, drums) but our drummer isn't cutting it playing or commitment wise. We are a progressive/alternative band in the vein of Coheed/ Incubus. Our singer happens to be a phenomenal drummer who can actually play drums and sing very well. We are in Austin and (believe it or not) finding a drummer who fits the bill can be difficult. Music wise, I fully believe that we would SOUND much better playing as a 3 piece if we can't find a drummer, or in the least while we are looking. This way, we could part ways with our drummer and conduct an extensive search and still keep the wheels turning by playing shows. The other two guys are concerned that we will be boring if we don't have a front man engaging the crowd. My thought is that I see tons of bands with front men, but rarely do I see a drummer who can play technical parts and sing lead, so when I do I think it's very impressive. But, I'm a musician. So what do you guys think? How would you feel if you saw a 3 piece where the drummer was singing? If the music was good would you care about not having a frontman? I was also thinking we could make it cool and put the drums up front live. I know in our genre frontmen are somewhat prevelant, so I dunno. Just want some different perspectives.

Edit: I should probably add that there is a HUGE gap between skill levels. Our current drummer can't keep us on tempo, he has a click in his ears yet our songs are constantly 15-20 bpm too fast live. I've never seen him play his hi-hats with 2 hands. He is very one dimensional and NEVER practices on his own to get better, even though we have told him our singer can give him lessons. Our singers drumming on the other hand is completely pro and amazing. It's very solid, dynamic, and opens us up to sounds that are completely unattainable with our current drummer. Our singer bought a $1000 electric drum kit with the intent of giving our drummer lessons in his apartment and our drummer won't even take advantage of that...
Click to expand...

The drummer from Sprung Monkey used to turn his kit sideways, floor tom towards the crowd cymbals a bit lower, so people could see him better and he wasn't hidden.

If he's that good a drummer & singer I say DO IT.
 
#50
A sub-par drummer is the kiss of death in a competitive band scenario. Rehabilitation in the music/entertainment world is often a lost cause and best left to mental health professionals, not band mates.

Put that singer boy right up front with his kit and let him sing and play his ass off. It's been done successfully many times before.

And I think a big chunk of the audience would actually recognize and dig the uniqueness of it. If you guys were tight and gettin' it done right, I'd stay and have another round.

Good luck with it.
 
#51
Don't worry about not having a frontman, just go with what works + drummers who sing lead, you could have the next phil Collins in your band...


mancefine said:
So, I'm in an odd situation with my band. We are currently a 4 piece (vox, guitar, bass, drums) but our drummer isn't cutting it playing or commitment wise. We are a progressive/alternative band in the vein of Coheed/ Incubus. Our singer happens to be a phenomenal drummer who can actually play drums and sing very well. We are in Austin and (believe it or not) finding a drummer who fits the bill can be difficult. Music wise, I fully believe that we would SOUND much better playing as a 3 piece if we can't find a drummer, or in the least while we are looking. This way, we could part ways with our drummer and conduct an extensive search and still keep the wheels turning by playing shows. The other two guys are concerned that we will be boring if we don't have a front man engaging the crowd. My thought is that I see tons of bands with front men, but rarely do I see a drummer who can play technical parts and sing lead, so when I do I think it's very impressive. But, I'm a musician. So what do you guys think? How would you feel if you saw a 3 piece where the drummer was singing? If the music was good would you care about not having a frontman? I was also thinking we could make it cool and put the drums up front live. I know in our genre frontmen are somewhat prevelant, so I dunno. Just want some different perspectives.

Edit: I should probably add that there is a HUGE gap between skill levels. Our current drummer can't keep us on tempo, he has a click in his ears yet our songs are constantly 15-20 bpm too fast live. I've never seen him play his hi-hats with 2 hands. He is very one dimensional and NEVER practices on his own to get better, even though we have told him our singer can give him lessons. Our singers drumming on the other hand is completely pro and amazing. It's very solid, dynamic, and opens us up to sounds that are completely unattainable with our current drummer. Our singer bought a $1000 electric drum kit with the intent of giving our drummer lessons in his apartment and our drummer won't even take advantage of that...
Click to expand...
 
#55
I used to be in a band where our drummer was the voice leader. Neither the 3 of us ( guitar, Bass And keybords) Did back's vocals. It was fun at that time And it was quite interesting. But we most of the time were playing for people who happens to like What we played. We fun around calling ourselves the " wax band" ( like a wax stand of músicians). I was youn then And was more about having a good time. But honestly if it were nowdays i wouldnt do that. And if i am going to go professional And lié And get paid Will likely try to get a drummer or singer.
 
#57
Theres a band in my city with a lead singing drummer, honestly they're very boring live. Technical and skilled band, but there's no movement, no engagement, they just stand and play, bob their heads a little. I think you're current drummer could be sat down and told "if you don't practice you're out". If you're 100% done with current drummer, put your singer on drums and have him do backups. Maybe guitar/bass could do vox, or find a dedicated front man. This is all my opinion but I would want somebody standing and jumping around, not sitting behind a kit.
 
#59
brbadg said:
This band annoys me to no end.It's a party band,I get it! Geez,do you have to shove it down my throat?



This is not your music,I get it. There defintely should be someone else
moving around,if you don't have somebody with an ego this big!
Click to expand...


Thanks for introducing me to them. I love that kind of stuff.
 
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