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Going Drummerless..?

#21
After a disastrous road trip in the mid-eighties, the band dissolved. Well, actually the guitarist and I fired the drummer. We got this Dr. Rhythm and a Roland foot pedal drum machine along with a tape deck with a few cassettes for backing tracks. We practiced for a month in the front room of his puny apartment, bought a small peavey PA where the two satellite speakers fit into the ports of the sub. Immediately we went from making $125 each (after a sound and light man, PA payment, gas for a 5-ton, etc.) a week to $500-$600 a week each, booked solid. We did a road trip in a lime green Chevy Chevette (admittedly a tight fit, but we would laugh as we passed gas stations). Yes, musically it might not have been as much fun as with a drummer, but it's the most money I ever made as a musician.

Plus, after two years of playing with a drum machine, nobody can ever question my meter.
 
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#22
Muttleybass said:
After a disastrous road trip in the mid-eighties, the band dissolved. Well, actually the guitarist and I fired the drummer. We got this Dr. Rhythm and a Roland foot pedal drum machine along with a tape deck with a few cassettes for backing tracks. We practiced for a month in the front room of his puny apartment, bought a small peavey PA where the two satellite speakers fit into the ports of the sub. Immediately we went from making $125 each (after a sound and light man, PA payment, gas for a 5-ton, etc.) a week to $500-$600 a week each, booked solid. We did a road trip in a lime green Chevy Chevette (admittedly a tight fit, but we would laugh as we passed gas stations). Yes, musically it might not have been as much fun as with a drummer, but it's the most money I ever made as a musician.

Plus, after two years of playing with a drum machine, nobody can ever question my meter.
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Did you buy my old 'Vette? I had that exact same car in that color. FUGLY! But very functional. I could even get my entire bass rig in the back seats. It got me to plenty of gigs, sometimes with our singer along for the ride.
 
#23
Brother Goose said:
"It takes a helluva drummer to sound better than no drummer at all" - some famous drummer
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You beat me to it. (FWIW that quote is usually attributed to Chet Baker.)

I've done plenty of drummer-less gigs in my time.
It wouldn't work for every genre or group. But when it does work, it can be pretty sweet.
Not to throw that entire chair under the bus (IME anyone can make or break an ensemble). But it is funny how sometimes when you do go drummer-less, all those endless nagging problems with volume, feel and tempo can suddenly just vanish.
I was going to say it would never fly for rock, but I just remembered I did a rockabilly duo last month and that went over great. (The guy duo'd with a drummer the week before and they got a bunch of complaints.)
I worked with a bluegrass band last weekend and that also felt awesome! (Good enough to make me want to retire from all these other pesky styles & just do that.)
For both of those I was playing double bass with gut strings, which feels like it's practically made for adding some percussive "slap" along with roots & 5ths.
IIRC Larry Graham originally pioneered the slap style on bass guitar to fill out the sound on drummer-less gigs with his mom! I haven't had much success trying to replicate that. (I don't have LG's gift – almost no one does... Also, my mom doesn't play any instruments.)
Drum machines & sequences have been a thing since before I started playing music – so I can't completely knock it. I find they usually only work when the whole vibe morphs to accommodate. (As may occur with electronica, hip hop & a lot of newer pop.)
One of the most embarrassing gigs I've ever played was when they tried to make a drum machine work in a small restaurant, playing more traditional material where you'd expect to have a live human keeping the beat. (Having a bunch of different patterns & fills programmed in for all the songs didn't do much to reduce the lameness.)
In a perfect world, it would be super easy to find a drummer who is tasty, cooperative & capable. (And get the perfect guitarist, pianist & singer while we're at it.) In the world we live in, I find sometimes a strong BL can effectively wrangle players who would wreak havoc in a less-well-directed group.
Good luck with your project!
 
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#24
Drums can make things exciting, but really just getting a beat on the 2 and 4 can go along way. Percussion is the way to go. A cajon with someone who can barely play it along with a cymbal like thing can sub for a drummer.

Quirky drum machines performed live are cool too. Build the basic loop live.
 
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#25
Do you mean play to backing tracks which would include drums or just you and an acoustic guitar type of thing? Ive seen both. My friends does solo gigs with backing tracks and packs places. Hes been around for a long time and is well known, not sure I would go that route but hey. Ive played a trio with my band and no drums and it was fun but im not sure i would want it to be my main thing.
 
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#26
I find jamming without a drummer to be incredibly hard. You can throw randomness/chance into a sequencer but you're really going to be locked in, plus, with the random aspect, if you get a sweet fill/pattern, it won't be the same next measure. Without a drummer I find things to go more slowly. That said, totally doable. Buckethead has played a million shows without one (not always but most I've seen video of) and I've seen exactly one duo sans drummer and it really worked (Free Blood).
 
#27
It all depends on the type of music and one's own sonic goals.

While I can't say much about gigging without an actual drummer, out of the 7 pieces on my album - see link in my signature - 5 are completely drummer-less and two have programmed drums. I am beyond pleased with the results but also aware that such an approach wouldn't work in a different musical environment.

My $0.02 only...
 
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#28
Bassman Spiff said:
I echo what JimmyM stated...
One of my two bands is drummerless, and as the bassist I fill much of that role (along with an excellent rhythm guitarist. Granted, this project excels without a drummer, so this does not work in all circumstances.
I WILL say that doing so will likely make you a better bassist and musician, as our role becomes much more evident. There is no place to hide, and you must listen to the overall group.
It is great fun!
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TY~ This makes sense... to really improve in the whole aspect of musicianship, just by necessity. Larry Graham developed his slap-style this way-

“I started from the first time I played bass. I played guitar with my fingers – not a pick. So I would thump the strings with my thumb to make up for the bass drum, and pluck the strings with my fingers to make up for the snare drum."

...he's just one example, I have read that many players wind up in their roles as musicians out of necessity~
 
#31
Danny O Danny said:
My band has transitioned to drummerless. We were a 5-piece (piano, bass, 2 guitarists, drummer) playing original Americana music. We recently reassessed and decided to downsize to a trio (piano, guitar, bass). A big part of the reason for doing that was that many more venues (with small stages) were available to us as a trio. Austin is a songwriter town, so we're emphasizing that we're a trio of songwriters, rather than a band, and can fit onto little corner stages meant for a couple of guitarists. We've been really pleased with the transition. There's a nice ebb and flow, as we all listen and react to one another. If we were to add a percussionist it would probably just be someone playing a cajon and shaker--and only if they could listen well and respond to the nuances. In the meantime, I've started using a Roland SPD-1 to add a little subtle kick drum on 2 & 4 to some of the upbeat songs.
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~Perfect.. seems like a really smart move! I am figuring that some type of digital, or electronic drum support will come into play at some point.
 
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#32
TOOL460002 said:
I find jamming without a drummer to be incredibly hard. You can throw randomness/chance into a sequencer but you're really going to be locked in, plus, with the random aspect, if you get a sweet fill/pattern, it won't be the same next measure. Without a drummer I find things to go more slowly. That said, totally doable. Buckethead has played a million shows without one (not always but most I've seen video of) and I've seen exactly one duo sans drummer and it really worked (Free Blood).
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Buckethead is great.. I will look into that. TY~
 
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#33
Muttleybass said:
After a disastrous road trip in the mid-eighties, the band dissolved. Well, actually the guitarist and I fired the drummer. We got this Dr. Rhythm and a Roland foot pedal drum machine along with a tape deck with a few cassettes for backing tracks. We practiced for a month in the front room of his puny apartment, bought a small peavey PA where the two satellite speakers fit into the ports of the sub. Immediately we went from making $125 each (after a sound and light man, PA payment, gas for a 5-ton, etc.) a week to $500-$600 a week each, booked solid. We did a road trip in a lime green Chevy Chevette (admittedly a tight fit, but we would laugh as we passed gas stations). Yes, musically it might not have been as much fun as with a drummer, but it's the most money I ever made as a musician.

Plus, after two years of playing with a drum machine, nobody can ever question my meter.
Click to expand...
THIS-- is kind of the direction I'm leaning in- (not so much road trips, yet), but the idea of using some backing tracks to fill it out a bit. Did a little looking around last night, and found quite a few vgood sounding iso-drum tracks online, out there. Good info... TYVM~
 
#36
Become a one-man-rhythm-section by playing drums with your feet.
I used to play a Wooskin cajon which has kick and snare pedals but a couple of years ago went digital with two KT10 kick pedals and a TM-1 drum module. It's not as good as playing with a good drummer but is a lot better than playing with a bad drummer.

 
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#39
It all depends on the music you’re doing. I’ve often played gigs without a drummer. Your role gets a little shifted with more of an emphasis on you supplying the beat so you have a little less freedom in what you play. But it’s very doable and it works.
 
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