Every day, somebody here posts "Fire The Drummer!" I thought it might be worthwhile to explore the process of hiring the drummer. (Also a thought on the limits of virtuosity.)
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Hiring The Drummer
- Thread starter Bunk McNulty
- Start date
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Drummers like Charlie Watts made careers from being oe "one" every time. Neil Peart may play some amazing stuff, but for 98% of the music, I'll take Watts, Starr, etc. every time.
Fully agree, with the one tweak that Ringo was deceptively complex while seeming simple
Hiring? First question: "do you actually own a drum kit?".
Edit: the hiring of a drummer was actually the inspiration for "TJ's Rule-of-Ten"...more on that later.
Riis
Edit: the hiring of a drummer was actually the inspiration for "TJ's Rule-of-Ten"...more on that later.
Riis
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Ask the bass player to find the drummer.
It's not something to leave to anyone else, ime.
He needs to be gigging and playing regularly with rock solid time and good groove.
It's not something to leave to anyone else, ime.
He needs to be gigging and playing regularly with rock solid time and good groove.
Absolutely. A number of folks in my generation used to be pretty harsh on Meg White being a "bad drummer". I am not the biggest White Stripes fan but I would always ask "Do you really think it'd be better with Neil Peart or Carl Palmer over these songs?". Of course the answer is invariably no.
Second question: "When was your last DUI and do you still have your license".
Sorta kidding, but I swear that anytime I've been in a band with a member that had a DUI/a breathalyzer in the car (and it's been a few) it has always been the drummer.
Neil Peart was perfectly capable of playing "ordinary" drums.
As for Meg white, why the leap from her to Peart? A) Neil would have played something appropriate as he did when he played with others. B) There are other drummers that could have also done the same that were not known for a more complex style like Neil. It's not all or nothing. There are many shades of grey between those extremes
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Let me preface my upcoming comment by saying Neil and Rush are religious in my household. I was once a drummer in a Rush tribute band, when I was 17 I installed a stereo cassette player in my car simply so I could play the Moving Pictures album the day it was released. And at 58, Moving Pictures is 1 of 3 albums that been in my F150 since I bought it 12 years ago. All that being said, the clip you posted just highlights, for me anyway, why Ringo was just so amazing. The washy back and forth hi-hat, the addicting kinda off time fills, finding a never been done simple beat. Sort of the opposite of Neil whose precision in itself was mesmerizing.
I get that. The jump to Peart and Palmer wasn't a comment on them to imply they're "over-players". Mostly just to try and drive home that them coming down on her drumming as if it being simple is bad is ignoring that the most important thing you can do as a musician is support the composition.
I think we're getting hung up on Neil Pert. While he was perfectly capable of playing either complex or simple styles that were both clever and supportive, too many Pert-fan drummers try to play his more complex styles over music where it's not appropriate, supportive or clever.
If you reread the comments in just this post, you will see that anything but simple playing by the drummer is very commonly viewed as bad.
"dear prospective drummer,
Before we hire you, we've given you an assignment. We installed an apple airtag under your car.
'drive to these three nightclubs from your house. We'll track your progress.
We like your drumming. Of you can find all three of these nightclubs, in the proscribed amount of time...
You're hired!".
Before we hire you, we've given you an assignment. We installed an apple airtag under your car.
'drive to these three nightclubs from your house. We'll track your progress.
We like your drumming. Of you can find all three of these nightclubs, in the proscribed amount of time...
You're hired!".
I mean, I see people making the point they'd take steady over flashy. I think that the real friction is that Neil could/would play non-flashy when called for so he's not a great representation of the other side I suppose in retrospect.
Personally I think it's all contextual. For instance, I wouldn't hire the kid from whiplash to be in my punk band (not that he'd be interested).
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Because unless you are playing complicated prog rock, being steady wins. I see a LOT more threads complaining about drummers (and bands in general)not keeping steady time than I see threads bragging about how their drummer can playing complex figures.
So was Charlie Watts. Watts was a renown jazz drummer in England before the Stones.
Love me some Al Jackson, Benny Benjamin, Russ Kunkel & Buddy Miles
I think there's a difference between Neil Peart, who was an actual professional, and dudes who think they're Neil Peart, like to get flashy when it's not called for, and yet keep time worse than sneakers in a dryer.
