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How important do you consider a good drummer?
- Thread starter cantstoplt021
- Start date
Yeppers, a good drummer makes or breaks it. Solid time keeps everyone else on time, slinky drumming keeps it sounding like amateur hour at the local elementary school.
I've played with drummers who get keyed up and may play a little faster (or slower) on some songs than what we rehearsed, but as long as they stay steady it's OK.
It's the slow down/speed up/slow down drummer that kills the whole thing.
I've played with drummers who get keyed up and may play a little faster (or slower) on some songs than what we rehearsed, but as long as they stay steady it's OK.
It's the slow down/speed up/slow down drummer that kills the whole thing.
Do you know one? I'm looking! ''Machines have no soul''- Sarah Connors.
It's absolutely critical to have a good drummer. Doesn't need to be flashy or an "over player" but must have a deeeeep pocket and keep good time. How is this even a question?
It's important that EVERYONE in a band be as good as possible!
A drummer is arguably the most important piece in a band, you'd be hard pressed to find someone that doesn't think a drummer has to be good.
A band is only as good as the drummer. Seriously.
I just had a couple of shows about a week apart. One of them was with some guys I've been doing originals with, but for a church BBQ we threw together a set of covers. The drummer is tight, solid on tempo, has a deep pocket, accents when he needs to. One rehearsal and we hit the groove perfectly and it was a great set.
The other was with a cover band I've been trying to get launched. It was, frankly, just barely over the threshold of an acceptable bar band. Barely. Tempo pushing and pulling all night, hammering away at the drums with no sense of pocket, has a hard time sustaining fast tempos of punk-style songs (we had some pop-punk like The Middle). The cadence of Seven Nation Army threw him every time (daaaah da DA DA DA daaah daaah - he would drag the beat back on the DA DA DA every time, even with me stamping my foot in time as I played to show him where it was). We managed to avoid ever actually having a complete train wreck and the joint hired us back, but it's supposed to be a dance band playing wall-to-wall dance music and we only got a handful of people up and dancing on half a dozen songs.
I just had a couple of shows about a week apart. One of them was with some guys I've been doing originals with, but for a church BBQ we threw together a set of covers. The drummer is tight, solid on tempo, has a deep pocket, accents when he needs to. One rehearsal and we hit the groove perfectly and it was a great set.
The other was with a cover band I've been trying to get launched. It was, frankly, just barely over the threshold of an acceptable bar band. Barely. Tempo pushing and pulling all night, hammering away at the drums with no sense of pocket, has a hard time sustaining fast tempos of punk-style songs (we had some pop-punk like The Middle). The cadence of Seven Nation Army threw him every time (daaaah da DA DA DA daaah daaah - he would drag the beat back on the DA DA DA every time, even with me stamping my foot in time as I played to show him where it was). We managed to avoid ever actually having a complete train wreck and the joint hired us back, but it's supposed to be a dance band playing wall-to-wall dance music and we only got a handful of people up and dancing on half a dozen songs.
Arguably the most important piece if your band requires having one.
In the genres of music that I play, the singer and drummer are the most important pieces in the band. They can make or break every song.
On the other hand, a good drummer is only slightly better than no drummer.
On the other hand, a good drummer is only slightly better than no drummer.
It's the most important part of the band for bassists to work with.
Essential.. cause who you gonna fire when things go wrong?
Cant have a good band w/out good drummer.
Funny that this thread came up... I was gigging with two bands until this last week. I made the decision to leave the one band for many reasons, the most significant one being the drummer has no sense of timing. Good all-around guy who simply isn't a learned drummer so can only do 4/4. It's a shame because he knows lots of people and gets lots of gigs, but it just became too embarrassing to have friends show up and watch our 4 hour train wreck. A band without a solid drummer is doomed, in my opinion.
Good drummers aren't expensive, they're priceless.
I'd ask my SR-16, but he's not talking right now.
I subscribe to Chet Baker's maxim..."It takes a really good drummer to be better than no drummer at all."
The most important part of a good band.
More important than the guitarist, IMO.
More important than the guitarist, IMO.
