My drummer is killing me

[MDBass]

we have had a new drummer for about a year. He screws up all the time. He comes in early off of fills. He plays the wrong tempo. He can’t keep a tempo. He messes up at gigs. Our old drummer was the greatest but he had such a drug problem that we couldnt work with him. The main thing that bothers me is that this drummer doesn’t seem to know or care how bad he is. At rehearsal, if I tell him to play with just me, he can lock in but then later he will mess up. I know he is capable but his attitude sucks in that he isn’t the perfectionist that the rest of us are. He doesn’t seem to care. I live a few hours from the practice space and usually just rehearse once before we load up and go to the gig. I used to live out there but then i moved. Should i bother trying to do a drum and bass practice or just pack it in? This is just for fun and it is getting not so fun.

He's bad at what is literally his only job, keeping the groove, and hasn't improved in a year?

Fired.

 

[pcake]

I joined a country band with a middle aged drummer with a VERY expensive custom kit that had been playing "since he was three".

He couldn't get the beginning to "I like it, I love it" so he, the lead guitar and I had a rehearsal for just that song. We went through the beginning over 100 times (yes, I started counting) and he NEVER got it. Our solution was for me to shout "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR" at the gig so he'd know when to come in.

I say "the gig" because I quit shortly after, and that was the reason. He was ensconced in that band and I was the new guy. No point in fighting. I just left the band.

in a similar situation, instead of making me yell "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR", the drummer kept an eagle pinned on me, and i gestured when it was time to come in on every. single. song. where we didn't start together. *shakes head in disgust*

 

[Spidey2112]

Manti, Manti, Manti... I thought I might have been reading a thread you had posted sometime last year, and then I looked at the date stamp on this one... Nope. Today, as in this morning. I think you guys have given him plenty of time to correct any deficiencies he may have within the band. You guys can't blame yourselves for wanting to produce a good product for your audience, and no one in the band should disagree with that philosophy, not even this animal...

 

[mohrds]

there really aren't any other choices here unless you are hoping he gets killed in a tragic gardening accident....

He could also spontaneously combust or choke to death on someone else's vomit. After all, he is a drummer.

 

[LBS-bass]

I joined a country band with a middle aged drummer with a VERY expensive custom kit that had been playing "since he was three".

He couldn't get the beginning to "I like it, I love it" so he, the lead guitar and I had a rehearsal for just that song. We went through the beginning over 100 times (yes, I started counting) and he NEVER got it. Our solution was for me to shout "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR" at the gig so he'd know when to come in.

I say "the gig" because I quit shortly after, and that was the reason. He was ensconced in that band and I was the new guy. No point in fighting. I just left the band.

Oh my gosh, this made me laugh. I play with an incredible drummer in one of my bands. This guy has done stadium shows and grew up with a drum stick in his hand (dad was also a pro drummer). BUT- for whatever reason- there is one song we do (that is the only song I brought into the band) where the signature bass line is one of those lines where the 1 feels to be in the wrong place until you hear the drums come in. And fabulous drummer dude CANNOT hear or feel where to come in! If I let him start it, I can come in on the 1, but he always wants to start it too slow because the version he is familiar with is much slower. If I start it, the tempo is right but I have to play a hiccup in order to lock in with him because he never puts the 1 on the 1.

Because he is so good otherwise, I forgive this. I'm sure if we went over it 100 times he'd probably get it .

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Record a rehearsal then show him the parts where he messes up.

Nothing like an a go example. I would suggest that this is also played in front of the other band member. It might hasten the departure of said drummer.

 

[ZenG]

Can the band all chip in to buy him a metronome?

 

[The Chuck]

Timing in a drummer must be a natural thing. Hate to say it but if he can't keep time now, he most likely never will. That is the long and short of it.

 

[Gaolee]

I'll be darned, our old drummer must have moved to Florida!
It's the part where he shows no signs of caring to improve that waves the big red flag. Ours had a speed problem--not drugs, but the snowball-rolling-down-the-hill type. We provided recorded evidence, introduced him to that handy gadget, the metronome, but the bottom line was that he didn't think he had a problem. There's not much you can do with someone like that.

Your guy sounds like he can do it if he concentrates, but doesn't want to concentrate. That strikes me as a failure of professionalism. Even if playing music is not one's primary job, people don't pay your band to come to their function and sound like you're under-rehearsed.

I suggest 1) talk to other band members, see if they feel the same way; 2) if they do, the leader should tell the drummer that you will give him a chance to shape up, but that you are going to start to audition other drummers. Since your band seems to rehearse rarely, it might help to give him recordings of your songs as you play them for him to practice to.

Drummers can be a flaky lot. . .

It's a funny thing. I have been playing drums for about four years now. Not a long time and not long enough to be very good, but certainly long enough to have encountered and suffered from some drummer issues. It's been a real challenge to avoid speeding up in a song. Working with a click or metronome helps a lot. Just endless practice and repetition helps. Paying attention helps. It does take time, but it requires concentration and work.

As an aside, I'm fully aware of my tendency to get excited and go too fast. Awareness helps.

 

[Tom Bonzo]

Talk to the other guys to see where they are at. Come up with a plan for him 1) Work on your tempo 2) Work on finding the 1 when exiting a fill. Work with the guy like you would like to be worked with if you were the least capable. Fiquire out the best person to talk to him so he receives it well. Give him a chance. If that doesn’t go well then tell him he has to improve some or he’s out. If he really wants it he will try.

 

[tradernick]

that's just about the worst advice i've ever read!* and just how do you do that? i.e., deal with the problems without comment?

I think what he meant is

"If you make the decision to try to stay in the band and work things out, don't bother saying 'Man, you can really suck sometimes".

I really hate to say this but his playing is unlikely to improve to the point where you say 'Wow, I'm sure glad I stuck with this because his playing has totally changed!'

Drummers are like the goalies of music (Canadians will get it). Many of them are quirky but you need a great one to have a great team.

 

[Kukulkan61]

There is nothing worse than a bass player that can’t click with the drummer, guitarists, keyboard players etc. is tolerable but not a drummer, get rid of him or keep him and be miserable, it sucks when you play for love and fun of music and it turns into a Freakn job..
I was practicing with a trio to get something going and one of our songs was a Jonny Cash standard, the drummer insisted on playing a rock beat, I mentioned to him that the song is a 2-4 beat, he said “what is that”, I never went back...

 

[JRA]

I think what he meant is

"If you make the decision to try to stay in the band and work things out, don't bother saying 'Man, you can really suck sometimes".

I really hate to say this but his playing is unlikely to improve to the point where you say 'Wow, I'm sure glad I stuck with this because his playing has totally changed!'

Drummers are like the goalies of music (Canadians will get it). Many of them are quirky but you need a great one to have a great team.

thanks for the english to english translation --- i mean it! sounds like i didn't get what he meant. i admit that i have a knee-jerk reaction to TB scenarios where commentators are advising anything resembling either/or, black/white solutions. i find that type of 'solution' limited, limiting, and not good for humans with a corpus callosum.

thanks!

 

[WardEarth]

Best to move on or get another drummer. It's a lot of work to change someone. I don't even really try anymore.

 

[LYNCHMAN]

FIRE THE DRUMMER!

 

[Downunderwonder]

If you haven't got the stones to fire him you will have to arrange that tragic gardening accident. They will never get a decent bassist to join if you leave.

 

[ghostinthemach]

This:

Don't walk. This is your band. Play this next job and when it isn't better, you guys ("we") fire him. Get someone else and move on. Don't let this doofus ruin everything. Give him the boot.

...and as long as you can handle the “commute” for rehearsal.
Hey you gotta do SOMETHING with all those basses...hahaha

 

[BooDoggie]

I'm sorry... if the guy can't keep good time and messes up a lot he is not a "Drummer".
You are trying to work with a guy that owns some drums and hits them with sticks and stomps on stuff...

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

This:



...and as long as you can handle the “commute” for rehearsal.
Hey you gotta do SOMETHING with all those basses...hahaha

I know right?!

 

[Charley Umbria]

It’s OK to not be great. It’s not OK to not care.