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Qualities of a Good Drummer?
- Thread starter WyrmDL
- Start date
Even the most boring of parts aren't actually boring if you're really getting into the groove with a tight drummer.
Give me a solid drummer and I will happily play 12 bar blues all day long without the slightest complaint. Give me a bad drummer and that same 12 bar blues becomes total hell.
Lots of good things have been named already. Reliability and professionalism (or their absence) are usually fairly obvious before the guy sits down at the drums. To that I would say that I can tell within 10 seconds of playing whether a drummer is going to work, to about a 90% degree of accuracy. (The other 10% comes from guys that have drug or alcohol issues which affect their playing only sometimes).
In that first ten seconds, the bad drummers are the guys who start off playing a song (not a drum solo, just a song) by playing fills, are way too loud, have an unmusical relative volume between the different parts of their kit, have a stiff, uneven, or unmusical feel, have their drums tuned or selected really poorly or just brought a totally wrong kind of kit for the situation, or who you can tell are playing one of the few cliched, simple beats that they know.
Some guys start off with what is supposed to be their most lowdown, funky, snare way behind the beat groove, and it just sucks, like putting up a sign saying "I went to a party school where I was good enough to play in my friends living room" . Only players that can really do that, should do it in front of other people, and it's not for every kind of gig obviously.
If a song calls for simple playing, and I hear more than about 6 touches on anything in the first measure, I'm pretty much ready to give up on the dude right there. There's no need to drag it out if you know it's going to end in tears. Understanding that less is more is absolutely a prerequisite.
Before entertaining the idea of playing with somebody, I usually find out what music they like. If they name music that I can relate to as a human being, that's a good sign. If they mostly name musicians that play different instruments than themselves, that's a great sign. If they name only fusion or current LA studio players, or the question results in a 20 minute monologue, it's a good time to change the subject.
In that first ten seconds, the bad drummers are the guys who start off playing a song (not a drum solo, just a song) by playing fills, are way too loud, have an unmusical relative volume between the different parts of their kit, have a stiff, uneven, or unmusical feel, have their drums tuned or selected really poorly or just brought a totally wrong kind of kit for the situation, or who you can tell are playing one of the few cliched, simple beats that they know.
Some guys start off with what is supposed to be their most lowdown, funky, snare way behind the beat groove, and it just sucks, like putting up a sign saying "I went to a party school where I was good enough to play in my friends living room" . Only players that can really do that, should do it in front of other people, and it's not for every kind of gig obviously.
If a song calls for simple playing, and I hear more than about 6 touches on anything in the first measure, I'm pretty much ready to give up on the dude right there. There's no need to drag it out if you know it's going to end in tears. Understanding that less is more is absolutely a prerequisite.
Before entertaining the idea of playing with somebody, I usually find out what music they like. If they name music that I can relate to as a human being, that's a good sign. If they mostly name musicians that play different instruments than themselves, that's a great sign. If they name only fusion or current LA studio players, or the question results in a 20 minute monologue, it's a good time to change the subject.
I think I can narrow it down further. When a really good player makes their first couple of touches on the drums, you feel a wave of relaxation across your body, you exhale deeply, and almost make an audible "ahhh...." because it's obvious that everything is going to be just fine.
They have an air of quiet, humble confidence and in their hands no drum pattern feels quite like anything you've heard before because they are really in the unique moment. They all have a good sense of humor and they listen more than they talk just like they listen more than they play.
They have an air of quiet, humble confidence and in their hands no drum pattern feels quite like anything you've heard before because they are really in the unique moment. They all have a good sense of humor and they listen more than they talk just like they listen more than they play.
Yeah. Few things are as frustrating as a drummer that can't place his beats right. I've had the misfortune of trying to overdub bass tracks over a drummer that couldn't get his kick on 1 (or anything else for that matter), so I had to do lots and lots of takes and account for each and every one of his mistakes.
Reading drum notation is not super important in the studio for a drummer. Reading a chart though, is EXTREMELY important. The drummer has to be able to see the form and react to the music appropriately, and get any rhythmic hits that are in the chart.
For me the ideal drummer is: a cool person, has great time feel, and has great tone. Chops are somewhat important, but not anywhere near the most important factor. I've played with some guys that have maybe the best chops in the world, but they're the worst drummers because they're not listening to the music, they're only listening to themselves and how awesome their drum solo sounds . . . that they're playing in the middle of the piano player's solo.
edit: looked back at the thread a little bit and you asked for specific situations where you need to read. You absolutely must be able to read if you're playing in a big band, film scoring session, ship gig, or if you're doing a session or gig where the music is very highly and specifically arranged (not all that common). By read, I mean notation. Reading a chart is a different skill, and one you should have no matter what. And writing charts is even better, because if you can do that, you become much more versatile and can charge more money for GB band gigs and stuff like that.
Not going to wade through all the responses, but here is what I look for:
1) Reliable, make the gigs on time.
2) Strong on the back beat and understand how to support it for different styles. That means hand clap on 2 and 4. The guys who play off of 1 and 3 have zero concept. No, less than zero. I can't get a groove with them.
3) Eyes up. Communication.
4) Know the tunes.
5) Have a sense of humor; have fun.
6) Hear the whole mix. The drummer is the volume knob. Understand it.
7) No negative comments on the gig. Save the criticism for rehearsal.
That's about it. Missing any of those can be a fail.
1) Reliable, make the gigs on time.
2) Strong on the back beat and understand how to support it for different styles. That means hand clap on 2 and 4. The guys who play off of 1 and 3 have zero concept. No, less than zero. I can't get a groove with them.
3) Eyes up. Communication.
4) Know the tunes.
5) Have a sense of humor; have fun.
6) Hear the whole mix. The drummer is the volume knob. Understand it.
7) No negative comments on the gig. Save the criticism for rehearsal.
That's about it. Missing any of those can be a fail.
I guess I was spoiled. My best friend in high school started playing drums about the time I converted completely to bass. we spent a lot of time working on our chops and had the same taste in music. David went from playing a no name drum set in his single wide trailer ( I know right?!?! ) with the toms as flat as can be ( I gave him crap about that as he didn't know how to set up the kit then ) to being a beast on drums who was as "on time" as anyone I've had the privileged of playing with. That single thing separates our rhythmic brethren, for me. If you can't keep time I don't care how good your chops are, you're useless to a band. I've spent time fixing tracks that literally changed time 3 or 4 times in a single song. Needless to say we dropped that "jazz drummer" soon after the 4 songs we put to tape. Seriously, who can't keep time with a click track?
