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Two drummers in one band

#21
Rytch said:
Hey all, have recently started a band at uni; we had our first practise with both drummers tonight . . .

. . it sounded messy, at best.

Does anyone have any experience in playing in a band with 2 drummers, or any ideas we would use to keep things sounding good.

It is very easy to muddy up the sound, and we need to somehow arrange things so they are playing different things, like one plays a beat and the other embellishes the other instrumental parts. Any ideas?

Thanks, Rytch
Click to expand...

jerry garcia had some experience with two drummers :p

go watch some old dead footage, i suppose?
 
#22
My band has two drummers.

We usually just use one and the other does misc. percussion stuff, like bells or bongos, but a few songs use both on set.

It sounds really good when one plays a snare part and one plays full set. Also if you want something really powerfull, both on set works perfectly.
 
#23
Back when I was in my country band, our drummer was a tax accountant, and wasn't available from January to May, so we had a seasonal sub practice and do gigs with us. One summer, we had an outdoor gig on a large estate, and we had both drummers play the gig. It was a blast. We thought we were the Doobie Brothers of country. They key is that they have to play pretty much the same thing to avoid too much noise and confusion, but the impact is amazing. I recommend it if you've got two really good drummers with their egos under control.
 
#26
Hi.

At some point in time Genesis had two drummers. I remember watching an interview where Phil Collins was explaining their separate roles. Much like a rythm and solo guitarist IIRC.

Those two guys has to have perfect timing in order to make the things work. Perhaps a clic-track of some sorts helps? I've used Tama Rythm Trainer when learnig more difficult (to me ;)) rythm parts.

Good luck, You're going to need it.

Regards
Sam
 
#32
ive been in a 2 drummer situation. luckily they were good friends and enjoyed playing together, as well as around each other. one would take the beat, the other would accent. sometimes they would sync up, sometimes they would bounce back and forth.

given, this was a 3rd wave ska/reggae jam band. we also had at least 2 guitarists. one would hold down the rhythm, and i was in constant solo mode. it was pretty neat stuff.

the best part was that they both had 2 snares, and at any moment's notice, they would untrigger them and play timbale with it. it wouldnt work the same way with any other 2 drummers on earth, but this time it did.

we occasionally added a bass or 2, as well as extra drummers and guitars. it was a giant freak show of a live band, but it sure was fun :D
 
#36
Theres a great interview with Bill Bruford, about when King Crimson began using two drummers.

Aha, found it: Invalid Link Removed

Bill Bruford said:
The most difficult part, I think, is playing less. That's hard. One has to learn to lay out. For instance, the kick drum: how many kick drum notes do we need per measure? With two drummers playing, that has to be a consideration, because the bottom end can get cluttered. Not easy. On top of that, Pat has a double pedal, so things can become a bit busy if we're not careful. That's much harder.
Click to expand...

Its got some interesting ideas, I reccomend making all drummers read it
 

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