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What do you look for in a drummer?

#81
drumvsbass said:
Time. Impeccable, time. Groove would be very VERY close second second.
It's easier to play with a drummer with good time, but no groove, than a groovy drummer with bad time.
I'd rather have both, but those drummers are few and far between.
I always ask a new drummer who their #1 is.
Acceptable answers ~John Bonham, Bernard Purdy, Clyde Stubblefield, Steve Gadd
Unacceptable answers ~ Neil Peart, Lars Ulrich, Dave Weckl
Controversial answer ~ Dave Grohl
Unattainable answer ~ Terry Bozzio, Danny Carey, Joey Baron
Click to expand...
Keith moon would definitely fit in the unacceptable, and i'd move peart to unattainable
 
#82
Personality & reliability. Ability's in there, too but it doesn't matter if they're not there or even worse, depress me when they DO show up! Nothing worse than to be spending time at rehearsals listening to pointless arguments/griping instead of playing! Glad to say I haven't experienced that since the 80's!
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#86
Can They Play A Train Beat?

Seriously. If they can keep a steady train beat I know they're not locked into only being a rock drummer, I know they have actual chops, not just flourishes, and I have a pretty good idea that they'll sit well in a group.
 
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#89
A drummer that can hear and play the difference between rock beats; driving, and Country beats; more like a combine tractor. Understands that Reggae isn't necessarily all that grace-note intricate.

A drummer that's into the music they're covering and has a respect for what they're playing, learning, their mentors and respects-emulates the studio players that make up most of the songs we musicians cover.
 
#93
3 recents sub dates and the drummers have been such hard work.

Other issues as well but this is why it is not always a good idea to help out mates bands but drummers make or break the band for me.

This is also why the bass player should always have final say on the drums.
 
#98
drumvsbass said:
Time. Impeccable, time. Groove would be very VERY close second second.
It's easier to play with a drummer with good time, but no groove, than a groovy drummer with bad time.
I'd rather have both, but those drummers are few and far between.
I always ask a new drummer who their #1 is.
Acceptable answers ~John Bonham, Bernard Purdy, Clyde Stubblefield, Steve Gadd
Unacceptable answers ~ Neil Peart, Lars Ulrich, Dave Weckl
Controversial answer ~ Dave Grohl
Unattainable answer ~ Terry Bozzio, Danny Carey, Joey Baron
Click to expand...

I prefer bad time and groove, over good time and no groove, because time is fixable, and groove doesn't appear to be fixable.
 
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#99
basseux said:
I prefer bad time and groove, over good time and no groove, because time is fixable, and groove doesn't appear to be fixable.
Click to expand...
I can play with a drum machine better than a Russian Dragon. I'd prefer both to neither. But groove means nothing without time. I'm not talking subtle shift of speeding up or slowing down. I am talking 5 or more bpm difference in a 4 bar phrase kind of bad time keeping.
 
#100
Timing, musical maturity, a controlled ego, ability to play in the pocket, and as many others have said, DyNAmiCs. It's such a pleasure to play with a mature team-player who can control their volume, and what a misery it is to play with a drummer who calls himself Bam Bam, has no situational awareness and wants to throw every fill he knows into every possible measure of a song. (And not particularly adroitly at that)
 

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