What is your drummer afflicted with?

[mjolnir]

Where's alcoholism in your poll options?

+1

In the last band I was in, our drummer seemed to have this incredible urge to drown himself in Shiner before every show, after every show, the morning after a show, in the mornings in general, in the evenings in general, and more often than not, just after lunchtime...

He was damn good, though, and never made any truly inexcusable scenes.

 

[Ben B]

Fortunately, he is normal. We are good friends. I've worked with him in various bands and projects for over 25 years. Never a problem.

Guitar players on the other hand...

Ben

 

[Mike Money]

My drummer cant play with a click.



Explain that one to me.

 

[west*coast*bass]

My drummer is:

1. Very cool

2. Groove oriented

3. Blessed with good time

 

[7615]

drummers must

1) have good tempo
2) understand dynamics - be able to play very quiet - crescendo - diminuendo -etc
3) understand how to play rests -ie: create space - like wait until the second verse etc...

Extremely difficult stuff - that nearly all drummers say is boring
Simple 50's-60's country music is the acid test - drummers mostly over play and when I ask could they just hold the tempo and groove - "its boring". I don't know how many times I have said - "how would you know - you have never done it." I have thrown down the gauntlet to many drummers - "OK humour me and just lay down the sparsest part that still creates forward motion without change for the whole song - if there is a break play a whole bar -or two- rest and come in on 1 (no lead up fill and no counting in on high hat) - and at the end of the song no flourish - just a tight ending."

The ones who say its boring - nearly always fail - can't do it. And the good ones who have command of dynamics - show that its not boring and they are not "doing nothing." Overplaying is a a habit in my experience that drummers who don't internally count get into. It was a mistake I made when learning bass - informing my bass parts from the central melody or the guitar parts. In a small outfit you need counterpoint - so many drummers pursue that mistake and never realize the detrimental effect it has on ensemble playing.

I have only ever played with 3 competent drummers - who could play the "easy stuff "with gravitas. And they all sang. I think the singing made them think of the whole.

A great drummer makes all the difference. But is the hardest spot to fill.

Few understand the concept of a song - they don't see the long game - they want to put a flourish on top of a singer's hook line - riff on top of a melodic phrase. Jazz up decidedly non-jazz music - as if jazz is a "superior music" - don't know how may times I have heard that BS. Known guys with incredible chops but they have a blind spot - music is not about endless riffing. At first its impressive - but it becomes tiring pretty quick.

 

[buldog5151bass]

My drummer is an admitted conspiracy theorist - every one - 9/11, Kennedy, the moon landing, etc. Makes for some great conversation on the way to gigs. I think some of it is tongue in cheek, but not sure. But a great guy, and the best I have ever played with.

 

[joebar]

All drummers should listen to Two Against Nature- Steely Dan.
The entire album is a showcase on basic drum grooves and you can count all the cymbal hits on one hand.

 

[GBBSbassist]

My drummer is affected by "No talent"

 

[delta7fred]

First I have to say our current drummer is one of the best I have played with, he is certainly the most experienced having been a touring pro for a number of years and has played behind some big names. He also books the bulk of our gigs.

BUT he is now well past his prime (he had his first gig in 1960 when he was 14), is half deaf and stubborn as a mule.
1. He insists on getting to gigs ridiculously early to set up, I don't mind that but he thinks we should get there at the same time. It is nice to have plenty of time but getting to a venue 45 minutes before the manager came to unlock is ridiculous.
2. He tests every drum/cymbal/percussion device regularly while setting up to make sure it is still working (earplugs required). He usually carries on with testing while the guitarist and I are trying to set the PA up. Yelling at him "will you please shut up" (or words to that effect) seem to have the desired effect.
3. He refuses to spend a single cent/penny that he doesn't see absolutely necessary so his IEMs are some crappy earphones that came with a cell phone. These drop out at the most inconvenient times and even when they are in he can't hear them properly so his vocals are quite often flat.

 

[7615]

All drummers should listen to Two Against Nature- Steely Dan.
The entire album is a showcase on basic drum grooves and you can count all the cymbal hits on one hand.

oh yes the cymbals - the ride cymbal - can just go - they think its jazzy - yeah but we are not playing jazz. I was complaining about the ride to a friend who has a jazz band - and he said tell me about it ..most overused instrument- a constant source of strife. Also niggly overplayed hi hat - my major pet peeves.

 

[joebar]

IME- the best grooves are usually laid down with incredibly simple drum parts; space is a drummers friend. Great fills can be done with economy as well.
Then there is tone-
When I hear most drummers, they sound like they're playing on Tupperware; even good quality kits.
Sadly, most drummers don't get these concepts.they are all trying to reinvent the wheel without mastering the basics.

 

[Sore Thumb]

What is our drummer afflicted with?

A crazy ex wife.

 

[Jimmy4string]

Ours is probably the weak link in our band but we have some good talent. Also drum parts are hard IMO.
Hell i I am the singer and memorizing lyrics from songs i know all my life is a simple.
Kind of nerdy and shy-he is the best drummer we have had though.
BUT he got stuck in India and we had to cancel a gig (i was outvoted on that one) so won't ever forgive him for that one....

 

[GIBrat51]

Other than occasionally thinking he was Keith Moon (and he did sorta look like him), Vinnie was a very good drummer. Just sometimes way too loud for the little venues we played. But, stuffing a couple of blankets in his kick drum, and threatening to break his fingers if he tried to remove them, pretty much calmed him down...

 

[AlexBassMP]

To say it clearly:

Our drummer left us one hour before going to a venue for a gig last saturday.

But the worse part is that he planned to do it by not showing up at the venue, leaving us waiting for him without saying nothing.

We knew that we was planning something and, to be fair, we had intentions to fire him because his bad attitude.
Last week he told us "I'll go straight to the venue". It was a "shared drumkit" gig, so we thought that he'd pick up his snare,cymbals, pedals one day before
We showed up at the rehearsal place to load our gear and we saw all his drumkit set up...so we figured that his plan was being late on purpose . We loaded the gear and then he showed up. He didn't say a word and I told him "See you up there!" but.. something was wrong.
We talked with my bandmates at the parking lot and we decided to come back to rehearsal place and ask him if he wanted to do the gig or not... We catched him dissambling all the drumkit and finally , whe he saw himself caught in the act he told us taht he was leaving.

 

[Old Blastard]

Wow. My drummer has a few idiosyncrasies and quirks, but so do I.

We groove well together and play off of each other and that makes any oddities tolerable.

I'm sure the guitar players feel that way about me. That I'm a bit weird, but tolerable.

 

[jshinal]

Our drummer is a real pro (with a day job but...) he's in 4 gigging bands at the moment. His only difficult point is when he wears Music Instructor Hat he can be pretty stern. But he's truthful if not mild about it, and we're all better off for the critique. He admits to his own mistakes too (he doesn't make many) and is our strongest player.

It's a little intimidating sometimes when we're playing something that allows him to go WAY outside. I'll find myself holding the entire rhythm until he resolves what he's doing. But honestly some of the stuff he plays makes me laugh out loud its so cool, and that is my highest mark for any drummer.

 

[3orangewhips]

Here's what you need to know about drummers:

1. I don't like that song = it's hard for me to play.
2. That part is weird = it's hard for me to play.
3. This song is boring = it's hard for me to play without being a show-off.
4. This song feels slow = See #3
5. I am really trying to get back to basics = I am too lazy to load in so many toms

 

[lfmn16]

My drummer is an admitted conspiracy theorist - every one - 9/11, Kennedy, the moon landing, etc. Makes for some great conversation on the way to gigs. I think some of it is tongue in cheek, but not sure. But a great guy, and the best I have ever played with.

I played with a singer like that. We were good friends for 40 years, but had a falling out a little over a year ago. Started out humorous, but in the end he started believing his own nonsense, then started calling everyone that didn't agree with him unAmerican. The very few people he still talks to all agree with him, tell him he's great, he's always right, he's a genius and other vomit inducing flattery. I was the last one who would flat out tell him he was wrong, but the last time he said I hated my country was the end. The fact that I don't agree with someone else's vision for America doesn't mean I hate my country.