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What's your opinion about singing drummers?

#81
My drummer sings, as well as my guitarist. We're a 3 piece and I've never really practiced singing and playing at the same time but I'll figure out eventually.

Our drummer jokes about wanting to be in a front man position all the time.. waving and pointing at the crowd and we're like "No.. you're too good of a drummer".. That being said - who sings is all dependant on the set list, and there a few songs where they both trade verses. Mind you were prepping for our first show and rushing out material atm, but there is none of that ego crap when it comes down to it. Either we're all happy with results or it's a no go. This was an agreement made after our first jam together. We just love that we click together, and probably won't mind playing any song we've chosen for a given set list regardless of who sings it because we're having that much fun.

Personally if I had a band member with that attitude of getting butt hurt because as a group we chose to end on a song where he didn't sing we'd be having a talk about it the next day.. "Do you enjoy all of the music we create or do you just care about how good YOU look?".. I'd be more worried about how accepting the crowd was of your choice honestly than stroking the ego of a band member who isn't acting like a part of a team. (then again good drummers are hard to come by where I live as well)
 
#82
What's there not to like?

Josie-and-the-pussycats-300x300.jpg

Snare placement is crucial for singing drummers.
 
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#85
Matty Koff said:
My drummer sings, as well as my guitarist. We're a 3 piece and I've never really practiced singing and playing at the same time but I'll figure out eventually.

Our drummer jokes about wanting to be in a front man position all the time.. waving and pointing at the crowd and we're like "No.. you're too good of a drummer".. That being said - who sings is all dependant on the set list, and there a few songs where they both trade verses. Mind you were prepping for our first show and rushing out material atm, but there is none of that ego crap when it comes down to it. Either we're all happy with results or it's a no go. This was an agreement made after our first jam together. We just love that we click together, and probably won't mind playing any song we've chosen for a given set list regardless of who sings it because we're having that much fun.

Personally if I had a band member with that attitude of getting butt hurt because as a group we chose to end on a song where he didn't sing we'd be having a talk about it the next day.. "Do you enjoy all of the music we create or do you just care about how good YOU look?".. I'd be more worried about how accepting the crowd was of your choice honestly than stroking the ego of a band member who isn't acting like a part of a team. (then again good drummers are hard to come by where I live as well)
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Ya' know the irony is our BL is also a darn good drummer himself. He used to sing from the drums years ago but hated it. He wants to be out front and does a fine job at it.
 
#86
Our drummer sings superstition and we just started playing "foot stompin music" by grand funk. Dumb song imho but its a high vocal part and a very fast shuffle, and last practice he really nailed it.


Lots of people who are up front singing are boring to watch anyway. we do make sure to mention "we're goinv to turn it over to the drummer for a song" and stand out of the way while he sings.

I just joined a second cover band and I think we're going to wean that drummer off of singing lead. He sings fine but between the lead singer (female) and me we don't need him to sing.
 
#88
tjontheroad said:
Ya' know the irony is our BL is also a darn good drummer himself. He used to sing from the drums years ago but hated it. He wants to be out front and does a fine job at it.
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The only thing I don't like about the drummer singing during practice is sometimes he'll break out that lyric book and just lightly tap the kick drum to keep me going on a bass line. I understand we have to stop to talk about changes and lyrics sometimes.. but lol I just want to keep playing, and your snare, cymbals and toms keep me locked in to a point that it's almost involuntary to play tighter and in time. All of the sudden I'm being my own meter which I need to be able to do but.. it just takes so much less effort once the beat kicks in. To me it sounds like you have a backup drummer if the ego becomes a real problem but I'm sure he wants to stay up front. - Hope you guys all work it out though in a civil manner and get back to having fun though. Set lists change all the time and you still get to be the same band. Adding or removing one member of a band can change the feel and sound of an entire band. Which sometimes is a good thing.. but.. if your sound is working it's worth trying to get everyone on the same page instead of butting heads.
 
#92
Don't like singing drummers? Ever seen Cowboy Mouth?

One of the best drummers I ever worked with was a killer singer. He was also a crappy guitar player who wanted to be a front man more than he wanted to be a drummer. We hired his as a drummer with the understanding he could move out front once we hired another drummer. As fate would have it we auditioned a bunch of non hacking drummers looking for the right one and no luck. Drummer boy was bringing them in 2 and 3 at a time trying to get out from behind the kit, but hard as we tried, no love for a replacement drummer could be summoned.

Drummer boy got fed up after a while and instead of just quitting he would just play awful and act like an ass if we said anything. We finally found a drummer and moved drummer boy out front, which was when we found out just how bad he sucked on guitar. We wound up dropping him as the alternative was to add a 5th member so we could cover the guitar we needed covered. After a short search we found a good (enough) guitar player who could also sing, so it all worked out in the end.

As for singing drummers, no prob. Good singers are hard to find, good singers who also play well are even harder, so the old saw about looking in the mouth of a gift horse applies to singing drummers. Just be glad you have one player who can do both and quit worrying about who's running the front of the band. Singer or not, the front falls to the guitarist with the biggest ego, unless you have a singer who doesn't play.
 
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#93
fhm555 said:
One of the best drummers I ever worked with was a killer singer. He was also a crappy guitar player who wanted to be a front man more than he wanted to be a drummer. We hired his as a drummer with the understanding he could move out front once we hired another drummer. As fate would have it we auditioned a bunch of non hacking drummers looking for the right one and no luck. Drummer boy was bringing them in 2 and 3 at a time trying to get out from behind the kit, but hard as we tried, no love for a replacement drummer could be summoned.

Drummer boy got fed up after a while and instead of just quitting he would just play awful and act like an ass if we said anything. We finally found a drummer and moved drummer boy out front, which was when we found out just how bad he sucked on guitar. We wound up dropping him as the alternative was to add a 5th member so we could cover the guitar we needed covered. After a short search we found a good (enough) guitar player who could also sing, so it all worked out in the end.
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:woot: :laugh: :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:. Ahh...humans. Glad you were able to bring a happy ending out of that scenario.
 
#94
fhm555 said:
Don't like singing drummers? Ever seen Cowboy Mouth?

One of the best drummers I ever worked with was a killer singer. He was also a crappy guitar player who wanted to be a front man more than he wanted to be a drummer. We hired his as a drummer with the understanding he could move out front once we hired another drummer. As fate would have it we auditioned a bunch of non hacking drummers looking for the right one and no luck. Drummer boy was bringing them in 2 and 3 at a time trying to get out from behind the kit, but hard as we tried, no love for a replacement drummer could be summoned.

Drummer boy got fed up after a while and instead of just quitting he would just play awful and act like an ass if we said anything. We finally found a drummer and moved drummer boy out front, which was when we found out just how bad he sucked on guitar. We wound up dropping him as the alternative was to add a 5th member so we could cover the guitar we needed covered. After a short search we found a good (enough) guitar player who could also sing, so it all worked out in the end.

As for singing drummers, no prob. Good singers are hard to find, good singers who also play well are even harder, so the old saw about looking in the mouth of a gift horse applies to singing drummers. Just be glad you have one player who can do both and quit worrying about who's running the front of the band. Singer or not, the front falls to the guitarist with the biggest ego, unless you have a singer who doesn't play.
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No, I never seen or heard much of Cowboy Mouth until I just now watched a couple videos. I do like the drummer's minimal setup while fronting the band. At least he's not hiding behind a bunch of toms and cymbals. I think I'd rather watch their chick bass player sing out front though ;)

Hey, I'm not ungrateful. The more singers the better. Heck, I'm working on my own singing to make some contribution and add some stock to my own musical cred. We'll see... Anyway, for some folk's, their ego is bigger than their heart. And sometimes, a gift horse smacks you in the mouth.
 

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