The most amazing thing I've discovered about drummers is that very few can keep time.
No notes to play, no chords or progressions to remember.... just gotta keep time. :roll:
Maybe that's your take on drumming but that's a very limited perception. :?
And if that's all you expect from a drummer, then that is probably all you'll get.
Bish
"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"
Should I bring him a milk can to sit on? :)
Wes, Bish, you guys are just kidding around, right? It's hard for me to tell ...
Jason
"Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution"
Should I bring him a milk can to sit on? :)
Wes, Bish, you guys are just kidding around, right? It's hard for me to tell ...
Jason
I think some of what Wes brings up is true. I havent gotten to play with as many drummers as Wes, I am sure, but there seems to be quite a few that cannot keep a simple rhythm. Now I am the one that chimed in with the funny, and maybe i shouldnt have, and I dont really think that its simple. In fact, when i sit behind my sons set I cannot fathom how they do it. I get my arms tied in knots.
Jim
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
I certainly was not trying to insult drummers, I always wanted to be a drummer myself.
Still, it seems many drummers speed up or slow down at times. I used to play with an excellent drummer, he was a music teacher in High School, awesome chops. But whenever he sang, he speeded up. Our current drummer is great, I love the guy, but he tends to speed up too. This is something I have noticed with many drummers. Many times when the music becomes more intense, a drummer will speed up as well.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
I think speeding up with intensity is a good thing more often than not, gives an intense part a little bit more of a contrast to the rest. I've heard it done badly more than a few times though, and then it sounds terrible. I guess it depends how subtle and/or sudden the change is.
Have a great night. :)
I love having the opportunity to spend time with people who know more than I do - about anything - because it's such a wonderful away to learn. It's a big part of why I come here for a start.
Sharing experiences and information can be a very rewarding process, for everybody involved. But the role of the one 'who knows' is usually a little harder to play. So don't be worried about feeling you've got things to learn fom him. I never met anybody who minded being asked asked "Could you show me how to do that? Could you tell me what you think about..."
Have fun.... lucky you.... :)
Cheers,
Chris
If he's as good as you say, maybe he can help with your timing. If you can play songs he sure can tell you how it should sound. I play like s---t but I'd jump at the chance in a heartbeat!
Stay loose and have fun. Thats my advice.
My dad would always talk about retirement, and allude to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And I say all you've got at the end of the rainbow is death. You're riding the rainbow right now. - Mark Borchardt
Welp, this has gotten even better.
My main jam buddy is now going with me as well. I'm very comfortable jamming with him, so that will help a bunch!
This is going to be fun!!
Jason
"Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution"
Many times when the music becomes more intense, a drummer will speed up as well.
As do many other musicians, it's not limited to drummers.
I occassionally play with a conservatory trained drummer.
His biggest complaing about other musicians is that he's met very few guitarists who can read a chart. He'd much rather play with a piano/upright bass/horn group than any combo with a guitar. As he put it "Sorry man, but most of you guys are just ignorant."
The point is . . . everyone has something they look for in other musicians.
There's alot of people who think that speeding up while playing the intense parts equates to "playing with emotion."
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
Many times when the music becomes more intense, a drummer will speed up as well.
As do many other musicians, it's not limited to drummers.
I occassionally play with a conservatory trained drummer.
His biggest complaing about other musicians is that he's met very few guitarists who can read a chart. He'd much rather play with a piano/upright bass/horn group than any combo with a guitar. As he put it "Sorry man, but most of you guys are just ignorant."
The point is . . . everyone has something they look for in other musicians.
There's alot of people who think that speeding up while playing the intense parts equates to "playing with emotion" and actually consider it a good thing.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
In my humble opinion, (which I'm sure as a drummer in a guitar forum most surely equates to a salmon swimming up stream in bear country) the members within any band need to stop being self-centered and work as a group/team. Breaking down into the smaller subgroups, the drums and bass guitar should be locked and loaded regardless of what anyone else in the band does. As was the problem with Hap Hazard, the members didn't mesh. Each played their own parts and hoped it sounded close. I couldn't put up with that mentality anymore. The bass player would never turn around or try to work with me. We never had one moment where we were on the same page in any song. He even tried to talk during the middle of a song while the rest of us would quiet down in the background and when he would get off beat he'd look at me like it was my fault.
As a drummer, I look way past the basic beat. That is a given. I will listen to what everyone else does and if I have a part that will accent another players part then I'm all over it. Myself and the guitarist could do that without even thinking. We were on a separate but solid wave length that doesn't just happen with everyone. All of you that play in bands may have been lucky enough to experience this. Some thread on here describes that.
The music doesn't intensify by playing faster unless the piece was written like that. However, when you can factor in dynamics and the 'leave this out here and here but add it here' is where music intensifies. Where you build some excitement, add more to your playing not play faster.
In any live environment no one is ever 100% in the pocket from beginning to end. It just won't happen. There will always be a slight variation in tempo no matter how good you think you are or unless you are focused on a metronome. Then the music sounds processed. There is something to be said for the live performance.
But I hope you all realize that a drummer is not JUST a time keeper. That is the fundamental responsibility of the drummer but not just that. It should go way beyond the simple time keeper. Since the bass player was the weakest link in HH it effects the drums on every song. He couldn't keep up so he hated me for that. A 4/4 timer was all HH wanted. That wasn't me and never will be.
If I've offended anyone but the HH bass player, I apologize.
Bish
"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"
Well said Bish.
Jim
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
Well said Bish.
Jim
Very well said indeed Bish!
Sounds like you're going to have a blast Jason! 8) 8)
Dan
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
you got it bish, old buddy, go for it jason, you will have a blast and probably learn somthing, rick, the drummer for the band im in, and i jam together, just me and him, more than any other members of my band, i guess we have become really close, and our musical intrests are identical, we have a blast
and come up with cool stuff 8)
even god loves rock-n-roll
