Drummers. Love or hate?

Brad Mock (15518)

Bass Open Forum
10/7/2006 12:14 PM

It is a fact of life that we have to play with drummers and some you love and some you hate. Last nite for example I played with John P. one of my favorite drummers, we simply connect on every level. There are never tempo issues, problems with kicks or fills and no volume concerns. He is also a consumate professional completely prepared and relaxed. Add to this that his drums always sound wonderful and he knows how to get the best sound live or in the studio and he has his own mics. We did a recording session last nite and got drum and bass tracks for 7 tunes in 3 hours.
Tonight OTOH I have a gig with Greg and it will be one thing after another the whole damn nite. While Greg is a great drummer he has shall we say issues. Generally he is late arriving and pushed to get his kit up. One of his drums will sound like crap all night, ususlly the snare, so bad the guitar players will get involved in helping him tune it between tunes. Tempos will be a constant struggle, some one else counts the tunes and Greg will force the tune to his tempo, but he'll never count down a tune. Fills will be a train wreck either we both play or neither of us will play. Don't get me wrong because most of the night will sound amazing but that last 20% or so is so frustrating that I would not even play gigs with Greg but all the other players are the best around on their instruments and the money is super nice.
Sorry for the rant I was just thinking of my day and had to vent. So how are your drummers?

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Re: Drummers. Love or hate?

10/8/2006 9:16 AM

Derek Still (14266) wrote:

Brad,

want a drummer and a half? Go to "Artists" forum, and visit my "Never let it be said" post.

dags

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Re: Drummers. Love or hate?

10/8/2006 3:31 PM

David Muise (15739) wrote:

Why not tell Greg the wrong town for the next gig, then get John to fill in?

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Re: Drummers. Love or hate?

10/8/2006 7:15 PM

Brad Mock (15518) wrote:

Actually last nite went pretty well. He rode to the gig with the steel player so he was so early his kit was set up right and mic'ed coerrectly so it sounded fine. He helped everyone with their gear in & out. And the band worked out the tempo issues, seems I had the same concerns as everyone else.
As much as I love John and the other drummers I work with Greg actually brings a different mix of styles to this band that another drummer would not. That band is essentially a Texas country swing to Jazz jam band starting with traditional style Texas country swing and then morphing thru different jazz styles. Greg can go country swing to neo bop and everything in between, not many drummers can cover all those bases. When it works, and it usually does, it is a real challenge for both of us to keep up with the preferred styles of the various & constantly changing cast of soloists.

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Re: Drummers. Love or hate?

10/8/2006 7:48 PM

David Muise (15739) wrote:

That's good news bro! Hopefully the start of a new trend.

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Re: Drummers. Love or hate?

10/9/2006 5:21 AM

Alex Muscatelli (1783) wrote:

I play both drums and bass and so have a view on both. As a bassist I have a strong preference for funky drummers who play with 4 or 5 piece kits and who do most of their fancy stuff on the hi-nat and snare and who always keep the groove. Tony Thompson's work with Chic's a case in point. Although I respect the skill and energy, I cant deal with those who think they're Keith Moon. No sirree. As a drummer I go spare when bassists go off on a shredding spree as if possessed by Yngwie Malmsteen.

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Re: Drummers. Love or hate?

10/9/2006 6:47 AM

Peter Sillery (18984) wrote:

I am a Drummer/Bass player and played in bands for a long time as a drummer. Althiugh I appriciate the skill of someone like Keith Moon of The Who, for instance, I would hate to have to keep the timing of a song on the bass whilst playing with him.

He was all drum rolls and fills. Amazing to listen to but hard to keep in time with. Just goes to show you how good a bass player John Entwhistle really was I guess both technically and timing wise.

Peter.

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Re: Drummers. Love or hate?

10/9/2006 10:19 AM

EZ WOODY (1799) wrote:

Im working with a drummer that doesnt practice on his own. The guy has tempo issues, and will get annoyed when told to slow down. He always likes to tell you that he has been in the business for a long time, and does not want to get pigeon whole to any one type of music, but anything other than the Blues is hard for him. We are friend, and Ive worked with him before, but I think Im going to have to cut him loose from this band if he cant cut the mustard.

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Re: Drummers. Love or hate?

10/9/2006 10:48 AM

Thomas Morrison (356) wrote:

Hi Brad:
I played drums for 20 years, with bass as my second instrument before making a permanent switch. I know exactly what you mean. I have played with a few drummers in the last few years but there is one in particular whom i feel particularly at ease with (unfortuantely for me his main group already has a good bass player). I had the same feeling with some bass players (years back when playing drums) where our playing connected very well and it just worked.

Having actively been on both sides of the fence, I put it down to listening to the dynamics and playing as a team and for the tune rather than for ones self. I also think its important to communicate and connect with the other members of the group during play with non-verbal communication. Unfortunately many musicians (not just drummers) do not look at tunes with a holistic approach when playing in a band, so you can end up with 5 people playing for themselves. I hate that, and its a disease that catches on too quickly. I have been guilty of it myself sometimes in the past!.

Cheers,
Tom.

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Re: Drummers. Love or hate?

10/9/2006 12:01 PM

David Lenci (1953) wrote:

Played with one guy who kept changing the tempo. We always sounded like $hit.

Played with another guy who was a true artist, and he led some of the best jams. He took my girlfriend's side when we broke up, so that was that.

Looking for a drummer here in NJ.

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Re: Drummers. Love or hate?

10/9/2006 6:20 PM

Clint Weinrich (5674) wrote:

I love em. I just want to throttle them most of the time.

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