Getting a drummer to play in time

[Bruce Sokolovic]

Not sure the style of music you play, but in my world “hits the drums hard” is not a quality.

As far as sucking all the fun out of playing if playing to a click, there’s a time to have fun and a time to get the work done. They don’t always happen at the same time.

If he actually played to a click, his overall timing and tempo steadiness would definitely improve. Like anything else, it takes work.

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

Good example. Playing theater gigs adds a whole new level of "following". Sometimes the cast runs away with the tempo, misses an entrance, or god knows what (we can't see them) so it's all done by ear and lots of panic'd eyes watching the MD who actually can see and conducts the cast.

Yes! I did my first pit gig last year and there’s a host of vamps you either keep going for 20 repeats or skip entirely. A good conductor makes all the difference.

 

[pauly]

Hi @dr bonkers ,

To be honest, I don’t think he likes practicing at all. In the months since I posted this thread, I’ve had a few chats with him, and slipped in ‘have you been playing’ or have you been practicing’ questions - every time, without exception the answer was “nope”.

Unfortunately I am now resigned to the fact that we’ll not make any recordings again as they will be shamefully out of time, and therefore impossible for me to enjoy. We will jam occasionally probably because I like him a lot, but no recordings. Anyone want to buy 8 Neumann mics?

Does he like playing along to his favorite songs?

I worked with a drummer once who couldn't groove with a click, but if you gave him a basic beat with a drum machine, then he could groove with it in time all day.

 

[dr bonkers]

Hi @dr bonkers ,

To be honest, I don’t think he likes practicing at all. In the months since I posted this thread, I’ve had a few chats with him, and slipped in ‘have you been playing’ or have you been practicing’ questions - every time, without exception the answer was “nope”.

Unfortunately I am now resigned to the fact that we’ll not make any recordings again as they will be shamefully out of time, and therefore impossible for me to enjoy. We will jam occasionally probably because I like him a lot, but no recordings. Anyone want to buy 8 Neumann mics?

That's a shame.

If one is playing a instrument, one should always have a reconnect with the joy of why a person chooses to continue to play the instrument.

When a person has that joy, then there's always strategies to get a person to connect and groove with a tempo. Not everyone is great at playing to a click or strobe, especially when a person likes music that really has elastic almost tempo map approaches to playing music (for example John Bonham or Keith Moon).

After all, we say that we are playing an instrument instead of working an instrument.

 

[TSJMajesty]

To be honest, I don’t think he likes practicing at all.

Wow. That's a huge reason I play in the first place- to continue to learn new things and to improve myself. I love it. But, everybody has different reasons for playing. I was in a band with a keyboard player, super-talented, never practiced, but could learn new songs in very little time. He didn't care. He was really only in the band as a party outlet. And boy did he!

 

[vetteboy79]

Hi @dr bonkers ,
I’ve had a few chats with him, and slipped in ‘have you been playing’ or have you been practicing’ questions - every time, without exception the answer was “nope”.

I'm sure you know this, but those are two very different questions.

Playing 'wrong' is even worse than not practicing, especially if you don't know it's wrong. I'll admit I don't practice much these days, but I play a ton, and I'm always looking at my own playing under a microscope. Reviewing recordings, even if it's just someone's crappy cell phone video from a gig, is something I'm fanatical about and will always look for constant improvement. Luckily I'm in a spot where there doesn't need to be a whole lot of improvement for the stuff I'm doing, meaning I don't need to really go and 'woodshed' anything, and I can actually let myself be happy with performances for the most part.

The drummer I've mentioned in this thread says that he 'worked on a song' or whatever in between rehearsals, but in his case I don't really know what that means, and frankly don't care enough to really find out. I just know that he hasn't gotten any better and is likely just reinforcing bad habits rather than doing anything to remedy them. He's not self-critical enough to know the difference. I'll listen to one of my performances and tell you every wrong or off-time note I played, he'll listen to one of his and tell you the things he got right.

But ya know what? He's happy with it and doesn't let it bother him, and maybe there's something to be said about that if all you're looking to do is have music as a hobby...but to pursue it professionally, (and have my name attached to the project), I really gotta ask for a different level of self awareness. And I think that's the conclusion you've arrived at as well.