Drummers Nightmare!!

**sjj123** · February 18th, 2005, 06:45 PM

Alright Al.........how'd it go??

**perfectgroover** · February 19th, 2005, 03:46 AM

Sorry for the slooowness of my response....

Well, my first 3 gigs were rediculous. I had the keyboard player telling me to play faster, the leader/girl singer telling me to slow down, the lead guitar player constantly playing faster than me causing me to sound slow, the leader/girl singer telling me to go faster!!!

Then I had everyone starting songs at different speeds !!!

After the 3rd gig I told them that they don't need a drummer, they need f___ therapy ALL of them. I also read them the riot act and told them that if I'm not the timekeeper of this band then I'm OUT!!!

The 4th gig, I took control and kicked F___ ass. I started all the songs and each speed was maintained by me!! It seems these people cannot keep time. They told me that I WAS THE PROBLEM!!! Well, I really took offence to that, so during one rehearsal, I put on the METRONOME and they were shocked and awed to find out I was dead on and they were all drifting all over the place. Nuff said, they now trust and respect me and I am the undisputed timekeeper of this band of crazies.

Is there a lesson here? I dunno? Is there some pain free technique I could of used to avoid the above? I don't think so.

It is NOT easy being a drummer, and I think that's why I love it so much. YOU NEED TO TAKE CONTROL! That is the moral of this story.

REgards All
Al

cjbdrm · February 19th, 2005, 04:07 PM

Wow. That's pretty shocking...but good news, nonetheless. A victory for all drummers...rejoice!

**Vdrummer** · February 20th, 2005, 06:59 AM

I hope you're right - hopefully the gigs go well with you in charge of the tempos, but after reading them the riot act there's always the chance they may be looking for a replacement behind your back. Best of luck.

**davfrancis** · February 20th, 2005, 03:19 PM

V Drummer is right but part of me thinks:

"So what if they replace you? Let someone else deal with their problem!"

**drmaybe66** · February 20th, 2005, 06:26 PM

I'm a little late chiming in on this one, but I've had similar experiences myself, although not over timing.

I LOVE this quote:

Who signs the checks?
Give him/her what they ask for with a smile, or they'll find someone who will.

I COMPLETELY agree....but ONLY because it's a cover band. As you can see in my signature, Peter Erskine's FIRST rule of drumming is "Music should be fun." It's hard to choose between art and money, but if you play your cards right, it's possible to find a happy medium. My primary band is a straight-ahead Pop/Rock project with about 40% originals and 60% covers. I've been lucky in that their previous drummer was so bad (think tennis shoes in a dryer...) when I stepped in, they listened to pretty much everything I had to say, especially about timing. But, as you will have in any situation we have our differences from time to time. The way I've been able to remedy the frustrations with "the wife band", is that I went out and started a side project with our equally-frustrated bass player. ("The mistress band", so to speak!) We found people from other bands in our situation that felt stifled and wanted to cut loose a bit, and it's GREAT for cleansing the palate!

I'd say the quote I pasted above is dead-on: if the gig pays well, hang onto it and find a way to keep yourself interested. Then, on the side, even if it's only every couple weeks or a Sunday-night gig at a total dive for no money, go out and have fun with "the mistress". It's been working wonders for me, and has basically saved my "marriage"!

Good luck, hope it works out for you!

-Pete

**FlamTriplet** · February 21st, 2005, 04:01 AM

Classic. I had a few gigs with a group. The singer was a night mare. The keyboard player cued me for a tag ending. We ended, then the singer starting F-in off at me cause I messed up, he said we were'nt supposed to end, and it was my fault. The keyboard player tried to tell him, but the singer didn't hear it cause he was in a rage.

The one thing I regret was that I finished the gig.
Next time a situation happens like this, I will promptly start packing up my drums and leave.

**Ruairidh** · February 24th, 2005, 11:24 PM

pgroover, did you post this on remo? or did i read it on here before?? o this would be my first post

**GoMan** · February 25th, 2005, 12:41 AM

the funniest (worst) thing that I got when I was in a band was " so how many seconds do I hold that note?"

also apparently rimshots mean cross sticks, rolls mean those slow single stroke decending on the toms and and a "skank" is not the one drop but 1 and three on the kick and 2 and 4 on the snare...

that was before... luckily i play with better players now... much better.
however!!
Now days i get " do this" " i was doing that" "no you werent" "YES I WAS!!!" "well do it better then!"
or Hey I want this super fast half time shuffle that im sure you cant handle but you need to do it anyway cuz this song calls for it. (no it doesnt)

i think the worst thing was people trying to convince me that Hey YA starts on the 1... no it dosnt!! the dude says 1 2 3 ugh!! and the ugh is the new one!!! but no... plus no one ever admits it when i point something out. sixteenth notes in two note groupings are somehow long triplets too....

also another one is me saying " hey i want to play this!" "no it doesnt sound good " few months later" hey why dont you play this?" "thats what I said several weeks ago" "no you didnt"

i will probably go on and on... im especialy grumpy about stuff like that recently.