Metronome or Recording?

[vartand]

I was just curious as to playing along to cd's is the same as playing to a metronome. Correct me if I am wrong but it seems as though most drummers are playing to clicks on professional recordings.

[tnsolt]

listen to metallica and corea ca. 1986 and find out. lars has by far the worst feel/ time of any drummer.

[tnsolt]

oops. didn't mean to be a dick in my previous post [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img] . to answer your ? no not all pro recordings are done to a click. after listening to alot of music eventually you'll be able to tell.

[troutbrooke]

playing along to prerecorded music is quite different to playing with a click or metronome. Although most music is done with a click these days, that doesn't mean that the click or tempo is a constant. A lot of times the speed is adjusted at different points of the song.

I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to play along with records, but it should be balanced with playing to a click (or sequencer) as well as playing with no reference, to develop your own awareness of time, feel etc.

[PocketPlayer]

I used to always play and use recorded music as a metronome. There are advantages--it is easy to groove with music you enjoy, playing rudiments around the kit. YET, a whole new world opened when I got a drum machine. I could practice for hours with a simple beat and the tempo doesn't lie...only the drummer when he gets off. I also hear sublte differences trying to play behind, on top, or ahead of the beat. This was hard with a CD. My creativity unleashes with the machine in the background. When I play to a CD, it is very hard to not copy the exact style of play from the drummer on record. If I play rudiments around the kit I can, but I always try to copy the exact parts played. This comes from my early mindset as a kid. It's hard for me to break this.