ZootELoops
04-20-2009, 05:13 PM
I had my first group practice yesterday.. boy, was it an experience. Let me tell you about it and then I can get to my question.
So we rented space in a recording studio here in VA. It cost us $30/hr for 3 hours. I called the owner a day in advance to ask what he had in the way of drums and he told me that they were in great shape - all I needed to bring was my cymbals, a drum key, a high-hat clutch and sticks - the rest would be provided.
So, I packed what I thought I needed, plus my bass pedal, throne and a mini fan. I got to the space and was absolutely shocked at what I saw. First, it was absolutely disgusting, so much that I have seen roadside bathrooms that were cleaner. I was afraid to touch anything let alone set my bag on the ground. It was skeezy! Calling it a $#!t-hole would have been a compliment. The rugs were stained and looked like they hadnt been vacuumed in over 20 years. The amps & equipment was torn and damaged. The room smelled of mold, mildew and urine. The drums (if you could call them that), were broken with heads that were easily 5 years old. On top of that, the cymbal stands didnt have top nuts and my clutch didnt fit the hi-hat stand. To make a long story short, I basically played on the rim/ping ride to keep tempo and the snare and bass only. Needless to say, it made for an interesting experience. I kept thinking to myself that I would have been better off beating on a 5 gallon bucket and a milk crate! It was so sad it was funny and I pretty much laughed through the entire practice. Fortunately for me, any expectations as far as my performance was concerned was out the window, so I could just sit back and have fun.
So meeting the guys was also interesting. The bass player seemed to be pretty good and we jived pretty well, but the guitarist was more worried about squeezing in each and every note exactly as he learned it from the CD, rather than staying in time. I found myself having to adjust my beat to accommodate for his 'extended' riffs, with no regard for beats per measure. We were all over the place and there would be times where the bass player and I would be playing in sync and he would be off doing his own thing. He said it had to do with being nervous, but I think he was just trying to be too perfect and couldnt keep up at normal tempo.
So with that, I need to know if it's worth working with him to get him in time, or if he is a lost cause? What are some suggestions to keep guitarists in time and making sure that if the measure calls for 4 beats, that he is not running eighth, quarter, or sometimes full beats over and being late on the count. I will need to do a better job of learning each 'part' of the song so I can stop him when it happens and break it down into pieces and work on just a few measures at a time, but any advice you have to help keep him in time would be greatly appreciated.
So we rented space in a recording studio here in VA. It cost us $30/hr for 3 hours. I called the owner a day in advance to ask what he had in the way of drums and he told me that they were in great shape - all I needed to bring was my cymbals, a drum key, a high-hat clutch and sticks - the rest would be provided.
So, I packed what I thought I needed, plus my bass pedal, throne and a mini fan. I got to the space and was absolutely shocked at what I saw. First, it was absolutely disgusting, so much that I have seen roadside bathrooms that were cleaner. I was afraid to touch anything let alone set my bag on the ground. It was skeezy! Calling it a $#!t-hole would have been a compliment. The rugs were stained and looked like they hadnt been vacuumed in over 20 years. The amps & equipment was torn and damaged. The room smelled of mold, mildew and urine. The drums (if you could call them that), were broken with heads that were easily 5 years old. On top of that, the cymbal stands didnt have top nuts and my clutch didnt fit the hi-hat stand. To make a long story short, I basically played on the rim/ping ride to keep tempo and the snare and bass only. Needless to say, it made for an interesting experience. I kept thinking to myself that I would have been better off beating on a 5 gallon bucket and a milk crate! It was so sad it was funny and I pretty much laughed through the entire practice. Fortunately for me, any expectations as far as my performance was concerned was out the window, so I could just sit back and have fun.
So meeting the guys was also interesting. The bass player seemed to be pretty good and we jived pretty well, but the guitarist was more worried about squeezing in each and every note exactly as he learned it from the CD, rather than staying in time. I found myself having to adjust my beat to accommodate for his 'extended' riffs, with no regard for beats per measure. We were all over the place and there would be times where the bass player and I would be playing in sync and he would be off doing his own thing. He said it had to do with being nervous, but I think he was just trying to be too perfect and couldnt keep up at normal tempo.
So with that, I need to know if it's worth working with him to get him in time, or if he is a lost cause? What are some suggestions to keep guitarists in time and making sure that if the measure calls for 4 beats, that he is not running eighth, quarter, or sometimes full beats over and being late on the count. I will need to do a better job of learning each 'part' of the song so I can stop him when it happens and break it down into pieces and work on just a few measures at a time, but any advice you have to help keep him in time would be greatly appreciated.