Fishnmusicn
Senior Member
Everybody here seems to have pretty good advice. I would definately rather not replace the drummer if at all possible...he's a good friend of mine and aside from a couple of these really bad habits...he's actually a good drummer. I actually have brought up that I would like us to have some band practices where he isn't using the metronome because he's way too reliant on it...and needs to listen to the rest of us more. He has admitted that it's become a crutch for him...but he has yet to try practicing the set without it. His methods of counting all the parts out and relying heavily on the click doesn't seem like any fun to me since you can't possibly be feeling the music nearly as much...plus if I played like that, it would make me susceptible to mistakes much more frequently.
Hedon...to answer your question. We haven't really had any songs with odd time signatures. I think that would be a disaster for him actually. There is one song that I wrote with a different type of rhythm where every other snare hit during the chorus is supposed to come in a 1/16th note earlier than the cymbal hit that is struck on each beat throughout all the measures of the chorus. It's some sort of groove beat that I decided to use when I wrote the song. I've heard other bands use the same type of beat in songs so it's nothing wierd. This beat has given him trouble for months. When he didn't get it right...the snare hit that is supposed to come in a 1/16th note earlier than the crash would lag to the point of almost hitting exactly when the crash did instead of a 1/16th note earlier. He's finally starting to play it fairly close to correct now. I've been able to hop on the drums and do that beat perfectly from the beginning though. In terms of halftime and stuff. He's typically good with that stuff. Occasionally, it gives him some trouble at times especially when a song is new...and every once in a while on older songs he'll have a little trouble getting to halftime and will pause on the snare for a hit or two until he figures out what he's supposed to be doing...like he's trying to decide where he should hit it or something.
Aside from all that stuff I think he probably needs to also change his technique a bit because he breaks his top-of-the-line Zildgian cymbals every 10 to 14 months and chews up a pair of fairly heavy duty drums sticks every week or two and has to buy new ones. That issue doesn't matter much to me though since it's his money and not my own.
To me it doesn't make sense that he's using a click or metronome while you guys are playing together. He should save that for his own individual practice in getting his timing down in general, but not for every single song that you play trying to work it out mechanically, sounds to me like he's getting too overconcerned to the point where that is his only focus and he's forgotten about everyone else.
When a good band gels and comes together musically, it's all about listening and bouncing off each other, how can he feel the vibe if that's not going on? I agree, get rid of the metronome during your practices - if he needs it that bad, then you don't need him! Not discounting that he is a nice guy and all, but is it worth the aggravation?
Fishnmusicn