"too Busy"
- Thread starter paddlepro
- Start date
johnwesley
Silver Member
A few times, but most band members appreciate the way I play to the music, especially the lyrics. Keep in mind there is a difference between "too busy" and overplaying just to show off your motor skills. It is a fine line, but one that great drummers walk.
alparrott
Diamond Member
If you've been playing straight time for a while with these guys, that's probably what they've come to expect from you. That's neither a good thing nor a bad thing. The question to ask is if what you're doing fits the song. If the song you're covering didn't have a busy part, it's usually best not to inject too much busy. It tends to stick out like a sore thumb to folks. Especially if you're playing in a dance floor situation, the priority should be the groove. Nail the fills that were in the original and otherwise stick to what gets (and keeps) folks out on the floor.
opentune
Platinum Member
+1, especially since two different people have said the same thing.Take it as constructive feedback.
I wonder, has anybody ever been told their drumming was too simple, with not enough fills?
JustJames
Platinum Member
It's not clear from your post, but if you are playing covers, you should be aiming to replicate the recorded part as closely as possible.
No Way Jose
Silver Member
You can't please everybody. Try simpler grooves and see how that works. The audience might complain.
oldskoolsoul
Silver Member
My first question would be why exactly the opinion of those 2 guitarists should be considered that important..
Unless you play with them in a really top-level coverband, which in my little country can be counted on 1 hand, i would not give automatically a lot of value to a few opinions from other musicians..
Even when you look at top professional performances, there will always be comments like..: yes, fantastic player, but.................
The trick is to decide if a comment is relevant or not..
Hollywood Jim
Platinum Member
As Larry (and I) would say; Record your live performance with the band. Evaluate your playing in the video.
Or if you are brave enough, post the video here and let us evaluate your playing.
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Or if you are brave enough, post the video here and let us evaluate your playing.
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Hollywood Jim
Platinum Member
Oh! Good point. It may be they don't like live acoustic drum playing in general.
I know a guitar player that feels that way. He always wants me to use digital drums turned way down at low volume.
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Could also be they are so used to playing with a machine, anything other than kick, snare, and hats gets them lost. Might not be the OPs issue at all.
Larry
"Uncle Larry"
I think it's a very common issue...drummers playing too many notes. Just because we can doesn't mean we should.
Look at guitar players, they can insert stuff almost anywhere. We can't if we want to continue to work.
Drummers have a completely different job description, almost opposite of the front people.
A lot of drummers, myself included, had to learn over time that drums are not a lead instrument, and can't just play things that upset the apple cart, in lyric based music.
Drums have to be somewhat predictable if you want dancers. Not completely, but mostly.
I've been paring down my playing to the point where it's 90% time, and the rest is as needed. Nothing extra. It works so well with Blues. I'm liking the playbacks.
Look at guitar players, they can insert stuff almost anywhere. We can't if we want to continue to work.
Drummers have a completely different job description, almost opposite of the front people.
A lot of drummers, myself included, had to learn over time that drums are not a lead instrument, and can't just play things that upset the apple cart, in lyric based music.
Drums have to be somewhat predictable if you want dancers. Not completely, but mostly.
I've been paring down my playing to the point where it's 90% time, and the rest is as needed. Nothing extra. It works so well with Blues. I'm liking the playbacks.
Push pull stroke
Platinum Member
I didn’t think he’d be willing to post it here, that’s why I didn’t suggest it. But that was my thought, too.
Channing
Member
Is that always true? Is it never acceptable to get a little creative with your covers? I'm in a band and we play covers, and we don't play them exactly how they are recorded. We'll all go and listen to the song and then try to play what it sounded like to us, and then sort of decide together what our interpretation of the song is going to be like. Sometimes the songs we cover, we're not even working with the same instruments that were in the original recording of the song, like there will be horns and keys and stuff that we just don't have. Sometimes the singer even rewrites the lyrics. As far as the drum parts, I usually try to keep it close to what the original drummer played, but I don't copy it exactly. No one's ever complained about it. Well, a friend of ours did once, and we told her to just go listen on the CD if that's what she wants to hear. Lots of people have told us they enjoyed our covers though.
New Tricks
Platinum Member
I figured it out by myself. The more I listened to the role that drums play in different styles of music, the more I tried to emulate them.
yammyfan
Senior Member
I think it's mostly true.
Whenever I hear a cover band deviating from the original recording I assume that they're either a) unable to play it as written and in need of more practice or b) not conscientious enough to learn the original the way it was written. Flawed execution, in either case.
Now, I've seen bands whose whole thing is to take originals and transform them into entirely different things, like ska-punk versions played at whiplash tempo. Those aren't really cover bands to me and they don't pretend to be.
As a drummer, I see great value in learning parts exactly as written. This helps me to develop my chops and does not try the audience's patience.
My two cents, anyway!
alparrott
Diamond Member
I am in a covers band as well, and my standard is "play the part close enough to the record that it doesn't jar the audience out of the song". What do I mean by that? Imagine you're listening to a very well-known song and the singer flubs the lyrics. It can be very jarring. Or the guitar solo for this certain song is iconic and the guitarist doesn't play any of the licks on the record but does his/her complete own thing. The audience is less likely to catch that than a lyrics flub but will still have the feeling that something is amiss. A drum part is even less likely to be specifically caught out by the average listener, but the audience will still know that it's not quite right. They may not be able to put their finger on it, but it's not quite right.
Having said that, as I mentioned in another thread recently, even the bands who recorded the song on the album might not play it exactly as recorded due to overdubs, extra players/instruments in the studio, parts evolving, etc. I like to listen to live versions of particularly tricky songs to hear how the touring drummer (often not the same guy as the one who cut the album) plays it live. But it still has to fit and make the song move and groove; most people are there to dance and have fun, not cross their arms and analyze.
So the answer is, it depends. Depends on you, your bandmates, your ability, their ability, your shared commitment for accuracy or feel, and your audience.