how picky are you with your recordings?

Moral of the story: never underestimate band mates' ability to ignore the drums.
+3 on that!

That exact thing has happened to me more than once - I thought it would be good to finish out the song just to really get my head in it, and like someone said before, everyone else is so chomping at the bit wanting to get going with their own parts that they'll accept anything drum-wise.

+2 for quote of the day.
 
I'm extremely picky about sounds, parts, and timing. But I also operate with the understanding that parts played in perfect time aren't always perfect, and that the most important thing is that the drums sound and feel right in the context of the song, which is how they'll be heard and judged.

I did a session recently where I wasn't absolutely thrilled with my part by itself, but I knew that when congas, tambourine, guitars and vocals were added, it would sound much better. Turns out, it sounded great in the end.

Really, you'd be surprised how many drum parts sound very average, even loose once they're solo'd. I love Bonham's playing and feel, but his time was far from perfect. Same for Keith Moon. That didn't stop Led Zep and The Who from sounding and feeling great, just don't try to learn timekeeping from their tracks. :O

Bermuda
 
+3 on that!

That exact thing has happened to me more than once - I thought it would be good to finish out the song just to really get my head in it, and like someone said before, everyone else is so chomping at the bit wanting to get going with their own parts that they'll accept anything drum-wise.

+2 for quote of the day.



Definitely the quote of the day. That may be my new signature...

I can't count the number of times I've asked my band if what I did on a song was okay and I end up getting, "Uh...I wasn't listening. It was fine."
 
Red light fever. Clams that stay with you the rest of your life. Been there. It's worth fixing them if you can or you'll hate that track for the rest of your life.

If the issue is the time or feel along with the click, I got some great advice from a fellow who owns a local small studio. This guy started out as a drummer and ended up playing guitar for Miles.

Instead of a raw, metronome click, lay down a drum machine pattern. It's much easier to keep the feel and not drift with the time. I hear more and more pop tracks where they are doing this and leaving the drum machine in at parts as a contrast. Either together with the real drums, or as a bar or two break.
 
lol it looks like im not the only one with this problem~~

i do have the luxury of recording on my own, so im pushing myself hard to do the best possible recording.

my band mates are insisting its fine... were all extremely critical over each others playing so i dont think they are bs'ing just to get it out of the way.

none of the mistakes are noticeable to the casual listener, im just noticing extremely minor timing issues, like hitting the bass a little late by a 1/10 of a second or something.

i decided im not gonna edit, its just a demo anyways.

its good to see this is a common problem for many drummers.

i dont have to work under pressure or anything, im recording everyone and doing the mixing. im learning as i go.
 
I'm never satisfied. Ever. (I'm often engineering, and co-producing as well, so I'm listening to the whole song on top of the drum parts).

But it comes down to sooner or later, you have to move on, or else you could be working on the same song forever.

Someone once gave me a quote, and I forget who originally said it, but it says
"Art is never finished, it's only abandon"

Sometimes you have to let go to get it out there. There is no point in being a recording musicians if you never put out a recording.

Worse now that as technology gets better and better, I so want to go back and redo and/or remix older songs.
 
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Really, you'd be surprised how many drum parts sound very average, even loose once they're solo'd. I love Bonham's playing and feel, but his time was far from perfect.
Bermuda

Thank you.

I've always thought the same thing, but few people are willing to acknowledge that.

(not that I don't love Bonham and Keith Moon for that matter, I'm a Who fanatic)
 
Thank you.

I've always thought the same thing, but few people are willing to acknowledge that.

(not that I don't love Bonham and Keith Moon for that matter, I'm a Who fanatic)

+1

I never like hearing my drum tracks separately as much as I do when lined up w/ a band-mate's guitar, bass, etc. track. Not only does it conceal small mistakes but it sounds and feels better in context.
 
I never like hearing my drum tracks separately as much as I do when lined up w/ a band-mate's guitar, bass, etc. track. Not only does it conceal small mistakes but it sounds and feels better in context.

so true! i'm always sweating bullets in the studio when i've just done a take and we all meet in the control room to listen to it as a solo track. every tiny detail of my playing, good and bad, is played back for all to hear in glorious high fidelity. i'm always squirming in my seat!
 
When I've recorded someone else's music and they're happy then I'm happy. I don't let myself get too attached to other people's projects, whether it's a jingle session or a full CD thing. I do my job and that's when I play the best. In fact, some of my proudest moments have come from my playing on jingles. Weird.

But when I record my own stuff I hate myself. I want to go hide somewhere. I suck.
 
so true! i'm always sweating bullets in the studio when i've just done a take and we all meet in the control room to listen to it as a solo track. every tiny detail of my playing, good and bad, is played back for all to hear in glorious high fidelity. i'm always squirming in my seat!

Oh, that's so brutal! Like Chinese water torture, where each glitch is another drip. I'm so glad we're going to play our tracks live, using mics for separation and adding vocal dubs.

Re: The Unbearable Lightness of Drumming and the lack of significance our parts play in our bands' consciousness, Brady's quote, "Uh...I wasn't listening. It was fine" is one I've heard more times than I can remember.

Ironic, isn't it? We sit for hours with stupid rubber pads and bloody metronomes, sweating blood to gain enough control and skill to make the music we play work the way we think it should. Yet most times our highest aspiration is to be good enough to be taken for granted - to be high quality wallpaper.

It's like working your brains out to achieve excellence as a garbage collector lol
 
Oh, that's so brutal! Like Chinese water torture, where each glitch is another drip. I'm so glad we're going to play our tracks live, using mics for separation and adding vocal dubs.

Re: The Unbearable Lightness of Drumming and the lack of significance our parts play in our bands' consciousness, Brady's quote, "Uh...I wasn't listening. It was fine" is one I've heard more times than I can remember.

Ironic, isn't it? We sit for hours with stupid rubber pads and bloody metronomes, sweating blood to gain enough control and skill to make the music we play work the way we think it should. Yet most times our highest aspiration is to be good enough to be taken for granted - to be high quality wallpaper.

It's like working your brains out to achieve excellence as a garbage collector lol



High quality wallpaper.... Awesome! I love it!

I feel your pain Polly.
 
Oh, that's so brutal! Like Chinese water torture, where each glitch is another drip. I'm so glad we're going to play our tracks live, using mics for separation and adding vocal dubs.

Re: The Unbearable Lightness of Drumming and the lack of significance our parts play in our bands' consciousness, Brady's quote, "Uh...I wasn't listening. It was fine" is one I've heard more times than I can remember.

Ironic, isn't it? We sit for hours with stupid rubber pads and bloody metronomes, sweating blood to gain enough control and skill to make the music we play work the way we think it should. Yet most times our highest aspiration is to be good enough to be taken for granted - to be high quality wallpaper.

It's like working your brains out to achieve excellence as a garbage collector lol

hahaha.....well said, well said....

I'm discovering there are bunch of videos of me floating around on youtube with bands of years past.

Am I credited in any of them? No! Of course not.

But whatever. At least I know I was there.
 
hahaha.....well said, well said....

I'm discovering there are bunch of videos of me floating around on youtube with bands of years past.

Am I credited in any of them? No! Of course not.

But whatever. At least I know I was there.

Outrageous! Where's the drummer's union when you need it? Were you happy with those recordings? :)

The thing that kills me is microtiming, not quite matching my place within the beat with other players (e.g. someone else will be on top of the beat while I'm playing a bit behind the beat). You hear the playback and it's all correct, nothing glaring, but it's still cow manure :(
 
Outrageous! Where's the drummer's union when you need it? Were you happy with those recordings? :)
Mostly live stuff, filmed with poor quality cameras.

Although there is one badly produced music video floating around too that I had hoped no one would ever see, but I am happy with my playing on it.

The thing that kills me is microtiming, not quite matching my place within the beat with other players (e.g. someone else will be on top of the beat while I'm playing a bit behind the beat). You hear the playback and it's all correct, nothing glaring, but it's still cow manure :(

As I've said in other threads, this is the major difference between today and years past.
All those great classic rock bands may have had "good time" but if it were put on a grid, it wouldn't look like great time. Yet it felt good. But today, everything is put on a grid, measured down to 1/100th of a second. And what is considered "good" now is a whole different definition compared to 20, 30 or 40 years ago.
 
Overplaying on a simple track drives me insane. You don't need to unload your whole bag of tricks on every song. Just play the song and make everyone else sound good. When it's your turn to drive, take it for a spin. Until then, just chill.
 
Oh, that's so brutal! Like Chinese water torture, where each glitch is another drip. I'm so glad we're going to play our tracks live, using mics for separation and adding vocal dubs.

Re: The Unbearable Lightness of Drumming and the lack of significance our parts play in our bands' consciousness, Brady's quote, "Uh...I wasn't listening. It was fine" is one I've heard more times than I can remember.

Ironic, isn't it? We sit for hours with stupid rubber pads and bloody metronomes, sweating blood to gain enough control and skill to make the music we play work the way we think it should. Yet most times our highest aspiration is to be good enough to be taken for granted - to be high quality wallpaper.

It's like working your brains out to achieve excellence as a garbage collector lol

leave the band for a week and have them go through the process of finding a new drummer.... and then they will treat you like a god.
 
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