Which drummer are you?

Skitch

Pioneer Member
I recently went back out on the road and bought a Modern Drummer publication "The Drummer Classis Rock" to read during the trip. I do recommend this, especially to the younger drummers here, as it has a guide in the back of the 50 classic rock albums. In this magazine, there is a sub-article titled "The Journeyman" with the opening paragraph of "These players make a career in the studio and tour by expertly reading a musical situation, providing what's needed and, when the time is right, moving on to the next gig."

So.....Which drummer are you - the Jouneyman or the band member? What are your likes and dislikes? Do you ever see yourself changing to the other or have you already? BTW the names under Jouneyman drummers were Carmine Appice, Cozy Powell, Aynsley Dunbar, Simon Phillips, Tommy Aldridge. Under the band member are the usual suspects of Ringo, Charlie Watts, John Bonham, Neil Peart, Mick Fleetwood and Alex Van Halen - the guys we normally associate with one band.


Mike

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I suppose I'm the journeyman (but I don't really journey around much). I was taught that you should want to play everything that you can play - so this meant I was always busy playing for somebody and not necessarily locking myself in to a band. But I'm sure if I hooked up with great players that could play anything and wanted to be a working band, I would've done that. But the problem with the guys who can play anything, are usually out playing with anybody because they can.
 
Both at the moment. Been in a band for 3 years this past May. I have also made myself available to network with people that do other stuff and that has turned into a couple of studio projects that were very motivating. I can't agree more with Bo's statement "want to play everything you can". To me this also means learning every genre humanly possible so you can when the opportunity knocks.
 
Started off a journeyman, playing mostly low level/crappy/uncredited sessions & gigs for a few years, eventually hated it, subsequently blew out. Decades later, I'm reincarnated as a band member without the pressure of earning a living. Sooooo much enjoying the ride!
 
I have that "The Drummer" book. A short read but fun.

Played a fair few fill-ins for a while when I was young, but I'm definitely a band member. Can't imagine that changing, though I suppose anything is possible.

How about you, Skitch? You're do a lot of fill-ins, don't you?
 
I have no idea what I am now. I have spent so much time teaching other peoples methods I seem to have lost myself. Recently I worked with a progressive metal band and found myself wanting of ideas. Playing with an orchestra I found myself relying on secure ideas. When younger I was more adventurous. I am in need of change. I am not the drummer I wish to be. Sure, I covered the gigs, no problem. But as I played I wondered who I was. This is not good at 47 years old. I have no idea who I am.

Possessing technique is not enough. I remember Steve Smith saying drum teachers who don't gig are not good teachers. I now understand that to improve as a teacher I must work as a live player. Even though I do not want to.

Who am I as a player? A beginner.
 
Yes indeed mate.

I thought for a time I knew what I was talking about. This was a mistake. Possibly based within a personal bubble. The technique is not enough. Technique for the sake of technique is not enough. I teach that stuff, no problem. But it isn't music. I face the fact I have become a technitian, not a musician. I spend so much time in books, actually playing is rare. And being overweight and old only adds to irellevense.
 
I'm definately a Journeyman drummer. Didn't start off to be that way but i enjoy playing in all types of musical situations.
 
I'm a bandmember at this point...I would say I've got a ways to go to be considered a journeyman. But I'll have to say I'm enjoying the ride along the way!
 
I'm currently "the bandmember", but have done the occasional one offs. I'd like to do both, though I don't feel I'm anything like good enough at the moment. One day :)
 
i'm definitely a bandmember, although i've been in a bunch of bands so i guess that also makes me somewhat of a journeyman. i'd like to be in one good band and stay in that band for a long time, but that never seems to work out.
 
I have always been a bandmember. I like working on a project. Peace and goodwill.
 
I really like being part of a band where I get test out ideas and otherwise have creative input. I'm in two bands at the moment that are both very different. One is a bombastic psychedelic prog-punk in-your-face-fest, and the other is all electronic where I'm wearing headphones synched up to a sequencer the entire time. I like diversity as much as anybody, but I like having the freedom to test my own ideas first. It's cool when other musicians say, "Cool beat, I wouldn't have thought of that." So my goal is to keep serving the music and the pleasant surprises.

Being a journeyman seems to imply that you need to do what you're told in any number of different situations because that's what you get paid for. I'm not cut from that cloth, but I don't make any money either. To each their own.
 
I've done time as both.

I certainly prefer being the band guy though. Although it can be fun to occasionally spread your wings and do some side projects. Once a "journeyman" side projects turned into a band, and I have to say of all the bands I was in, that is the one I think I enjoyed the most.
 
I guess I'm a journeyman waiting for the opportunity to become a band member. I don't like being a fill-in drummer compared to being a member of a band which is just more comfortable for me.
 
I have that "The Drummer" book. A short read but fun.

Played a fair few fill-ins for a while when I was young, but I'm definitely a band member. Can't imagine that changing, though I suppose anything is possible.

How about you, Skitch? You're do a lot of fill-ins, don't you?

Yes, I do - most of my work is subbing so I guess that would make me a journeyman drummer. I like the challenge of going into a situation and trying to give it what it needs and then getting out. I probably have had too many bad experiences as a band member. The one I remember hating the most is being brought in to a band in which the second guitar player was slowly being ushered out which caused a great amount of tension out on the road.

I also don't like turning down work one week and then being fired by the band I was dedicated to by voicemail or email the next week - not fun.

I would say that I would like being in a band more if/when I am in charge - we always make great money and I read the audience very well to know when a song isn't working.


Mike

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Well, I'm tempted to say prostitute! lol I go where the money is, within reason. I like a band situation most of the time, but I get bored. So I do side projects, one-offs, etc. Truthfully, it's not really just for the money, it's for the stimulation.

Right now I'm layed up with a bulged disc in my back, so I'm only playing computer and painkillers....
 
band guy.

but i´ll play with anybody (if there´s a drummer involved).

but the best part of all, is i´ve actually had TWO (count ´em two) Lennons. or McCartney´s - whichever one i ain´t at the moment.

which is to say i have found the most unbelievable writing partner TWICE.

no we didn´t make it big (yet), but it happened.
 
I am much more of a band drummer. I like to belong to a band and be involved in the creative process of writing songs/lyrics.
 
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