How much input from others do you get concerning your drum part?

Another discussion we could have is figuring out what other musicians want from the drummer when they are trying to describe it using non-drummer terms. This is a skill I've developed over the years. It's like listening to someone speak with an unfamiliar accent; it takes some getting used to.

The most common misnomer I hear is talk about how the drums should speed up or slow down during certain sections. What this almost always means is playing double-time or half-time, not actually changing the tempo.

I also hear the term "groove" misused a lot, and what that means depends on who is using it. When people say it, they usually aren't talking about the feel of the tune. I used to think it meant to not do anything fancy, just lock in the beat, but sometimes that's not what they mean, either. In situations like that, I ask a lot of questions and play a lot of different things on the drums to figure out what they mean.

I like being asked to play a part like a specific song or drummer. "Go Keith Moon here." I get that. I can do that. One time a guy said, "And here the drums come in full Billion Dollar Babies." I took that literally and played the exact drum part that starts the song. He loved it. The funny thing is that I later discovered he didn't really mean to play that exact part, he just wanted me to capture the spirit of it. I don't think he even realized I played it exactly the same. But it worked!
 
Great post Lar. You should start a non drummer translation thread.

I get next to no input. I'm not sure what I like better, being left to my own devices, or having bandmates interested enough in the drum part to comment on it. Then again, I really can't comment in my own thread as I've had a total of zero rehearsals in this band. New songs get sprung on us on the bandstand. The other day, without warning, because an audience member requested it, We did Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out With Him". The leader never played it either, so he was in the same boat as us.

Sometimes we are instructed to learn a certain song ahead of time, but again, we never rehearse it. We just do it on the bandstand with no discussion.

Kinda proud of that actually.
 
The lead singer in one of my bands likes to throw out random criticisms. They never make sense so I'm able to ignore them, like telling me the drums stop at a particular point in a song when they most certainly do not. Little things like that make it easy to say, "You got it!" and then completely forget what she said. Just another singer that doesn't get enough of hearing their own voice while performing!
 
Another discussion we could have is figuring out what other musicians want from the drummer when they are trying to describe it using non-drummer terms. This is a skill I've developed over the years. It's like listening to someone speak with an unfamiliar accent; it takes some getting used to.

In college we had student music producers working with student sound engineers. Producer requests became a running joke among the engineers, things like "I need it to sound greener!"

Sounds like you've had your share of similarly unintelligible requests.
 
One time I was asked not to do a fill at the end of the song. I was just learning the song and still experimenting.

I was thrilled that someone cared enough about the music to make suggestions :)

Generally, I don't think anyone cares too much :(
 
I am open to suggestions but in my last 2 bands no suggestions at all. In a blues trio before that, the guitarist occasionally had input, but he could never articulate what he wanted. He spoke in 'boom-bap-klam' kinds of language.

LOL- yes, for me also that boom-bap-klam language is hard to interpret, I have to then play it back in an easier-to-understand phonetic phrasing to make sure it's clear to both sides....
 
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Imagine if a non-musician told you that they were going to "compose" your parts, and every other part, and then they gave you this.

That's how Trout Mask Replica happened. (The drummer supposedly transcribed all of it.)

51sBFJYnq6L._SX355_.jpg
 
I very rarely get advice on drum parts, which is odd because I would probably have a way better attitude about it than I would have when I was younger. Peace and goodwill.
 
Was just thinking about this the other day. I'm sitting in with a band (friends of mine) and the lead guitar/singer has VERY specific ideas on beats, set vs hand drums on certain songs, etc. At first I was taken aback, and then tried one of his suggested beats. I like it, and it's a feel and pattern I wouldn't have thought of myself. He knows the style better than me, and for me I look at it as a challenge to nail exactly what they want, as quickly as I can. I'm learning a lot!

My original, instrumental trio on the other hand. No suggestions. It's understood that everyone will play what they feel is right, respecting the other player's space. That too is working well, and I'm feeling free to really stretch out and experiment with adding things I normally would only play alone in my basement.

I feel I've grown immensely as a player and a listener over the last few months due to these rehearsals and gigs.

Each situation is different, and I've learned to approach them as such.
 
LOL- yes, for me also that boom-bap-klam language is hard to interpret, I have to then play it back in an easier-to-understand phonetic phrasing to make sure it's clear to both sides....

I know teachers that use words like "caterpillar" to help younger students with understanding note values. Useful trick. I depped for a pro function band recently that had no transcribed parts. Bass player explained a drum pick-up fill for the intro of a song. "1, 2, shoobedoobedoo".....

Hmmm. Drumming mime when he got to "shoobedoobedoo".....

"Oh" I said you mean "rest rest caterpillar 4"?

Yup!
 
This is from a series of incredible interview sessions with Jabo Starks and James Brown, who played all the big hits for JB in his prime. If you haven't seen this series, you'll love all 4 sections, hearing the straight dope from these legendary funk/soul drummers about life with the JB groups, life on the road. Even Clyde expressing his disdain for his own most famous groove from "The Funky Drummer." Love these guys.

Re James Brown's input on what to drum: the link below is a hilarious recount from Jabo- JB would get on the drums and try to show him how to play a drum part.
Jabo would just nod and not say anything, then just go on playing what he always had been.


  • JB would then say, 'yea, that's it!'

Even a lot of the great singers can't speak Drum fluently...

https://youtu.be/5acs-zU0TVI?t=13m21s
 
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