Need help with Beats for Band.

Ex Nihilo

Senior Member
Basically, our band got two new members to replace the old ones. These members are much better, and improved. Although they play more of a "Punk" style, compared to our old style as "metal". Now the beats are slower, but it seems as Punk still remains fast bass drum beats. Anyways, I need help with making some beats towards the songs.

*Do Punk Beats have much toms?
*Do Punk Beats have much High hat openings?
*Should I add more bass, and snare?

I know you haven't heared of the songs we played, but it's hard for me to get use to. I guess maybe it's just me, I need to learn more beats. Anyways, any suggestions?
-Ex Nihilo
 
Well it depends if you're talking about the beginning of punk (the ramones, the clash) old school punk (black flag, sex pistols) or newer punk (afi, anti-flag).

The beginning of punk has moderate tempos, lots of sloshy, half open hi hats, (some open), a fair amount a bass, and generally (not all the time) snare only on 2 and 4.

old skoool punk is where the tempos picked up, got really fast. Once agin lots of bass and hats. More complex beates, but still not a lot of sixteenth note use.

Newer punk, the tempos have slowed down to moderate again, but there are more complex beats as well as use of many sixteenths notes (closer to pop drumming)

For all of these toms are pretty much only during fill use. The fills are generally very fast and are just played between the toms and snare.

Hope this helped.
 
You should start by listening to the drummers that play in the bands with the closest vibe to yours. But mind you, that's just for point of reference. If all you do is imitate them, then that's all you'll ever be.

Some punk drummers play on the toms a lot and others not so much. Depends on the punk band. Ditto for playing open hats and the relative amounts of snare and toms.

You really need to expose yourself to the genre. Listen to Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard, and Killing Joke for some really good drummers, as well as some of the more straight ahead stuff that doesn't require as much technical prowess as much as it requires that vibe. You can only really understand that vibe by listening to a lot of different bands.
 
You should start by listening to the drummers that play in the bands with the closest vibe to yours. But mind you, that's just for point of reference. If all you do is imitate them, then that's all you'll ever be.

Yeah, this.

You should be more concerned about how you're going to interpret the song, rather than what other 'punk' drummers do. A lot of punk stuff is great, but the genre itself is a little confined. It's more about the ideology for a lot of bands, and thus the beats get rehashed quite a bit, taking a back seat. A lot of it has been done before and been done in excess of 30 years. Be mindful of what you're up against in staying original and creating something new.
 
Punk is a mindset first and foremost: when you play music, don't go into it how everyone else does, play it how you want to play but but "punk" is the attitude behind it.
 
It seems a little odd that you don't know much about the music you are playing.

If I was going to join a punk band, I would check out as many punk records as I could. If a reggae band gave me a call, I would do some research on that. Take the time to listen and learn the genre you are playing.

Just go find as many punk records as possible and you'll get the idea.
 
If these members joined your band, then play what you always do and make them adapt. Sharing can happen later, but if your band already has songs worked out then the new guys should learn those.
 
My approach to playing for my band is doing what comes naturally. This may mean slightly overplaying a beat, but it's a good starting point.

The only reason you should change your style in a big way is if it helps the new members enjoy the music more. Otherwise, do what your intuition tells you.
 
Back
Top