how do you feel?

Mukund

Senior Member
how do you feel when the drumming is way more complex then the guitars in a song or ur band or whatever? or when the guitaring is way more complex?
 
how do you feel when the drumming is way more complex then the guitars in a song or ur band or whatever? or when the guitaring is way more complex?

One is bound to be more complex than the other, otherwise it's either way too much or way too little.

A guitar solo is a good example. When a guitarist is soloing, everyone else should be his back up, keeping it simple while the guitarist shreds.
 
What do you mean by "how do you feel"? Playing feel or personal mood?
 
Damn good question!

It's hard to explain, but personally, for me, when the drumming is more complex than the guitaring I feel a kinda 'glowing' feeling, a strong sense of goodwill, fulfilment and optimism. I feel like the warm nurturing hands of the universe are holding me and guiding me on the right path through life. I find that if there is particularly a lot of hi-hat work (opening/closing) in the drumwork, my hands start to tingle and I feel overcome by a strong desire to compliment or help others.

However when the guitaring is more complex than the drumming, a profound anxiety comes upon me, I start to feel disconnected from the world around me and sometimes feel I'm in the future, watching past events take place and have no ability to effect the outcome of the (real) present. This is all rather frightening, usually when I start to hear a guitar peice becoming considerably more complex than the accompanying drums I immediately leave the room, but sometimes the guitar onset is so sudden that I have no time to excape before being overcome by the fear, becoming unable to move and going into a full body panic.

These days I'm getting pretty good at predicting where a song is going, but I still have to avoid jazz fusion and progressive/tech/math metal because sometimes that stuff is so sporadic and the 'unbalanced complexity' moments can catch you totally off guard.
 
However when the guitaring is more complex than the drumming, a profound anxiety comes upon me, I start to feel disconnected from the world around me

I don't understand this at all. We all have our roles to play in a band.

Some songs require more complex guitar work, some more complex drum work - why is there a problem either way?
 
I don't understand this at all. We all have our roles to play in a band.

Some songs require more complex guitar work, some more complex drum work - why is there a problem either way?

He's either joking, or he's crazy!
 
how do you feel when the drumming is way more complex then the guitars in a song or ur band or whatever? or when the guitaring is way more complex?
Totally depends on context. The song should determine who does what. For example, it seems like the drum parts are usually more complex with Meshuggah and the guitar work is more complex in Van Halen (just two examples that popped into my head). It isn't a competition where 'our' team (meaning us drummers) scores points when we get more complicated than the 'opposing' team (guitar players).

I can hear songs where one or the other is more complex; where neither is complex; or where both are complex, and can feel annoyed or deeply satisfied. It just depends on the song itself.
 
completely depends on the style of music you are playing

...and about a million other things

:)
 
the way i meant this question was
the laymen who listen to your music
they would say guitars were good
drummer sucked or vice versa
in that context how would you feel
 
The same can be said for complexity of vocals while playing. In our band we trade off vocal parts while playing. If someone is singing lead on a song, but there is complex guitar or drum part, one person will cover for the other during that part of the song. Sometimes is it very difficult to walk and chew gum at the same time, especially when the two parts are not in the same time or feel. This is where it would help to have a lead singer that concentrates on all the vocals. Unfortunately all four of us sing, and we have no dedicated lead singer. I sing lead on about 20% of the songs, and then I sing background vocals on a majority of the others.
 
the way i meant this question was
the laymen who listen to your music
they would say guitars were good
drummer sucked or vice versa
in that context how would you feel

Well, I guess the trick then would be to make sure that nothing sucked. Not sure what your emphasis is here.

I've played in bands where I deliberately pushed the envelope of what the drums could do in the framework of the song, and I've also played in bands where all the complexity is in the melodic instruments. If it's done correctly, proportionately, then I don't think you're going to get a lot of "that sucked" comments from anyone.

You also mention laymen. The funny thing about laymen audiences is, they don't tend to hear the imperfections in music. They only know if it makes them feel good, if they can dance to it, etc. etc. Don't worry too much about what they think about the technical parts of your playing - unless you're a very tightly niched math-prog-rock band with a particularly rabid following. THEN YOU HAD ALL BETTER GET EVERY NOTE RIGHT, SO HELP YOU GOD. ;)
 
Seems to me like you are thinking on the wrong track here. First of all, the boring drumming thing, it's all in your mind.
In your mind, boring = repetitive, right?

If you answered yes above...this is a known pitfall. The second you think your drumming is boring, you are just about to mess up your groove to stave off "boredom". This is just wrong, you are NEVER boring. Remove the word from you vocabulary. Repetition is essential to craft a groove. You are not a lead instrument so stop thinking like one. Learn to embrace "boring". It's not boring at all, your mistake is that you think it is. You are shooting your own foot.
 
Seems to me like you are thinking on the wrong track here. First of all, the boring drumming thing, it's all in your mind.
In your mind, boring = repetitive, right?

If you answered yes above...this is a known pitfall. The second you think your drumming is boring, you are just about to mess up your groove to stave off "boredom". This is just wrong, you are NEVER boring. Remove the word from you vocabulary. Repetition is essential to craft a groove. You are not a lead instrument so stop thinking like one. Learn to embrace "boring". It's not boring at all, your mistake is that you think it is. You are shooting your own foot.

agreed Larry

ask Gadd if he is bored , if he can hear you from the depths of that pocket he is sitting in with that look on his face like he smells something awful

ask Keltner, Robinson, Fig, Blaine, Watts, Kunkel, Carlos Vega if they are bored

use your ears and your judgement and do your job

the only way to make a living doing what we do is to be yourself while being a chameleon

very hard to do, but if you can master that you will do well in this industry
 
Actually the OP never mentioned the word boring, I kind of inferred that myself, my bad. dtrushr30DW is the one who actually mentioned the word boring. That word always spurs me to action. Sorry to the OP. I took it like you may be thinking the same thing, meaning you think you're boring..

I still stand by what I said though, even if it doesn't apply to you.
 
Actually the OP never mentioned the word boring, I kind of inferred that myself, my bad. dtrushr30DW is the one who actually mentioned the word boring. That word always spurs me to action. Sorry to the OP. I took it like you may be thinking the same thing, meaning you think you're boring..

I still stand by what I said though, even if it doesn't apply to you.

yeah, I was just kinda riding off what you were saying without even remembering what the OP said

apologies if I derailed
 
I hate when I hear an insane guitarist playing in a band and the drums are super boring.

Agree 100% with Larry

What's the definition of boring in the context you described? A drummer who's just laying it with the basic 2 & 4 backbeat with no fills and a simplistic kick pattern? If it's the case it's not boring, it could be exactly what the song's need, especially in a rock environment, we all agree that Joe Satriani is a guitar hero with a technique that's beyond many rock guitarist, right? and we also agree that Gregg Bissonette is a very accomplished drummer with phenomenal technique, but if you listen to "Summer Song" by JS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJ_nzOckOQ&feature=related, would a different groove served the song better? A multi question/answer with every licks and patterns that Joe is playing would suit the song better? Gregg sure can do it, but I don't think so, it is the right groove for the song, if Gregg decided to overplay and interact with every rythmical pulse from Joe it would have been boring indeed... :)
 
As a guitar player I don't ever think about music like that. It's just playing what works for the song.

Hopefully, though I have a long way to go, I'll get to a level where I can think that way when I play the drums as well. Other sorts of thought are really just for the practice room with me.
 
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