The 'Live' Environment

McGowanSonor

Junior Member
These days im usually playing a gig every weekend. Iv played approx 50 gigs or so, but im still trying to work out the best way to play with my band. I think its amazing how the conditions on stage differ from the practice base.

Sometimes i just want to turn everything else off and play to myself, therefore if others in the band go out of time, it wont effect me. I seem to be having these issues when playing live lately, and i really want to work out how i can resolve them. Every set ill make at least 2 or 3 mistakes, and i want to get to the stage where i can play a full set confidently without any faults.

Im considering using a click when playing live.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Anyone with live advice please post up some information :)

Thanks
 
If it's just a time issue, there are several devices that allow you to have a click track for part of or all of a song.

I have used an old drum machine with a headphone amp before.
 
One important thing to ask yourself is why conditions are so different on stage as opposed to where you practice. A good practice space, both for a band and for yourself, is one where you can make it a more relaxed setting (for writing, working new songs, etc), but also one where you can re-create the live environment as much as possible. I mean, for drummers who play live, the main point in practicing isn't just to get better...it's also to repeat what you are going to be doing live so often that when you get to the show, you can do it effortlessly.

If you are only having problems when playing with your band (ie, your timing is fine when you are playing alone), then it sounds like you need to practice more with your band. That many mistakes per show is NOT good, and depending on the band-mates and quality of where you play, can easily cost you gigs, or even the band.

From your post, when you said, "i just want to turn everything else off and play to myself, therefore if others in the band go out of time, it wont effect me," do you mean that your bandmates are having a problem staying in time with you? If so, playing to a click might not help this, as they won't hear the click, and you will then be listening to two beats (the click, and the one they are playing), and having to figure out what is right. Think about it from an audience perspective...if the band isn't in tempo, it's going to sound like the drummer's fault, even if you are locked into a click. At the end of the night, no one cares if you were with the click, if you weren't with the band, you sounded wrong. If that is the problem you are having, you need to have a discussion with your band about listening to you for the tempo, and about how to do that. You should practice by running songs at very wrong tempos, and even speeding up and slowing down at practices, so that they learn to listen and go with you.
 
Forget the live click, you have a band problem. Try recording practices and gigs with a stereo handy recorder (Zoom H2 or similar). You need a decent quality recording to be able to identify the instrument sounds correctly. Play these recordings back regularly and review them with the band. Each band member hearing their own mistakes is worth a thousand words.

Don't strive to isolate yourself from the band sound. Your problem is not one of distraction. A good player tries to engineer a balanced stage sound so you can hear each player and interact accordingly.

Put simply, your band needs to feel the groove. I think each player is probably trying to play as an individual and concentrating on their own performance. Individual live performances are irrelevant in a band context. The band sound is all that matters.
 
Honestly, 2 or 3 mistakes in a set is no big deal....Im sure no one in the crowd is noticing if you miss something here or there, as long as the song doesnt become a train wreck. Whatever they tell you, EVERY drummer makes mistakes sometimes
 
Honestly, 2 or 3 mistakes in a set is no big deal....Im sure no one in the crowd is noticing if you miss something here or there, as long as the song doesnt become a train wreck. Whatever they tell you, EVERY drummer makes mistakes sometimes

Sometimes, sure. 2 or 3 in a SET? That's saying "don't worry about 9 mistakes in a show." I don't know what the general consensus is, but I can't even imagine having a night that bad.
 
That really depends on what you consider a 'mistake' to be...missing a snare hit would be ok, accidentally throwing a stick and having to get up and get it would obviously not be good to happen two or three times (I have actually seen that happen before).
 
That really depends on what you consider a 'mistake' to be...missing a snare hit would be ok, accidentally throwing a stick and having to get up and get it would obviously not be good to happen two or three times (I have actually seen that happen before).

Missing a snare hit 3 times in a set is ok? I'm honestly curious if this is the general consensus. In my mind, and with the musicians I play with, that would not be acceptable. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm honestly curious to see what the mindset of people is on this. I mean, short of an equiptment problem causing a mistake, all three bands I play in, plus the theatre people I work with, etc, are not tolerant of mistakes. Maybe one per night, if that. Granted, I play professionally, but even when I was an amature growing up, it just wasn't acceptable. As far as major mistakes (falling out of a tune, stuff like that), there is seriously a zero tolerance policy, and has been since I was in high school.
 
Put simply, your band needs to feel the groove. I think each player is probably trying to play as an individual and concentrating on their own performance. Individual live performances are irrelevant in a band context. The band sound is all that matters.

Very likely. However this requires musical maturity from all the players, meaning that it is understood by EVERYONE that the whole band sound is greater than the sum of each of the individual parts.
The band needs to record itself, listen back as a band, rewind, and pinpoint things, and first see if they all can agree on exactly what the problem is. Hopefully you can get past that, and that no people in your band who "can't handle blame" derail the effort to correct problem areas. Before a problem can be solved, it must be clearly identified. This is where egos can be roadblocks, but hopefully you all have a "whatever it takes to get it to sound right" attitude.
 
Hi
I use a metronome to start most songs...and count the band in...I can hold the time from that point....I believe using a click track for the band would be a problem. I found this approach to be a good compromise.
I would not worry about two or three mistakes in a live show...I have seen top pro's make mistakes...the better you are the better you can hide/cover your mistakes! Denis
 
Last band practice I started using a click to set my tempo for my "problem" songs for the first time.

I was in lousy form that night and not even for a moment did I get in the zone. It wasn't the click or the tempos - I was simply not "on". Not timing or arrangement mistakes, just no X factor - dynamics mistakes, missed opportunities to build a vibe, and generally poor feel and tonal production. I'm still trying to get used to using a kick pedal after months of stomp box and for the first time in my life I'm playing in a laid back band that requires subtle kick drum play rather than my usual banging the beater. During Chet's You Don't Know What Love Is I kind of spasmed and did a much louder kick out of the blue - just pathetic - lol

I was a bit bummed by the end but the guys were like, "That was terrible? hahaha. Don't worry, you were fine". I think they were stoked at the correct tempos being set by my click. That bit worked out well at least. If there's time between songs then using a click to set the initial tempo seems like a good thing. Training wheels until you have it in your body. Using a click throughout whole songs live is fraught business though because if your band rushes ahead a bit then having two discordant rhythmic cues in your ears is a real spin out, like listening to two people taling at you at once.

I LOVE the live environment because I can open up and play louder (since we have to get above the audience noise). It feels like taking off a straitjacket. However, acoustics are a lottery. When I was in louder bands in the 80s, it was hard to play in venues with boomy acoustics or if the foldback was bad so that you couldn't hear the singer properly. It's a far cry from the dead sound in a controlled rehearsal studio environment.

For the last couple of practices before a gig we try to set up in the studio in the same permutation as on stage, all facing one direction from one end of the room rather than our usual of facing each other.
 
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