Music that contains no drums

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
Generally speaking, music that doesn't have drums, I don't have much interest in. As a musician, that's a pretty close minded statement to make, and I will own that, but I have to be honest here. There are huge exceptions. Classical and Bluegrass, I love and can listen to. But for example acoustic guitar with a singer/songwriter..OK some of it is good...and I can hang with it, but it doesn't excite me. Drums really are responsible for the excitement of a song, for me.

I was asked to get a cajon for some very low volume acoustic gigs. I declined, stating that if I can't play a kick drum, I really have no interest in drumming with my hands only. I'd rather play bass guitar, which I really don't know.

I need that kick drum in music to excite me. Hey, I need the snare and ride/hats too, but the main gist is music without drums is kinda ho hum for me, with a few exceptions. Just wondering on what the global community thinks about this.
 
I understand where you're coming from but for me personally it's not really a big deal. I can get with basically anything that moves me, drums or not. I just got the latest Tori Amos record (Night of Hunters) and it's all piano and classical instruments, no drum set. I've been really feeling it.

A lot of old jazz standards were recorded in a way that you basically can't even hear the drums, let alone the bass drum. Doesn't take anything away from the songs IMO.
 
Well I am a sucker for piano, so I can live without drums, if it is just piano. Really helps if the player is a beautiful women!
 
Generally speaking, music that doesn't have drums, I don't have much interest in. As a musician, that's a pretty close minded statement to make, and I will own that, but I have to be honest here. There are huge exceptions. Classical and Bluegrass, I love and can listen to. But for example acoustic guitar with a singer/songwriter..OK some of it is good...and I can hang with it, but it doesn't excite me. Drums really are responsible for the excitement of a song, for me.

I was asked to get a cajon for some very low volume acoustic gigs. I declined, stating that if I can't play a kick drum, I really have no interest in drumming with my hands only. I'd rather play bass guitar, which I really don't know.

I need that kick drum in music to excite me. Hey, I need the snare and ride/hats too, but the main gist is music without drums is kinda ho hum for me, with a few exceptions. Just wondering on what the global community thinks about this.

You're right, that is extremely closed-minded, but not many people will admit to it. But how do you handle pop music from the 1950s and 1960s? The drums are technically there, but the style was to turn them so far down in the mix they were just about inaudible.

Most of the music ever made has no Western trap set.
 
Well I think that if you listen to music to "excite" you there's not going to be much music that is meant to excite that won't have drums in it.

With that being said there are tons of other emotions that music sometimes evokes and drums would ruin the sound they are trying to convey.

i think it's a little silly to say "I don't enjoy most music without drums" because that's almost like saying "I have a prejudice against this form of music because it doesn't have my favorite instrument in it".
 
Some of my favorite music is ironically music that has no drums.
Two bands I can think of that are worth checking out are Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers.
They both don't have drums, but the songs are just downright (for lack of a better word) groovy.
Also, check out the cd The Goat Rodeo. Amazing stuff.
Of course, if you don't really like blue grass than this probably won't be interesting...
 
"Dust In The Wind" by Kansas. Some hand drums faintly in the end, but generally no drums in the song. Great song but certainly not "exciting". Drums have a lot of control in the dynamic of a song. I guess without drums, the vocal would probably take care of the dynamic.
 
I love music with drums but can listen to some music without it. Any musicians that are either interesting or skilled usually keep me entertained at least as far as live. When it come to just listening to music its all preferene to me but id say 90 percen of what I listen to has drums.
 
I love all kinds of music and it doesn't have to feature drums to be exciting to me. Some of the old blues records, folk, bluegrass and classical all have the power to move me to the extreme.

One of my bandmates thought a Cajon might get us some acoustic gigs. He bought me one and I spent some time learning a few things. It's not as much fun as playing the drums, but I guess I'd rather play a gig with it than stay home.

I noticed the lead guitarist in my band is very guitar-centric in his listening. I've been trying to get him into checking out some jazz recordings and I've come to realize that he only really gets excited if there's a guitar in the band.

So maybe it's not just drummers. I guess we're all attracted to music that features our axe. There's a reason we chose these instruments we play.
 
Larry, the reason I love the cajon, is that it's the only percussion instrument that even starts to replace a drum set for me... The deep notes sound almost exactly like a kick, and you even get a real snare sound, like I always miss when someone wants me to play say a djembe.

I think you're probably saying you want to play something with your right foot, but you should really give it a go... You might like it.
 
Good music is always going to be good as long as it comes from the heart, no matter the instrumentation. To quote John Coltrane, "You can play a shoestring, as long as its sincere."

Edit: So, yes, I like music the does not contain drums. I would love to get a cajon and/or djembe and play them for special gigs, but I don't really play those instruments well at all, haha. My forte is definitely on the kit. I jammed with a really good self djembe play one time and it completely blew my mind. I love the sounds you can get; I just don't have the touch for it (yet)..... I've kinda "grown up out of" classical music as I feel its generally very mechanical and void of any sincerity, but there are still some classical melodies that I simply can't help but love.
 
"Dust In The Wind" by Kansas. Some hand drums faintly in the end, but generally no drums in the song. Great song but certainly not "exciting". Drums have a lot of control in the dynamic of a song. I guess without drums, the vocal would probably take care of the dynamic.
Good example. One of my favourites!
 
Anything from Lindsey Buckingham's latest two releases is awesome and contains rather stunning guitar work and super melodies with no or little drums. What got the ball rolling was his reworking of Fleetwood Mac's "Big Love" in the mid 1990s.
 
Anything from Lindsey Buckingham's latest two releases is awesome and contains rather stunning guitar work and super melodies with no or little drums. What got the ball rolling was his reworking of Fleetwood Mac's "Big Love" in the mid 1990s.

That live version from the mid-90s was incredible. I remember getting chills watching it.
 
I have gradually warmed towards music without drums, especially passages rather than whole gigs or records.

Unless lyrics are delivered slowly, if there's no drums there has to be something interesting going on with the instrument/s for me. That Genesis number is a good one. Love John Cale's Heartbreak Hotel with piano and voice. I enjoy Robert Fripp's ambiance, Eno too.

Not wild about singer/songwriters on acoustic guitar. I have the devil's own time trying to follow lyrics. Normally I'll phase out by the second or third line. Having said that, I saw a French Canadian singer songwriter at The Basement years ago who was a brilliant guitarist and the music was richer with one instrument than some bands. Forgot his name ...
 
Larry, the reason I love the cajon, is that it's the only percussion instrument that even starts to replace a drum set for me... The deep notes sound almost exactly like a kick, and you even get a real snare sound, like I always miss when someone wants me to play say a djembe.

I think you're probably saying you want to play something with your right foot, but you should really give it a go... You might like it.

I considered a cajon but I won't touch one because they're too trendy. When I need a compact alternative to a drum set, I use the Tiki Cocktail Set. Plus a cocktail set is high on the cool factor.
 
Back
Top