Things you do that annoy your bandmates

rim shots when counting in the first 4 beats instead of hitting the sticks with each other.

i apparently play too soft and people always want me to play louder, which in turn i just ask them to lower their amp volumes~~

im extremely opinionated and critical over their playing.
 
I used to be too intimated to wank before the gig, and would just warm up on the first set. But lately I've taken to warming up more and it probably is bothering them now, too bad.

I probably don't show enough enthusiasm either. I've accepted that we will be playing crap like Mustang Sally and Honky Tonk Women and don't complain about the songs by name, but I don't get all excited about doing them either. I'm all business, plus I'm often real tired and injecting caffeine trying to wake up. I still enjoy the hell out of playing, but at my age have really wearied of these old standards and worry that the audience has too.

And I think I'm rubbing one of the guitarists the wrong way..he's an old friend, a single guy, very smart and self absorbed and expects to report to everyone about His Week when he sees us, and regale us with band war stories etc., in strictly a one-way conversation. He's always been like that. So lately I've started tuning him out to get on with business, especially at rehearsals.
 
Deathmetalconga said:
If I can't wank, no one can wank. That means no wanks around and the practices are actually much more productive.
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I like the equal rights approach, although I find MODERATE amounts of goofing around is refreshing. Trouble with my band is we get along too well so there's too much blah blah between songs.

Spreggy said:
One band I work with a lot has musicians rotating in on gigs based on their schedule, so on any given night you can get some people you haven't played with before. When I get new singers, I'll act like I have no clue how to do the gig. Like "Hey, how do all these medleys go?" or "I have no idea how to play the bridal dance tune."
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LOL - great work, Spreggy! You are a bad, bad man :)
 
as a drummer i get alot of critisism when they are taking a break and talking , while i want to get a drum part down really quick or play drums and practice some stuff. drummers cant help it that they dont have a volume knob on their drumset unlike the guitarist who can turn the amp off and practice without worrying if hes interupting a conversation. but if your bandmates care about the band then they should be cool with you trying to get better
 
Both guitarists hate any china sounds. I always get the evil eye, even if it's a Steve Miller or Bonnie Raitt song that clearly has them in the album recordings. I play them anyway.

Also, on Friday night's jam party night (30-40 people), they get annoyed with me when I yell at them (guitarists again) for not calling out the song first. They just start and on many songs that causes me to come in late and look stupid. I call them on it every time and they get so annoyed.

One group of guys I play with get annoyed when I spend more than 1 minute tuning my drums, yet they tune their guitars incessantly.
 
Only thing I do that annoy them is playing all the time. Once I get started, it´s difficult to stop :(. I stopped doing it live, but when we´re jamming in the studio, it´s so hard to stay off.
 
mcbike said:
the other thing I do that annoys my bandmates is ask for a way to leave my drumset. I don't know how many times I set up in a corner and they put their amps right next to me so there is no way out. then they get "annoyed" that I have to move their amp so I can get up from behind the kit. my kick is only 14" deep and my whole kit fits on a 3'x2' bar mat and they still manage to cram all the gear next to me.
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All I ask for is that my elbows don't touch any walls and that I've got a way to get behind my kit double-fisted. I know that can be a lot to ask at some venues I've played and I'll compromise on the getting behind the kit issue, but the guys somehow just don't understand that it's really a drag to have your elbows hitting something all night.

It's always a blast when we show up at a new place and see we have little room to work with and I get the "we'll have to pare down" routine. Somehow this never translates into the omission of a backup guitar sitting on a stand on-stage.

I made the mistake of becoming quite vocal about this issue, which turned into "we know what will set Jer off"...
 
jer said:
All I ask for is that my elbows don't touch any walls and that I've got a way to get behind my kit double-fisted. I know that can be a lot to ask at some venues I've played and I'll compromise on the getting behind the kit issue, but the guys somehow just don't understand that it's really a drag to have your elbows hitting something all night.

It's always a blast when we show up at a new place and see we have little room to work with and I get the "we'll have to pare down" routine. Somehow this never translates into the omission of a backup guitar sitting on a stand on-stage.

I made the mistake of becoming quite vocal about this issue, which turned into "we know what will set Jer off"...
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Right on, Jer! Everyone thinks the drummers are there to poop on, way to stand up for yourself!
 
Spreggy said:
Right on, Jer! Everyone thinks the drummers are there to poop on, way to stand up for yourself!
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Well, yes thanks, but now it's pretty much the first thing anyone says showing up for a gig... "Jer, take the corner and push back as far as you can", or maybe the classic; "we'd have more room if your kit wasn't so big, can you loose some stuff?"

They also never seem to appreciate when I ask them to play without a string or 2 on their guitars... I mean, c'mon - the number of redundant notes on a guitar is pretty insane, and you only need 3 notes to make a chord and only have 4 fingers...
 
I've been working with a friend writing songs and recording drum tracks for them. We don't live near each other so this is not at a band practice were we are together. So I sent him drum tracks for a particular song and withheld the click track. When he called me and asked about the click track I told him to just set the internal metrone on the porta studio he's using to 137bpm, (song was actually at 134bpm!), and waited for him to see if he could figure it out. It took a couple of hours but he called me back and was in a panic cause the tracks were off tempo. I had to let him in on the tempo and had a good laugh over it. Evil grin!
 
Gay looking Keyboard players, who think they are good, but are in fact shit, but still carry on as he thinks everyone is looking at him and thinking how great he is, when infact they are laughing at how much of a prick he actually looks.

Hope i dont sound bitter.
 
aceface said:
Gay looking Keyboard players, who think they are good, but are in fact shit, but still carry on as he thinks everyone is looking at him and thinking how great he is, when infact they are laughing at how much of a prick he actually looks.

Hope i dont sound bitter.
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Bitter isn't the first word that springs to mind.
 
jer said:
Well, yes thanks, but now it's pretty much the first thing anyone says showing up for a gig... "Jer, take the corner and push back as far as you can", or maybe the classic; "we'd have more room if your kit wasn't so big, can you loose some stuff?"

They also never seem to appreciate when I ask them to play without a string or 2 on their guitars... I mean, c'mon - the number of redundant notes on a guitar is pretty insane, and you only need 3 notes to make a chord and only have 4 fingers...
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I get the same feeling when the sound guy doesn't wanna mic the toms in a situation when he should. I told one guy "No problem, I'll put the toms back in the car."

Anyways, tonight was my first gig back with the wedding band since taking the winter off, and I think my rusty chops annoyed them plenty. ;P
 
A little pitter-patter on the snare while real musician A is going blue in the face trying to explain to real musician B, that there is a B# in there just before the D.

...
 
A former guitarist "aquaintance" once told me that he had seen drummers playing on much smaller kits than mine who sounded better than me. I pointed out that Jimi Hendrix used an old guitar which he played back to front and still sounded better than him! (We don`t speak much anymore!!)
The singer in my current band complains constantly about how loud my cymbals are and always asks me to hit them a little quieter. This is just as he announces to the audience that we will now play Song 2 by Blur??? Somehow, the more he complains the harder I seem to hit them:)
But I guess my favourite trick is to turn up to practise early and hide the beer which we keep in the band room. No matter how many times I do this, they never seem to find it funny?
 
BigSteve said:
I've been working with a friend writing songs and recording drum tracks for them. We don't live near each other so this is not at a band practice were we are together. So I sent him drum tracks for a particular song and withheld the click track. When he called me and asked about the click track I told him to just set the internal metrone on the porta studio he's using to 137bpm, (song was actually at 134bpm!), and waited for him to see if he could figure it out. It took a couple of hours but he called me back and was in a panic cause the tracks were off tempo. I had to let him in on the tempo and had a good laugh over it. Evil grin!
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LOL. Well you may have an evil grin, Steve, because that was wicked! What possessed you to be so naughty ... still laughing ... love it :)


Aydee said:
A little pitter-patter on the snare while real musician A is going blue in the face trying to explain to real musician B, that there is a B# in there just before the D.
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Abe, I do exactly the same thing. My band mates are familiar with the pitter-patter of little snares. Also little hi hats, when I'm trying to be extra considerate. It's weird, in those situations, the lightest touches feel as though they're amplified through a Marshall stack. I'm barely touching the drum yet the others are raising their voices to talk over it.

Ah, that's something I miss about not playing keys any more ... membership of the exclusive tuned instruments club. Also being able to flubb my lines without creating panic in the ranks :)


Spreggy said:
I get the same feeling when the sound guy doesn't wanna mic the toms in a situation when he should.
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Ouch! You just brought back some bad memories. That used to drive me nuts but I wasn't as assertive as you. If the gig was being recorded you'd hear these holes where the toms should be. This devaluation of toms is madness. How about we mute the guitarist's D and G strings? Who needs 'em - they still have the tops and bottoms, right? I found it to be part of that mid-80s mentality, ie. drum kit = kick and snare ... unless you had Simmons toms, of course, in which case they'd be thrilled to have trendy cannons to play with.

Darn unmusical ingrates ... grrr!
 
aydee said:
A little pitter-patter on the snare while real musician A is going blue in the face trying to explain to real musician B, that there is a B# in there just before the D.

...
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Aydee, I love you, but this is why drummers get a bad name.

To any beginners reading this terrible, hopless thread, do not do this!

Sit back. Offer suggestions. Get involved. But DO NOT prattle away on your kit while people are trying to communicate!

It is the height of bad manners.
 
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