Andy
Honorary Member
Here's a weird one for you. I went for an audition last night, one of several drummers, Original indie music trio. TBH, I'm not sure if it went well or not (I expect I'll hear in the next few days). I was given some tracks to listen through last week. All recorded with programmed drums. To my own shame (time restraints) I didn't get the chance to try the songs on a kit before the audition, I just familiarised myself with the song arrangements & the grooves.
I'm first drummer in. We kick off with a couple of songs. They're quite difficult songs to get to groove, but I work through them a couple of times each, playing the drum parts pretty close to the programmed parts. They sound like crap, & I mean really crap. I admit, perhaps my playing had a lot to do with it, but the biggest issue was the programmed parts just didn't translate to acoustic kit. When you're listening to music with programmed drums, I think you're conditioned to the lack of dynamic, & the lightweight "skippy" kind of vibe sits well enough. Translate that to acoustic drums in a live environment, & it all sounds weak - something's wrong.
Anyhow, I soon realised this disconnection was making me sound bad, so I stripped the parts right back for the next two songs, & opened up the groove. That worked much better in that environment. I'm not sure how that move went down, as I essentially moved significantly away from the song writer's vision, & it's her act.
Anyone else here come across this situation? It's especially challenging in an audition environment where you've got no time to work stuff out, at least, it was for me
I'm first drummer in. We kick off with a couple of songs. They're quite difficult songs to get to groove, but I work through them a couple of times each, playing the drum parts pretty close to the programmed parts. They sound like crap, & I mean really crap. I admit, perhaps my playing had a lot to do with it, but the biggest issue was the programmed parts just didn't translate to acoustic kit. When you're listening to music with programmed drums, I think you're conditioned to the lack of dynamic, & the lightweight "skippy" kind of vibe sits well enough. Translate that to acoustic drums in a live environment, & it all sounds weak - something's wrong.
Anyhow, I soon realised this disconnection was making me sound bad, so I stripped the parts right back for the next two songs, & opened up the groove. That worked much better in that environment. I'm not sure how that move went down, as I essentially moved significantly away from the song writer's vision, & it's her act.
Anyone else here come across this situation? It's especially challenging in an audition environment where you've got no time to work stuff out, at least, it was for me