Hi Gavin, hope you're well and enjoying downtime from the mighty Crim' - although I know it will probably be spent practising!
I just wanted to ask you for some advice on an issue I'm currently facing in the early stages of my journey as a professional drummer. I know it has probably always been the case to some extent, but it seems that nowadays in order to really support yourself as an aspiring professional you need to have your fingers in many pies. I've been teaching and playing in bands for a number of years, and I've been fortunate enough over the past year or so to be able to venture down the route of working as a remote session drummer too.
(To provide a bit of context, myself and a friend decided to team up and open a studio together specialising in remote session drumming at the back end of 2019 - granted it probably wasn't the greatest time to do so with everything that was to follow! That being said after a rocky year or so we're just about ready to open our doors and offer our services to the public).
The issue I'm having is recording with my main band. I'm sure you've been subject to many a band member, artist, engineer or producer being very particular about what you play. Which I've accepted as the nature of being in a certain band or situation, there is usually some amount of democracy/fair say, and a level of professionalism to adhere to. However, the issue I'm having is that the main songwriter in this band or 'main creative influence' wants to have full control over my drum sound. Which once again I'm willing to allow to some extent, given that it's justified for a textural purpose or sonic effect. But in all honesty, he's not only butchering the sound of the drums by not understanding the process and intricacies of working with such a complex instrument, but he's also ruining the intention of the parts and their execution.
I'm stuck in a difficult situation, apart from this issue, everything else with regard to the band is as near perfect as I could ask for. It's a pretty good gig to have at this stage of my 'career' and there's plenty of opportunities for me with this band - although that isn't my primary motivation! I know you're someone who is very particular about your sound since it reflects the intention of your parts too (and I must say as well as being such a beautiful sound it's an instantly distinguishable one too!).
Looking back on your own career, if you've experienced a similar issue/situation what did you do?
Did you accept it for what it was and where you were at the time in your career? Or has it always been something that you've been able to maintain control of?
As a final note, I'm aware that this situation can occur when working as a professional remote session drummer. The overall sound can be ultimately at the mercy of the client, which will be the case until I potentially reach a point or level where 'my sound' is desired. But that's just something to aspire to for now.
If you've made it this far thank you for taking the time to read all of this, I tried to condense it down but at the same time wanted to provide as much detail about the matter as possible. It's a rarity to be able to be in direct contact with one of your greatest influences, let alone to have them take the time to respond to your questions. I think I can speak on behalf of everyone in this thread to say thank you for doing what you do!
All the best
Adam
Monitoring must be a nightmare.
