Hum, OK. I can tell you that I have listened to musicians playing something first written or composed by someone else, and the original musician has influenced me greatly, even when rendered through others. I guess it all depends on what you get out of it or not. But it is possible and I believe it happens more than you think. Indeed. for 99.99 percent of human history, no recording technology existed, yet people influenced each other greatly, across centuries, with written or oral traditions, and many musicians became revered and their styles mimicked and studied even today.
As I said before, drummers tend to cite relatively few influences because they are most interested in music from a very narrow time and place (American culture of the past century). Some, like you, are apparently incapable of being influenced unless they actually hear the musician or a decent recording of them. Severe limit.
what YOU are not understanding is that we are talking about being influenced by a certain persons playing...... their physical playing
how Tony attacked the kit
how Elvin graced the ride cymbal
how the snare drum sounded when Bonzo cracked it
Vinnies flow
Max and his effortless melodies
if they were never recorded and people who were around to hear them interpreted it we would then be influenced by their interpretation not the physical drummer....if I heard it myself I may interpret it completely differently than someone else
yes we can be influenced by history ... techniques, styles, oral traditions....whatever
but to be influenced by a persons playing ...their nuances, thier touch, the way thier playing feels and how they approached a style or tempo can absolutely not happen without hearing them
impossible
I get it ....you are influenced by history and things that were created thousands of years ago.....but im sorry my friend ... what you are being influenced by is a passed down tradition of someones interpretation ....or maybe your own interpretation of a piece you are reading....not the player himself
to be influenced by a certain players emotion on the instrument and how they played it ...you must hear him/her.....period
we are talking about drummers.....not harmonic instruments
a percussion piece can not be interpreted the way Beethoven or Scriabin can ......and even with those we have no idea truly how the piece was meant to be perceived