Metronome?

I have always played to a click in the studio. I just recently started playing a click live with my new band. We have backing tracks so its important for me to stay on time. It takes awhile to get comfortable playing to a click while still playing to the best of your abilities on the drums. In the end its going to make your band tighter...
 
The mind is a powerful thing. It can make you think just about anything is going on. Even that you are right on time.

A metronome can't "make" you anything. It has no power (well, maybe 9 volts), no brain, no arms or legs. All it is is another musician with ruthlessly honest time. If you are "with" it, you are also on time. If your are not with it, it's not the box, it's you.

Going by "feel" is great. The ability to skate around the time is a valuable skill. But learning vocabulary is best served by having an impartial judge around instead of fooling yourself that you "got it" and practicing it wrong for several weeks.

Here is a great take on dealing with clicks and metronomes from Dante Robberson: http://youtu.be/uiXE87DWaAg

Try that dividing the time down to half and quarter. Even if you are used to practicing with a metronome, it's harder than you think. You will really find out how good your time is. Another exercise like the interrupted metronome thing.
 
Every recording that features a drum machine is using a robot for a drummer. Granted, it's possible to add human-like imperfections to a drum track made by a machine, but still, it's not like there's a shortage of available drummers to play those gigs; the artists and producers choose them in many instances.

I view it this way: Perfect time is one thing, mechanized feel is another. Being able to play with a metronome and NOT sound like you're playing with a metronome is a high art. So is being able to play just behind or ahead of the click as needed. Those are the skills that get some drummers work that the rest can't get.

Perfect time is not essential to my listening experience. Some of my favorite music has noticeable tempo fluctuations. But I've never heard anyone complain a drummer's time was too good. Maybe too stiff, but being able to play without speeding up and slowing down is a great tool to have.

And if you have the skill, you can always choose not to use it. But someone without it can't just turn it on. Better to use a metronome to get the good time and have command over when you let the time breathe rather than throw caution to the wind and hope for the best.

This ^..is perfect.

I don't understand the obsession with perfect time.Dropping or adding a beat or two over the course of the tune is ....just letting it breathe.

As far as who is letting the time wander too much,just man up,and record your practice sessions.....with the whole band.Then listen to the recording together.The tape dosen't lie.

Don't let timing be the be all end all.The ....feel....is more important than a couple of beats here or there.

Steve B
 
one of my favorite methods is to record myself playing (with and without the band), and then verify the timing with a metronome to the playback. it gives fascinating insight into how we perceive time. i've been playing for millions of years, and i still do this, and still make discoveries. "ooh, i had no idea i sped that up." never allow yourself to think that your time is so good, you don't have to challenge yourself. when i was young, i wanted perfection, and my variation (humanity) really bugged me, even if it was very small, undetectable without the metronome. now, i smile at the minor inconsistencies (so long as they're minor- not obvious to the trained listener). my personal goal is to listen to a playback, and not be able to discern any timing variations (it doesn't happen very often).
 
Not to hijack a thread, but is there any brand/model of metronome that you would recommend?

I'd mainly use it in-ear for practicing along with CDs for our band, but I'd give it a shot at rehearsal too, just for the hell of it. I think I play spot on with CDs, but I'd like to test myself when I'm THE timekeeper along with my fellow bandmates to discover any fluctuations.
 
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Not to hijack a thread, but is there any brand/model of metronome that you would recommend?

I'd mainly use it in-ear for practicing along with CDs for our band, but I'd give it a shot at rehearsal too, just for the hell of it. I think I play spot on with CDs, but I'd like to test myself when I'm THE timekeeper along with my fellow bandmates to discover any fluctuations.
some personal digital recorders have a metronome. that's what i use.
 
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I don't understand the obsession with perfect time.Dropping or adding a beat or two over the course of the tune is ....just letting it breathe.

As far as who is letting the time wander too much,just man up,and record your practice sessions.....with the whole band.Then listen to the recording together.The tape dosen't lie.

Don't let timing be the be all end all.The ....feel....is more important than a couple of beats here or there.

I think recent generations are less tolerant towards time that's not on the grid. It sounds sloppy and messy to their ears, conditioned as they are in a musical environment full of drum machines and a generation of serious, trained players from The Con. When it comes to tightness, today's scene is like playing to a room full of Walter Beckers with no taste ;-)

There's a minority who deliberately seek out more organic music but most go with the flow, just as we did.

I liked 8Mile's post too. Having started out in the garage rather than the concert hall, it's a challenge for me ... "being able to play without speeding up and slowing down is a great tool to have".

A useful, related skill I'm practising lately is playing ostinatos while staying relaxed and keeping it grooving and fresh.
 
I never use a metronome and I have never played to a click. My meter is spot on. I am confident that I could play to a click thouugh. It's likeriding a bike with training wheels on.
 
I never use a metronome and I have never played to a click. My meter is spot on. I am confident that I could play to a click thouugh. It's likeriding a bike with training wheels on.

Like I said, the mind (and ego) is a powerful thing. I know bunches of folks who think that they have impeccable time. Some even claim to put in hours of practice with a metronome at home. But are perceived by the better players as lacking any groove or time at all. I know one bass player several drummers refuse to play with. He sways and bobs like he's right in the pocket, but loses it all over the place. I was at a jam last night and watched two drummers who kept loosing it. At one point I was talking to a guitarist I know, pulled out my phone and started the LiveBPM app. Set it on a table and started clapping along with the guitar player on stage. Stayed within about .3 BPM just following him. I did this to point out that you could follow the song, and the guitar player who was also singing wasn't the problem. His time was actually really good.

I would suggest getting a free metronome app (there are several) and putting up a video of how spot on you are. You may be really surprised. The only folks I know who are spot on are those with years of practicing to a click.
 
Like I said, the mind (and ego) is a powerful thing. I know bunches of folks who think that they have impeccable time. Some even claim to put in hours of practice with a metronome at home. But are perceived by the better players as lacking any groove or time at all. I know one bass player several drummers refuse to play with. He sways and bobs like he's right in the pocket, but loses it all over the place. I was at a jam last night and watched two drummers who kept loosing it. At one point I was talking to a guitarist I know, pulled out my phone and started the LiveBPM app. Set it on a table and started clapping along with the guitar player on stage. Stayed within about .3 BPM just following him. I did this to point out that you could follow the song, and the guitar player who was also singing wasn't the problem. His time was actually really good.

I would suggest getting a free metronome app (there are several) and putting up a video of how spot on you are. You may be really surprised. The only folks I know who are spot on are those with years of practicing to a click.

Ok, I did check myself on a 10 minute long song. The beat was about 65 BPM and I stayed withing 1 BPM +/- . I tended to speed up a BPM in the chorus, and I was behind the beat in the quieter spots. So, I guess I'm not exactly spot on, but that's how it should be played anyway. Sorry no video though. No time for that, nor do I have the technology to produce something post worthy.

Plus. I am a double drummer. I don't play the flashy part. I'm the timekeeper. Now I'm going to go knock on some wood. Later.
 
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