Has learning to play drums ruined anything for you?

KamaK

Platinum Member
So I was letting iTunes shuffle my collection and came across what I used to consider to be the 2nd greatest Rock-n-Roll albums of all times. And upon listening with my new ears, I really didn't like something about the drums.

Example: https://youtu.be/m1CE1wQpsvs?t=610

The drumming is certainly interesting and well played, but I don't really care for the drum's production and some of the choices through the album. Kick is flat and loud, snare is flat and loud.. All the drums are flat, loud, and sound like there's a blanket over the kit.....

Has this happened to anyone else yet? What album/artist/song was it?
Am I hearing things wrong with this album? (have I lost my mind/ears/perspective)
 
I don't think there's anything wrong with the drum production at all. Just remember how old it is and how people are always experimenting with how best to record drums.

Think of Tool - Undertow and Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

Both have the same kind of flat, dead sounding mix which was the style at the time. Then their following albums were much better (Aenima and Superunknown) which showcased what actually COULD be done with live drum recording
 
I've always been picky about production quality, so I wouldn't say learning to play drums has been the reason behind that.

I'd say that being a drummer and knowing what drums are supposed to sound like is really what turns you against the sound of recorded drums. I find this just as true of recordings made in the '10's as the '80's.

Even when I was a teenager and into punk rock I preferred higher-quality recordings over crappy ones, or ones with too way much compression. As the years have gone on my pickiness has only grown, especially since I started doing my own recording and mixing!

These days I'm finding my disdain steering towards all the use of sound replacement, sampled kits, and electronic kits. I don't mind it in the context of death metal as long as the drums still sound reasonably natural (listen to The Inevitable Degradation of Flesh by Nile, as opposed to, for example, everything I've heard by Impending Doom). In fact, I don't enjoy listening to the last two Dream Theater albums because of how the snare and kick sound.

I always found that I've enjoyed live recordings of bands more than studio recordings. Because you remove all the extreme post-processing that goes into the studio recording, you're hearing everything as it was played. It doesn't have to be the highest quality, there might be EQ problems, things might be poorly mic'd, mics might get knocked around, but a live recording preserves the true sound and energy of the playing instead of being manufactured in a studio.

But I digress!

Playing drums has probably ruined my ability to listen to particular songs due to being over-exposed to them at performance nights when I was a student :). For example: Toxicity by SOAD, 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins, ad nauseum...
 
No. Playing drums has also shown me just how talented some drummers are.

Production? I couldnt care, its the performance that matters to me. Era, fashion and personal taste are all considerations in the production.
 
Learning to play drums has ruined my delusions of grandeur regarding musical genius, but it has increased coolness :)
 
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Never too fussy about production but yes if I watch an otherwise good band with a crappy drummer I do find it a bit harder to appreciate the band.

Apart from that there is that nagging responsibility to practice everyday.
 
WHAT I NEED TO TAKE OUT MY EAR PLUGS? Ah, that's better.

Absolutely drumming has changed the way I listen to music, it has totally exposed how compressed the commercial music sound is.
 
Well, it has ruined my life.


From a bigger picture though, it's made me grow as a musician. Being in that other most different position in the band offcourse takes that concept further in other areas of life. Wider perspectice, seeing all sides... sort of thing.

Many of the things drummers, at least on a certain level work on daily often represent intangible concepts for many other musicians.

It's always a matter of just wanting to grow and see the possibilities.

This is offcourse a two way street. It's not the drums alone. It's simply understanding more than one thing, more perspective.
 
Yes my hearing. Relationships with roommates and neighbors when I was younger from loud music.
 
Nothing ruined here other than my bank account. I listen to music differently but not any more critical than before.
 
The one thing that's been affected is I don't enjoy seeing live bands much anymore. Going to big concerts to see my favourite bands used to be very exciting, big festivals in summer etc.

Now that I gig myself (small time) it's taken the magic out of that, because I know what it's like for them, even if they're famous and all.
 
Rolling Stones: Time is on my side. Went to practice to it years ago and now I can't hear it without being distracted by the tambourine that is so terribly off the click.
 
I actually really like the sound of the drums in that springsteen clip above.. fits in perfect with the song. If they were super loud and bright they would stand out, at least to me and they shouldn't stand out.

I haven't had playing drums ruin anything for me. and i actually like mistakes now and then in songs.. to me it kinda shows that the band actually played and laid it down without going crazy overdubbing and fixing stuff..

P.S. only thing that has really changed from playing drums is that hours of my nights are now filled with drums rather than staring at computer screens.. i'll take that trade off :)
 
Those drums by Vinne "Mad Dog" Lopez are fine for a 1973 recording.

I guess drumming has ruined a decades worth or more of 80s recordings featuring electronic "drums" or actual drums so over-processed that they sound like electronic drums.

But, much more often, knowing a bit more about drums gives me a new appreciation for records I've heard a million times before. Even something like "Louie, Louie," I'm now like, Wow, how did he do that?
 
Interesting. First, I think learning the drums does that same ting that learning anything you used to enjoy innocently and without analysis does. For instance once I learned some of the intricacies of football (American football that it) I no longer could just simply watch and enjoy. I found myself analyzing and getting into details about what happened and what to expect. I really can't remember when it turned for me but it was well after I started to learn, which was age 5. I don't think it happened until I seriously decided I wanted to play in bands. But even before that in school orchestra, we played My Fair Lady sound track. I still love the sound track but I am not a passive listener. I am listening and anticipating the drum parts.

For recording, yes I also listen to what the drums sound like now that I spend so much time thinking about how mine sounded. Plus as you learn and experience more, your perception of things you heard before will change. I used to really like a lot of drum parts in Elton John songs and still do, but can hardly stand the sound of the drums. They sound like cardboard. So ruined? No. Changed? Yes.
 
Interesting. First, I think learning the drums does that same ting that learning anything you used to enjoy innocently and without analysis does. For instance once I learned some of the intricacies of football (American football that it) I no longer could just simply watch and enjoy. I found myself analyzing and getting into details about what happened and what to expect. I really can't remember when it turned for me but it was well after I started to learn, which was age 5. I don't think it happened until I seriously decided I wanted to play in bands. But even before that in school orchestra, we played My Fair Lady sound track. I still love the sound track but I am not a passive listener. I am listening and anticipating the drum parts.

For recording, yes I also listen to what the drums sound like now that I spend so much time thinking about how mine sounded. Plus as you learn and experience more, your perception of things you heard before will change. I used to really like a lot of drum parts in Elton John songs and still do, but can hardly stand the sound of the drums. They sound like cardboard. So ruined? No. Changed? Yes.

I really like this response to the question.

I'm not trying to be arrogant or smug here, but I never learned how to play the drums. I always knew how to play.
I think many of us who started playing at a very young age fall into this category. We never felt anything change in the way we listen to music.

.
 
I think when I was younger and concerned mainly with speed and technique, I had very narrow ideas of what sounded good. Now that I'm older, I don't focus on the drums in a song so much, and listen to a song more as a whole. I've come to embrace small flubs, inconsistencies, weird/less than perfect drum sounds, and strange mixes, as they all add character to a song or performance. When I bought my last new kit, I actually went with a Ludwig Legacy kit specifically because to my ear it sounded good, but less perfect and with more character than some of the high end Yamaha, Sonor, and DW kits I was interested in. Now I can listen to a snare sound on a song, which in itself is kinda crappy, and appreciate how it just fits right in there in a performance and brings something to the track as a whole. It would get boring real quick if every song you ever heard was Protooled, mixed, and polished to exacting, modern standards. Imagine listening to a Tom Waits song with Josh Freese playing a PHX kit that was tuned and recorded pristinely...
 
Duct tape.Duct tape.Duct tape.Duct tape.
 
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