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Drums and Accessories.

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#271948 by alexwaston
Fri Jan 20, 2017 7:10 am
I guess about four months ago I bought a basic interface and a few condenser mics. I have since expanded that and added a mixer, a few more mics and like to play along to whatever and listen back to hear how bad, or hopefully good I might sound.

The biggest lesson I've learned is to improve my patience and timing. As listening to the recorded tracks I've discovered that "at times", I tend to get slightly fast and ahead of the music. Not by much, but noticeable. This would have not been perceived by simply playing to music with headphones without the ability to review the result.

Buying the modest recording gear setup has provided immense value to me and has helped improve my timing and technique immensely.

If you're a newbie or possibly somewhat more experienced, I highly recommend going this route. You just might be surprised what you discover!
#271950 by Planetguy
Fri Jan 20, 2017 7:22 am
yep, there's is nothing like hearing your own playing recorded live on a gig or in the prct room to really show you what works...and what doesn't.

nice first post. welcome to BM.
#271955 by GuitarMikeB
Fri Jan 20, 2017 1:35 pm
It sounds like drums may NOT be your primary instrument? If they are, kudos! I worked with a drummer a few years ago who refused to use a click and insisted his timing was fine. Then we went into a tv studio ....
#271969 by schmedidiah
Fri Jan 20, 2017 4:55 pm
No audio? :o
#271972 by Planetguy
Fri Jan 20, 2017 4:59 pm
yod wrote:I wish every drummer had the same revelation


but thankfully....not all drummers share those problems outlined.

ted, i know that like me, you've been fortunate enough to no doubt work w some very talented and happening drummers and percussionists.

and face it...they ruin it for you when you DO have to play w someone who's groove AIN'T all that happening. 8)

cos if the drums/percussion ain't happening.....Ain't NOTHING happening!
#272060 by schmedidiah
Sat Jan 21, 2017 5:51 am
A few years ago, my drummer abandoned me and I was left alone to make music in my studio. I had a full drum set, fully mic'd and hooked up to several mixers and headphones. I had dabbled with drums for years and sat down and tried to play some good stuff and I couldn't play with any energy or feeling. I couldn't keep time for very long or even pull off fills without losing track of where or how to come back in to the previous pattern I was playing.
one thing that helped me get past this phase was to play along to a long delay in my headphones. I had reverb on one mixer with the cymbals and delay on the mixer with the snare and toms (I think. years ago). I only had to play a couple of measures and the delay would form a loop, allowing me to play along with what I had just played. I eventually worked my stamina up to being able to play for about 30 minutes at a time. The first time I got in a situation with a band after that and got to play along with them, I had about 100% more chops and ability to follow what they played or even start playing something that they could build a song onto.
#272071 by Planetguy
Sat Jan 21, 2017 3:53 pm
Sambop wrote:I agree that recording yourself is great for sharpening timing.
For me it has revealed other weak areas of my playing too ... on any instrument I try to play.

Overplaying for one thing, on any instrument, is a big one!
After listening back and hearing all the stuff I wish I didn't play, editing it out and hearing how much better the music sounded without it
... after awhile I'd remember while recording not to play so much junk in the first place.
Still tending to excess, but slowly improving.


I think overplaying is something most musicians deal with quite often. at least if they're GOOD musicians they deal w it...or try to!

i know i have pared down my playing in live situations quite a bit over the years. don't get me wrong i still play w lots of "personality".... but over the yrs hopefully a bassplayer (or any instrumentalist) worth their salt figures out that there are ALWAYS ways to inject some personality w/o bulldozing and razing everything else in sight!

i'll sometimes pull out old cassette recordings of gigs and scratch my hear wondering "wtf was i thinking?".

damn sammy.....for just a second there i thought you were gonna actually post a link or three to some of your tunes!

far be it from me to meddle...but NOW might be a good/better time to do so than when you previously tried to share. :D
#272075 by t-Roy and The Smoking Section
Sat Jan 21, 2017 4:19 pm
Planetguy wrote:
yod wrote:I wish every drummer had the same revelation


but thankfully....not all drummers share those problems outlined.

ted, i know that like me, you've been fortunate enough to no doubt work w some very talented and happening drummers and percussionists.

and face it...they ruin it for you when you DO have to play w someone who's groove AIN'T all that happening. 8)

cos if the drums/percussion ain't happening.....Ain't NOTHING happening!




Yes, I am spoiled to the point of not being able to play with mere human drummers.

On most occasions when I play with a local band, I specifically don't use a drummer. I use a percussionist so we can play over him if his meter isn't there. A drummer requires several rehearsals, whereas anyone else can hide their mistakes if the drummer is holding the bottom line.

Every recording session starts with a great drummer. No point in finding any other players until that position is secured. And with a great rhythm section, another player almost can't mess up the song.

Drum solos are boring but here is one from the guy I have used most, Dan Wojechowski. He's a freak of nature with an impressive career, currently with Peter Frampton since 2008.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiCbVFf4Rng


The kid I use in Poland, Szmon Madej, was/is the best at "feeling" a song that I've met. My Producer recommended this jazz drummer and he was about 19 when we met. As we were recording Warsaw Sessions, he looked like he was hardly playing but when I listened back to his tracks, it sound like Bonham reincarnated....only better.

He's got a jazz combo together these days called Fours Collective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3gMMZ5 ... freload=10
#272140 by t-Roy and The Smoking Section
Sun Jan 22, 2017 5:16 pm
Cool! When do you find time to do all this exploration of music, Sambop? You are more diverse in your taste than anyone I know personally. Is that common in India?

Latin drummers are amazingly technical, maybe moreso than any other genre. My (drummer) son showed me a guy that could do different time signatures with each limb of his body, including legs. I don't know why someone would need that in a blues groove but evidently there are latin songs where it matters? And I've never met a Puerto Rican percussionist that wasn't fabulous

I think practice with a metronome or drum machine is great for technical excersizes, but for groove and feel, I prefer to play along with good music.



Yes, but a drummer who can play with a click track is already ahead of 95% of his competition. Since my meter can fluctuate wildly when I'm playing/singing, I need a drummer to show me the way home.

I forced my son to play to a metronome at age 12 and he passed the audition to become an Army drummer (about 75 in the world) which paid for a University education in San Francisco that turned into a film-making career which pays him more than enough to live in Beverly Hills and hang out with Hollywood stars.

Last few months he produced an nation-wide educational campaign for 4th graders to visit national parks for free with their entire families, and he had Michelle Obama doing the opening narration.

He has learned there are better ways to make a living than playing drums....but he's still one of the best drummers you could play with. Won the California drum-off in 2012 without rehearsing in two years. I know that because his drums were set up in my garage in Texas while he lived on a sailboat in Sausalito, CA

It all started with a metronome.




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