General Music Chat

the band i am in is lacking a very important piece. A DRUMMER!!!!!! We are currently tossing the idea of just carring along a drum machine so we can at least play agian until we get a suitable drummer. Would it be better to not play at all. or try out the drum machine thing???? thanks for the input

Its kind of in bad taste to use a drum machine in a show, but whatever you gotta do...It's up to you.

Drummers are a dime a dozen.... put an ad out on craigslist, here and wherever... Everytime I put an ad out, I'd just let the answering machine do the work.... no joking.... in one week we got at least 15 drummers calling.... even worse is us guitar players.... If I ever put an ad out for another guitarist for my band, I'd have to take the phone off the hook!!

It's singers and bassists that are a b!tch to get hold of!!

Eh...it worked for 9 Inch Nails, didn't it?

Do whatcha gotta & laugh about it on stage...tell the audience you're auditioning your new drummer & go for it.

Heck, at some point you could let it do a fantastic solo while you all go off & get a drink. Come back & finish the song & give the box all those great kudos you normally give a drummer...what the heck...make it work for you until you get what you need.

String Driven Thing never even HAD a drummer, ever. No drum machines back then, either. They were still good, though, & it was kind of neat that they got away with it playing rocking tunes like "Take Me To The Circus."

philby, that idea is brilliant!!! could you imagine treating it like it was alive?
Man you could stage a whole routine around it; introduce it as a member, talk to it, ask it questions that it never answers, Thank it for not missing a beat.



We actually did that at Church, minus the routine; first week was fun, second was fun, after that it started to get cheesy. We first used a DM on the guitarist pedal (zoom), thats just a straight ahead beat that had to be stopped at the end of a a song, then we switched to him recording electronic drum parts on to a CD...it went downhill in a hurry after that, wrong song starting, long or short pauses after each song.
Preparation is key to being successful using one.
A lot of time has to be put into it to ensure 1) the right song starts 2) it starts at all, it's embarrassing as all get out when these 2 fail.

Some friends of mine used to introduce the drum machine as "Otto."

That's where I got the idea. I don't think I ever had a truly original thought in my head...LOL

What the hey philby, as long as they ain't around; go ahead and take credit for it.

thanks for the feed back guys. our singer is putting together click tracks for the drums and some other cool effects. I just hope the right songs come up at the right times and everything works out good. I personally dont like the idea. But I'm just the guitar player what do i know right if the singer wants canned drums then canned drums he gets. At least they'll actually show up to practice

Crip2Nite,
Hell, I wish drummers were a dime-a-dozen here.
Here the only thing that's a dime a dozen is heavy-metal . . . ummm . . . actually, heavy-metal anything.
You see the ocassional wedding band ad, or 18 year old rock guitarists. And it seems that most of the 18 year olds claim to have 12-14 years experience, too.
.
The people I'm always interested in always seem to live 250,000 miles away . . .
.
As to the Drum Machine. Well, it's not too classy, but - hey - do what you've gotta do, until you get a real drummer.
When word gets around that you're using one, drummers will start knocking at your door.
But - in the mean time, rehearse with that machine until you can get the next pattern up and running in less than 10 seconds.

I find nothing really ethically wrong with using a drum machine on stage. I use them in my home demos...

But I wouldn't ever use one on stage. Something about it just screams cheesy. I'd cancel gigs before doing that. But that's a personal thing. I was at an open mic recently where a singer basically pulled up and plugged his ipod or whatever it was into the PA and sung karaoke. I had no respect whatsoever for that. Don't even know why, it just put me off. Didn't help that the guy was singing 70's 'love boat' crap.

Drum machine = DJ
Ok for practice or building up stuff on your own butnot to a live show.
Live = Live

I gotta agree with Sans. I used to work in a casino, and I saw a lot of bands-full bands. Then there was this one that was just a keyboardist and a guitarist. Those two fellas were pretty talented entertainers, but their show kinda sucked just the same. It's one of those deals where people begin to joke about the drummer being the best player in the band! I know, believe me, how frustrating it is to sit out of gigs because you don't have a complete band. The thing is that you are just NOT going to impress anyone with mr. Roboto keeping the beat. Drummers are out there-put your performance together and advertise even more.
Hell, believe it or not, I'm looking for a guitarist right now!

NOT!

thnx guys..... WE NEEEEEED A DRUMMERRRRRRR.... GRRRRRR

Dude, have you been utilizing the search function?
I'd be glad to give you some ideas on how to make it more effective for you. If I can get three drummers and a bassest in podunk Texas you should be able to as well.