How do keep drummer sane?!?

[drew_drummer]

Why not do the double kicks separately?

 

[bryan_kilco]

Such a weird mindset to put yourself in.

It's so much easier to just say "fuck yes, this is my bitch. I'm going to nail this pussy down."

Then smash that shit.

Right? He gets the positive mindset for about 10 mins then that all quickly changes.

Why not do the double kicks separately?

Thought about this, but never done it before. We've pretty much capped off a full album of drums as of now though. Going to listen back through everything and make sure we don't have to redo something that slipped by.

 

[mva801]

It's not the fact that you're recording your own band. It's the fact that he's OBVIOUSLY not practiced enough to the clicks. The best thing you can do is provide him with a track for his ipod which contains scratch guitars and a click. Lock him in a practice room for three months, and I'm sure you'll have a MUCH better time with things. Try that out next time.

 

[Hitchhiker Speed Bump]

Experence will help immensely or you just need a new drummer lol. I 90% of the time play to a click live as well as in the studio, some people say " ohh, I would never record to a click blah blah.... " The truth is it makes you a much better drummer especially in high tempos that todays music requires, Remember in 1985 not to many bands were playing at 240bmp

 

[egan.]

It's not the fact that you're recording your own band. It's the fact that he's OBVIOUSLY not practiced enough to the clicks. The best thing you can do is provide him with a track for his ipod which contains scratch guitars and a click. Lock him in a practice room for three months, and I'm sure you'll have a MUCH better time with things.

I agree. Beyond that I'll add, that recording pep talks are often more effective outside of the moment. By that I mean, once he's throwing a tantrum it's difficult to pull him back. Given that time is a non-issue, it's better to talk to him in a less stressful (for him) place and situation. If you know he's good enough tell him so. Recording is almost always harder and even guys who seem flawless to him often rely on lots of takes. But, explain to him that he needs to take all of that to heart and that when he gets upset he guarantees failure. Explain that everyone in the band has faith (even if you don't) and that he'll have a much easier time and a lot more fun if he keeps his focus and his cool.

 

[El_Gato]

Many big name drummers have been replaced in the studio because they didn't do their homework.

They would try and record a few tracks but it was obvious they didn't get themselves 3 months practicing on a daily basis for the job so they got replaced by session drummers. Even if the feel is not the same, at least the result is listenable.

A good song is based on a great drum performance, be it simple or technical. There's no way around it. If the drummer can't do the job, you will end up over editing, quantizing and sucking the life out of it. And, IMO, it's more important feel and control than timing and hitting hard. Many pros agree they prefer a drummer that is not perfect timing but with a good feel and control rather than a digitally quantized one, well, at least if we're not talking about this modern ultra-grid-locked metal...

That being said, I've recorded after months and months of reharsing and the confidence and muscle memory are so great that I could nail very difficult tracks in no time. On the other side, I've recorded with just 10 days of practice and I got very frustrated with very simple tracks. I finally made it but they would take me hours and hours if not days to record a single tune while screaming and swearing I'm a useless piece of shite.

As in many aspects in life, the difference is atrocious from being trained and being just "ready" to track because you already know the parts and the timing of the song. Not only physical but mentally, it can be just dead exhausting or piece of cake. You don't even have to think of the parts of the song that come next or the timing, it all comes together effortlessly. You just have to concentrate on hitting the skins the right way.

If the problem with your drummer is this, make him see practicing the song as it is (with click or guide, recording reharsals, playing accordingly to the skills, listening back to see if it fits the track and you're not overcomplicating things...) will give him the confidence to get to studio with the right attitude, that is: I'm going to give the best of me and nail it because I know I can, I've done it dozens and hundreds of times before.

 

[Hitchhiker Speed Bump]

Yeah this type of stuff happens all the time. Usually when you get the "that's how we've always played it" excuse, then you've been playing it WRONG for the last two years. In a practice space it's much harder to tell what is going on with the drums/ bass - especially if you're blasting/ playing fast doubles. Almost EVERY single "metal" drummer I've ever recorded has been sloppy, and VERY unaware of how sloppy they are. Most need to practice WAY more to a click, and slow the click WAY down, until they can play perfectly a bit slower. Then slowly ratchet up the click tempo.

In this situation, the best option is to record just the hands, and paste the kicks. If you can't easily compromise on a tempo/ arrangement that can be played well in a reasonable amount of time by all players, then whoever can't keep up needs to practice more or be let go. I've had two or three bands search for a new drummers after hearing them under microphones for the first time....

^This



Anyhow, I don't know how I would feel being on a record where all the kicks are progammed. I just think I would much rather listen to somthing not as tech but real.

 

[Habsburgs]

^This



Anyhow, I don't know how I would feel being on a record where all the kicks are progammed. I just think I would much rather listen to somthing not as tech but real.

i was confused cause threat signal used programmed drums but youre not Norman Killeen

 

[Hitchhiker Speed Bump]

i was confused cause threat signal used programmed drums but youre not Norman Killeen

I acutally feel bad for Norm hes a good drummer. I think he got the short end of the stick on that one because at that time they took the advance to make there own studio. Leaving no way to track drums at that point.

 

[muldjord]

I read a lot of the posts here but not all. My suggestion is to bring in a drummer at a higher skill level and let him coach your drummer when needed. Unless he is just completely lost in himself and would find that unsettling or even provoking.

Sometimes coaching is all that's needed. But it has to come from someone who can handle it and the person being coached has to be open towards it. He needs to understand that the coach is not there to make him feel like crap. He's there to point out little things that can ease things out. Simplify that stuff, try this different technique for this and so on.

I'll admit I've never tried this with a drummers, but it worked wonders for my old band when our lead singer completely burned out 2 songs into a 10 song recording period. I brought in a friend of mine who is a master vocalist and they had a chat about expectations, breathing, technique, stuff like that. All in a way that lightened the mood to "Sure we can do this, just take it one step at a time".