It's not wasting time, as the sound guy is usually moving mics and cables from around my kit in the 90 seconds or so it takes to put those 3 cymbals away. I've seen the way other people handle equipment that isn't their own, and I'm not going to let them touch my stuff.
As an example, have you seen what people do to house kits? There's all sorts of tom rub, snare rub, and cymbal rub from people trying to adjust the drums and cymbals quickly and not caring about them. Also, I've seen quite a few cymbal stands and drums that were moved "out of the way" get toppled over by the carelessness of the people who moved them, or the other musicians trying to get on stage. You can call me rude or inconsiderate all you want, but I made an investment in my instruments, and I care about their longevity more than the couple of precious minutes shaved off of the stage turnover time.
i find myself in the middle of both points of view on this. on one hand yes, get your crap and get off stage. it's professional courtesy to a fellow drummer or band. on the other hand, i have put a LOT of money into my kit and i don't want joe schmo with his hands all over it messing with my stuff.
My opinion (AND YES IT'S ONLY AN OPINION) i get from metal is that it is a statement against music. It's analogous to punk being a statement against rock&roll of the 1970s. Music is melody and rhythm. Sometimes, like in rap (which i enjoy), it is much more rhythmic than melodic. And vice-versa. Metal is a blanket of noise and distortions with intense drum rhythms, and a screaming singer. It's a statement against both melodies and rhythms.
This is my opinion, i hope everyone can respect people having opinions, even if it's over the internet. Maybe i've listened to the wrong metal? Quite possible. I've seen people hate jazz because they've listened to the stuff they play in elevator (which i don't enjoy either). I've seen people hate pop music because they've heard the latest britney spears song. I do enjoy some Metallica, one of my favorite songs is Fuel, but I'm assuming they are on the softer side of metal.
I've seen the way other people handle equipment that isn't their own, and I'm not going to let them touch my stuff.
It takes you and I between 3 and 5 mins to get off stage. I think that is a reasonable amount of time! That leaves the next drummer 15 mins or so. When I play a multiple band gig (and I play about 20 of them through out the year) 15 to 20 mins is the acceptable norm for changeover. I don't have a problem with allowing the last drummer 3 to 5 mins to vacate. It only takes me 5 mins to move my partially set up kit to the stage and be ready to play.I can see both ways about it too. I feel as though I don't "take my time" getting off stage (I timed it tonight--3:30 to put the cymbals away AND get the rest of the kit off the stage, without rushing at all), so it's a non-issue for me, I think. I just don't appreciate the pressure that other people might put on me to hurry, whether it be telling me to hurry, offering to help in a hurried voice, or worst of all--loading their drums onto the stage while my set is still being taken down! THAT just gets in the way and slows everything down...
Yes, i think you have listened to the wrong types of metal. Or you just don't listen to it enough. To be honest i am actually surprised that people who are musicians can actually think this at all. I'd have thought that you'd have a bit more respect for different types of music than the average joe listens to whatever crap is pumped out of the top 40 chart or whatever. This is completely ridiculous. Metal is one of the most rhythmic forms of music there is and if you actually LISTENED to it you might just hear that. It's funny we should also be talking about jazz because don't you think i could say exactly the same thing about having no rhythms? Obviously the rhythm is there, it's just hard to pick up at first. I'm surprised you can actually listen to a jazz song and be able to see the rhythm but not be able to see the rhythm with a metal song that's a lot easier to hear if you just listen to it.
Also what's up with metal being about "screaming?" A lot of metal has melodic vocals too actually. Besides, a lot of the time the melody isn't contained within the vocals, just because you're used to conventional music being about the singer making the melody line doesn't mean it HAS to be that way. A lot of "screamo" bands put the melody line in the actual guitars, which harmonise in very complex manners and make "walls of noise" which if you actually listen to it, make up very nice sounding chord progressions and melodies on their own, without the need for any singing.
I agree, There is many a metal song that I have listened to and I liked the music but hated the vocal part. My son is into Metal and he likes the vocal parts. I discussed this subject with him a while back. He couldn't give me an answer other than he liked it. People who are into Metal get something from the vocals that some folks don't understand. Metal has evolved to this current vocal style and it is accepted with its fans.What i really dont understand about cookie monster type music is WHY they need the "singer." I mean, like you said, the instrumental parts are complex, and well-thought out. I dont deny that part of their songs. To me, the "vocal" parts are just pointless, they dont add anything to the song...they just make it hard to listen to... in my opinion.
like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc98u-eGzlc
I mean it starts off interesting, then it just doesnt work for me...could you explain the reason for the vocal part? And im not kidding, i really would like to know.
What i really dont understand about cookie monster type music is WHY they need the "singer." I mean, like you said, the instrumental parts are complex, and well-thought out. I dont deny that part of their songs. To me, the "vocal" parts are just pointless, they dont add anything to the song...they just make it hard to listen to... in my opinion.
like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc98u-eGzlc
I mean it starts off interesting, then it just doesnt work for me...could you explain the reason for the vocal part? And im not kidding, i really would like to know.
I agree, There is many a metal song that I have listened to and I liked the music but hated the vocal part. My son is into Metal and he likes the vocal parts. I discussed this subject with him a while back. He couldn't give me an answer other than he liked it. People who are into Metal get something from the vocals that some folks don't understand. Metal has evolved to this current vocal style and it is accepted with its fans.
It just fits the music. Can you imagine soft, clean vocals over a song like that? It would sound bad. Opeth has both great growling and great clean singing, but he doesn't "sing" over the heavy parts. The song lightens up when he sings. It takes some getting used to, also. I used to laugh at bands like Behemoth but I love them now.
Any other vocals really wouldn't fit the song. The song without vocals in all would get boring.
What i really dont understand about cookie monster type music is WHY they need the "singer." I mean, like you said, the instrumental parts are complex, and well-thought out. I dont deny that part of their songs. To me, the "vocal" parts are just pointless, they dont add anything to the song...they just make it hard to listen to... in my opinion.
If you think about it, He got you to watch his show. He placed that china in a precarious spot and you watched him to see how or when he would play it! He made you anticipate his moves. It was like a magicians trick. He made you look and concern yourself somewhere where you wouldn't have looked otherwise!I've always hated people who have parts of their kit that barely get used. For example, I once saw a drummer that had a china over and behind his head (a la John Blackwell) and he hit it once the entire gig. It actually only bothered me a little though because he was pretty short and he had to stand up to hit it...it made me laugh.