Zero Mercury Drummer
Senior Member
Something in Bill Bruford's book got me thinking- at some point in time, producers took over the art and business of music-making from instrumentalists.
Does anybody else get a little miffed by the fact that instrumentalists, especially drummers, have been relegated to somewhat anonymous participants in the making of a final song (depending on the band).
The only drummers that seem to get respect or notoriety anymore are the ones that either pre-dated the switch (ex. Neil Peart) or somebody known for something other than drumming (ex. Tommy Lee).
I guess it depends on the band, but any studio drummer will tell you that producers write their checks, and its all about pleasing the knob-twirler.
Drummers often find themselves booted from lifelong bands when the producer appears because they can't conform to the sterility and automation of the studio. The opinion of the drummer in the overall scheme is usually nil.
Listeners as a result have been attuned to the mechanized processes of sequencing and drum machines. What happened is there is almost zero appreciation anymore among the general public for the talents of instrumentalists, unless you are talking about a hot guitar lead.
The main audience for musicians that dare to explore any sort of technique or sophistication in music-making is....other musicians.
Interested in people's thoughts on this...
Does anybody else get a little miffed by the fact that instrumentalists, especially drummers, have been relegated to somewhat anonymous participants in the making of a final song (depending on the band).
The only drummers that seem to get respect or notoriety anymore are the ones that either pre-dated the switch (ex. Neil Peart) or somebody known for something other than drumming (ex. Tommy Lee).
I guess it depends on the band, but any studio drummer will tell you that producers write their checks, and its all about pleasing the knob-twirler.
Drummers often find themselves booted from lifelong bands when the producer appears because they can't conform to the sterility and automation of the studio. The opinion of the drummer in the overall scheme is usually nil.
Listeners as a result have been attuned to the mechanized processes of sequencing and drum machines. What happened is there is almost zero appreciation anymore among the general public for the talents of instrumentalists, unless you are talking about a hot guitar lead.
The main audience for musicians that dare to explore any sort of technique or sophistication in music-making is....other musicians.
Interested in people's thoughts on this...