Busy or steady drummer?

mikel

Platinum Member
I have a dilemma.

The first band I was in was a three piece. Guitar, bass and drums, and as such I was always filling gaps and keeping the song moving. No problem with that. The next band I was in was a 5 piece and I constantly seemed to be pulling myself back and trying not to overplay.

I have since come to the conclusion I am a "busy" drummer. At least I think that is the phrase. Even playing along to recorded music I stick with the basic drum part as I can hear it on the record, but after a few bars I am thinking of changing the groove and adding fills etc etc.

Anyone else have this constant urge? Is it a throwback from my 3 piece playing and am I going to be stuck with this feeling I can play more in every song?

Are you a busy or a steady drummer?

Comments and suggestions most welcome
 
Some songs call for busy, some call for steady. I try to play what the song requires.

Same here. The most successful/workingest players do whatever the music needs, they're not stuck at one end of the technical spectrum, or in one genre.

Bermuda
 
Record yourself and listen hard before you evaluate yourself. If you haven't done so already, now's the time.
If you are thinking of changing the groove and adding fills, basically what you are thinking of doing is ruining the song IMO. I feel you suffer from the "I can't keep a beat for more than 20 seconds because I feel I'm boring" syndrome, based on what you've said.

That's a bad bad disease to have as a drummer. Average Joe expects to be able to tap his foot. When you make that difficult for him, Average Joe goes home. Look man, you aren't there to entertain yourself, people are depending on you for a common thread to grasp on to.

Knowing the role of a drummer is something that should be fully understood. What I mean is you don't have the liberties of the other players. You have a definite function to perform. It's selfless. It's all about giving the others what they need, not your precious creativity. Save that for the practice room.
 
Same here. The most successful/workingest players do whatever the music needs, they're not stuck at one end of the technical spectrum, or in one genre.

Bermuda


I'll 3rd that

..............
 
Work on being a musical drummer and forget any of this nonsense.
 
Two of my favourite drummers are Brann Dailor and Brad Wilk. They are polar opposites as far as busy vs 'steady' goes. And I'm influenced hugely by both of them.

If you're writing your own stuff then play whatever you want. But if you're playing in a covers band and changing up the song too much, you're pissing people off.
 
I tend to prefer people playing simple grooves. That's my taste.
but there's nothing wrong about playing "busy", as long as you're being musical and the things you play help the music to express itself.

Some drummers play many notes, covering the other musicians and killing the groove and the music. Some other play a lot of notes, but if you just listen to the music, you don't even notice that. and that's why they're simply playing the right notes.

I'd suggest you to play without thinking so much; feel the music, play what you feel to, and there's a good chance you're gonna play the right way.
 
I'm glad to have you here. Thanks for sharing the knowledge!

Same here. The most successful/workingest players do whatever the music needs, they're not stuck at one end of the technical spectrum, or in one genre.

Bermuda
 
I think if you listen to guys who may be considered "busy",that in their body of work,you'll also find a lot of less is more stuff too.Listen to Vinny with Jeff Beck,and then with Sting,and a different picture will emerge.He always plays musically,but his playing with Sting is much more subdued.With Jeff Beck...Vinny goes for it,with nothing held back.

Just play for the music.The groove,and moving the music to where it has to go,is what puts supper on the table.You can always add chops where its needed.Its kind of like cooking.You use all the basic ingeriedents,and THEN you can spice it up, if the dish needs it.Taste it first to see what it needs to make it better..I always liked that metaphore:)

Steve B.
 
Great players can play "busy" without sounding "busy". Busy implies disrupting the flow. There's the crux of the matter right there, the flow. You don't want to impede or rush the flow. There's all kinds of room for nuance, that is felt rather than heard. I think that is one of the things that a seasoned player does, meaning that a seasoned player doesn't need to have every one of their notes heard. A seasoned player knows that a ghost note will affect the feel of the song in a way that is hard to pinpoint, all you know is it makes you feel good.

I just posted a song that has literally twice as many ghosts as backbeats. You can hear them if you listen for them, but mainly they go right by you because the backbeat is so prominent. But if you took those ghosts away, the song would be much less exciting from a rhythmic standpoint.

So if you must play busy..... don't be scared of ghosts lol.

Sorry, it was a duckshot, I know.
 
Are you a busy or a steady drummer?

Both or none of these... I have no dilemma :)

Some music require steady drumming

Some music require busy drumming

Some music require steady AND busy drumming at the same time

Some music require no drumming at all

... the music dictate what I need to play or don't play... not me :)
 
Even if you're busy, you have to be steady. That's non negotiable.
 
It isn't just drummers that face this issue. We have a horn player who tries to play every song in a Dizzy Gillespie bop style. In more than half the songs he ought to be playing whole notes, half notes, or resting and just playing accents. I have to remind him way too often. That is purely a lack of experience. Good musicians know when to keep it simple and when to cut it loose.
 
"Are you a good witch, or a bad witch..."

"Well, I'm not a witch at all...."
 
It's obvious that we can only play the song in front of us and that will want more or less notes at any given moment.

What's less obvious and something the OP was wondering about are tendencies, not a black and white strawman situation like Pridgeon style vs Ringo style.

Do we tend towards busy or sparse playing? When I was young I was full of energy and always wanted to stretch out so I added fills and frills when I had the chance. Now I'm older, less energetic, and the only ambition I have is for the music to hit the spot. I love just sitting back on basic beats and trying to get them feeling good - it's relaxing and fun. Pretty well the exact opposite - embracing everything I was bored by when I was young.

Money's not an issue for me so I have that luxury. Pro drummers are doing a job so they have to play what the boss(es) tells them to play - or are expected to play. So pros and aspiring pros may find this question alien to their experiences, hence all these stroppy replies from otherwise mild mannered members :)
 
It is a polarizing question, bound to invoke emotional responses.
 
i find recording and listening back to be really helpful. i get the urge to play lots of fills and such and I swear it sounds cool when im playing. when i listen back i cringe at how much im playing. its a matter of what feels good/fun to play vs. what sounds good (to me) with the music. it helps me too see the light.
 
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