Do you play the drum part exactly the same each night?

I recently Learnt the song Throw Your Bolts By Illdisposed.
If your not a fan of Death Metal then you probably won't like it but when I was learning it I play it the same as the song, but with progression I increase the amount of fills and style up some of the way the double kick is worked :DD
 
Our band is an original band that primarily plays the cover bar scene. So 40% originals and 60% covers. On the originals I would say I hit from 95 - 99% as far as playing the same thing every night - based on Bermuda's definition. On the covers, well frankly we don't spend a lot of time with those, so I try to hit highlights for each songs, those little things that make those songs recognizable.

As some other posters said anything can change how you play. Does the venue allow us to play at our peak rock wise or do we have to tone it down or how is the audience responding? Are the other members playing their parts the same, that guides what I do and vice versa. In my opinion unless you are playing progressive rock (or any other category of progressive) their is plenty of room for flexibility or improv. Frankly I'm not a very technical drummer, so my variation is more in accent notes or where tom fills are placed.
 
When a song is still fresh, I tend to try different grooves and fills and play what I think feels right to me then and there.

However, once I've played a song over a longer period of time, or I've tracked it in the studio, the drum part tends to solidify. I might vary a few details here and there, and the part may continue to evolve slowly over time, but I do tend to play pretty much the same thing every time I perform the song.

While a song is fresh to me I keep it as simple as possible, slowly adding fills or accents. Out of almost 20 original songs over 2.5 years I probably only have 5 that are pretty concrete (within 99%), the rest are still evolving.
 
Depends. Am I reading a chart? If so, it probably has space for some change from performance to performance. Am I getting paid to play exactly what's on the page? Yep, I'll play it that way each and every time. I'm not trying to impress anyone but the person who is cutting the checks in a situation like that.
 
I have to give a ton of credit. Make that a mega ton of credit, for those of you who are able to sight read a gig cold from paper. Holy crap that's like Superman stuff to me. Sadly, I can never envision myself doing that. I would think it would be hard to see, then you have to turn pages...the logistics of it....what if the paper drops...having to focus on the page all night long...stick drops, and that's not even getting to the SIGHT READING part...I could go on. You guys are my heros.

I play my best when I'm out of my mind. My conscious mind that is. In that halfway place between consciousness and trance. If I even learned to sight read, I don't see how I could get to that state, which is so appealing. I friggin love it. Sight reading....I'm just not disciplined enough for that.

So way to go.
 
Depends. Am I reading a chart? If so, it probably has space for some change from performance to performance. Am I getting paid to play exactly what's on the page? Yep, I'll play it that way each and every time. I'm not trying to impress anyone but the person who is cutting the checks in a situation like that.

So, you change your musicianship based on what you're paid?

I'll admit that I might make some equipment or dress code changes based on the particular venue or event, but I never compromise my playing in any way, for any reason. Paying more money doesn't make me more conscientious, and paying less can't stop me from caring about how I play. I give 100%, all of the time. I'm the same musician whether I make $15 or $1500 that night. I'm extremely consistent, and that's a big reason I get to do this for a living.

Believe me, I understand how important it is to impress the person paying. But why stop there? I prefer to impress everyone, in case someone else might want to hire me. :)

Bermuda
 
I play the hooks and keep the vibe for the rest.

Songs develop over time as the group gels into it. After a while it is mostly the same but we tend put out our version rather than copy.
 
Answer - no. It's nearly impossible to be, lick-for-lick, exactly the same every day. Close, sometimes exactly, but usually some little difference somewhere.
 
I think he meant that if his job is specifically to play a part as it's been written, that's what he'll do.

That's how I read it too but I'm glad Bermuda made his comments about consistency because thats struck a chord with me! I've started getting offers to session for other bands now that I can demonstrate ability to play what is required and also play to the record (if I have heard the song before and practised it).

Some of the opinions here are interesting, but I get enough joy from just playing and I dont think it is my role to change something someone else has written. My own stuff is work in progress but generally I would not want to gig something until I was happy with it 100%.
 
So, you change your musicianship based on what you're paid?

Nice try, but no. If I hire someone to play whats on the page, I expect them to play what's on the page or they don't get hired again. I also give that same level of performance to someone. If the parameters are more flexible, I'm happy to fill a part out with my own creativity; I just don't think drummers, as a whole, get the concept of "play what is written" very well, compared to other musicians.
 
Personally, when I first learn a song, or write a song for that matter, it is at the very begnining of what its gonna be after I play it a few hundred times.

Over time my part is going to evolve into what I feel it should be. The bands are usually the same way.

The first few times I'm playing a song its going to be more basic and as I progress becoming more familiar with the song and the band does as well, things are going to get a little more free. I may hear the guitar player playing something and I want to match it so I try different things or vice versa. Actually a lot of times its probably me making the first change and the guys either liking it and coming with me or if they dont as a whole than I'll try something new.

Of course I'm not into the way a Rush might do things. I dont want to play the same exact part every night. It would drive me out of my mind. I need some freedom to be able to have some fun and put my own spin on it. Even on my own songs.

The only times I have tried to stay exact is when I am perfoming an original from a band in which I am not the original drummer and maybe I'm filling in with that original band. In this case, I feel like I owe the band and drummer I am filling in with/for to use his direct interpretation on the song.

There are certainly times when we'll add choruses depending on the feel of a crowd or take the middle part of a song and extend it into whatever we want to, for as long as we want to.

How far off the beaten path I go certainly depends on the genre of music as well.

I have found even in pop songs you can add stops that the whole band adopts after a few times, fills that match what the vocals are doing... anything to keep it fresh to me without bastardizing the songs I'm playing regardless of how much I may or may not like them.

And of course if I'm being paid to play what is written than I am going to stick to that as much as possible.
 
@vxla - ok, that makes more sense.

Bermuda
 
I used to play the songs the same every night I played them. I grew up listening to Budgie and he seemed to place every thing for a reason, a sizzled hi hat was there because he had thought about it. I played the same way, every fill was exactly the same each time and my parts thought through with that way of working in mind. Having said that one of my bands has a more free out look to the songs these days whereby we are happy to experiment more by changing things around a bit, but the crux of the grooves remain the same. A different way of working for me, but the band has been together for a while and its nice to paly around a bit after all these years.

I saw Jim Sclavunos play last night depping on the Nicole Atkins tour. He certainly didn't stick to the original drum parts and I must say the songs were all the better for it. I can't speak for him but it seemed he played the songs putting his stamp on them, palying them the way jim Sclavunos would. I like that, it felt like he really understood the songs and where he could take them, good stuff.
 
Nice try, but no. If I hire someone to play whats on the page, I expect them to play what's on the page or they don't get hired again. I also give that same level of performance to someone. If the parameters are more flexible, I'm happy to fill a part out with my own creativity; I just don't think drummers, as a whole, get the concept of "play what is written" very well, compared to other musicians.

You're talkin' charts? Right?

How many musicians today actually read?
 
I always liked the way that Led Zeppelin would change not only parts of songs but entire song structures over time, as they worked out ways to make them more interesting...I like the idea of a song evolving like that. I've played things one way on record and then changed the way I play them live because I thought of something that worked better later on.
 
You're talkin' charts? Right?

How many musicians today actually read?

Quite a few! And those who don't read notation can still write and read a chart with changes (a la Nashville Number System.)

When I'm in the studio, I write and read charts for almost every track.

Bermuda
 
Quite a few! And those who don't read notation can still write and read a chart with changes (a la Nashville Number System.)

When I'm in the studio, I write and read charts for almost every track.

Bermuda

Yeah, basic charts are essential when I'm learning new songs. I can read notation, but I'm not anywhere good enough to sight read, so I have my own chart system that just outlines grooves, number of bars, changes, sections, etc.
 
Almost never. I play mostly the same thing though. Sometimes, the fills will be completely different because of how I'm feeling. If I'm tired, I play some lazy-ass fills. For instance, last weekend, my band, The Bon Scotts played 7 sets in two days. By the 7th set (at the third venue of the weekend I should add), I was pretty much just holding on. Not to mention I was cranky/hangry as well. Sometimes, you're just not as in to the gig as you know you should be.

As far as reading goes, I have developed a basic roadmap kind of system that works for me while I figure out new tunes, and that works for the pop stuff I'm doing. Especially since the band is adamant about no charts on stage. When I was in college, I played a fair amount of big band stuff, and also played with a 10 piece funk band that leaned more towards the acid jazz/fusion vein. That band was intense, no charts would've been suicide.

It all depends on the gig I guess. You should definitely know how to read though. I'm not saying you should get to the point where you're one of those freaks that can play pepper spilled on manuscript, but get comfy enough that you can make it through a tune without anyone noticing the bits that you missed, and then make sure you catch them the next time through (if there is a next time that is...)
 
Quite a few! And those who don't read notation can still write and read a chart with changes (a la Nashville Number System.)

When I'm in the studio, I write and read charts for almost every track.

Bermuda

I can stumble through and work it out. But on the fly? That's impressive.

For me? Only electric bass charts.
 
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