Man DId I Stink Last Night!

con struct

Platinum Member
Last night my band had its first rehearsal for next week's Atlanta Jazz Festival, and I sucked. I should be able to play those songs in my sleep; after all, I wrote them.

But my timing was bad, my technique was, well, what technique?, I just couldn't get into the playing of the drums. The only two songs I played well enough on were the slow ones where I play brushes.

My energy felt low, I was clumsy, fumbling, stumbling...none of my stuff was happening. The rest of the guys sounded great and that made me feel even worse. After the rehearsal was over I was in a pretty black mood, which much have been a lot of fun for the Mrs.

Tonight I'm going to run down the entire show by myself, but all day today I've been wondering, was it mental? Was I putting too much pressure on myself? Can I still play???

Does everyone have moments like this? Please tell me that everyone has moments like this!
 
dont sweat it...there are nights when all I want to do is be done and I dont give a crap about timing/technique, etc...it happens. Theres other nights that Im spot on....no one bats 1.000 all the time.

F
 
"Some days are diamonds.....some days are stone", mate. I'll wager everything I own on the fact that we all have days like that........and not just in our musical endeavours either. I certainly do.

Better to get it out of the way before the gig next week. Cobwebs have been blown out now Jay. Not only can you still play, but you'll play up an absolute storm next weekend my friend!! Just concentrate on what you do well, rather than focusing on one bad performance out of the many good ones.
 
It was a mental block, You were simply trying to hard.

It happened to me last year. I was in a competition with the Ct Blues Society.
It meant so much to me that I was a mess at practice! (And I was playing simple Blues songs!)
I finally just said to myself, "______ It! If we lose, we lose!" As soon as I got on stage with the band the night of the competition I was fine.
We took second place.

The moral is, Don't take things so seriously and it will be fine.
As soon as I convinced myself that It didn't matter I was fine.
Don't keep on flogging yourself and you will be OK.
 
The other said it all - we all have days like that.

Don't let to much stress get to you. I'm sure everything will quickly come back to you : )
 
Sorry to hear that Jay...and yes to the question...... we are all human........

When one of my key mentors Claude Ranger had what he percieved as a bad day at a concert hated himself and wasn't afraid to tell anyone in contact right after the fact that feeling of disapproval with his own playing. Of course his perception of awful would be most people's happy crowning achievement on the drums in their entire lifetime :}

Perception is everything and listen to a ton of great music to get you in the "zone", eat and drink healthy and jump back on the horse.

There's always the next time.......
 
Thanks for the encouraging words, guys. It very much matters to me.

Stan, what sort of warm-ups do you do before a rehearsal or a gig? Do you have a routine you practice to get you in the zone, perhaps something on the pad for example?
 
Thanks for the encouraging words, guys. It very much matters to me.

Stan, what sort of warm-ups do you do before a rehearsal or a gig? Do you have a routine you practice to get you in the zone, perhaps something on the pad for example?

Good question Jay......


I'll only focus on my mental preperation routine:

I look over the charts and the music in question if it new to me and memorize as much of it as I can of them {the song forms in particular} before the reh. or gig imagining how it sounds in my head if actually playing them {the breaks, shots, time changes etc..}. This helps me to walk in feeling more confidant about getting less hung up in the more challenging details of each arrangement and frees me up to flow more naturally within the music with my musical ears with the other folks at hand on the spot. I always try to remember not to get to fixed with my ideas and remember to have the ability to flex to try other stuff that may work better when in the actual ensemble setting such as a different feel or conceptual approach learning new music and charts with other players doing the same as things evolve.

If I feel the need for a recharge like I suggested i'll listen to a bunch of great music too to get me thinking and inspired for trying out some new ideas in the "zone" later.
 
ha that made me chuckle, front page next to the general discussion tab

man did i stink last night : steamer.

but seriously dont worry about it just an off day everyone has em in anything.
 
See, I think my problem began when I went through my usual pre-rehearsal/gig routine, a routine I've been practicing for years which consists of running through various exercises, some that I "invented," on the practice pad. For some reason none of them seemed to work for me. I had a vague idea of what I was going for last night, where I wanted to be mentally and physically, but my old routine just wasn't doing it for me and I became frustrated. As a result I felt mentally and physically unprepared and I suppose that was what started it all.
 
In theatre it's considered good luck to have a bad dress rehearsal, as it portends a good Opening Night. ;)

Of course nights like that happen to everyone. I find that they happen to me when I've got too much going on in my mind, or I'm disproportionately wound up about the gig as you were. For me, the cure is rehearsal and practice: working through the things that tied me up, getting the forms down, etc. I'll often rehearse the same stuff for several days running, methodically (perhaps obsessively) going over fine details and getting a good conception of what it is I'd like to play. If I can stand it, I'll also surround myself in the music I'm going to be playing if I have it on record. A little in the car, a little while getting dinner ready, just letting it seep in to every crack of my brain so I'm really breathing it when I hit the stage.

And look at it this way, after a night like that, it can only get better.
 
Jay, I know the feeling. Yesterday I was recording a demo with a band for the first time since 1987. A week beforehand I had a practice like yours. I was pathetic; almost everything I played was a bit wrong. And, in that way which only drummers can do, I took everyone down with me into that hole. At least your crew resisted your siren call to crappiness :)

As per Boomka's comment, I figured it was good to get the bad one out of the way beforehand. It doesn't help that I've been unable to practice on a kit at home since 1985. Pads are good to keep the hands going, but useless when it comes to getting the sonics right and that's where I struggle most these days. Are you able to practice on the kit?

I was still too tight when recording the demo. I had to keep reminding myself to relax and breathe. Still, I was okay, much better than at the stinker practice ... at least good enough to let our singer shine. He blitzed it, and for listeners that's usually the most important thing.

Oddly, when I'm sick I usually play to my ability. No pressure ... I have an excuse lol. The mental game is so huge in anything that requires performance in space and time, e.g. music, sport and public speaking, unlike creative writing or digital art where you can choose to engage when you're "on". I suggest that you try to catch a cold before the gig :)

Jay, I wish you'd posted this a week ago - the replies here are great and would have come in handy for me. I feel the important thing is being able to disengage from the drums to take the broader view of the full band sound, and I think this applies to players irregardless of their level.
 
You know what I did tonight? I was weary of going over everything that went wrong with me last night so I went out to my patio and made a fire. We have a sort of huge wok-like thing that sits on a tripod that's made for having fires built in it, so I gathered up a bunch of sticks and branches (there are a lot of trees in our backyard) and I took the arts section from today's New York Times and wadded that up, placed my kindling over it and made a fire. I sat there putting more twigs and broken up branches on it, drank a couple of cold beers and just let myself get primal.

I sat there tending my fire and I thought about how I actually play the drums, how I play. And suddenly it seemed so simple to me. Play like you play, dummy!

And I could feel it in my hands and in my feet, I could hear it in my head, how I play, my way of playing. I knew, you dig? I was there, the place where I wanted to be last night.

You know, the mind is a very powerful and potentially dangerous thing. It can be your best friend and your worst enemy.
 
Hey Jay,

Geesh- a new discovery- YOU'RE HUMAN!

We ALL have good and bad nights, it comes and goes-- despite all our best efforts, relentless practice, new equipment, new techniques, and all we do in the sake of making music.

Learn from it, be glad it's in the past now, and it will actually propel you to be being a better percussionist. Hell, most of the things I've learned (in ALL aspects of life) were learned from mistakes and failures. It just makes ya stronger, badder, faster, and more educated.

Rock forever,
C. P.
 
Here is a story as told by Roy Burns.

Roy was playing with Lionel Hampton on a live US tv date. For some reason when they began the tune, Lionel had a mental blank and could not remember how to play. What followed was a series of disasterous bum notes that had Roy cringeing. "Oh God Oh God!!!"

Then the band reached the chorus and it was time for Lionel to solo.

What followed was one of the most glorious solos one could imagine.

Roy was blown away.

Backstage after the gig Roy approached Lionel and said "Lionel, how did you do it? How did you recover so well after that beginning???"

Lionel laughed. "Roy, I don't listen to the bad notes."

IHTH.
 
One more thing, man. I have had so many gigs where I just felt dead on stage, working far too hard for what I was putting out there, and everything felt and sounded horrible to me. Then I get done the set, go to take a break or tear down, and people come up to me and say how much they were digging it.

Once a drummer from one of the other bands playing that night came up to the set as soon as the lead singer said "good night" and yelled, "Man, I gotta shake your hand! You ROCKED!" So some nights, you never really can tell!

You know you got this. Get back out there and kill 'em!
 
But what a bunch of great people you all are! So supportive. It almost makes me, you know, feel a little, well, emotional.

Drummers!
 
Hey Con Struct,

Go ahead- feel a little emotional, and HELL YEAH- this forum is full of some of the finest folks on the planet--That's why I joined up after "lurking" for a while.

To all here- I'm not "buttering your bread", but by far and wide this IS the best drum forum on the planet, and filled with THE best drummers and percussionists, and damn good people.
So there!

Cheers,
C. P.
 
J,Somehow, the thought of you being all choked up and emotional frightens me!

Sitting by an outdoor fire is good! I often sit in front of a fire to mellow out. I think that it's a primal instinct that we all share.
 
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