Annoying things people say to drummers...

"Right. See if you join my band we can have the best guitarists, best bassist, best singer and all that in our band! Wouldn't that be awesome? Then we can sell loads in the world and play stadiums"

I said "That's not how bands work... It's hard to make it" so then the kid plays some of his songs which all sound like Slayer with 2 notes cut out and my response "No thanks..."

Then the same kid said once "You don't mean anything, your just a drummer"
Yeah? Drummers arer the glue to a band not trying to be Kerry King.

Plus, I'm abit more Taylor Hawkins and some prog etique (or whatever the word is).

I'd rather be in a band like Symphony X or something but I don't play double bass... Yet.
 
75% of my gigs are played with unported kick heads and the remainder are ported; both with out muffling. I am contantly told that kicks are meant to have holes in the head and pillows inside. As soon as I am mic'd they drop their old beliefs and never mention it again. It doesn't bother me though. I actually like proving people wrong and opening them up to new sounds.
 
ineedaclutch said:
...I am contantly told that kicks are meant to have holes in the head and pillows inside...
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Not to be too contrarian to this whole thread, but I was into ported heads with pillows/blanket until a bass player/recording engineer asked me to go with nothing in my kick. I tried it and it sounded really boomy, but he was like, "Let's just get a quick recording of it both ways, then have a listen back and you decide."

He was right and we ended up doing the whole session with no muffling in the kick and there's still nothing in there now (the head is still ported, though). Now that I'm used to it, it sounds great and having stuffed my blanky in there a couple times since, I have to say that not only was he right, he was also completely cool and respectful about the whole thing (read: not annoying).

I think it just comes down to the fact that there are many people in this world that don't understand drums and drummers, many of whom are annoying. I like to think they'd probably still be annoying if they weren't busy irking drummers.

And for that matter, there are some very annoying drummers too (I'm probably one of them!).
 
mediocrefunkybeat said:
Usually it is getting annoying. I've worked with inexperienced drummers in the studio that just do not stop playing - even between takes. That IS annoying and I tell them as such.
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Couldn't agree more. Actually, Any player, drummer or otherwise, who constantly noodles in between songs - needs to find something else to do.
 
ineedaclutch said:
75% of my gigs are played with unported kick heads and the remainder are ported; both with out muffling. I am contantly told that kicks are meant to have holes in the head and pillows inside. As soon as I am mic'd they drop their old beliefs and never mention it again. It doesn't bother me though. I actually like proving people wrong and opening them up to new sounds.
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I kept finding that the "techs" didn't have any idea how to mic or mix in a port-less kick. Pain in the ass.


Anyway, more to the point of the OP... The guys in my band and strangers alike love to tell me what other pieces of drum kit I'm "supposed" to have. Lots of folks it seems just can't handle the fact that I don't want more than a few kit pieces.
 
MikeM said:
Oh man! lol. Great story. Kinda falls under the "Annoying things drummers say" category. haha! Coulda happened to anybody, though. :D

(later)

... And for that matter, there are some very annoying drummers too (I'm probably one of them!).
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It was inevitable, I guess, when an annoying bar manager meets an annoying drummer.

Seriously, that's contempt, isn't it? Hey scum, don't annoy my precious paying customers by carrying your stupid gear past them - go carry all that heavy stuff up three flights of stairs instead.
 
mediocrefunkybeat said:
Usually it is getting annoying. I've worked with inexperienced drummers in the studio that just do not stop playing - even between takes. That IS annoying and I tell them as such.

Drums can be an incredibly annoying instrument if you don't know when to stop. Guitarists do it too.

For me, it's 'You play drums?! Will you be in my band?!' - No! Sod off!
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I understand not playing in the studio between takes. You're there to record some songs not crap around between recording. But I especially get this comment in the band room at my school, which annoys the hell out of me considering its the damn band room. Any other instrument can play but as soon as the percussionists get out and start practicing "can you stop, its getting annoying".
 
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kyle said:
Any other instrument can play but as soon as the percussionists get out and start practicing "can you stop, its getting annoying".
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Yep. Which would suggest that noodling on the drums is more annoying than other instruments. However, the noodling of the other instruments is bloody annoying too, just not quite as much.

What annoys me is when others take an eternity to tune but won't give me any tuning time unless I demand it. Otherwise they play though it and I can't hear properly. If I ask for silence so I can hear there's this expectant silence as though it should take 5 seconds.
 
Pollyanna said:
Seriously, that's contempt, isn't it? Hey scum, don't annoy my precious paying customers by carrying your stupid gear past them - go carry all that heavy stuff up three flights of stairs instead.
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Yeah, you're absolutely right now that you put it that way. He had it coming.
 
Pollyanna said:
Yep. Which would suggest that noodling on the drums is more annoying than other instruments. However, the noodling of the other instruments is bloody annoying too, just not quite as much.

What annoys me is when others take an eternity to tune but won't give me any tuning time unless I demand it. Otherwise they play though it and I can't hear properly. If I ask for silence so I can hear there's this expectant silence as though it should take 5 seconds.
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I get this too, I do understand. If they're noodling, I might take the opportunity to tune my snare and then when I test it, I often get told to stop - whilst the twenty-odd saxes are still noodling. I had this happen to me during a rehearsal the other week and tore the player in front of me a new one because I was feeling rough and had had enough of the hypocrisy of it.

That doesn't give you an excuse to noodle though. I don't think there ever IS an excuse for noodling and I spend a lot of my time at rehearsals 'reeducating' people when I'm having a bad day.
 
MikeM said:
Yeah, you're absolutely right now that you put it that way. He had it coming.
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Haha ... I know who had it coming and it wasn't him. We didn't play there again. Massive faux pas on my part! I am well acquainted with the taste of foot.


mediocrefunkybeat said:
I get this too, I do understand. If they're noodling, I might take the opportunity to tune my snare and then when I test it, I often get told to stop - whilst the twenty-odd saxes are still noodling. I had this happen to me during a rehearsal the other week and tore the player in front of me a new one because I was feeling rough and had had enough of the hypocrisy of it.

That doesn't give you an excuse to noodle though. I don't think there ever IS an excuse for noodling and I spend a lot of my time at rehearsals 'reeducating' people when I'm having a bad day.
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Yep, no excuse for endless noodling. Thing is, you need to have your head screwed on enough to 1) not need to practice (just before a song) and 2) not spend more than a short time reacquainting yourself with the sound of a familiar rehearsal studio.

And yes, most people find the sound of snare drums out of context to be ugly. They especially hate snare rimshots, which is funny when you think of the love most drummers have for them. I've spoken to musicians who tell me that they can't stand drummers who smack down rimshot backbeats all the time - bok bok bok! That talk is sacrilegious around here :)
 
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Pollyanna said:
I've spoken to musicians who tell me that they can't stand drummers who smack down rimshot backbeats all the time - bok bok bok! That talk is sacrilegious around here :)
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I can't constant rimshots either. If I'm already smacking every backbeat at max volume, it doesn't leave me any dynamic headroom. I consider rimshots to be sort of a snare drum super-accent, i.e. even MORE than a regular accent. Now, I don't begrudge other drummers who use it to great effect when the sitchoo calls for it- Arnoff, Chamberlain, etc.
 
I've learned that rimshots are a tone thing. With enough control, you can do quiet rimshots.
 
rogue_drummer said:
Is it just me, or does anyone else get annoyed will stupid comments people say to drummers?

Like if guitar players ask us if we're sure the snares go in the outside of the snare drum instead of the inside, or if we're sure a port hole should be in the bass drum head, or someone's friend who has a friend who knows this guy that plays drums and he always put pillows or blankets in his bass drum and shouldn't we do that too?

My all time favorite is some d-bag swears his best friend's brother (or someone...insert name here) "is a fantastic player and he's only been playing for a few months. YOU should hear him, he's REALLY good...." That comment makes me want to vomit every time. Hahaha!

It just seems I've gotten more than my share of dipsh*ts lately....
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If someone asked me those kinds of questions, I'd be pleased and explain to help them understand what I do. Most musicians just ignore each other.

Whenever I hear someone say, "so-and-so is fantastic and you should hear them," I assume they are trying to connect with me, not put me down or annoy me. So I nod, smile and ask a couple of questions. They usually respond with "I don't know. Someone just told me they played drums or something."

You must walk around upset a lot. Have you ever thought about what you say that might upset people?
 
You must walk around upset a lot. Have you ever thought about what you say that might upset people?


I don't think I walk around upset a lot. Usually I jokingly get told to stop screwing around and take things more seriously while away from work, usually from my better half. I work in a fairly high-pressure corporate / HQ IT office, so anytime I'm away from work, I like to let loose and joke around and all. All in good fun.

My point, and forgive me if I didn't communicate it too well, is that after so many times of hearing the same damn bland stupid questions either 1) at a gig, or 2) during rehearsals with musicians (who should know better), it gets totally annoying. But...usually I put on my teachers face (I taught 2nd grade for a while), explain to them the whats, whys, how-tos, etc. of the mechanics of the drums, and personal tastes, etc. Sometimes this takes my time away from setting up, reviewing music, notes, or other things.

On the flip side, on of the best compliments I've ever recieved from a non-musician was praising drummers because they have to use all their limbs to make it work and then this same guy, who was a gifted high school athlete, told me there is no way he could do that, he's too uncoordinated.
 
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