serving the song

blurred

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just sharing alittle. i've been playing for a gd ten yrs now, by no means does it mean i'm gd or anything. but lately i've been doing alot practicing of opening my ears and listening to what everyone else in the band. really just seeing what i can do to make my band mates sound better. really paying attention to them. man it has paid off in spadessss, its like a big truck just hit me. why haven't i been doing this from day one, they sound better i sound better. when i was younger i would say oh man wat is this fuss over steve gadd, but i realise he's one of the greatest cause he listens and cares more about making them sound and feel good. happy drumming folks
 
I couldnt agree more. Incidentally Ive also been playing for around 10 yrs, and Im coming more and more to the realisation that its easier to be a drummer than a musician. Lots of drummers with great chops sound good when they're playing/soloing on their own, but struggle to groove with other musicians.

I think to be a great musician (and drummer), its not about how many complex chops and licks u know, but rather how well u can use the chops, licks and technique that u possess to make the band sound good, and to communicate something musical to the listeners.

I tend to think of playing music like speaking a language; when u learn different grooves and licks, its like learning the different words and various technical aspects of a language. However, just knowing a lot of flamboyant or bombastic words does not make a great speaker; a good speaker must be fluent in the language he speaks, and must be able to communicate his ideas clearly to his audience.

Im sure no one likes to hold a conversation with a person who does not listen to the rest who are also speaking, and who says inappropriate things which adds no value to the conversation. Likewise, a musician who does not listen or who plays things which do not suit the music is just like that person described above.

Btw Blurred, yes thats why I love Gadd too. He's a great musician who really listens and contributes meaningfully to the music thru his playing.
 
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=blurred

Sure took you a long time to discover the obvious ..so nice of you to finally share it with all the clueless here.

Ever wondered how come some drummers get so many gigs when they hardly display any impressive chops ?

It's playing for the music. !!
 
Hey Mark,

REVELATION!!! Haha...!! Good on you dude! And what maturity you displayed by sharing it and not worry about "bombs" thrown at you!

By the way, do you care to explain more in detail:-

1) What do you listen out for in the band during practice or performance?

2) Can you give some examples of how you might react to certain things you hear during practice or a performance?

If you could elaborate the above and probably even point out more....it could be real beneficial to newbies....
 
One simple rule is: If your bandmates look frustrated or frowning whenever u play that fanciful stuff/strokes, then don't do it the next time round :)
 
hey thanks man, hahaha yah bombs right. i'd let my playing speak for itself i guess

bass for sure, vocals, texture of the music, as in i wld approach a smooth RnB tune differently than lets say a hip hop tune which can have a harsher nature to the sound.

i've been playing alot of hip hop, RnB, soul, funk kinda tunes. i use to zone out and just be a drum machine cause tht is wats used most of the time. lately i've been trying to fill in a way to accent the vocals, but still keep out of its way. all these genres have roots in funk so tended to approach them as such, but hip hop and rnb drumming have totally different language.
 
just sharing alittle. i've been playing for a gd ten yrs now, by no means does it mean i'm gd or anything. but lately i've been doing alot practicing of opening my ears and listening to what everyone else in the band. really just seeing what i can do to make my band mates sound better. really paying attention to them. man it has paid off in spadessss, its like a big truck just hit me. why haven't i been doing this from day one, they sound better i sound better. when i was younger i would say oh man wat is this fuss over steve gadd, but i realise he's one of the greatest cause he listens and cares more about making them sound and feel good. happy drumming folks


Actually it is not just the drummer thing, I believe guitarist, vocalist, bassist and even some stage engineers also have got to share the blame.

Take for example, when we do an outdoor gig, how often do we get stage/sound engineer asking you (drummer) what do you want in your monitor? If they have common sense, they will definitely send the entire band mix into your monitor and then let you do the balancing after the first round of sound check with the band, or are they expecting that drummers only need to hear the bassist and vice versa?

The other common problem that I notice is that guitarists, vocalists, keyboardists and unfortunately bassist too, always have the tendency of getting themselves too busy with adjusting their volume, tone, vocal mix etc that they totally forgotten about asking the stage engineers to send hihat and kick into their monitor. And when the band starts, the entire band with be playing cats and mouse with the drummer.
 
Hey Mark,

Wish I have that kind of enlightenment soon. Then I can make playing more meaningful. But guess I'm still far from that.

Anyway, I have a question. How do you listen and judge what to play for funk?

http://www.mediafire.com/?monltm1y96j

I recorded this with my bassist few months ago. Did I overplay? Can you give me some suggestions?
 

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