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Drummer auditions finally over!


Griffinator

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Hell yeah. After weeks of half-assed, "I didn't really get a chance to listen to the stuff", out of time, one-beat-playing morons, tonight we had a real treat.

 

The guy was a friend of mine, in fact used to play in a band with me many, many moons ago. He impressed me back then as a Bonham clone, which didn't necessarily bode well for this project.

 

He comes into this audition and says right out of the gate: "Look, you gave me 10 songs 10 days ago. I'm absolutely ready to play 8 of them, iffy on one, and not at all ready on the last one."

 

OK... we can live with that. The guys before him only had 6 songs to play, so if he's solid on more than that, we can give him a pass.

 

Not only did he dominate "Peace of Mind", "Barracuda", "Free Ride", "All Right Now", "Any Way You Want It", "Twilight Zone", and "Too Much Time On My Hands", not to mention catching all the breaks beautifully on "Raise A Little Hell", but he played song #9 - "Perfect Strangers" - better than anyone else who had come in before, lock-tight on the 4/4-5/4 breaks, just had a little trouble catching the rundowns.

 

Suffice to say, not only were we all impressed, but the rehearsal room had a vibe I'd not felt with a drummer in the room (as in, we had a better vibe with NO drummer prior to this point than with some of the knuckleheads who auditioned before). It didn't hurt that he has a great sense of humor and is very laid back and soft-spoken.

 

It was unanimous - the last three we had slated to audition were cancelled on the spot.

 

I'm still buzzing on how easily we all locked together, as though he'd been playing with us for years.

 

Just thought I'd share a positive drummer story, what with all the train-wreck stories we hear around these parts... :thu:

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Griff sounds like you won the lottery over there. We had a similar situation of auditioning crazy drummers for my jazz trio here in Phoenix. Most could only play loud but not in time or swing or lay down a groove. The worst was a guy who stopped off at Walgreens on the way over to buy one of the hearing aid/long distance spy mic type thing for $4.99 that they advertise on TV. He said he bought so that he could hear himself better at the audition.

 

Dude it is like an upright piano and upright bass in our living room. We weren't loud, no amplification. But I think everyone in the neighborhood could hear the drums. Not only did he suck, but he was constantly stopping tunes to fiddle with his new "in ear monitors". Those things kept shrieking with feedback and he must have blown out his eardrums.

 

I've come to the conclusion that most drummers suck and finding a good one is like winning the powerball. Moral of the story... ...now we are a duo.

 

Peace,

D.

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Been there. Done that. Glad you also got a nice t-shirt. ;)

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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Suffice to say, not only were we all impressed, but the rehearsal room had a vibe I'd not felt with a drummer in the room (as in, we had a better vibe with NO drummer prior to this point than with some of the knuckleheads who auditioned before). It didn't hurt that he has a great sense of humor and is very laid back and soft-spoken.

 

This. :thu:

 

There comes a point when you're too old and have too little time to put up with something / someone you KNOW just isn't going to work out. Vibe is important. Sense of humor is too.

 

I'm glad it's working out for ya, Griff!

 

Tom

 

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
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Yeah, it's a really nice combination now. The other guitarist ("lead" to the extent that he handles most of the lead, though I get a couple in here and there too, and we do have a bit of harmony work in there as well) is a jazz guy whose last band work was with a country outfit, so he's having a ball with this stuff - oh, and did I mention he sight reads his leads, from standard notation? (he doesn't read tab!)

 

The bassist (aka band leader) is also sharp as a tack, and he and this new drummer clicked immediately last night.

 

And the vocalist? Even with the nasal allergy problems she was having last night she was hitting 95% of the high notes in the material.

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Congratulations! Never underestimate a drummer with a predictable sense of time (which is probably why you locked) and sense of responsibility to the music, ie, places priority on learning the music.

Original Latin Jazz

CD Baby

 

"I am not certain how original my contribution to music is as I am obviously an amateur." Patti Smith

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Going thru same problem with guitar players right now. None of them want to play the modern pop dancefloor music.

 

Tricky part with modern pop dancefloor music for most guitarists (self included, experienced this with last band) is finding a part to play that fits. Not much guitar in any of that stuff.

 

Are they outright refusing to play it, or just struggling to fit?

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Going thru same problem with guitar players right now. None of them want to play the modern pop dancefloor music.

 

Tricky part with modern pop dancefloor music for most guitarists (self included, experienced this with last band) is finding a part to play that fits. Not much guitar in any of that stuff.

 

Are they outright refusing to play it, or just struggling to fit?

We cant get em into a rehearsal. Once they see the setlist, any interest is gone. No solos, lady gaga, very easy guitar parts.... I get it. Seems guys in this area just want to shred classic rock. The music works well in the college bars (lansing, B3ers area) If they would just give it a chance.

 

So we got a friend filling in, who is temporary because he doesnt like the music either lol

-Greg

Motif XS8, MOXF8, Hammond XK1c, Vent

Rhodes Mark II 88 suitcase, Yamaha P255

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We're going thru the same thing with bass players. Our guy had to leave, he's a cop and they changed his shift around so he's only available a couple times a month, and I think he was getting pressure from his wife about being gone all the time.

 

We tried out 2 guys last week both disasters. One guy didn't have the changes down to 6 songs that we gave him 2 weeks prior. Fumbling thru the songs, and he had a music stand with notes about each song on it, and still got lost. 2nd guy was a better player, but played everything like he was hammering in a nail, hard, no dynamics, loud. Personality- not much.

 

We have 5 more guys to look at. 3 Monday, 2 Tuesday. There are a couple good prospects in that group, hopefully their playing and personalities will match up with what we need.

 

The whole process sucks though, I hate doing it!

Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1

Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6

www.bksband.com

www.echoesrocks.com

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Awesome, Griff, Glad you found the right guy.

 

As much as we like to joke about drummers in general, there's nothing like playing with a really good drummer. Hope it works out long-term for you guys.

 

--Dave

Make my funk the P-funk.

I wants to get funked up.

 

My Funk/Jam originals project: http://www.thefunkery.com/

 

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It's like a music high when it all clicks. Nothing beats it. Congrats!

Yamaha C2, Yamaha MODX7, Hammond SK1, Hammond XK-5 Heritage Pro System, Korg Kronos 2 61, Yamaha CP4, Kurzweil PC4-7, Nord Stage 3 73, Nord Wave 2, QSC 8.2, Motion Sound KP 210S,  Key Largo, etc…yeah I have too much…

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Going thru same problem with guitar players right now. None of them want to play the modern pop dancefloor music.

 

Had a similar problem with the last band I was in. Every time I suggest a song with keyboards, it either gets rejected or the guitar player pulls up an alternate version with smothered guitar parts and zero keyboards. I didn't waste much time with those guys.

 

There are waaaay too many guitar players addicted to thick smothering guitars with no room for keyboards. Bandmix.com for my area shows every guitar player addicted to modern rock or metal.

 

Right now I am happiest with the company jazz band, and they share my frustrations too. I may not make any $$$ but we do get recognition and I get the performance bug out of my system.

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