For the past couple of years I have been playing in a three-piece band called The Tallships. In 2006 we did a tour of Europe and since then we’ve been consistently writing new material for a record we’ve been recording over the past few months. At this point in the recording the drums and bass are done and the guitars are almost finished. The guitarist is doing the bulk of the recording and mixing and today I went over to his house to listen to much of the work he did over the past week. As we were listening to the playbacks and discussing the ins and outs of the tunes, he paid me the highest compliment I could ask for as a musician.
Being at the helm of the recording process he is hearing (over and over) every little part and said, “As I’m going through the stuff it’s crazy how integral your drum parts are –they have become essential to the music and the songs themselves.”
Awesome.
That is always my goal as a drummer and should be the goal of every drummer –Think like a musician and attempt to create drum parts that are so much part of the music, they actually become an integral part of the song.
Now, often times if not most of the time, the music will simply call for you to lay down a good solid beat, but when there are songs or sections of songs that are more open and allow you to do whatever, if you think like a musician rather than a drummer, MUSIC will come out of your set and your playing –not just beats and fills.
Remember- Music first, and shredding second. Waaay second. If you approach it like this, when the music calls for some shredding it’s going be shredding that matters.
Let the music tell you what to play and when to play it.