Drummer can not keep a beat..

[marqueemoon]

As a multi-instrumentalist who has sometimes had to play to stuff I recorded to a click, it can be tough. It takes practice for sure. Even when you nail it you lose the feel of playing live together in a room.

I agree with those who have said get the monitoring situation right. Getting the right isolation headphones was huge for me. You could also try to over-the-ear protection like is used for shooting and have him use some earbuds/in-ears.

This may be super-obvious, but I'll say it anyway. If the drums are only a little off, re-cutting the bass will help a lot.

[ruraldave]

Being good mid-westerners that don't like to hurt anyone's feelings we decided to break up the band and go in a different direction since the other guitar player was wanting to do more of a cover band anyway. Thanks for the input!

[Embenny]

Your original question was basically asking how to kick a guy out of the band. The question to ask yourself is what your goal is with this band. Are you planning to be the next U2? If not, then I'd say just live with it and try to figure it out. It's not worth ruining a friendship over a band you're just trying to have fun with. My band when I was younger was in this exact same situation and we kicked our drummer out and I still regret that. At the time it seemed like the only choice we had, and we rationalized it to each other that way, but we were stupid kids who thought we were going to be huge, like every other one of the hundred thousand bands out there. But the drummer we kicked out was my best friend before that, and we didn't speak for about 20 years afterwards. Meanwhile, the band broke up completely about a year later, so the whole thing was pointless. It wasn't close to being worth it.

If this is something you're doing just for fun, then do whatever you have to to keep him in the band. Re-record the whole album live or something; plenty of bands used to record that way.

Yeah, really depends why you're doing what you're doing. I had a band with a very flashy, seemingly technically-gifted drummer who could not make it through two minutes of a song without an unintentional 10% change in tempo.

I view keeping time to be the percussionist's equivalent of keeping a stringed instrument in tune. Does matter what riffs you're capable of if the end product is ruined by a total lack of the basics that make a song enjoyable.

That's not to say that a steady tempo is a requirement for all songs to be enjoyable - I've been in plenty of situations where tempos were intentionally fluid, but the key there is intention - a 4-to-the-floor rock beat generally shouldn't be meandering around different tempos from measure to measure!

[sea]

this thread is actually very interesting. so it seems that not being able to play to a click track isn't really a deal breaker for most of you guys, huh? as long as the drummer is good live, right?

[saxjag]

I can see the utility of a click track for multitracked studio projects, film/video soundtracks, or remote collaborations.

Live, what you want is a drummer who propels the band. And that's a subtle skill not necessarily measurable by metronomic ticktocks.

[dontfeartheringo]

Before you shitcan the whole project and fire the drummer (which might have to happen in the end), there's one last thing you can try--

Program other rhythmic stuff along with the click track to supplement/replace it.

In other words, what about using a shaker or tambourine loop that subdivides the beat, instead of just a click track on the beat? Or if the style is appropriate, what about a MIDI-sync'd synth arpeggiator pattern in 16th notes, or anything like that really.

In other words, give the drummer some timekeeping music to play along with, in addition to (or, if he can manage it, INSTEAD OF) a cold, brash click. Maybe that will help. At the very least, it will enable a more artistically inspired performance, which... well, if we're having a hard time even staying at the right tempo, that might be an optimistic aspiration, but....

Finally, do make sure the cue mix is right. If your drummer can't HEAR the click, it will make it very difficult to play with it. Adding drums to pre-recorded music is certainly non-ideal, but a good drummer can do it. The techniques above can help make it easier even in those cases.

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS

Thankfully, my drummer can play to a click, play to recorded tracks, basically can do it all. The best takes I ever get are when I have my demo track (with basic drum loops) and he records his part. It is basically like jamming along to a CD/ipod/etc. Adding another percussion element or basic drum loops are a lot easier to follow than that sharp 1/4 note beep.

if that doesn't work, find an electric kit with midi, buy EZDrummer, and fix any bad notes. I had to do that with our old drummer, because she was all over the place. The tracks ended up sounding pretty organic after everything was lined up.

Yep, this. A lot of drummers aren't used to being asked to keep perfect time, then throwing them on a quarter note click leaves way too much uncertainty in the eighth and sixteenth notes. Give a drummer an eighth note disco beat that runs in his cans the whole time, a lot of them will lock right down to it.

I'm an on-again/off-again professional drummer. It took me a little time to get used to playing with a click, but now I can push and pull the click without getting off-time, and I actually find recording EASIER with a click. Once a drummer is used to it, a quarter note starts to feel as big as the surface of the moon. You can get out in front of it a little, get behind it, be right on top of it, whatever the section of the song calls for. You can actually make the bass player change his feel if you're really good at it. ;-)

P.S.- If you need me to lay down some tracks, I'm usually available. :-D