Do you really need a drummer?

[Guitardvark]

we have no drums and we don't miss them at all. no BS. We use drumsticks on the dash of the car to double for handicap parking permits.

We practiced with drums this week and I tell you I dont miss drummers BS at all. We just practicing and the guy shows up with a set carl palmer would choke on. I think he even brought a freeking 4 ft gong he had in the van ..Took 2 hours for the guy to set it up.Then we didnt feel like playing. We were tired from watchin him. Any charlie watt clones out there?

[sacizob]

Drummers come in all shapes. You just need the right one.
p.s. I don't get the drumsticks on the dash board thing.

[brookdalebill]

^^^^
What my predecessor said.
The right drummer is hard to find, but indispensable
when you do.
When I get gigs, I call my guy, Timmy first.
Seriously!

[soulman969]

For rock, blues, r&b and the like on fully amplified gigs I'd say yes absolutely but I've done a lot of unplugged gigs as a bassist with two guitars or a guitar and keys and it's worked out just fine. I have no problem holding down a pocket without one in that setting.

[zosofan]

A drum machine is always on time, doesn't show up drunk and never tries to steal your girlfriend.
On the flip side, the machine isn't very inspirational and can't help load/unload gear.

[A.B.Negative]

Originally Posted by zosofan

On the flip side, the machine isn't very inspirational and can't help load/unload gear.

Like some drummers I've known.

[Toriginal]

Originally Posted by sacizob

Drummers come in all shapes. You just need the right one.
p.s. I don't get the drumsticks on the dash board thing.

He was dissin' drummers as being handicapped because they play drums.
This happens often by people whose bands can't attract a decent drummer.

It's odd that a lot of the better bands are using 2 and 3 drummers. (not 3 drum machines) I never got that. 3 drummers all playing the same beat. wft?

If people didn't like drummers then why do they often get standing ovations after as solo where often the guitarists don't?

Sorry I take exception to generalizations where people paint everyone who plays a particular instrument with the same brush.

I am quite sure drummers could easily disrespect guitarists in general in a wide variety of ways and be justified in doing so and often do as well. I played drums and was a member of a good drum forum and the guitarist stories are quite horrifying at times.

Respect for what it takes to be a good guitarist and a good drummer.
Disrespecting people serves no useful purpose. It doesn't make a bad musician into a good one and only serves to fuel inflated egos.

What good drummer would want to play in a band where drummer hate is already inbred? Get your drum machine, Have fun. DO what makes you happy.

[A.B.Negative]

Originally Posted by Toriginal

If people didn't like drummers then why do they often get standing ovations after as solo where often the guitarists don't?

A sense of relief?

[Mjark]

Django didn't need a drummer. As Soulman said.

[tele salivas]

Some types of music really call or benefit from having a great live drummer. some don't. Playing a very simple form of old country, we use most anybody who can work brushes against a snare, or washboard, keep reasonable meter. which means most of my friends who are music fans are able to be our drummer after they know our set list (45 minutes) and they really like it. But it always sounds better when we have a good percussionist. Drummers have been a sore spot for me, too.

[cowboytwang]

I'd say 80% of the music I play, and listen too, has no drums.

[ast370]

As a drummer and a guitar player I can appreciate both forms of expression. I also have been on both ends of disputes. It's easier to "take your ball and go home" when you're the guitarist ;)

[tjalla]

Originally Posted by A.B.Negative

Like some drummers I've known.

[Pentatomic]

Originally Posted by zosofan

A drum machine is always on time, doesn't show up drunk and never tries to steal your girlfriend....

And you only have to punch the info into a drum machine once!!

[Toto'sDad]

First the drum machine, then the guitar machine, of course the bass machine comes as an accessory. They are still working on the "banjo" machine, so far only three dollars and fifteen cents has been allocated to the project. (Donated by a national banjo club)

[getbent]

Originally Posted by zosofan

A drum machine is always on time, doesn't show up drunk and never tries to steal your girlfriend.
On the flip side, the machine isn't very inspirational and can't help load/unload gear.

if the drummer can steal your girlfriend you are probably the bass player (okay, maybe keys)

I work with 3 very different all very great drummers... 1 of the 3 is really smart, 1 is very self deprecating, 1 is very weird but super talented and all are always on time...

keep looking.

[Skub]

If you have ever played with any good drummers you'll know there is a pretty unreplaceable thing going on. Still,we get by with machines if we have to,it's a different discipline.A good basher makes a band.

I can't begin to imagine playing a whole set without either a drummer or a machine.

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by A.B.Negative

A sense of relief?

[Andy Summers]

I find this a ridiculous question...a good drummer is probably one of the most important pieces of a band. At least for the kind of music I like.

[tpaul]

So an anthropologist was hiking through the rainforest with his native guide, and they heard incessant drumming in the distance. The anthropologist asks the guide, "what's the meaning of the drums?" To which the guide shakes his head and answers, "Very bad when drums stop... very bad."

The drums continue all day and into the evening. As they are sitting around the campfire, the anthropologist once again asks the guide to explain the drums. And once again the guide simply shakes his head and says, "Very bad when drums stop... very bad."

The drumming continues into the night, and the anthropologist can't sleep. Finally, in the middle of the night, as he's lying in his tent, he suddenly realizes the drumming has stopped! He jumps up, bolts out of his tent, and breathlessly asks the guide, "The drums stopped... what happens now!?"

The guide sadly shakes his head and says, "bass solo."