live in a "one man band"!

MusicalSound

MusicalSound

New member
i've been having an extremely rough time putting a band together that wanted to express the kind of music I wanted to, so I came up with a 'one man band' and started playing little gigs. basically i just pre-record all the guitar parts, and play them back through guitar and bass amps as I'm singing and drumming simultaneously so you're technically hearing just me. this way i can play as far out music as I want with zero restrictions. it's a nice feeling to do this all electrically. This was live in dec 2014.

 
A drummer alone on stage singing and playing back "guitar parts" that he himself recorded? Good fuck, this is my worst nightmare!

No, I didn't actually listen 'cause I'm at work.
 
what do you mean why? why breathe? because I can't find anyone who likes to play the kind of music I like. I've tried putting bands together and I can't find anyone who wants to play what I want. I started playing guitar and piano at the same age as drums, around 4-5 ish so it's not like I'm not a guitarist. Plus, my '60s drums give me a lot of confidence. They're just loud and beautiful sounding instantly.
 
I'm just fuckin with you, dude. As president of the Partnership for a Drum Free Amerika, it's my duty to point out that you've broken at least three of the cardinal rules. ;)
 
oh i was only defensive cause anytime I mention this idea of a one man band to a friend or something, they'll shoot it right down like as if I'll never get a gig. by now i've found in a lot of instances that a lot of people are full of it.
 
MusicalSound said:
oh i was only defensive cause anytime I mention this idea of a one man band to a friend or something, they'll shoot it right down like as if I'll never get a gig. by now i've found in a lot of instances that a lot of people are full of it.
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I first get your idea, drums is an odd choice, I would think keyboards and the drums and other parts pre-recorded. That would give you an opportunity along with a controller to pretty much do anything you wanted. I saw two guys playing a pretty damn good set opening for Bootsy. One guy on bass and singing, the other guy on keyboards and controller using something like Ableton. Sounded pretty good to me. Add to that with some visuals, like MIDI to DMX, backing ground imaging, just so people have more to look at than just look at you, I could see this working.

But drums, that is ... different.
 
Hey if drums are what you do best, that's the way to go. I prefer to sit behind a piano or strum an acoustic...Funny that my main instrument when I played for a living was bass and I don't use that at all live...
 
interesting commentary for sure. I'd have to say one of the main reasons I go for the drums live is cause my drums don't sound good coming back through speakers the way guitars and basses and backing vocals do. It seems the hammond organ, synth, guitar, bass etc is much happier to go through speakers than my hoshino drums!
 
BroKen_H said:
Hey if drums are what you do best, that's the way to go. I prefer to sit behind a piano or strum an acoustic...Funny that my main instrument when I played for a living was bass and I don't use that at all live...
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It is not a matter of what one does best, it is a matter of what one can do in a certain situation. Playing drums, you have two hands and two feet already occupied, being solo there is not much left to do except to hit play, count in and play. I don't see where that would yield very inspired live results.

OP, I think you should at least give your approach another review. I am sure you want to play an inspired set and not karaoke on drums. Which seems you would get much more than that out of your current approach.
 
Die Ärzte, a huge German punk rock band, have a drummer that sings the lead on some songs live. He just plays the whole kit standing up.
 
MusicalSound said:
interesting commentary for sure. I'd have to say one of the main reasons I go for the drums live is cause my drums don't sound good coming back through speakers the way guitars and basses and backing vocals do. It seems the hammond organ, synth, guitar, bass etc is much happier to go through speakers than my hoshino drums!
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That is a good point. Getting pre-tracked drums to sound good is tough.
 
OK, maybe I am on the wrong side here, but I would think playing live is as much about the performance (and the event in general) as it is the sound. Knowing the sound is going to be less than stellar I would think a compromise in sound would be less noticeable than a dull performance.

I guy behind a drum kit, and hard to see (if at all), playing to a sound track, can't see them packing in to see that. But, I have to say, if it works for you OP, then that is the right decision.
 
DM60 said:
OK, maybe I am on the wrong side here, but I would think playing live is as much about the performance (and the event in general) as it is the sound. Knowing the sound is going to be less than stellar I would think a compromise in sound would be less noticeable than a dull performance.

I guy behind a drum kit, and hard to see (if at all), playing to a sound track, can't see them packing in to see that. But, I have to say, if it works for you OP, then that is the right decision.
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The multi-instrumentalist approach might be the way to do this.
I hang out with this guy - Professor Shyguy - who does the one-man band thing with tracks. He'll switch between guitar, keys, drums, and just vox from song to song to keep things interesting.
 
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