My point in my statement, is that the proposition that drummers can't write songs, are past relevant as typewriters, is downright insulting,
I thought what Robbie was saying was that he feels he writes good songs and doesn't need a drummer in order to record them. So to him, a drummer might well be a bit like a typewriter. Rather, I suppose, the way string sections in rock and pop were shunted aside, firstly by mellotrons, then by synthesizers and string machines and now VSTis. It didn't mean they disappeared totally. But they did get used a whole lot less.
There are still people that use typewriters but first word processors, then keyboards meant that they weren't used anywhere near as much.
Every user of a drum program, is attempting to sound like a 'real' drummer. A good one, of course.
I think that's the thrust behind the point that Robbie was making. Someone who is using a programme may be trying to sound like a real drummer but in many of those cases, a real life drummer and drum kit is no longer
de rigeur to making their music. Personally, I think that not only is that tragic, it may come to bite future generations. Kind of like how, because analog machines are getting less and less, those that maintain and repair them are likewise and soon.......
Of course, one could argue that the drum kit is barely 120 or so years old and is approaching the beginning of it's end in terms of dominance.
I hope in my lifetime there will continue to be people that take up and play the drums. But the moves that began in the 70s with the creation of the drum machine set in motion an inevitable decline in drumming because for alot of people, the machine or software offers easy portability, cheapness, utter obedience and flawless timing.
Personally, give me drums ! I'm a bit like that with the double bass. I tried a number of VSTis but after 8 years I had to just go and buy one again because nothing did for me like the real thing. They hurt to play, but it's the sound I'm after !
It can be seen as a sad thing but when technology offers people a way to get done easier what was previously difficult, some people will take that option. And like Robbie, they'll feel the 'old' is no longer necessary, more's the pity.
