Timing/tempo issues with drums

[jndietz]

I have been working on a cheesy rock song the past few days. I mic'd up my guitar amp, and I mic'd up my bass cabinet and used the Direct Out on it. The guitar sound kind of muddy and I'm going to end up re-doing those. The bass sounds great. With my drum mic'ing, I am using an overhead (MXL 991) and a kick drum mic (CAD KBM412). The drums sound all right.

But the drummer has a terrible time trying to play with the click track. We are trying to record different sections at a time--intro, chorus, verse, chorus, and so on, until the end of the song. But what is weird is that I can't tell anymore if its my guitar playing that is off or the drums

I am about to just go through and re-do the whole song. Any tips to try to get this worked out?

 

[Greg_L]

find a new drummer.

i think if you listen to each piece by itself along with the click youll be able to tell which instrument is out of time.

 

[jndietz]

find a new drummer.

i think if you listen to each piece by itself along with the click youll be able to tell which instrument is out of time.

I've actually considered finding a different drummer around in the area. I am going to have to go through all the tracks tonight and see if there is anything out of time, like I think there is

I hope not Then it's three hours of recording down the drain

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Record the drummer first, sans click track. The play your parts to the drummer instead of a click.

If your drummer is that far off where he can't keep a somewhat decent tempo on his own, then you need a new drummer.

G.

 

[Greg_L]

I've actually considered finding a different drummer around in the area. I am going to have to go through all the tracks tonight and see if there is anything out of time, like I think there is

I hope not Then it's three hours of recording down the drain

im mainly a guitarist, but i play the drums in a local punk/metal band, and i find it really easy to play along with a click track. hell, i prefer it. plus, it makes it really easy to edit a small segment if you can just snip it out at the beat markers.

 

[jndietz]

Record the drummer first, sans click track. The play your parts to the drummer instead of a click.

If your drummer is that far off where he can't keep a somewhat decent tempo on his own, then you need a new drummer.

G.

So should I just start all over and re-record the drummer in chunks like I have been doing (intro, chorus, verses)? Or should I see if I can work with what I have?

Any idea how I can just make my own drums?

 

[DrJones]

So should I just start all over and re-record the drummer in chunks like I have been doing (intro, chorus, verses)? Or should I see if I can work with what I have?

Any idea how I can just make my own drums?

If you can play to a click then do a scratch guitar to the click. Make the drummer play to your scratch guitar. You may or maynot have to do this step twice. Once you capture the drums. Redo the guitar and add bass, then vox ect.....

That is what I do when I have this problem. Most bands that I have recorded just want to play live with no click. Its there CD.

 

[jndietz]

If you can play to a click then do a scratch guitar to the click. Make the drummer play to your scratch guitar. You may or maynot have to do this step twice. Once you capture the drums. Redo the guitar and add bass, then vox ect.....

That is what I do when I have this problem. Most bands that I have recorded just want to play live with no click. Its there CD.

Oooh, thats a brilliant idea actually. I might actually go ahead and go through with this. Thanks for the tip!

I would record live but he is such an inconsistent player. His timing and ability to keep tempo is very poor, but since I can play to a click, I'll just play with him and hope to god it turns out.

 

[Greg_L]

damn, maybe you really should find a new drummer.

 

[2lim]

Here is what we did withour drummer. He could NOT play to a click track, and he could NOT play to a prerecorded guitar track cause he couldnt see the guitsarist.


We put a click in the guitarists ear, then we plugged the drummers headphones into the guitar amp. The guitarist plays the song(even tho his amp isnt making any noise) while in full view of the drummer, for cues, and stuff.

Just make sure that the drummer gives a hi-hat click during any drumless spots.


Simon

 

[Fletcher]

How close is Nebraska City to Lincoln? The Mogis brothers will know an excellent drummer or two that can probably be had for like $50-$100/song or something like that.

Life's to short to suffer through shitty drummers!!

I'm probably going to be forced to record my daughter's band sometime before the end of the summer. She has been working on locking to a click and balancing her drums within the kit [we go to my studio on many Sunday's and record her with 3 mics so she can hear how she's balancing the kit].

I've told her in no uncertain terms that she's going to get one shot at getting a good performance or I'm going to call a friend and have him pay back a favor and cut the drum tracks for her... she'll still get the drumming credit on the back of the record, my bud will sign the standard NDA [non disclosure agreement] for cutting the drum parts... but the bottom line will be that the kid's band will have a recording worthy of my name being on the credits.

Sound harsh?

Not really.

This is very much the reality of this business... the sooner these kids learn reality the sooner they'll learn they should probably go into realty or learn to be bad assed players. Fuck "fixing it in Pro-Tools".

 

[DrJones]

Oooh, thats a brilliant idea actually. I might actually go ahead and go through with this. Thanks for the tip!

I would record live but he is such an inconsistent player. His timing and ability to keep tempo is very poor, but since I can play to a click, I'll just play with him and hope to god it turns out.

Good Luck! and thanks 4 the + feedback

 

[RAK]

In case you want any more opinions:

Turn off the click. If the band can play together then slight fluctuations with in tempo the group as a whole may be tolerable (depending on the style/feel/life of the song). Why not record everybody at the same time all the way through and see what happens? If you play a gig you have to stay together through the whole song anyway.

If the drummer can't stay in time with the group, find a new one.

If the drummer can't play through the entire song without noticable tempo fluctuations, tell the drummer to practice (or find new one).

Good timing is important (understatement) You can't really "fix" or "cover up" poor timing in a musician (unless you're a soloist, then wild tempo fluctations are just fine. haha)