95% of all drummers can't play their own songs

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[SwordOfPhoenix]

"This isn't Jazz, we are playing Metal here" I loved this quote so much

[Erix]

Your point about fills that are improvised is totally spot on.

[DBSG]

I'm not a drummer, but I do notice the different flourishes that you'll hear live. I've always wondered why they got away with it and your explanation makes sense.

[sega.milkis]

Cool topic! I was also thinking about this many times, especially during studio work or during a band video shoot.
Overall my position is kinda in between: I have all KEY fills and parts locked and engrained into my body and mind, but have some moments that I leave "open for interpretation in the heat of the moment". It allows for a more lively performance, primarily during tours when playing the same setlist over and over gets repetitive.

[jonajon]

As a musician that grew out from metal (not out of metal mind) it was a very hard thing for me to unlearn. I'd watch all these bands live playing different versions of their songs, jamming their songs, improvising their songs. Took a long time to build that kind of playing into my repitoir instead of just playing 'the part' note for note.

Side note, blake richardson of BTBAM plays his parts to the note over and over, dude knows exactly what he's playing and when.

[Lumerdrums]

I agree to a certain extend, I am guilty myself kind of. I contstruct many fills in the studio in various takes, and the best ones get the spot in the song. Oftentimes I don't memorise what I've done there. But there are key elements which I play the same. Kick patterns that have to match the guitars, or key fill ins I thought about a long time before hitting the studio. But live I like to experiment on fills or small groove variations just for fun. I am a fan of drummers who play certain parts different than on the recording, if it's tasteful. Something slightly new is exciting. If you are shooting music videos on the other hand you really have to learn every single stroke in order to match the recording. I learned that in the last 4-5 video shoots, where there were single shots of me through the whole song. After a few days of shooting you can definetely memorise every single hit you recorded. There is nothing more annoying for a drummer to see, than video footage not matching what you hear...imo :D I will always play something a little bit different live than I did in the studio but I would say it matches 85% of the recording, so 99% of the people in the audience will not notice, and that's fine to me. Fun over perfectionism :)

[Damnagora]

I agree. I play as close as possible to the recorded versions of my songs if I can help it.
I will say metal drumming has the advantage of flexibility in tight spaces

[PMMcIntyre]

It's a natural inclination to want to improvise parts and it's one of the hardest habits I've ever had to break. Growing up I played in the school band and in my own on various instruments and every single performance was the same, note for note. I didn't allow myself to improvise parts because I knew I would screw it up without rehearsing beforehand and I wasn't sure it would sound good without the rest of the band. I carried this discipline over to later projects and it has served me well. I tend to rush the production process because I find it boring and often make mistakes that I have go back and correct. Due to my knowledge of my parts, I can go back and record specific measures and the rest of the song will still be on point. I've been using the same amps, same guitars, same pickups, same drum tracks for over 20 years and I can go back whenever I want to remaster or re-record whatever I need. I leave the creativity to the writing process, not the recording and performing process and it has served me well.

[TheSunMoon]

Many years back, I used to program my drums on FL Studio, for my own songs. After having an e-drum kit in the last 5 years, I realized I don't have the skills yet to play what I programmed last time lol.

[victorfreire]

Loved the video, very interesting example with the practice pad and splitting the track to mix it later due to a mishap. Congrats!

[bastyo]

I think you would be able to produce an amazing cover version of Budstikken. I probably listened to it 20 times today and fell in love with the riff.

[horvathbence]

Unfortunately I totally recognized myself. :D I think I'll only practice fills now.

[Staravora]

Drums are weird cause you can change them up and the song still has the same vibe like we see with those Drumeo videos they do, or a really cool example is there's a video with Jack White talking about the drumming technique for the band The Dead Weather and at the end he plays totally different drums on it and shit sounds totally wicked and yet it's still the same song at the core

[justsomedude]

Drums aren't my main instrument so I've always approached it as i'm writing "riffs" for the drums.

[MiguelLopez-llus]

very impressive topic, never though about this topic, need to show this to my band mates. greetings from Mexico lml

[RudolfHorvath]

To be honest, even as a drummer myself I think people overthink playing fills. Nobody really cares whether you play simple run over the toms or some complex rudiments, to basic listener it still sounds the same.

To me there are two types of fills. First are important pieces of composition that you should play the same every single time and then there are fills that signal smaller change or are simple embelishments. These are completely fine being improvised, it makes things fun.

[zdf]

While i agree, ive also noticed that many guitarists with improvise bits of solos, or licks that happen as a 'fill'. Theyll keep the heart of it, but change it up a bit. I feel like it's a similar action and Ive found many that enjoy that it's not always the same. It can feel nore genuine.

[Entity_dissolving_entity]

I never knew this was a thing ive always tried to play the same thing every time but I also dont play live so who knows

[RainMakeR_Workshop]

I think it works for drummers because we're percussion, not melody. So long as the main beat is there, the fills and stuff being different doesn't matter all that much. Plus guitarists often change and improvise solos. And a drum fill is just a mini drum solo.

[oneinfinity]

I think the reason why drummers get away with improvising much more is that usually the audience will not notice any slight difference unless they are drummers themselves. That's the difference between a drummer and a guitarist improvising on stage. I'm definitely guilty of this too, but as long as you nail the grooves and the iconic fills, it's not necessary to play your songs exactly note for note as it was recorded. There's also the issue of smaller bands not always being able to play on the same drum set every gig, so you inevitably will have to change up some fills to acommodate a different setup.