# No drummer...a PC?



## grogarage (Feb 18, 2012)

We just fired our long time drummer, sadly the talent wasnt the issue. Let's just say we had no more thrust in him for anything related to the band other than actualy playing the drums, wich he did pretty decent.

In the band, we are all in our 30's (i'm 35) we all have jobs, houses and families, we treat this band as a serious hobby, 6-8 shows a year. We do original metal/thrash/death with pretty fast tempo. Can you guys immagine how hard it is to find a drummer our age that still can do that style well, have the same free time to invest in the project as us, have a decent drum kit and a car to get to the shows???

Like in many band, me and the other guitarist compose all the music on the computer using drum software like EZdrummer wich works awesome.
You guys see me comming, what do you think of using drum tracks for live performances? Share your experiences as a band as much as from a spectator point of view, thanks


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## iamdunker (Feb 18, 2012)

Ive seen it done. If your cool with it, do it.


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## iRaiseTheDead (Feb 18, 2012)

The only bad thing that could happen is if your computer crashed or if you got a popup and it made a strange sound. I'd recommend maybe putting the drum track on an iPod and running it through the soundboard/PA.

I think that could work well


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## AngstRiddenDreams (Feb 18, 2012)

It would work fine until you could find another drummer. If you dig it, keep doing it.


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## ZXIIIT (Feb 18, 2012)

That's what we do, not only do we save the hassles of a finding a drummer, we save space/set up time on stage and during recordings.


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## Vinchester (Feb 19, 2012)

I heard Buckethead sometimes play with the backing track from his iPod onstage too.


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## Blasphemer (Feb 19, 2012)

You can run with backing tracks off of Superior or whatever, but if one of you messes up, you're fucked. There's no coming back from that. So keep that in mind.


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## xeonblade (Feb 19, 2012)

You can make a backing track of drums and play it from MP3/MP4/Cellphone thru a mixer. Seems like a simpler solution because it won't get stuck or crash as much as pc and it's A LOT smaller to move around.


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## grogarage (Feb 19, 2012)

thanks for the idea of using a mp3 player thru the house PA! I'll git it a try.


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## Soubi7string (Feb 20, 2012)

I have a question about this as well, how would one go about mixing the drum tracks for live?


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## xeonblade (Feb 20, 2012)

Record guitars and bass with drums, EQ how u want it to sound and then just remove guitars and bass and export drums only


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## bradthelegend (Feb 20, 2012)

An MP3 player through the PA works fine. I use one for my band's intro tracks. If this turns into a long-term thing, you might want to look into a sampling pad. These offer more control than an MP3 player, because you can assign different presets (drum tracks) and trigger them with one push, where with certain MP3 players you have to go through the menu to play different songs or press pause between tracks. Of course, if you're going to use the drum tracks as a quick fix, there's no need to invest in something like that.


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## Polyrhythmic (Feb 23, 2012)

Even though you have no other choice if you don't find somebody anyway, I'm still a bit sceptical. Especially when it comes to drums, a backing track can't replace the presence of a real drum sound in a live setting. I've seen shows where there was no real drummer, and I can say that this actually made the performance worse.


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## Genome (Feb 23, 2012)

bradthelegend said:


> An MP3 player through the PA works fine. I use one for my band's intro tracks. If this turns into a long-term thing, you might want to look into a sampling pad. These offer more control than an MP3 player, because you can assign different presets (drum tracks) and trigger them with one push, where with certain MP3 players you have to go through the menu to play different songs or press pause between tracks. Of course, if you're going to use the drum tracks as a quick fix, there's no need to invest in something like that.



There's a simple trick to that and will save you money - load your setlist in order in a playlist but at the end of every track put in a few minutes of silence (I put in ten, to be extra safe) to stop it triggering the next track. 

When you're ready to move onto the next song, just hit 'next'. You don't have to faff about with pause/play/next. 

I wouldn't use a touchscreen or anything majorly fancy, get an mp3 player that is built like a brick shithouse and can withstand a fair amount of accidental abuse, you never know what could happen. Archos had some good ones a few years back.


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## bradthelegend (Feb 28, 2012)

genome said:


> There's a simple trick to that and will save you money - load your setlist in order in a playlist but at the end of every track put in a few minutes of silence (I put in ten, to be extra safe) to stop it triggering the next track.
> 
> When you're ready to move onto the next song, just hit 'next'. You don't have to faff about with pause/play/next.
> 
> I wouldn't use a touchscreen or anything majorly fancy, get an mp3 player that is built like a brick shithouse and can withstand a fair amount of accidental abuse, you never know what could happen. Archos had some good ones a few years back.



Smart. 

I use an original Zune, which is built exactly like a brick shithouse.


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## ZXIIIT (Feb 28, 2012)

bradthelegend said:


> Smart.
> 
> I use an original Zune, which is built exactly like a brick shithouse.



We went through 2 of those, they are good, but when they go down, they take everything with them, we are now using a 4gb Sony Walkman, works with Mac and PC.


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## niffnoff (Feb 28, 2012)

Why not just broaden your search, you may be in your 30s but don't limit yourself. If you find a 20 odd year old fine, or even a 40 year old. I mean age difference means shit xD look at Bodom!


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## brutalwizard (Feb 29, 2012)

just saw the metal band elitist play with drum tracks on a computer on the scale the summit tour it sounded awesome.


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## bradthelegend (Feb 29, 2012)

ZOMB13 said:


> We went through 2 of those, they are good, but when they go down, they take everything with them, we are now using a 4gb Sony Walkman, works with Mac and PC.



I've had mine for 5 years, and there have been a few bumps in the road, but it's still kicking. I'll probably wait until it falls apart before I buy something else.


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## sage (Mar 2, 2012)

Would you replace the singer with a tape? A guitarist? I'm not sure that I'm ok with this... (says the guy who's considering using samples because keyboardists are rarer than hens' teeth...)


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## ZXIIIT (Mar 5, 2012)

sage said:


> Would you replace the singer with a tape? A guitarist? I'm not sure that I'm ok with this... (says the guy who's considering using samples because keyboardists are rarer than hens' teeth...)



No, but there are times when certain vocals are on a backing track (guest spots from another musicians on tracks)

But I personally would only go as far as using a backing track for drums/keyboards, finding a reliable/responsible/on time drummer is a major time consuming effort, not to mention setup time/tear down, in some cases, it works real well, but for now, a proper PA does the trick, since most venues mic the drum kit anyway....


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## CruzDrum (May 17, 2012)

just get a younger drummer. theres no reason not to.


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## WarriorOfMetal (May 18, 2012)

One of my bands has been using programmed drum tracks for about 8 years, with no intention of ever having a live drummer.

The most important thing is setting things up so that you can hear the tracks. We'll usually bring a PA with us, and put it where the drummer would normally be, and we've used an iPod, a Zune, a CD player, and a MacBook at different times for the actual track playback.

It does look a bit odd on stage, not having a drummer, but for this band, it helps. For one thing, the whole thing is essentially a joke, and since there are a whole bunch of people who know the guitar and bass parts, whoever is available for a given show will play. Having programmed drum tracks eliminates a few variables, and since we live in NC, MD, and MA and can't practice together as a band very often, we don't need to worry about being used to playing at the wrong tempo or anything.

For a more "serious" band, though, it might not work as well. I can't tell you how many times I've heard variations of "man, you guys would be awesome if you had a real drummer!"....but obviously those people don't get it!


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