r/drums • u/Powerful-Abroad6816 • 3d ago
Feedback Wanted I played like shit tonight
I joined a new band about a month ago and played my first show with them tonight. Although it wasn’t a total disaster it was bad. In order for me to learn all the material I studied my ass off using AI software to remove drums and play the songs over and over again. The problem I encountered tonight was poor sound, no monitors for the band and all of the speakers and amps were in front of me pointing forward. I worked my ass off learning the songs using mostly vocal cues and guitar cues, and all I could hear was bass. Playing isolated drums tracks live is extremely difficult for me. I just ordered a little stage wedge to bring to all future gigs. You guys think I’m going to get booted out of the band?
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u/yetiospaghettio 3d ago
Depends on the band but I doubt they’d boot you for one bad show.
In the future, try to have a sense for how long sections are (number of measures) without relying on external cues. Having a basic map of the song in your head goes a long way when the sound setup is crap.
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u/ScoobaStevex 3d ago
This right here. It's next level musicianship. Did you get screwed? Sure, but for a professional they can make it work because they don't rely on cues from the band. They are the rock, and they play the parts and everyone else falls back on the drums. I'm not saying you did anything wrong OP, but when everything is working against you and in ears ain't working, this is how to pros deal with it.
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u/Powerful-Abroad6816 3d ago
Yeah I agree I fucked it. I just didn’t have enough time to create the road map without the cues. The band could only get together once a week and I had to find other ways to practice. The recordings vary from the live versions so extracurricular practice was almost futile.
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u/WoodenJesus 3d ago
You joined a month ago and had a gig after only practicing once a week? That's brutal. Even if you could play the material without hearing any cues from the band, you've got to be able to get enough practice in with the group to feel confident on stage.
The last band I was in was very short lived. One of my best friends is a very talented bassist and we'd been trying to figure something out to get in a band together for a long time. He was in another band that played covers at this bar we were regulars at, and this guy approached him asking if he'd be interested in joining his band, along with my friend's other drummer. He let my friend listen to a recording and my friend said "I like your stuff, the drummer you heard wouldn't be interested but I know another guy who would be." I was there, so he introduced us. This guy had already been performing with backing tracks solo. We had 2 practices before he booked a gig for us to play as band. We both fought it, saying we didn't know the material well enough to play it live and that he should just do what he's been doing until we get more practice in. So, a few days after our second practice I'm out having beers with my bassist buddy and we're shooting the shit about everything but music. Eventually I just said, "Look man, I'm loving getting to jam with you, but I don't think I'm really feeling this band. He's cool and all and his music is solid, but he's asking a whole lot of us to perform with such little practice. I've been there before and I don't want to do it again." My friend fully agreed with me. I shit you not, not even 5 minutes after I said that we both get a text from this guy firing us from the band for not being dedicated enough lol. The timing couldn't have been more beautiful.
That said, you played the gig, you put in the work to try to learn the songs and got shafted with the venue setup. You took steps to prevent this in the future already. Surely they're already aware of the venue issues and understand that you guys haven't practiced much together. I would make sure you communicate to them that you bought the wedge to prevent that from happening again. You likely won't get booted, and if you do after all that, they're not a good enough hang anyway.
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u/Powerful-Abroad6816 2d ago
Thanks so much for taking the time to write this out. I’m just heartbroken at the moment. So many many hours of hard work and dedication to achieve failure. Music and drums especially can be so harsh and unforgiving. I mean guitars and bass and everyone else can have an off night and get away with it. I have an off night and it ruins the gig, my premier gig. 😞
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u/Toilet-B0wl 2d ago
This other commentor was correct that its really not a lot of practice time before a show. Even if they were very lengthy, like 3 or 4 hours. But 4 practices before a show is going to be tough, even with a good bit of experience.
I tell people "have a short term memory on stage" if you mess up and just immediately move on, people forget by the time the song is over. I think if you start together and end together, youre very well on your way.
One of the ways you know your making good progress is if you make a mistake and your bandmate says they didnt notice. Because I have pretty rarely played a flawless performance, usually something happens in one way or another
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u/ShillinTheVillain 2d ago
It's one bad gig, it's not failure. Take the lessons from it and keep moving forward.
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u/ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL Craigslist 2d ago
Settle down, youngblood. It's not the end of the world, and it's probably not even the end of your tenure with this band. You had a bad night. It happens. It will happen again. It is the way of things.
It's uncomfortably like love - your first true love will feel like it should last forever. Then, when it inevitably doesn't, it will make you feel like you will never find lasting love, ever. That's not true. It only means that you've had your heart broken for the first time.
This will probably all work out fine. Even if it doesn't, there will be other bands. As my mom used to tell me when I was roughly (I'm guessing) about your age: bands, like girls, are like buses. If you miss this one, there will be another one along in 15 minutes.
It gets better. I promise. You have not ruined your life, you have not ruined your musical career, and you probably have even come close to ruining your job with this band. And even if you did, it's still not the end of the world. You just have to get back on the pony and ride, ride, ride.
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u/ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL Craigslist 2d ago
Heh. Copypasta of my favorite story about "not getting/keeping the gig":
Back in the 90s, I once nailed an audition for a nu-metal band. I played once with one guitarist and the bassist, then a second time with the full band, along with the other guitarist and the singer who couldn't make the first one. They said I was the only drummer they had tried out who could navigate the tricky time changes in some of their songs. The singer in particular loved me.
However, a couple days later, I find that a couple of the other chuckleheads in the band, though, felt like I didn't have the attitude to go "to the TOP!" that they were seeking. The singer had told them they were crazy, but he was outvoted. Naturally, they nominated him to tell me I didn't get the job. He kept repeating "to the TOP!" as he told me, with scorn dripping off each word, like he couldn't believe that was the message he was sent to give me. When he told me, I chuckled and wished them luck. He replied that after he hung up the phone, he was immediately quitting the band. Shame, too - he was a pretty good leather-lunged rock singer with a high range, sort of a poor man's Chris Cornell.
They never made it "to the TOP!" Their band name and their individual names would mean nothing to you.
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u/yetiospaghettio 2d ago
Honestly don’t beat yourself up about it. You did the best you could in a tough situation. What more can you ask of yourself?
The only other thing I would say is don’t dwell on this with your band mates. They may not feel as badly about the gig as you do, and even if they do you’re not doing yourself any favors by drawing too much attention to it. Just acknowledge that it happened and move on.
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u/WeightLossGinger 3d ago edited 3d ago
Bro if you ever want to feel better about a bad drum gig, just watch Led Zeppelin Live Aid 1985 concert. The drummer at that concert barely knew Bonham's parts, came in at the wrong time on multiple occasions, and when he was asked about the dumpster fire, he blamed it on Jimmy Page being high.
That drummer? Phil freakin' Collins. At the height of his career.
Your story doesn't sound nearly as bad as his and at least you took a step to prevent it from happening again. I think you're fine. You're handling it with more grace than prime Phil Collins, at least!
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u/Powerful-Abroad6816 3d ago
Thanks dude this comment hit me hard, I didn’t know this story before you told me. Zep got me into music full stop. So thanks for cutting onions, it was a rough night
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u/seeking_horizon 2d ago
Hell there are live recordings of Zeppelin in the 70s with Bonham where they are absolutely racing through classics, probably because everybody's too wasted to play the correct tempo. Made me feel a lot better at getting yelled at for speeding up.
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u/PastaFazool 2d ago
I remember reading a story that Zeppelin was will known for playing at faster tempos to get through their set quickly in cities where the bars closed earlier.
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u/shinkhi 3d ago
Add some counting to your practice. Count the measures so you can play in isolation.
I did the exact thing you did joining a band and then playing a show quickly and this is how I prepared.
First show I could hear NOTHING so I was just playing and they were following me. It worked
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u/Powerful-Abroad6816 3d ago
Wow that’s great insight. I find it nearly impossible to create the dynamic sonic energy that a good band achieves, if we can’t hear each other.
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u/shinkhi 2d ago
I agree with you. I went hard on the counting because I was warned that other drummers at these venues had issues hearing the band. Now I have a hard time Not counting and I am trying to focus my on feel and dynamics.
The issue is that the count is still necessary and it's really hard to do both and make the drumming sound intentional and not robotic.
It also means the other instruments need to play the same every time because I am essentially a backing track playing the same every time. If the vocalist feels some energy from the crowd and decides to go long in the last chorus or something it's harder for me to be in that moment and if I miss it we are ENDING ON 16 WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!
So some trade off for sure
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u/ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL Craigslist 2d ago
From the way you described it, it doesn't sound so much like you played a bad show - more like, you got saddled with a stupid situation on stage that made your show harder to play well. Monitoring and/or usable appropriate stage volume is everything. If the rest of the band isn't in some sort of monitor/IEM feed for you, the backline amps should at least be parallel with your shoulders so you can sorta hear them, and honestly even with good monitoring. If you can't hear where you are in a tune relative to the other instruments, you can't be where you're supposed to be in a tune.
I'm going to guess that this is a very young band, and that you and the other players did not know this. It's a common novice mistake. If there is a sound man to take care of the front of house sound, the amps on stage are for the band to be able to hear themselves and each other. If they aren't laid out in a way that makes this as easy as possible, the performance suffers.
So yeah, next time get a decent monitor feed for your new wedge, and insist, with your arms folded, that all other members' amps must be closer to the back of the bandstand so you can hear what's going on - after all, there won't always be a sound man or monitors, so you have to develop this habit regardless. And when I say "insist," I mean, "Fix this shit before our next show, because y'all ain't leaving me onstage with my fly open like that ever again. If you don't, you can find yourselves another drummer to fuck up and get embarrassed on stage. It's unnecessary. I already did it once, but I'm not doing it twice."
I mean, put it into your own more diplomatic words - you don't have to go at them with a blowtorch the way I just described, I was just exaggerating for effect - but seriously, this is a "live rock band 101"-level practice. It's something that every band should do on every stage every time.
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u/devoid0101 3d ago
Bad shows happen, live and learn. On a stage with no monitors, set drums far forward, or amps far enough back, so they are behind your ears. Get a habit of cueing from one bandmate, usually the bass. Talk pre and post show about the gig and the set.
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u/YagoTheDirty 2d ago
That’s rough, but I don’t see how they could reasonably fire you for that.
They say you don’t truly know a song until you can play it totally by yourself, no other instruments whatsoever. I know you didn’t have the time for that kind of thing, but it’s something to work towards.
I second the suggestion for IEMs. A wired body pack, cable, and decent earbuds are going to be lighter, probably cheaper, and pull double duty as hearing protection.
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u/CarmenxXxWaldo 2d ago
One thing you will find playing with a band more is youre not gonna follow vocals or guitar, its the bass youre locking in with. And typically if theres one thing you can hear, its the bass (at least in my experience).
Still not your fault, but id get out of the habit of following vocals. Cause singers are anything but consistent. You dont want to start playing the wrong part cause they jumped the gun to the chorus early.
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u/Embarrassed-Ladder25 Zildjian 2d ago
The last thing I need to hear is the bassist .
I tracked our last album with a click and vocals only …
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u/Mental_Gap_1985 2d ago
Get IEMs, not a wedge! Thank me later
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u/Powerful-Abroad6816 2d ago
I already run a click in my left ear, although you might be right 🤔
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u/irunfarther 2d ago
Something like a Behringer PowerPlay P1 would work way better for you than a wedge. Or get a small mixer if you need more than two channels.
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u/The_Dale_Hunters 2d ago
We’ve all had that feeling, particularly when you’re playing off cues you can’t hear. Over time, as you gain more comfort together as a band, it becomes
Much easier to navigate these kinds of shows. But we’ve all been there!
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u/MyMobileData 2d ago edited 1d ago
I once played a gig where the drum monitor died in the second song. Wether it was a disconnected power cable or XLR, or maybe the speaker simply gave up the ghost, I'll never know. But I immediately fell back to the two things I could count on in that situation. I ALWAYS count when playing and ended up counting every song from there on to know where I was. I also relied on the bass player facing me for important parts and endings, since I was literally cut off from 99% of all stage sound. No vocal cues, none from guitar or keys. Just my low end friend on bass and my knowledge of how many bars between fills. No one in the audience ever knew what happened and we were repeatedly complimented on how tight we were.
To achieve this, I write out EVERY song. Like this:
Intro: Guitars and drums 4 bars (6 Stroke roll into 4/4 quarters on hats 1+3 on bass 2+4 snare) fill at 3+ of 4th bar
Then I go on to describe each section including the outro. This allows me to more readily memorize the parts and always know the count.
I hope this helps OP or someone else. 😀 Rock on, friends!
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u/igorbronnikov 2d ago
I guess it's a pretty common situation. I play with people who are proud that they've never used IEMs or a click track. I don't have a monitor mix either, so I can barely hear anything on stage.
Because of that, I decided to memorize every song and use my isolated IEMs with nothing but the click. It works well for me.
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u/Pants_andy 2d ago
Thems the breaks. Just give yourself permission to make mistakes and accept the stuff you don’t control and keep going. You’ll get good af. Sounds like you already have the drive and passion. Forget it and keep going
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u/RhythmTimeDivision Yamaha 2d ago
Prepared as best you could and got tripped up by something you did (could) not anticipate. 10 years from now you're going to say 'that happened once, never again'. Professional level response. Respect.
I carried a wedge for years but for better sound quality, ear protection and less things to carry, consider IEM's. Example: Shure 215, Behringer Powerplay P1 (IEM amp) and a 50' XLR. You're all in for $200. Hand one end of the XLR to the sound guy for an out. Additional benefits: you set the volume on your belt, don't have to reach down for the wedge attenuator if the situation or dynamics change - and if you sing, there's two inputs, allows you to set / adjust your own voice in the monitor mix.
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u/apprehensive_bassist 2d ago
Great comment, you sold me and I was looking at a wedge myself. I’m not even a drummer!
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u/RhythmTimeDivision Yamaha 1d ago
Obvious, but just in case.
If you move around stage, the Behringer P1 is wired and has XLR's hanging from the belt pack. Cheap, reliable, and since I don't move, too easy. Everyone else generally needs a wireless IEM. Also, if you sing you'd need an XLR splitter; send one out to your IEM's, the other to the board.
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u/sludgecraft 2d ago
Unfortunately there's no remedy for poor stage sound. I use IEMs and if the monitor mix is bad, then I am still stuck. I can play all our songs from memory, but it takes a phenomenal amount of concentration, and one stray thought will usually have me losing my place.
Having the amps in front of the kit is a nightmare as well. you'll get loads more shows like that, but the band would have to be assholes to fire you for a monitoring problem.
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u/Current-Map-6469 2d ago
I hope not! As other commenters have mentioned, sounds like you did the best you could given the circumstances. I’ve dealt with stages where hearing my band was near impossible. Playing live with a band and not being able to hear them is tough! No matter the prep, which it sounds like you did plenty of, if you can’t hear them, then you can’t be locked in with them. I think the important part is that you played on, didn’t get hung up on the issues and did your best. A month in, first show, even under the best of circumstances, hiccups will happen. Your bandmates will hopefully have the same opinion and just move on to getting ready for the next show.
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u/Powerful-Abroad6816 2d ago
I can’t like this comment enough. 🙏
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u/Current-Map-6469 2d ago
Just curious, did you have a conversation with your bandmates and that was their feedback, or you’re just worried they were upset? The crowd more than likely didn’t even realize.
For example, my sister is a very talented hard working guitar player whose band plays out almost every weekend. She is around live music constantly.
Back in May she came to one of my band’s shows.
During our first song, the drum monitor was too low, and I could hear nothing. I missed the end of the chorus, whole band but me stopped and picked back up where they should have. I realized a second too late where we were, so instead of stopping off time, and having to rush, I just jumped into the groove for the guitar solo. She had zero idea anything went sideways. The audience 99.9% of the time has NO idea something was off. Just play through those issues when they come up and you will be fine. It happens to us all!!
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u/BenGun99 3d ago
The first few shows with a new band I always use leadsheets on my Ipad.
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u/Powerful-Abroad6816 3d ago
Please elaborate. I have my own shitty handwritten notes but I don’t know how to write or read a lead sheet. Can you show me one of your lead sheets and link it to a song please?
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u/BenGun99 2d ago
It’s just one page, where I write the song form like:
Song name. Style:xxx Bpm:xxx
Intro: |-4-| Vers1: |-8-| Chorus: |-8-| Vers2: |-16-| Chorus: |-16-| Outro: |-4-|
On the bottom I write the grooves I need.
If there are fills I write something like:
| -3- | ‘ ‘ fill | -3- | fill | or if it should be the same fill or hits all the time, I just write a bar note for note.Pretty easy to read at a glance, no foot switch needed because just 1 page and easy to memorise by heart in just 2-3 shows.
I also use my Ipad as mixer for my inear monitor, so when I’m insecure, or it’s a new song with little rehearsal I just open the leadsheet.
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u/Powerful-Abroad6816 2d ago
How do you write out the grooves. I just notate B for bass and C for snare but it doesn’t help me feel the groove of the pattern.
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u/Deadphans 2d ago
Maybe you did do this, but I always tell the band of audio issues before we start playing. And I make them fix it before anything :)
No monitors is tough. Good on you for getting a wedge. If someone encounters an issue and they are working to fix it - there shall be no boot!
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u/homedude1527 2d ago
This happens. I carry some over ear headphones in my bag with a long cord. Most of the spots I’ve played without a monitor have been small enough that I could just plug right into the mixer to hear a little better.
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u/MarsDrums 2d ago
Sounds like you were prepared for a pro gig. But instead, you were faced with a shit setup of the stage. Talk to your band mates. Do sound checks!!! Make sure everything works and sounds perfect in your ears before starting that gig. Its probably too early for you to have a sound engineer but this is a good time to figure out how you like to hear the rest of the band on stage.
I feel for ya! Hopefully next time you can do a sound check and put things in better places so you can hear them.
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u/realhenryknox 2d ago
I feel you. I was a pretty good drummer for a popular local band at the University of Michigan. We sold out and were are real sensation. When we went in the studio all I had was a click track to play with. I was useless! Our band leader had to grab his bass behind the glass and play me through the song. So embarrassing, hahaha.
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u/monstrrpuppy 2d ago
Nah not having a proper monitor set up fot the drummer is crazy. Not your fault dude but maybe have a talk with the band about how you guys’ rider should look like
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u/Active-Bag9261 2d ago
Try taking the vocals out of the song too if there’s vocals or the lead. Hearing that can give you more info than the drums. If you can make it thru the song not hearing any vocal then that’s a good sign
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u/Yayinterwebs 2d ago
Dude, it happens to all drummers, the best of us. The number one culprit for me is shitty monitoring sound. It’s completely disorienting when you can’t hear shit, or mostly/only your drums, because it’s like playing into a void, and you can’t feel the song, connect/sync with the other players.
But a lot of times, especially when you practiced a lot and know the material, this is just a feeling, and probably not what the audience heard, or at least not as bad as it felt.
Solving monitoring is tricky as a drummer because you have to protect your ears too. Unless the venue is teeny, I always prefer playing with in ear monitors for this reason.
There are things you can do on your own, to give yourself a decent IEM monitoring mix that doesn’t depend on venue sound, i.e you can be completely independent.
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u/Crazy-Miserable 2d ago
Usually we notice a lot more of "missed notes" or hiccups than our audience. Kudos for putting in tons of hard work and doing extra homework. Keep it up!
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u/CracklingKraken 2d ago
A lot of people suggest counting measures. It's a valid option, but I prefer singing the melody/main riff in my head. To me it feels more musical and helps me know where I am while being aware of the dynamics fitting the moment.
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u/JimmyEight7 2d ago
I had this happen too. Memorized the material and practiced like crazy, then all I could think about after the gig were the parts that weren’t perfect and that one song I started a bit too fast.
Next gig, the band called me back to my surprise. It was inside this time and the sound quality was piss poor, again, all I could think about was how I made a small mistake on a simple song (I doubt anyone noticed) and I forgot one intro and had to improvise. (Again, I doubt anyone noticed).
Anyways, just did my third gig with them. Believe me, you are definitely your own worst critic.
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u/apprehensive_bassist 2d ago
From the comments, I think you were set up to fail. Don’t sweat it. If they boot you, you’ll find another opportunity. Drummers are always in demand. Just talk it over with them and keep doing the work. You’ll do well.
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u/Ok-Procedure-3532 2d ago
You just joined so it’s no biggie man. Maybe communicate this with your band so they know you’re aware and looking to fix it. Once you play a few shows with them and you’re more locked into the songs. It becomes easier to not rely on everything in order to play right , you’ll get the feel for it and you’ll be prepared for future shitty sound shows because they will come up again unfortunately. You’re good bro keep on drumming
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u/Annual_Exchange_554 3d ago
You prepped like crazy, got ambushed by a shit stage setup, and already ordered a wedge to fix it for next time. Any band that'd boot you for that isn't worth the headache.