Question About Drums for Songs?

"Perhaps you've been taking the wrong approach to life?" Perhaps you should post this in the techniques forum? 

Perhaps?

d-BAG is a pretty safe bet? Dime bag? 

I am/was a drummer.  My train of thought is the follow the rhythm for the most part, especially in Rock/Metal.  Drums and bass stick together.  I think it is cool sometimes for the bass to go off and do something different from the guitars and the drums.  That's just my opinion.

stillnotbanned

"Perhaps you've been taking the wrong approach to life?" Perhaps you should post this in the techniques forum?

I think in post #2 above the member was referring to the Techniques Forum. Scroll down to [Community] there, at the following link.

Techniques

Hi.

I'm a metal guitarist. To me the drums are the heart beat of the music. The drums drive the music. It makes or breaks the music.
It's the drummer's creative imagination that creates the feel of the drive.
I agree with MetalTeK in post #8 above that drums and bass are related and work well together.
There are no rules in creative freedom. Experiment with both following the melody and following the rhythm and see what YOU like most.
It all depends what kind of feel you want. For example, listen to the introduction bit of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor (not the whole piece, just the first minute more or less).

Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, organ

Then listen to it again and imagine drums following the melody only, played by the organ, without the drums keeping a constant beat, but instead the drums copying the melody exact.

Then listen to the first minute of Bach's piece again and this time imagine playing a constant beat while the organ is playing (like as if playing with a metronome that ticks away while Bach's playing the organ).

Two total different feels. It's a matter of taste.


I like it when there is more or less a constant drum beat going (bass drum, hi-hats and snare) and different cymbals accentuating accents in the melody (especially ride cymbals with faster melodies).
Accentuating guitar powerchord rhythm accents with either bass drum, snare or toms at certain times can also sound really cool, 1) while the constant drumbeat is going, and 2) when no constant drum beat is going at certain times. The same applies to accentuating other instrument and vocal accents at times.

It really depends on the song, don't you think?  If you're trying to accent the melody then some rhythmic changes might work.  It depends on the mood you are trying to achieve.

For the main part of a song I'll set up a fairly consistent beat.  It doesn't have to be a metronome but it should be consistent.  For chorus endings or bridges I will sometimes accent the melody if the part warrants it (specifically, the rhythmic part of the main melody).  Sometimes, the exact opposite works.  I have a straight drum beat but the melody is syncopated.

There's really no one set of rules that is going to work for every song.

Either and/or both ways worked for me: Drums guiding the song or song guiding the drums.

Follow the rhythm. If you try to follow the melody the drums will be weak sounding. 

Beagle


The leader of our band took the shaker away from one of the BGV singers because she was shaking to the beat of the melody. 

+1: Ha ha!
 
Everyone has that problem around here!  'Twould be nice if they'd invent a tamb that misses the 1st beat when one smacks it.  Like all instruments, tambs and shakers are tricky to compose with and perform, IMHO.