The Jam Room Blog Thread.

[Lip]

It reminds me even more of the Dixie Dregs.

So GDed great!

[liquidsmoke]

"So has your band been playing shows lately?"

(holy shit I've invited you to every one of our shows via Facebook! not that I care if you go but wow)

"Yeah."

[black aspirin]

Getting ready to head out to GC for the 2nd free class on home recording.  Last week was pretty basic, but I did learn a few things...pretty cool that they do this for free.  We're gonna be discussing plug-ins today, and the use of various effects. 

[liquidsmoke]

Portable cassette player with speaker held near my pickup with the pitch wheel shifted down through my rig. From the Hammer film Taste the Blood of Dracula.

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/mercianband/hark-yee-slowed-cassette[/soundcloud]

[liquidsmoke]

New riffs and a lead idea for a song, it's a bit sloppy. We are in the process of mixing our album but are itching to write new stuff.

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/mercianband/new-riff-ideas[/soundcloud]

[Lumpy]

Soundcloud links don't show up for me here (or on Facebook)...

This is kinda weird? Ice Cube Sustain Coupler for Fender amps.

JHD Sustain Coupler
If you have a Fender amp. ( Twin Reverb , Deluxe , Deville etc...) that has a reverb tank, you can disconnect the reverb, install this in the in/out jacks and this will overdrive your amp. You can use your reverb controls on your amp to control how much overdrive you want. For use only with Pre- 1978 amps

http://www.ebay.com/itm/J-H-D-Ice-Cube-Sustain-Coupler-Fender-Deluxe-Twin-Vintage-Amp-overdrive-/121164802828

I have a Fender style amp (Plush) where a previous owner disabled the reverb to convert it to an overdrive mode - they drilled through the face plate and added an extra knob. This Ice Cube device might have been much easier, and kept the amp in original condition (?)

[Instant Dan]

I'm sure Chris Spencer would love a couple of those.

[Instant Dan]

I think I might sell my Mock in a few months. Just have not been able to really bond with it. I figure if the upgrades I plan to put in (Vintage Dimarzio Dual Sounds, electronics, nut) do not do it justice, then it goes.

[liquidsmoke]

Soundcloud links don't show up for me here (or on Facebook)...

I don't know about Facebook but on here they take 5 to 10 seconds to appear for me.

[JemDooM]

Smokey that hammer sample through the pick ups is awesome! The song idea sounds epic!

We had our third last practise before recording the album last night, it didn't go too well and for the first time I'm starting to feel panic, I wish we'd booked the studio when we were mostly ready instead of months in advance just guessing that we'd be ready, I don't want to have to cancel as our engineer will lose work that he could have had and he gave us a discount for being one of the first to book, also we have a label getting things rolling to release before the end of the year, I don't wanna mess him around. The only problem is that we're living over 2 hours apart from our drummer, we're only just now getting to play the final 3 songs with him, I realised last night and this morning listening over the recordings from the practise that some of it is just all wrong,.....last night I told my drummer that something hadnt worked at all and he just went "naahhh!!!" at me and there was no more talk of it, I just said lets move onto another song,...when I listened over it this morning it was just not right, this is hard, 2 more practises to go...

[Headshrinker]

some of it is just all wrong

What's wrong? The drum parts? Tempo, 'feel', breaks?

Have you, as a band, dealt with such differences in perception before?

[JemDooM]

He's an excellent drummer, very sludge influenced, it's been great up to now he's really brought the songs alive, but I guess the songs we're moving on to now are a bit different, there was a lot of 'over-drumming', very busy, lots of fills and offbeats where we just need something more primitive, it just wasn't clicking as usual and I don't think I'd be too bothered but we have 2 more practises before recording and his response to me saying that something didn't work was "naaah!", I listened over it this morning and the over drumming left the riff behind completely...

Obviously we'll sort through it but its stressing me out now so close to recording...... 2 practises!

[Lumpy]

Don't stress, you have time to work it out. Confer with your bassist to get on the same page, maybe get him/her to broach the topic during the next practice. Then, you chime in with agreement. "Could we try it like that?" and of course everyone will agree it works better.

Worst case scenario, you enlist the producer to handle it during the session.

Overplaying is a real pain in the ass. You don't have to prove your musical skills every moment, especially in a genre context like this...

Think positive - I bet your sessions will turn out great.

[Corey Y]

JemDooM, I've had that problem over and over again throughout the last decade. I've started sludge bands about 5 times and none of them have ever even gotten through the demo phase. Every drummer I find ends up complaining that they're bored and the songs are too slow, when I tell them to pull back and play more simply to accent the riffs. I can never figure out how all these guys who claim to love sludge volunteer to play drums in a sludge band and complain about the drums being to simple.

The only ones I've ever been able to make stick are the bands where the drums play more than the riffs I'm doing on bass. When I was in my early 20s in punk bands I used to overplay on bass like crazy, because I was bored. Now I'm cool with just holding down the low end and laying a solid foundation, picking my places to do fills very carefully and tastefully, in service of the song. It's still hard, sometimes I want to play some cool bass fills and fill up the space and I have to cut them out because it's not making the song worse, it's just not making it better. It's hard to jam when people care more about entertaining themselves on their instrument than serving what sounds good in the song.

[JemDooM]

Thanks for the empathy and encouragement guys it's good to know we've all got somewhere to vent while we're making music, it's supposed to be fun but hell it can be stressful!

[spookstrickland]

JemDooM, I've had that problem over and over again throughout the last decade. I've started sludge bands about 5 times and none of them have ever even gotten through the demo phase. Every drummer I find ends up complaining that they're bored and the songs are too slow, when I tell them to pull back and play more simply to accent the riffs. I can never figure out how all these guys who claim to love sludge volunteer to play drums in a sludge band and complain about the drums being to simple.

The only ones I've ever been able to make stick are the bands where the drums play more than the riffs I'm doing on bass. When I was in my early 20s in punk bands I used to overplay on bass like crazy, because I was bored. Now I'm cool with just holding down the low end and laying a solid foundation, picking my places to do fills very carefully and tastefully, in service of the song. It's still hard, sometimes I want to play some cool bass fills and fill up the space and I have to cut them out because it's not making the song worse, it's just not making it better. It's hard to jam when people care more about entertaining themselves on their instrument than serving what sounds good in the song.

That is a big problem, so many drummers just want to go ape shit! instead of playing what is right for the song.  The drummers who have lasted for me to have been in bands where they could just go fucking nutz every song LOL  No wonder it's so hard getting a good stoner band together.

[liquidsmoke]

My 2 cents- Don't try to make anyone play a certain way. They'll either work out or they won't. You could demand he back off but more than likely he's just going to get pissed and tell you he doesn't need anyone telling him how to play. Could just kick him out and record everything to a click and have a future drummer go in and record later.

[liquidsmoke]

Smokey that hammer sample through the pick ups is awesome! The song idea sounds epic!

Thanks for the feedback. It kind of fits in too much with the currently raging occult/satanic rock trend only we are much more a metal band than some sort of occult rock band so I want to use it.

[Chovie D]

regarding Jems drummer:

fucking drummers  

Im playing with this female singer songerwriter. The music is sweet ballads with  quiet guitars. out of nowhere This drummer comes in with these HUGE Bonham tom fills.

I stopped playing because I thought he was kidding. but he was like "what?". Im like "You are kidding right?"  and he's all "huh?"  
I calmly explained that a quiet ballad wasnt the time for "when the levy breaks", at which point he threw a temper tantrum and our friendship was never really the same.

\wtf?

[The Shocker]

Was it like this?

[Headshrinker]

'over-drumming'

Personally, I don't know what that is, given that I lack the skills to over-drum. But I do like my fills, here and there. And when they are technically demanding, they don't have to be 'intrusive' (loud, long, often). Then I'd focus on getting those right, instead of 'trying' stuff throughout the entire song.

What amount of (over-)drumming fits the music, is a matter of taste I guess. It helps if my bandmates tell me which drum parts they like, to build confidence and find a common approach.

Perhaps your drummer will 'back off' a bit in the studio. Many musicians find it intimidating to be recorded and will play it safe.

[Danny G]

/quote]

But perhaps not. Players that don't take well to suggestions or constructive criticism will sometimes enter the studio and think "now's my chance" and do the opposite of holding back, heh


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[eddiefive10]

Buy your drummer a copy of Back in Black, tell him to study how the drummer stays in the pocket and lays the foundation, sorry my only an best advice. I've had the pleasure of working with a drummer for 10 years who originally was a beast for doom and slowly turned into a solid heavy rock drummer, without forgetting how to play doom overall a win win for me

[spookstrickland]

My new criteria for picking a drummer is this:  I ask them to play me something light then something heavy.  I listen to see if they keep the overall volume of their kit balanced between the kick and the snare and cymbals.  If they can do this they are in if not they are out.  I've heard too many "powerhouse" drummers who all you can hear is the Snare and Cymbals when they are wailing unless you mic up their kick  to me that is bullshit.

[liquidsmoke]

If you're reading this Aron I hope you won't think I'm sharing too much.

Finding the time to mix, keep up the old material, and write new material isn't easy.