Assume you are creating a 4-piece band. Play list is country, classic rock, rockabilly, oldies. You have these players:

1. Arranger keyboard / acoustic guitar
2. Acoustic guitar / harmonica
3. Steel guitar / fiddle
4. ?

You love the sound of live drums. However, that presents a couple of problems. When playing styles or midi files from the arranger, the drummer would have to wear headphones and keep time with the perfect time of the arranger.

Second, when all players are playing live, real-time, without any style or midi, there is no bass player. So, that might not sound too good, even adding the drummer. Hey, maybe I could learn to play bass! Not. That would take too long. Plus, I play a mean rhythm guitar.

Your 4th person choice also includes adding an electric guitar player. That means no drummer. You could forget adding a drummer and play your arranger sytles/midis for the foundation of the songs. But... you love live drums. Any thoughts?

Haha, have I posted something like this before? I'll do a search.

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Bill
SmallGig.com

Get your keyboardist to do Bass with his left hand, and get a drummer. I play with a drummer all the time even though I'm using an arranger keyboard (!). Nobody knows the difference and it sounds great. And yes, give the drummer a set of phones.

Chony

Do you always mute the drum parts on the arranger?

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Bill
SmallGig.com

No I don't mute the drums on the keyboard and I don't even mic the live drums. They compliment each other because the live set is live and the keyboard set is mixed well.

Unless you have an incredible drummer,forget it. Most of the drummers I've worked with couldn't keep rigid time worth a damned. Consequently, unless you're playing left hand bass, and following the drummer, it won't work.

Good Luck,

Gary



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Travlin' Easy

My situation is similar to Chony's---live drummer with sax and guitar, along with arranger tracks. Works great. People think it's a real band, which it is, I guess.

If you can play well with both hands, you'll never need tracks, especially with that set of styles you play in, heck, play LH Bass and add a drummer.

I play part of the time in a 4-piece, two guitars, drums and me (only the drummer isn't a singer), and partly in a duo with one of the guitarists. If both the guitarists are decent, you don't have to play too much with the RH, colors, pads, keyboard signature licks, keep the LH solid, you're in business.

If you wanted to add a bass player instead of a drummer, I would only do that if you have one of the arrangers famed for it's 'live' drum sound (newer Rolands, Ketrons, etc.) and then make sure the onstage monitors play the drum part darn near as loud as a real drummer. For some unknown reason, guitarists have a very hard time adjusting their playing - honed from years of playing in deafening garage bands, I guess - to the politer drum sounds and lowered volumes that typify arranger use.

Once you have trained up that LH well, you also have the option of even duo work (probably 50% or more of my duo is just drum part and LH bass) being less reliant on all the machines, and the public tends to like seeing someone actually playing the parts, especially anything other than just the rhythm stuff (again, even with arranger use, I tend to turn off nearly all the parts, and just have Bass/Drums/Comp done by the arranger).

Unfortunately, I have hardly ever seen a local band with a drummer make good use of tracks, especially arranger tracks. There is just something out of whack with the expanded dynamics of a real drummer (even if you get him to choke down, he's not going to enjoy it!) and the compressed dynamic of arrangers. If you get a drummer, especially as your songlist is not really keyboard heavy, just forget the machines. You'll be a better player for it.....

I'm the keyboard half of a "Covers" Duo. Dual vocals, Keys, Drums.

For modern uptempo stuff using midi files, drummer locks in no problem because some years ago he had to learn to play ballroom "fixed tempo" music at EXACTLY the right speed (initially by using a metronome) so playing at a specific speed and not changing tempo is now second nature.

I agree that drummers left to their own devices can be variable in tempo, but lets not forget that before styles and midi files the drummer / bass / rhythm set the tempo and its a bit of a culture shock to have to maintain tempo against an external reference!

In summary: You need a good drummer and excellent discipline but it's not impossible.

I forgot to mention: these days having a drummer makes us almost a novelty act but a lot of people who haven't seen us before come up to say that having the drummer makes it so much more "live" than other acts, and thats after a 45 minute up-tempo dance spot that is almost all "supported" by midi-files.

After reading the other comments above, I guess I'd agree that if you don't have a great drummer - don't even try it. My drummer is actually really good and has a very quick ear -- he locks in very quickly and I change songs without even notifying him. And he has no problem following me - its not very hard considering I have an 18inch QSC subwoofer on the stage which is impossible to ignore.