As a session drummer, it's my job to:
a) write drum parts to a song
b) record the parts to the best of my ability
Often, however, the first part of the job is done for me. When I think of how I feel about that, I am alternately grateful for the efforts of a songwriter to come up with drum parts, and apprehensive to play something that can often differ from my vision of how the drums should sound.
I have grown very accustomed to letting the songwriters' vision of a drum part shine through, but there's always that sense that when an instrumentalist is given freedom, there's all sorts of possibilities that the songwriter didn't see. From my perspective, if you've hired me to play drums on your song, it's likely that you're hiring not only a person who has a specific ability, but you're also hiring a "second opinion" whose input can, hopefully, improve the whole vision.
That is not to say that the songwriter should not have ideas for how the drums should sound. Of course, everyone who writes has an overall vision, and that vision can be destroyed by a rogue instrumentalist who plays the song in a totally different way than imagined. For me, a road-map is important. "The drums start here, end here, and go at this pace." This is essential information. But the specifics of how it gets from Point A to Point B to Point C is certainly something that is open to interpretation. I feel that the only problem when a non-drummer writes all the drum parts is that they are limited to the the tools that they accumulated from listening to records. As a drummer of almost 20 years, someone who has obsessed about rhythm and drum patterns for that long, I can bring to the table ideas that are original, unique and played in subtle ways that a non-drummer wouldn't necessarily imagine for themselves.
When I work with a producer or writer, it's often that we find the perfect idea somewhere in the middle of their vision and my "modified vision." Meeting there halfway is a great feeling for someone who has invested their time and energy into a project. It rewards their physical talents as well as their creative talents. And when someone has a clear reward for their creative talents, they will give just that much more to the song. Also, it's great to help improve a producer/writer's vision, and not merely prove them wrong by out-doing their vision. I don't want to bully anyone into thinking I "know better."
The risk you run when dictating 100% of the recordings, you take away the creativity of the player and now you've just hired a "musical athlete," someone to play the things you wanted, and stop there. I think one thing we can all agree on, is that the records that sound the best are the ones where the players are genuinely "into" the music. The freshness of that sound, always seems to trump the most solid, stoic vision.
a) write drum parts to a song
b) record the parts to the best of my ability
Often, however, the first part of the job is done for me. When I think of how I feel about that, I am alternately grateful for the efforts of a songwriter to come up with drum parts, and apprehensive to play something that can often differ from my vision of how the drums should sound.
I have grown very accustomed to letting the songwriters' vision of a drum part shine through, but there's always that sense that when an instrumentalist is given freedom, there's all sorts of possibilities that the songwriter didn't see. From my perspective, if you've hired me to play drums on your song, it's likely that you're hiring not only a person who has a specific ability, but you're also hiring a "second opinion" whose input can, hopefully, improve the whole vision.
That is not to say that the songwriter should not have ideas for how the drums should sound. Of course, everyone who writes has an overall vision, and that vision can be destroyed by a rogue instrumentalist who plays the song in a totally different way than imagined. For me, a road-map is important. "The drums start here, end here, and go at this pace." This is essential information. But the specifics of how it gets from Point A to Point B to Point C is certainly something that is open to interpretation. I feel that the only problem when a non-drummer writes all the drum parts is that they are limited to the the tools that they accumulated from listening to records. As a drummer of almost 20 years, someone who has obsessed about rhythm and drum patterns for that long, I can bring to the table ideas that are original, unique and played in subtle ways that a non-drummer wouldn't necessarily imagine for themselves.
When I work with a producer or writer, it's often that we find the perfect idea somewhere in the middle of their vision and my "modified vision." Meeting there halfway is a great feeling for someone who has invested their time and energy into a project. It rewards their physical talents as well as their creative talents. And when someone has a clear reward for their creative talents, they will give just that much more to the song. Also, it's great to help improve a producer/writer's vision, and not merely prove them wrong by out-doing their vision. I don't want to bully anyone into thinking I "know better."
The risk you run when dictating 100% of the recordings, you take away the creativity of the player and now you've just hired a "musical athlete," someone to play the things you wanted, and stop there. I think one thing we can all agree on, is that the records that sound the best are the ones where the players are genuinely "into" the music. The freshness of that sound, always seems to trump the most solid, stoic vision.
