first band practice...

[H3RB]

soooooo my friend wants to form a band or atleast get a few of us together to jam etc we have a lead guitarist and bassist and ill be the drummer. thing is ive only been playing since march and im pretty damn nervous lol the guitarist is awesome and im worried i wont be able to keep up.
my drum tutor says im progressing at a pretty decent rate and he's teaching me things that he doesnt teach most students for a year n a half so thats gave me a bit of confidence.
whats the best way to go about a first practice? i suggested choosing a few songs we can learn in our own time and then try putting them together at the practice etc.
any ideas or tips at all?

[Hellfire]

soooooo my friend wants to form a band or atleast get a few of us together to jam etc we have a lead guitarist and bassist and ill be the drummer. thing is ive only been playing since march and im pretty damn nervous lol the guitarist is awesome and im worried i wont be able to keep up.
my drum tutor says im progressing at a pretty decent rate and he's teaching me things that he doesnt teach most students for a year n a half so thats gave me a bit of confidence.
whats the best way to go about a first practice? i suggested choosing a few songs we can learn in our own time and then try putting them together at the practice etc.
any ideas or tips at all?

Anything AC/DC. BTW, congrats on your new band.

[Orangeblood]

I second ac/dc for the following reasons...it's basic timing, which is what we are supposed to do no matter what. Easy to learn.

You could just get together and jam...meaning just fill in as you see fit or you could learn a few songs on your own and then have them learn or use them at a jam session.

You don't have to be fancy...just keep solid time. Too many younger drummers want to be Joey J. when you should want to play like Chad Smith. Getting fancy is fine as long as its warranted and you can pull it off.
Being in a band takes TIME...you must devote many hours to practice, either alone or with the guys.
Have fun, relax...and you'll know just where you are in terms of progression once you've played with other people. Using headphones only does so much. Feeding off other guys is really important.

One tip is use the click on the DM10 religiously.

[Fishman]

Usually when ever my band is taking a "day off" of practice it usually starts with me just throwing out a basic drum beat. The guitarists decide on a key (usually E) then they just play around with riffs, while I just play time keep. but have fun with it, add fills, change cymbals you’ve been riding on and remember a fill doesn’t have to be stuffed full of every tom as fast as you can hit it, in some styles of music less is more. Then maybe after everyone has had their fun on that jam, try a new rhythm and maybe a new tempo, hell try another style of music. That the beauty of jams, the point is to have fun and like every thing it gets better with time. What style are you guys? just curious.

[Guinness]

The beauty of "jamming" (playing with others) is when you're all on the same page.  You can look at the guitarist and know a change is coming.  When you're all on the same page it is such a high.  To get there only takes time.  Everyone above is right... you don't need to be fancy, do killer rolls, etc...  just know what beat you want and keep time.  Some new and even experienced guitarists and bassists  speed up  from time to time.  It's your job to not follow them, but keep them from racing ahead.  That's hard sometimes when you're playing with (following) their rhythm. I recall falling into that trap many times in the past.
 
A good way to learn songs, imo, is to air drum along with them.  You'll hear every strike.   Play along with the tune once you can confidentially air drum the tune.  Then try it drumless.  AC/DC is quite simple.  So is Live.  Actually, there's a bunch of "easy" tunes in all genres.
 
The most important thing is to just have fun.  "Feel" the music.  Mistakes are no biggy.  Everyone makes mistakes.  Laugh at them (mistakes).  Learn from them.
 
Also, I'd think you may need to mess with crosstalk settings a bit, as you'll be adding vibrations from the other instruments.
 
I'm envious.  I remember when I first played with others.   It's been too many years since then, and I definately miss it.

[DeeDubs]

Congrats!!

I can't really add too much to what HF and Guinness have already stated. I started jamming with a few guys from the neighborhood about a year ago, and it did take a few jam sessions to get a feel for what each person was doing. The funny thing is that you can actually see the progress on facebook/youtube by checking out "Twisted Nut"..  it's amazing how quick you can tighten up as a band by practicing a day or two a week.


The most important things (especially when starting out) are to have fun, and the groove.. The groove is what makes the girls jiggle  and that can tie back to having fun



nobody becomes a rock star overnight..

[H3RB]

thanks for the advice guys, gonna be using an acoustic kit so gonna be strange lol all the songs we are going to try are in 4/4 so as long as we can keep a decent beat we should be ok

nobody becomes a rock star overnight..

and balls i just placed my order for a bandana, leather jacket and studded leather gloves 

[Fishman]

HAHAHA! Don't forget the black fish-net shirt, chainmail crotch piece, and the mascara.

[Orangeblood]

nobody becomes a rock star overnight..

and some don't become one at all.......

[ProDigit]

I probably would suggest you to listen to the songs you're going to play, and put your main attention in getting the drum patterns correct for the songs you'll be playing.

Instead of rehearsing basic patterns, just rehearse the ones for the songs you'll play, so you'd at least play these well.
Also playalong a CD or youtube video, so you'll know when the chorus/verse/fills/bridge is going to be.

It may seem like boring advice, but at this time, it's better to know your parts of the music well, than to know many other parts you won't be playing at all.

[H3RB]

went sunday for an hour ended up having and extra 2 hours because we were having so much fun. we played:
avenged sevenfold - Afterlife
avenged sevenfold - Almost easy
Pantera - Walk
(those are 3 of the 5songs i can play lol)
we also played some stuff the guitarists had written i just had to play along. was awesome though.
used an acoustic kit as had no way to get the dm1o there, now i really want an acoustic kit lol. Looking at the PDP X7 with the double bass drums.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pacific-X7-Drum-Kit-8-Piece-Shell-Pck-Double-Bass-Black-/290420439728?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Drums_Percussions_MJ&hash=item439e683ab0
very sexy.
going again this week

[Orangeblood]

Well shit...if you just learned to play and you have Avenged down pat, I don't think you need any advice from us.

Pretty impressive...Let us hear how your doing

The X7 is a entry level kit, but will do you fine for awhile. I take it you have to have a double bass kit? This is your first band, so get it and have fun. I will warn you however that lugging that thing around is fun at first....then its a chore. It's one of those things you'll have to learn for yourself.

[Guinness]

The X7 is a entry level kit, but will do you fine for awhile. I take it you have to have a double bass kit? This is your first band, so get it and have fun. I will warn you however that lugging that thing around is fun at first....then its a chore. It's one of those things you'll have to learn for yourself.

LOL... I thought the same thing.  Two 22x18 kicks will fill up your car pretty quick.
 
Don't forget, you'll need cymbals too.

[H3RB]

Well shit...if you just learned to play and you have Avenged down pat, I don't think you need any advice from us.

Pretty impressive...Let us hear how your doing

The X7 is a entry level kit, but will do you fine for awhile. I take it you have to have a double bass kit? This is your first band, so get it and have fun. I will warn you however that lugging that thing around is fun at first....then its a chore. It's one of those things you'll have to learn for yourself.

the 2 avenged songs i can play are pretty damn easy to be fair i struggled more with walk (mainly cause i cant stand pantera lol)
working on a few more avenged songs atm tho.
been trying to record my self on my dm10 but its so annoying, it either spikes and distorts all over the place or when its clean the kick is so over powering it sounds nothing like it does when im playing...
and as for lugging around the kit, i dont even have a car anymore and the last car i owened was a 2seater sports car lol so that may have been tough. but if we started playing gigs a fair bit we would all chip in to buy a van as we all live within walking distance of each other. and yeah cymbals damn they are expensince how come i can pay £30 for a rubber 1 that has 100's of sounds OR pay 100's of £ to get one that sounds the same all the time lol

[Orangeblood]

Well you came off as a beginner...if your playing those songs like they are originally, they aren't beginner songs.

Goos cymbals are hand made for the most part....much, much more work and material to make a good sounding cymbal. Rubber and piezo's are cheap.

[Guinness]

I'd stick with your DM10 and a good amp(s), if I was you.
Also... for practicing alone, download some of the drumless tracks at music4drums.
 
As for recording....  I can help.  tell me about your set up.

[H3RB]

hp dv6 laptop.
adobe audition 2.0
input on laptop turned down to 3 (still spikes)
dm10 connected to the mic in on the laptop via the main out jacks on the rear.
main output turned down to around half (too quite when turned down lower, too distorted when turned any higher)
if i record on adobe audition my drums sound nothing like they do on my headphones, the bass always sounds like im throwing a brick at a wall and the cymbals randomly dont trigger (when they trigger in the same spot in my head phones)

not sure what else to add but any help is great.
and as for amps im looking at getting the transactive drummer but im yet to find a decent review (preferably one with video so i can hear the sound etc)

[Guinness]

On adobe audition, turn on 'monitor', so you can see the levels.  I have mine connected to line-in, not microphone.  I don't think that matters much.  But i have the input level at about 2, and main out on the module is about 30%.  Before I record, I test to see if it's peaking on the monitor (red "peak" will display if I hit it).  I continue to turn down (main out on module) until the loudest drum voice no longer peaks.
 
Then hit record.  Play with it, and I think you'll find it works pretty well.  Although, I'm using Audition 1.5, not 2.0....  but I'd think it'd be basically the same.

[H3RB]

On adobe audition, turn on 'monitor', so you can see the levels.  I have mine connected to line-in, not microphone.  I don't think that matters much.  But i have the input level at about 2, and main out on the module is about 30%.  Before I record, I test to see if it's peaking on the monitor (red "peak" will display if I hit it).  I continue to turn down (main out on module) until the loudest drum voice no longer peaks.
 
Then hit record.  Play with it, and I think you'll find it works pretty well.  Although, I'm using Audition 1.5, not 2.0....  but I'd think it'd be basically the same.

will give that a bash in the morning thanks alot. got no way to record video tho which sucks lol but nvm. 1more thing, when doing covers do record the music at the same time via the line in on the dm10? or play using an ipod or something seperatly and add them together in the end?

[Guinness]

will give that a bash in the morning thanks alot. got no way to record video tho which sucks lol but nvm. 1more thing, when doing covers do record the music at the same time via the line in on the dm10? or play using an ipod or something seperatly and add them together in the end?

You can do it either way. 
 
I send it all through the module.  Alesis jamdock output to Aux In (level adjusted at the jamdock), the main out to PC.  This way takes a bit extra in making sure the tune you're playing/recording isn't peaking also (not just the module).  you could however, do Aux Out to the PC, and it'll record just the module and not the Aux In from an ipod.   
 
By the way, the set up I use (Jamdock Output to Aux In) is not in the manual for the jamdock.  the Jamdock manual would have me use the headphone jack on the jamdock itself.  I orginally tried that, but didn't like the sound.  Jamdock to module to headphones worked the best for me.  FYI.
 
Have fun!
 
Oh....  and go get yourself a camcorder!  Let's hear and SEE you rock out!