I just had definitely the worst band meeting/practice in the history of my lifetime. I walked away from it not wanting to play music anymore. This sucks.

get on im

It's all Eddie Van Halen's fault.

how bout them sox

laughing out loud.

Ouch. Sorry to hear that man.

Alas, I know how you feel...sometimes it's kinda ridiculous how difficult the actual process of doing something that seems so utterly simple and logical becomes stupefyingly frustrating/etc, mostly always for reasons that have little to do with the music. I developed a (personal) level of confidence about all of this in the past year that's really helped me deal with all the bullshit, otherwise, I'd've cut my ticket out of music already (several times over).

Anyhow, it always gets better though, doesn't it?

Everyone has lulls, bad nights, etc. My sympathies, but don't let it stop you.

I had a talk with ryan, and I feel a little better.

Long story short: drummer expressed no confidence in the album we've been working on for 3 months and $3000 (all my money) and it was the straw the broke the camel's back. Has nothing to do with the recording, playing or singing on the album, has to do with how he played the drums on it (literally how soft he hit the snare drum) something no one else in the known universe cares about.

Ha, that was literally one of the first knockdowndragouts I had with someone at an early recording session (snare sounds). Ahh...good times.

I hear yah buddy.

Sometimes being in a band can be pretty damn frustrating.

I'm sure yah'll will figure it out.

thanks for the support, guys. One way or another, I'm sure the material will survive and what's been recorded so far is pretty damn good.

is the material in danger?

It's like being married to 3 or 4 guys, but without the gay sex.
Sorry Chris.

Oh, and Matt... you've always got your three other bands.
Don't worry, the material will survive and you will remember why you love playing music again. Just pick up your damn acoustic and play.

Making a joyous noise is what it is all about.

I'm just not going to release anything a bandmember can't be 100% confident in, so in a way, yes.

If a bandmember is not confident in a release, how the fuck is he supposed to engender confidence in anyone else?

we attempted to rehearse after having this discussion, but I was so disgusted I couldn't look at anyone else and I didn't really sing into the microphone. I never want to feel like that again.

My attempt to use humor to help out.....






HE HASN'T EVEN HEARD THE RECORD YET!!!

FOR ALL HE KNOWS IT COULD BE PIP FARTIN ON A SNARE DRUM!!!!

Just drown out the snare with more cowbell. Problem solved.

cowbell = solution to everything

in case of cowbell failure: apply handclap = problem solved.

I gotta question: are you asking the drummer to change his style? i.e. are you asking him to hit hard when he's always been a soft hitter?

And as far as the drum sound goes, if the songs aren't written well, drum sound ain't gonna help.

fp

no, this comes from the fact that rehearsals for the recording session were done in a basement where we had to be much quieter than he would've normally been, so his attack on the snare itself wasn't the same as it would've been.

It also seems as though you're implying that the songs aren't written well from your second sentence.

That's not what I read there. I read it as saying the opposite - if it's a good song, the snare sound isn't going to matter that much. In other words, don't sacrifice the song for the sound. If you got an otherwise good recording - spirited, feeling, fun, etc. - the issue of the snare sound should be a minor problem.

And, besides, look at jazz drummers - they don't bang the drums as much as caress tones out of the skins with varying degrees of pressure. Maybe his "soft" snare has a lot more character than a hard-hit snare would.

Just go Tweedy on his ass and let him know how easily replaced he is, but do it passive aggressively so that he looks like a total tool when he tries to argue with you.

I need you guys to somehow brainwash my drummer into have a better self-image, because honestly, he's the best drummer I've ever played with by a country mile and he's ridiculously hard on himself

I suppose I could YSI one of the songs in question and y'all could tell him he's crazy yourselves.

Yah- that's what I meant. Thanks for clarifying.

I couldn't comment on the songwriting, now, having not heard it. Simmer down, now. 8)

fp

this is an unrealistic hypothetical situation. Cowbell never fails.