Clarity comes about in odd times and situations sometimes. Today's revelation started as I left the HEB after doing some grocery shopping and continued as I munched my sushi for lunch. Somehow I got to thinking about the whole Five Dollar Friend scenario that went down this week and the idea of me playing other people's music. I have always had a problem playing music that a fan base already knows because I put a lot of pressure on myself to play it exactly like it was originally recorded. I tend to assume that people listening to the music listen the same way I do and that they're counting on hearing specific fills or patterns, and I never really know which rhythmic cues the band is counting on in order to be comfortable with the song and perform it well.
But the thing I have to remember is that I'm different than the guy that recorded the song. I'm sure that seems obvious, but what it means to me in this context is that the original drummer played a part that made sense to him and was comfortable for him, and that part may not be comfortable for me. I play a certain way and that means that I think a different way and construct rhythms a different way, so it only makes sense that I wouldn't be readily able to completely duplicate someone else's thought process and rhythmic patterns. Every time I try to exactly duplicate another drummer, I find that my performance suffers because I'm not capable of being them and I'm concentrating too hard on doing things that I'm incapable of doing. I'm starting to learn that other musicians are far less concerned with exact reproductions of parts than I am. If they really want an exact duplicate, there are plenty of drum machines and loops that they could play along with instead of getting a real flesh 'n blood person such as myself.
So, I've decided that unless someone tells me that I need to play the song exactly as recorded (or at least what the key fills are that need to happen), I'm going to play the song my way while keeping the same feel and groove intact. I'm finding that the only person who expects me to be someone else is me which is impacting my performance and probably my credibility with that band. For all I know, they may secretly dislike the way the original part was played and are really looking for someone else to play it differently. All I can do is be true to myself, play to the best of my ability, maintain the integrity of the song, and don't worry about what someone else is going to say until they actually say it. This has borne itself out time and time again - whenever I try to play like someone else, things turn out horribly but when I play like myself, people tell me that I'm great to have in the band and want me to play with them again.
It's just that for the first time ever, it's finally sinking in. I get it.
I can't relate musically, though it makes sense intellectually.
I once attended a performance of "Tuna Texas", a play which I had seen several times before. On this night, one of the main 2 actors had fallen ill and an understudy was pressed into service.
The lines were the same, but the performance came off poorly. The understudy seemed to be trying to impersonate the ill actor. Comedic timing was lacking, and there was not the chemistry we had come to expect from the normal actors.
I wonder if the understudy had been able to make the role his own, would things have turned out differently? Perhaps he would have been able to wow the audience by creating something new and unique.
Like Shemp.
Maybe not ;-)
Now that the show is over, the guy that filled in on drums for FDF really added a lot of his own flavor to the parts and made them a lot busier than even the recorded parts were. It was good validation to see that and know that in any future events I play with any band, my feelings that I posted above are valid and that kind of freedom gives me a lot of room to breathe and express my unique drumming talent.
Corroboration is good.