h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is the human drummer a species headed for extinction? It seems as if a computer would be easily able to take over this kind of job, and in fact, nowadays they frequently do.

Good point, and I am sorry it took me so many decades to find it.

I think nothing can replace the cuteness of RINGO STARR!!!

Well, good for ya! Do you think he can be replaced by a computer plus a cardboard cutout?

It wouldn't be QUITE the same... I think everyone loves the Drummer role(surely not as much as lead singer or lead guitar), in spite of all the Drummer Jokes out there...

Replacing a real drummer with an artificial one is almost akin to saying that in the future no one will eat a full meal anymore-- we'll just take a pill. Sorry, I think people enjoy eating too much to settle for a pill-- in other words, we crave REAL sustenance, REAL people...

...Which doesn't appear to apply very well to young teenage girls enamored with Boy Bands and Britney Spears...

You know, I hope you're right, about people needing real sustenance... I would not wish to see the extinction of the human drummer!

YAY!!! Me either!!!

...Cheesecake!??

Thanks! Isn't there a cheesecake smiley?

NO... and there should be, dammit!!!

Yes, computer generated drum beats/drummers are always precise and never complain about how nobody cares about the drummer of the band (being a drummer myself); but computers aren't original. They only do what they are programmed to do. Therefore they only have a certain selection of beats. They also can't be spontaneous like a living drummer is. A living drummer can put fills in the sond where appropriate; different sounding fills but still in the right spot. Computers, if they do fills at all, do them at specified points. So the living drummer, as I believe, will not be extinct due to his/her originality and ability to change what they are doing according to the song.

YAY!!! For the living drummer!!! YAY!!!

Hi!!!

There was a great Sisters of Mercy concert (remember them?). They were reknowned for their drum machine, called Doctor Avalanche. On one good song, the lead singer (Andrew Eldritch to his mates) missed a cue, so came in bare late. The drum machine, being a mere box of plugs, couldn't cope, and the song went downhill...

Drum machines are good, but limited.

If you like Britney, go for the drum machine.

Me, I'll stick with Muse and their human drummer.

BTW - best drummer still has to be Stuart Copeland of the Police.

I have been told!!!

HEY!!!! -- I use a drum machine...only because my parents' wouldn't want to cope with the noise of a *real* drum set

I've never even had the chance to have a good go at a real set yet

Just listen to 95% of electronic music. The drums are usually artifical, and not particularly interesting. Now listen to a band with a fantastic drummer (Led Zepplin, The Who, Dave Matthews Band etc...). A good human drummer is just as important as a good singer / guitarists (although I am biased because I play drums). People don't want to listen to machines....yet...

Besides that, many of the drum machines are a bit too precise. They lack that certain human feel that usually makes the music groove.
If you (ab)use drum machines,you usually get the exact same sound every time the machine "hits" the same drum, there is no variation. This makes it hellishly boring. You just can't replace a good human drummer with the technology that we have today. It just doesn't work, it doesn't groove. You need that little off-beat feeling every now and then, that little note that became just a tiny bit too loud. Though, bad drummers usually tend to get that little note a tiny bit too loud...

I agree with R227933, you can hear it just by comparing Dave Matthews Band to Britney Spears. If that isn't enough. Listen to some of the solo pieces by Terry Bozzio, if you could do that any better with a drum machine, I would be impressed.

I concur, Mr. Carrot. Drum machines leave much to be desired. They are boring and reek of technology.

I would also add that drummers will likely never disappear from the stage - everyone likes to see the drummer as much as they do the other members of a band playing live.

And Terri Bozzio is not human.

Yes, the drummer is fascinating to many. I know of a few girls who have drummer obsessions.

I suppose it is stretching the term a little, yes.

Which drummers do you prefer, then?

Terri Bozzio, above all, Stewart Copeland, Dave Weckyl, Carter Beauford, Tim Alexander, Manu Katche, and Neil Peart (because he was my inspiration for picking up a pair of drumsticks when I was young).

Yeah, I think Neil Peart is the best...And I love Rush, it's my favourite band, but sometimes I kind of feel like he carried the band on his shoulders.

WHOA...I sure was late on THAT one...gotta check the dates on the postings next time...