Recently, Stray From The Path drummer Craig Reynolds went on a Twitter rant about drummers that are actually faking some of their playing live, and using backing tracks for their kick drums… Sounds wild, but is there any truth to this? I did some research, and the answer may surprise you!
00:00 Intro / Topic Info
02:12 Craig Reynolds’ Accusations
06:19 The Opinion Of Other Touring Professionals
07:48 Ola Englund Says He’s Seen It
09:35 The Bands That Are Using Kick Tracks
12:52 My Opinion / Outro
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UPDATE:
After hearing from Nik Nocturnal regarding my comment about him, I have to correct myself…
Dude does not sacrifice puppies to Satan for his YouTube subs.
It's goats. He sacrifices goats to Satan for his YouTube subs.
My bad, Nik (don't sacrifice me to Satan for your YouTube subs).
Being a drummer of over 25 years I am absolutely appalled at this idea to think instead of practicing for all those years all those blistered hands pulled muscle split fingers after clipping a cymbal edge or catching the knuckle on the snare rim I could have just pre-recorded some shit and pretended to play. That's just plain lazy and a real shame especially to those children who grow up idolizing certain members of a band and wanting to grow up playing that same instrument and dreaming of being half as good as them. SHAME! 🔔 🔔🔔
To watch this is exhausting.
Started with an important denouncement of a dishonest trend, then it goes into this long, over explained jabbering with no end in sight.
Then you get the idea that the video and the clicks are more important than musicians lying to you, or the concept of truth.
This is 100% true.
I asked Mike Montomgery of IWABO, after a show, if he has a kick track for some of their songs that have insane double kick parts.
He was very hesitant to admit it, but he did confirm that LOTS of drummers use tracks live.
First of all I love your content! As a former touring metal drummer, I can understand how Craig feels and in my opinion it really depends on the situation. If a drummer is injured and the consensus is to not cancel a show and to not have a fill in AND it works then sure, I feel it would be ok. In the case that the drummer just can't play what has been recorded I would feel cheated out of a live performance. In my case I would never have done it even if I was injured because morally I would feel that I would be cheating the audience of an authentic live experience, but that is just me. I wouldn't feel ok with it. Yeah I think I would be totally bummed if I found out that I went to a show and found out the kick was all a backing track, I would feel like it would be like the Milli Vanilli of kick drums 😂, but if I also found out there was some kind of logical reason like the drummer was injured I think I would still be pretty bummed but not as bad. I also look at it like this, when it comes to touring, some people may only get that one chance to see you perform live, so try to make each show the best experience. When comes to going to shows, its an experience and to find out that it wasn't what you expected can really bum you out.
I practice hours a day to be were i am musically . I had the worst time learning to play to a click live but hours on hours and many live shows later i got it down … now im just gonna play a track sit back and chill
I've been to hundreds and hundreds of shows and played a few hundred myself.
I've been saying this since day one as a drummer that knows what I'm capable of and what I'm not and I knew this was happening and even played along live electronic back beats equally, and didn't use it to hide but to create. There's a huge difference IMO
Maybe it's Slipknot? That could be why they just got rid of Craig who did their live sampling. I'm guessing here though.
It's Lars…. has to be… 😂😂😂😂
One time in band camp…. 😂😂😂😂
Its just boils down to wether it really makes a difference.. to get out and see a live show after civid idgaf if they Milli vanilli shit… as long as they get down, the crowd and energy is good, im happy! Its the experience man… 🤟💯💪❤️
I don't think Neil Peart from Rush ever faked anything. RIP professor.
As a drummer for 36 years (I came up when the drumming on tracks like "One" and "Reign in Blood" were considered the height of double kick mastery), I know that 1. the crazy stuff you hear today isn't as difficult to play as it sounds..the heel-toe and swivel techniques become near effortless with a bit of practice. and 2. You index a lot of the top of the kit parts with how you play the kick drums, so it seems to me it would be difficult for a drummer to play the song correctly while either not playing the kick drums at all, or miming something while trying to play along to a track.
I'm not saying this doesn't happen, but it seems to me that it would be a lot more trouble than it's worth.
I just need to know if Lorna Shore uses kick tracks. The dudes kicks don’t look right in video
Sounds impractical. Would you just not play the bass parts? No way that would work. So you’d be playing them, playing something and really pushing the pedals and all, but they’re not mic’d and the sound is from the track instead? That doesn’t sound workable to me. But…I’m not a pro, just an amateur, so maybe I don’t know how the exact method works.
How does this work live if they are doing that?? Like is the kick track being fed to their monitors? Like a click track?? I'm so confused
A sidebar defining triggers vs. backing tracks would be great for the non drum viewers. Anyone that wants to define it, please comment.
If I want to listen to the record, I’ll listen to the record, I go to live shows because they’re supposed to be musically dangerous not a perfect replication of the recording.
Infant Annihilator is one band that comes to mind when you say technical deathcore/metalcore, but where is the metalcore in their music?
Is this serious?
I woudnt doubt this is also a result of drum tracks being programmed in the studio, too.
Unacceptable its all the laptops fault
So…I don't care about backing tracks if they're purely additive. It's when we get into miming territory that I have a problem. I can't speak to it happening all that regularly in heavier genres, but I can 100% confirm that it happens all the dadgum time in the Contemporary Christian Music scene. There are a few local churches in my area that always have tracks running the entire performance-side of services that will slide YOU out and the tracks in if you're performing less-than-ideally, and they even go so far that your first stage performance is entirely mimed with tracks to "get you comfortable being on the stage" during a service there. A lot of the mega churches/CCM bands (Hillsong, Bethal, etc.) sell stems of their songs for people to take and use for backing in their services (the obvious main intention), but it's amazing how many engineers there are just totally fine subbing a person out for the tracks to play so they "don't have to deal with it" when a person isn't performing the way they want them to perform. What's also crazy is that all these musicians are told this straight up when they sign up to play, regardless of skill level, and they're fine with it.
I didn't know a broken foot was such a common injury among drummers 😂😂😂 but srsly i've been drumming for over 2 decades and have filled in (often on short notice) countless times over the years. If u need a replacement, just DM me. Don't use those silly kick backing tracks. Even if u have a "legitimate" reason to use it, it will call into question your entire drumming skills if ppl found out (like another commenter said here)
I honestly cannot believe ppl are doing this. If a guitarist pulls an index finger on his fret hand and can't play the G string properly, will they put all the G string notes/chords on playback? Come on now…
I just don’t understand how professional musicians get away with using prerecorded tracks of their own instrument live… as well as having a divided fan base of people actually supporting it. How does that make them professionals? In all of my careers, I would have been destroyed if there was an equivalent to using backing tracks for my own job in my career. Far from professionals
100% chance the third situation is referring to Fear Factory and every drummer they’ve ever had have been monsters. But this has been a rumor since the 90s with them.
Thats why live LZ Bonham will never let you down
How will we know who to avoid if you won't divulge actual details? If it's inaccurate, then they can easily dispel the concerns by showing themselves playing for real.
I know triggers are also a big controversy as well but nothing like backing tracks would be lol
"Read the headline and saw my dumb haircut…" 😂 But seriously, i just want the artists to be real with us. If a drummer needs a backing track for the kick for an injury, just be honest with the audience. As a fan, i would prefer an authentic performance of whatever the drummer could actually play while injured. I can listen to a studio track any time to hear those crazy kick patterns, but i just want to hear musicians play when i see them live. I don't mind if they use backing tracks for stuff, but the kick drum is a bit too integral to the job of the drummer to be tracked imo. Just my personal preference.
100% its Motley Crue. There is video of both Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx not physically playing, but their instruments were playing.
Tracks, no tracks, who cares? Art is not sport.
Unfortunately, my band over this past weekend in Fort Wayne Indiana we had to use backing tracks for our drums because our drummer left our band.
We were on a two Night Show stretch, he played the first show in Battle Creek and then quit, then I had to come back home to Michigan and put together the tracks and then go to Fort Wayne the next night
I pray to god none of this is about chris turner
I was never a working pro drummer but….I did play 19 years, and the Kick drum- FAKED, I can't wrap my ex-drummer brain around. As in….drummers NEED that beat; it decides everything else. Faking it….just seems HARDER. The only time I can see a backing track used is…..longsets w/ alot of dbl. bass rolls, trying to curb fatigue…..or, an injury. I've literally not been able to play w/ my feet because of sprained ankles from sports growing up….and the thought of anything w/ a pedal is cringey. And painfull.
video title says the truth is going to uncovered, the clip starts with you saying you are going to name bands, a chapter eludes that its going say which bands…..then you never say which bands.