Drummers - are they always so hard to find?

Slash'N'burn

Joined an originals band, but we are really struggling to find a drummer.

loads of experience in the band, convenient city location, good songs up on Soundcloud, but no takers...

Is it always like this? are drummers always more in demand than other band members? 

poopot

Decent drummers are hard to stumble across…

they normally have their pick of gigs…

mudslide73

They're usually coining it in on the covers scene. You might get someone good but they'll always put any paying work first. 

TTony

Trouble is, you find a possible, get them to turn up for an audition, and they only turn up when everyone else has gone home.

Always late.

rze99

Yes.
  Our drummer quit 18 months ago as he had family issues to deal with and we've never found another.

VimFuego

I've heard if you bait a trap with some seriously old raw meat, and you're patient, you'll end up with one. Of course, then you have to construct a suitable enclosure and feed them, but them's the breaks.

stickyfiddle

A good drummer is a rare and expensive thing.  

Anyone that knows their craft, has decent kit AND has transport has their own pick of bands and often plays in 2 or 3 but there are about 10x as many bands as there are drummers that fit those criteria. 

EricTheWeary

Generally speaking yes, fewer about. I think if you have gigs lined up that helps, generally not very interesting for drummers to be in at more developmental stages. 

Blueingreen

Always been my experience that they're hard to find.  The exception (apart from well paid gigs) tends to be anything that needs the drummer to be technical.  If you're playing jazz fusion you have a decent chance of landing a very good drummer, even if there's no money and/or the rest of the band aren't that great.  I suppose the reason is it's easy for drummers to get gigs, not so easy for them to find bands that let them stretch out.

kennedydream1980

There are lots of drummers around but only a handful who are really top notch natural players.

RedRabbit

Last drummer we had was the pick of around a dozen applicants.  When he retired due to spinal injuries we folded the band.  Had anyone else quit we would have continued and auditioned as necessary.

Decent drummers are gold dust.  I've a couple of names to call on in a pinch but, unless I'm very lucky, they won't be available for a long term project.

paulmapp8306

Yes...

Lost our drummer recently.  Covers, gigs booked, cant find one interested let alone a good one.

Musicwolf

I play in two bands.  In one band the drummer isn’t the greatest but we keep him because  he’s reliable and fits in personality wise.  In the other band we have a really good drummer.  We keep him because he’s reliable and fits in personality wise.

The previous drummer was technically very gifted (and very adept at all the prog rock odd time signature shit).  The trouble was that everyone else had to compromise musically and organisationally to accommodate him.  The other guitarist was always saying “XXX is a great drummer, it’s just that……”.  My response was “Neil Peart is an even better drummer, it’s just that he’s a bit dead” (making him only marginally less reliable than our guy, but if technical ability is more important than being in the right place at the right time - then who cares?).

ESBlonde

Drummers fall into a couple of categories, they are either lazy, don't learn the stuff but are available or have a professional attitude and learn it all and are so good they can turn down anything suspect.
Mostly if they are good they want to gig and not rehearse/practice over and over while others learn their stuff and get up to speed.

PolarityMan

Blueingreen said:

Always been my experience that they're hard to find.  The exception (apart from well paid gigs) tends to be anything that needs the drummer to be technical.  If you're playing jazz fusion you have a decent chance of landing a very good drummer, even if there's no money and/or the rest of the band aren't that great.  I suppose the reason is it's easy for drummers to get gigs, not so easy for them to find bands that let them stretch out.

metal is very technical on drums but its still hard to find a good drummer...definitely a case of more demand than supply. 

TheBigDipper

Yes. A good drummer makes the band but is almost impossible to find unless it's work. 

For my own material, I'm seriously thinking about performing without a drummer and using the instruments in a more rhythmic way instead. I can't find a drummer anywhere and I don't want to spend any more time looking.

kentuckyklira

Slash'N'burn said:

Joined an originals band, but we are really struggling to find a drummer.

loads of experience in the band, convenient city location, good songs up on Soundcloud, but no takers...

Is it always like this? are drummers always more in demand than other band members? 

I could start a drummer rental service!

But, I guess you´re not in Germany.

russpm

Tricky to find and they are generally a bit odd, like goalkeepers, not quite right 

Legionreturns

There are quite a few drummers, and quite a few people that drum (subtle difference) on here. 

Maybe including your location might help?