Dave Grohl Hates Drum Machines – “It Ruins Music”
Dave Grohl at Weenie Roast 2011 // Photo: Alex Rauch
Dave Grohl is one of the coolest people walking on this great Earth. Drummer, guitarist, vocalist, the man can do it all! So it comes to no surprise to me to find out that he has a thing or two to say about modern recording technology.
“
All that sh*t ruins music these days.
”
Grohl
In a recent interview, the Foo Fighters frontman stated that drum machines and any other modern production technology (Auto-tune, anyone?) results in a recording lacking any personality. To make sure he got a true raw recording, he recorded the Foo’s latest album, Wasting Light, in his garage.
“All that sh*t ruins music these days,” Grohl said. “Drum machines work for pop artists, but when it comes to rock and roll, don’t f*ck around with the human element. I learned to play the drums by listening to records. I had favorite drummers because of their inconsistencies, modern production has robbed drummers of personalities, and it really pisses me off.”
Hear, hear! If you are a big music lover like me, you can totally tell the difference between real drums and ones that were created with a drum machine. It’s always good to hear that there is a true rock band out there still have love for the skins.
After all, I have a bumper sticker that pretty much summarizes drum machines:
Souless
Source: Gibson/The Sun
Carlos
July 11, 2011 10:05 am
Preach it Dave Grohl. Or should I say, “God-like Genius”.
Newzealandbakerdreamer
July 11, 2011 11:40 pm
Oh man he is amazing..and i totally agree with him
drum
July 14, 2011 10:15 pm
i don’t have money for a proper drumkit
all i have is an old computer, a keyboard and an acoustic guitar.,
i live in a garage, i don’t just record there for audiophillic reasons.
also, i like rock music, sometimes jazz and i experiment with music as well.
now tell me, should I just give up because all I have is a drum machine? or should I program it to have the inconsistency that is so important, so i could at least pretend my music has a soul.
or should I follow you and buy a brand-name drumkit from the local rock shop, and do my best to follow the mainstream sound,
so your music has soul least not it has the following but to preach about what defines the soul of music- using the basis of human inconsistency as a virtue? the reverb inside of a garage as genius? the manufacture of formulated mainstream music as a standpoint for the criticism of “drum machines”?
I guess the people who design and use them don’t have souls either eh? must be the devil himself who command them to make these soulless machines!
sad, guess you get to a certain point and it’s always the same aye. black and white, pimped out pop and rage raw rock.
mrmoho
July 14, 2011 11:07 pm
drum machines, originally referred to as “rhythm machines” have been around since the 1930′s. it’s an instrument – many excellent titles have been carefully produced using drum machines and other forms of electronica- these tracks span a massive spectrum of different styles over the years and drummachines and electronica has also created a multitude of independent styles it its own wake. to simply pronounce it all as soulless, seems a little weak to me.