music Music without drums

[MangoFoalix 24,951]

Here is an interesting thought experiment. Try to think of all the music you have listened to in your life and imagine it not having drums or percussion in any way. Would you enjoy it any less or would you enjoy it even more. Would it be weird for it to have no beat?

For me, I listen quite a lot of metal and rock, so those genres without drums would make the music just seem a lot slower and it would make it feel like something would be missing.

[Olly 1,011]

I think of drums as being secondary (not as secondary as bass though) but there are times and certain songs where drums add something pretty valuable. 

A good example I can think of for drums is in classical music. Western classical seems very treble-heavy, but indian classical makes fantastic use of tabla drums, which definitely adds something important. 

Most of the songs I love have fantastic drum beats. I can't say the songs themselves would be bad without the drums, but it does add something, if not neccessary, still nice or better to have. Can't really imagine "Like a Rolling Stone" or "A Day in the Life" without drums

Edited May 25, 2019 by Olly

[Dashy 4 Ever 4,835]

I think most of my music would feel like it's missing something. The rhythm just wouldn't feel as smooth as before.

[Envy 6,160]

I can't say because I haven't heard the songs without drums. However, I most certainly doubt I would like them better. Instrumentation is so important to my enjoyment of music after all. Even if I don't notice the element all of that much (which drums is usually one of those instruments I don't notice much... Sorry, drummers! You are important!), I would certainly notice if it were gone and would be unhappy.

I think I'd be most unhappy if you removed drums from Renaissance dance music. I have always associated specifically drums with my love for that sound.

[Flutterstep 47,073]

Drum & Bass would be half of what it is without them. 

I most most if not all music would sound empty without drums. I can only think of one Hip-Hop song that doesn’t use drums but it also features a few hi hats.

[Totally Nyx 36,032]

I think all music could do with less drums. Definitely not removed altogether (except for songs that didn't have drums in the first place), but dialed down a bit. To be fair, I'm not a fan of overuse of drums. They have their place, and attempting to be the music instead of add to it is not that place.

So really if all drums in music were gone, hmm... I could dig it. Might take a little getting used to, but I'm good with that.

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

I think I wouldn't listen to certain genres of music if there weren't any drums, like rock.

[Tom Gallagher 33,588]

People these days tend to use a very manufactured beat that sounds like someone tapping glass.  Once I noticed this, it started to really become annoying.   I’m glad I listen to 80s radio! 

[Splashee 28,563]

Imagine???

I remove drums from songs and music by default using fancy tools. I like it drumless 

[ExplosionMare 18,062]

I appreciate drums, but if they were gone or replaced with violins or pianos, I would probably still like the music I was listening to.

[DixonTheAdversary 1,632]

There are very few songs I listen to that doesn't have drums. In fact, there's only one I can think of right off the top of my head.

 

[Castle Bleck 19,350]

2 of my favorite drumless songs are Disarm (Smashing Pumpkins) and Get Her Back (Robin Thicke).

[Espy Vibe 4,278]

Normally I love my drums but sometimes, you just gotta let a nice ambient/downtempo song relax yourself for a moment 

 

[Snow 7,021]

Hoh, that's a headscratcher, I spent quite a while just trying to think of a song I know that doesn't have drums in it, in only a handful of song songs where the drums are pretty subtle I don't believe my enjoyment would change much, but across the board I think loosing them would make most songs from most genres I enjoy a bit worse off 

Now I'm trying to think of a song I would like more without drums but I doubt I'll reach a conclusion 

Good revive @Trot Shuffle 

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,241]

An EP was released in 1992, the boys of Alice had put this out, no drummer required  

[Dreambiscuit 9,691]

I would never want to omit anything as fundamental as drums from music. Whether you like them or not, they’re a major part of music. I wouldn’t remove brass, woodwinds, strings or any other family of instrument from music; it would serve only to reduce the possibilities of the vast stories music has to tell.

[ZiggWheelsManning 10,241]

Drumless songs have ways to be gifts @Dreambiscuit  I hear coming a quiz from @TheRockARooster involving the best drum solos from KISS