Song Speed

[qbdenver7]

I apologize if this has been discussed before. I was listening to BTCS this morning on the way to work. After the Last Stop, spodify jumped to a live version of the last stop. I was shocked at the difference in speeds of the songs. Then I looked at more songs and have found this seems to be a trend. Any thoughts from musicians on why it might be?


thanks
dave

[moccasin]

Dave is in a hurry to get to Spacebread.

[chadizzy1]

It's just the way DMB 3.0 plays these songs nowadays. Part of the evolution of the band, sadly. It's unfortunate, because they sound so much more different, but it's just something we have to accept with this band.

[LetYouDown22]

DMB had plenty of speed in it's early days, looking at you Red Rocks, and seemed to speed it up again after 2008. Not sure why this is, but it definitely ruins the vibe of some songs for me, specifically Two Step.

[cooke726]

I actually like DDTW more the sped up way they play it, but other songs like Last Stop, Grey Street, and Bartender I believe are too fast now and take away from the songs intended vibe

[WidespreadMule3]

Seems like a lot of bands play songs faster live though. My thoughts would be its the adrenaline of the live show and nerves from the crowd that may get the band to play faster. If one member starts playing faster, i.e. the drummer or guitarist, then the whole band is gonna go faster to keep pace.

But DMB plays a lot of their songs faster live. It's just a sad part of 3.0

[awsomepath]

Except Proudest Monkey. They need to kick that song up a notch a la 1995.

[hailtopitt]

the sped up dreaming trees from this past summer were abominations, just awful

[DreamingStreets]

Rapunzel sounds great fast, DDTW doesn't, Grey Street doesn't, Proudest Monkey DEFINITELY needs to be sped up (I agree with you on all counts, Awesomepath), so does Jimi Thing

[bartender_man]

Rapunzal sounds better slowed down some. That song sounded best in 2000.

[Jsc6545]

Originally Posted by bartender_man

Rapunzal sounds better slowed down some. That song sounded best in 2000.

Agreed

<3 2000

[Crews194]

You joined in 2004 and are just now noticing the differences in speed?

[dthree]

Originally Posted by Crews194

You joined in 2004 and are just now noticing the differences in speed?

You really told him!

[Maggard103]

I agree with most; wish they could speed up some songs though. Corn Bread, Mercy, Can't Stop..

[Dannyyankou]

Originally Posted by Maggard103

I agree with most; wish they could speed up some songs though. Corn Bread, Mercy, Can't Stop..

Really?

Corn Bread in 2007- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBwtLB8WcKA

Corn Bread today- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaMR4Z5i8Rk

[jssmith6]

As much as so many songs now are sped up, I love the slowed down versions of PM. Since 08, I've started to really enjoy the few slower songs in the set.

[KevinTH]

Originally Posted by Dannyyankou

Really?

Corn Bread in 2007- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBwtLB8WcKA

Corn Bread today- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaMR4Z5i8Rk

I'm thinking he was kidding. As in play them faster to get them over with because he dislikes them.

[imarami]

Originally Posted by chadizzy1

It's just the way DMB 3.0 plays these songs nowadays. Part of the evolution of the band, sadly. It's unfortunate, because they sound so much more different, but it's just something we have to accept with this band.

Nonesense. DMB 1.0 was just as fast if not faster than DMB 3.0

[ToySoldier#34]

As amazing as Carter is he just plays too fast too often, I like the pace of everything when Dave is the one keeping time for D&T and wish things were the same for the full band

[qbdenver7]

I guess I never really listened to studio stuff then compared to live, so I didn't notice the speed difference.

[snake911]

Playing slow is one of the more difficult things to do as a musician. Its more noticable if your notes are slightly ahead or behind the beat at a slow tempo (get a metronome and practice!) v/s slight mistakes are often lost at faster tempos. When you play live its easy to get carried away into a higher tempo (adrenaline, nerves, crowd/your energy). When you play in a studio there are lots of tools to use to keep the tempo down (click tracks/metronomes, multiple takes, etc). And for most bands the drummer set the tempo and everyone goes from there. If one person starts playing faster its everyone elses job to get them to come back to the proper tempo instead of speeding up to meet them. As a bass player its always been my job to work with the drummer to get the right tempo established prior to starting playing.

[MikeyCarson40]

Originally Posted by LetYouDown22

DMB had plenty of speed in it's early days, looking at you Red Rocks, and seemed to speed it up again after 2008. Not sure why this is, but it definitely ruins the vibe of some songs for me, specifically Two Step.

The reason for this is Butch Taylor. Butch rounded out the band and slowed them down, giving them more of a Jazzy feel. I believe bringing a keyboard player back to the band would be huge!

[vegeevore]

I've learned to open up my favorite modern live tunes in Audacity and slow down the tempo to my liking. Once I figured this out, my enjoyment of post-2009 tapes increased greatly.

[Maggard103]

Originally Posted by KevinTH5

I'm thinking he was kidding. As in play them faster to get them over with because he dislikes them.

Im glad someone understands me lol.

[socopithy]

Originally Posted by snake911

Playing slow is one of the more difficult things to do as a musician. Its more noticable if your notes are slightly ahead or behind the beat at a slow tempo (get a metronome and practice!) v/s slight mistakes are often lost at faster tempos. When you play live its easy to get carried away into a higher tempo (adrenaline, nerves, crowd/your energy). When you play in a studio there are lots of tools to use to keep the tempo down (click tracks/metronomes, multiple takes, etc). And for most bands the drummer set the tempo and everyone goes from there. If one person starts playing faster its everyone elses job to get them to come back to the proper tempo instead of speeding up to meet them. As a bass player its always been my job to work with the drummer to get the right tempo established prior to starting playing.

Came here to say this. It's not easy restraining yourself with a piece of music that's meant to be slower.

Not to pick such an unpopular song, but take SMLAD. It's naturally very punchy and upbeat. There's such excitement in it. To hold themselves to its studio tempo is really hard, thus it gets played faster live.

As was said about Dreaming Tree this year, you can hear how it happened if you listen closely. Like others have said, once someone gets a bit quick, it's up to everyone else to keep them on tempo, but a lot of times the guys just let it go and match them.

[qbdenver7]

thanks for all the responses from musicians. I appreciate your insight.