I play both bass and Stick. Bass since late 70´s and Stick since -88. I´ve not met many drummers that are not tight between the hihat and the bass drum so timing wise it´s not much difference there. But the GROOVE (subdivision? Is that the right term in english?), I find, is more in the hihat. The bass drum is not much I think about. It´s more something I "notice". Or how to put it.... And, also, I´m not the kind of bass-/Stick-player that point marks everything the drummer does on the bass drum on the bass or Stick. Some bass players tend to do that but I´m not one of them. And it doesn´t matter what instrument I play. For ME the hihat is more important. We are all different and I don´t say that I am right or that others are wrong. Just expressing my own opinion.

All the best!

//J

...

Importantly. ..play with a good drummer.
i've been fortunate to play with some great drummers including Danny Gottlieb,, Omar Hakim, Mino Cinelu, Butch Trucks, Frank Bellucci and more.
A great drummer will force you to groooove.
Steve A

Totally agree. 100 %. It is also very important to listen and to be able to adopt ones playing to the drummer. Especially if he´s not very "good". What ever that is. I played with this drummer for a couple of years awhile back that is more or less a legend over here in Sweden. He used to play with several bands that was very big here in the late 70´s and during the 80´s. Punk bands. He was a punk drummer. He´s over 60 now and has adopted some sort of Charlie Watts type of playing. He is NOT tight and his tempos are all over the place! Very hard for someone like me that has been to music school and has played with click tracks in studios for a long time to play with him. I felt uncomfortable and could not make it groove between us at all. The first rehearsals was horrible. He is the nicest guy on the planet tho. A true joy to be around. I would probably have left the band after the first rehearsal if it was not because of that. Then I talked to a musician friend about my little "problem". He more or less told me to forget everything I´ve ever learned. "You have to abandon your own internal clock", he said. "Play WITH him and not against him"..... So I started to follow him and I played longer notes. I ignored the fact that tempos was going up and down all the time. And all of a sudden everything took off. FANTASTIC drummer! Most groovy drummer I´ve ever played with and also at the same time the least tight drummer I´ve ever played with. Paradox?

I´ve actually started to enjoy Charlie Watts playing since then. Always hated that style of playing earlier. But I kind of get it these days. I had to abandon my own internal timing/clock before I found the groove playing with that type of drummers. I do enjoy more to play with tight drummers that can hold the tempo. But now these days I have found a way to make it "groove" also when playing with not as "good" drummers. Music school "good"... I don´t fight it anymore. I let them lead and I follow and adopt.... An eye opener for me and my punk drummer friend taught me some very important lessons there without ever saying one word about it..... He was just happily merrily playing along doing his thing. So I basically went from: "Fuck, I hate this" to "SHIT, that guy is groovy!!" from one rehearsal to another.....

Amazing really.....

A great lesson to have learnt Jan!
I used to have the same problem, but got to the point where they nicknamed me "la mosca" (the fly), because even if the drummer was shit, I would stick to him like a fly

I've had the pleasure of playing with three different drummers in Coup Detroit. One of the drummers (John) was in and out of the band a couple of times from 92 up until mid 2000s. This guy was a trained, educated jazz drummer who gravitated more toward rock when he got older and had impeccable timing and rhythm. Even on the rare occasion we would do something involving loops or sequences, he'd put the headphones on and stick to the rhythms like glue. He was a real joy to play with and playing with him helped me with my timing and rhythm.

To me, there is no greater tune killer on the planet than poorly executed timing and rhythm. You'd think that this would apply mainly to drummers but it really applies to everyone, it applies to every form of ensemble (even a solo), and it applies to every style of music. If the timing is off, the tune dies.

I started to play with a drummer once in a while and it's a lot more interesting than playing with a machine...of course.

"If the timing is off, the tune dies".

Say that to all Rolling Stones-fans on the planet. But, yeah, I used to agree with this. But these days I usually say that if musicians/singers/artists has nothing to express through their instruments, then the MUSIC dies.... Music seldom gets very exciting if we have nothing to say. I tend to get easily bored if music gets too "perfect". These days....

Certainly it's true that having nothing to say is a killer as well. But I'm not talking about perfection, I'm just talking about the right pocket for the tune. A loose pocket is one thing. A drummer with the skills of a five year old and no rhythm (Meg White) is just painful to sit through.

I would also add that in my opinion, one can easily lead to the other. In other words, sometimes the rhythm and timing suffers because a player just doesn't have any. But most of the time it suffers because a performer is tentative. To me that same tentativeness also subtracts from the ability to express what you want to say.

When it's time to put up, you have to own it. I would rather hear somebody confidently nail the rhythm of a section with mistakes than here them back off the tempo in an obvious effort to avoid the mistakes.

BTW ... I'm not claiming any immunity from any of the stuff I'm complaining about It probably drives me the most crazy when I do it

@Lee Vatip- wow! Omar and Mino Cinelu.... Both of those cats are SO incredible.... Wouldn't you say that Mino is one of the most musical guys on the scene... No wonder your pocket and groove is PHATT!