2.) What is your concept of grooving or pocket playing from a drummers perspective.
3.) When playing with a bass player, what are you looking for to build a strong pocket presence?
4.) What do you think is the most important aspect of having a strong rhythm section?
2. For me, the concept of grooving and pocket playing is allowing the music to breathe and feeling the pulse of the music, while adding color in a tasteful way that will compliment the music, rather than take away from it. Grooving or playing in the pocket doesn't mean to play 'boring', it just means to support the music within the context that you're playing in.
3. I didn't 'come up' playing with a bass guitarist (nor is playing the drumset my 'main thing'), but from what I can tell you, I look for someone that doesn't step on my rhythmic toes. Are you playing percussively or melodically? Are you trying to play every pattern that I'm playing on the bass drum? For the latter, I don't think that it is a requirement to play everything pattern that I play on the bass drum. To me, it sounds too cluttered and one dimensional sounding. It doesn't have to be radically different, and yes, you could use what I play as a 'skeleton' to our (bass and drums) parts.
4. The most important aspect of having a strong rhythm section is simple -
communication. You have to be able to articulate what works and what does not work for a specific section and create ideas on what would fit within those areas. Think of it as cooking food - everyone is bringing an ingredient that will complete the resulting dish, however, everyone has to bring the right amount/measure of that specific ingredient to the kitchen. If you put too much, the taste will be too much (from that ingredient). If you put too little, then it will be bland, and maybe also a little one sided on a specific aspect of what you're trying to make.
