I think a lot of people have trouble sitting ‘in the pocket’ simply because they have the backing, especially the drums, turned down too much. Maybe you’ve never sat next to a real drummer before, but the truth is, no matter how quietly he’s trying to play, you are going to hear him clear as a bell!

Try turning the drums up. Try turning the entire backing up. You honestly should have to struggle a bit to hear yourself ‘within the mix’ if the mix is correct. That’s why bands have monitors (that the audience can’t really hear) to get what THEY play up to the level they can easily hear themselves above all, but the audience hears them less…

Once you hear the drummer front and center, it’s much more obvious to you while playing that you are rushing or dragging, and a lot easier to stop yourself doing it. Eventually, once you have reined in your tendency to rush, you can turn the drums back down a hair now you have that muscle memory, and record yourself again. But in general, I honestly think 90% of home player demos could be vastly improved by simply bringing the backing up a bit to the point where what YOU are playing sits ‘within the mix’ not ‘on top’ of it. And that mostly comes from repeatedly recording yourself, listening critically to the balance, turning down the lead sounds and recording again until it sounds ‘pro’, then getting used to where that puts you in the mix on ALL your songs…

It is quite possibly the hardest thing to do as an arranger player, learning how to play well, rhythmically and harmonically, all while not really hearing yourself front and center. But once done, it pays off in a killer mix when listening back later, or to your audience if playing live.

Turn up them drums! 🎹😎🥁