Stray From The Path's Craig Reynolds calls out bands for allegedly using pre-recorded drums live

Stray From The Path's drummer Craig Reynolds recently took to Twitter to call out some of "your favorite bands" for allegedly using pre-recorded kick drums during their live performances. According to Reynolds, the use of pre-recorded drums is a common practice in the music industry, but many fans are unaware of it.

In a series of Tweets, he started off by saying:

"some of your favourite bands have ALL their kick drums on track and you're so dumb you don't notice"

Reynolds elaborated in a series of Tweets:

"Putting ALL of the kick drum on a backing track is like having a football team with one player who is secretly an android, but then everyone just going 'ah cool that android is absolutely murdering everyone again and scored 500 goals, love this!'"

"I guess there will always be people who just want to see a 'spectacle' regardless of talent or hard work. each to their own but those people will be the first to 'make their own' music with AI and stop supporting artists. I hate everything about music except music.

The most annoying part of this whole thing has been people using the term 'triggers' for this. triggering is absolutely fine and if anything it makes your mistakes FAR more noticeable. completely pretending to play one of your drums while it does complex patterns: not cool"

"My second favourite takes of the day are the people who think that because they've never seen or worked with anyone who puts their kick drums on track that it can't possibly happen.

Well I've never seen anyone fuck a dog but i'm sure it happens somewhere

I'm sorry that you haven't seen this happen at the 20 capacity slim jims saloon but I assure you some dogs are getting fucked at the o2 academy

Not disrespecting a small capacity shows btw I mean this is stuff you can ONLY get away with in bigger venues or else everyone on the front row would just hear it lmao

And if someone with history of working with/around dogfuckers tells me it happens, I'd probably just believe it and not die on some weird dog fucking conspiracy hill"

Reynolds has not disclosed which bands he is referring to, despite requests from fans, implying he's looking for systemic change in the culture saying "I want these people to know that I know."

In response to the comments from fans who are unfazed by the use of pre-recorded drums, Reynolds posted a follow-up video on his Instagram account to address the issue further. He poses the question of whether it's simply miming, and if that's OK with fans.

Reynolds said:

"Guys I'm shook. I made a Twitter thread announcing that some of your favorite bands, all of their bass drum, all of their kick drum is on the backing track. None of it comes from what they're actually doing. It's all pre-programmed. They're miming basically. And I thought that was a big revelation. And on Twitter, the general consensus is: "That's OK, as long I'm seeing the music get played like it is on CD then I don't actually care."
"Now, call me an old man, but that's just miming. I thought we were against miming. Is miming OK? I'm shook as you can see. I don't know what to do, I might just give up. The moral of the story is just don't practice I guess, and all you can do is just put backing tracks and then just look like you're having fun and then everyone will just watch and enjoy it, and buy a t-shirt and you don't have to do any work. It's the taking part that counts. Second is just as good as first. When AI comes we are all completely screwed"

While some fans may not see an issue with pre-recorded drums, others argue that it takes away from the authenticity of a live performance. Reynolds' callout has sparked a conversation about the use of pre-recorded instruments and the impact it has on the overall concert experience.

Regardless of personal opinions on the matter, it's clear that the use of pre-recorded instruments is a common practice in the music industry. Whether or not fans are aware of it, the debate surrounding the authenticity of live performances is an ongoing one.