I love playing gigs. Nothing can compare to the feeling of seeing a crowd go crazy and dance to the beats created by your arms and legs. But if I had to choose one over the other, I would spend all day tinkering around in the recording studio. I love the entire creative process, from getting drum sounds to laying tracks and overdubbing percussion. It’s all about fine-tuning, perfection, exploration — like performing experiments in a laboratory. Which do you prefer? And why?

I love them both. To me it all boils down to how much time you have for said recording session. If you are recording in a home studio with nothing but time to perfect parts, sounds and percussive overdubs then yes, the studio is an amazing place to be. However most of the time I find myself on sessions where you have an hour to record five songs. with charts (if your lucky) written by a composer who has obliviously never even seen a drum chart, playing equipment that sounds like an assortment of cardboard boxes that the engineer swears sound great through his gear.
Considering how costly “studio time” is, I have found myself in more stressful situations then rewarding ones. You dont ever want to be the reason someone has to dip into their pockets for the dreaded OVERTIME!!!

I suppose I would have to go with live. The studio will never be able to duplicate that slight adrenaline rush that comes from performing to a real live audience.

When there’s time to do it right, & no one breathing down my neck, studio work can be very rewarding, but nothing beats the thrill & energy of playing live. 

Maybe that’s why I prefer listening to raw music.  Too much mainstream music is over produced.

I love session work, and the recording process in general, however,  performing live is my true passion.

Yes, definitely live!!
Studio work is/can be great but in accordance to the other posts; even-though a good recording can give you an adrenaline boost and a certain pride, nothing feels like the positive response of the audience and the feeling that after finishing the show you think to yourself: we/i have done well.
If the show wasn’t that good…..well, i guess that’s another topic….. lol

Andy: I agree with - bigbeat and Rev. D. If you have to overdub your drum beats in any form in any way to find out how to make your self sound better. That means your not a very good drummer. And your fooling the public on your CDs. on how you play. A friend told me this when I first started playing the drums. Either you got it or you don!t. You will know the minute you pick up the Sticks. If you are good enough you don!t need to overdub your Tracks. Sounds like your a Wanta Be. I want to be better than I am But I cant. So I will keep over dubbing until I get it right. SAD

Music is a performance art and it’s the best.