Series: Tips for the Worship Band - Drummer

Drummer

For each element in this series, we’re going to talk about technical points in not only gear, but also playing style/technique.  “Drummer” will focus a lot on playing style and technique, and some on gear.  We’ll also explore acoustic drums vs. electronic drums as a follow-up blog entry.  If you feel like you’re reading something that is elementary to you, skip to the next topic and see if it’s of benefit to you.  Let’s cover playing style first…

Playing Style

The drummer’s playing style has a big impact on how it comes across in the sound system and/or in the recording.  Of course, you need to get the gear in order as well.  One of the biggest issues I have to battle when running live sound and recording is inconsistent hits on the drums, especially the kick drum.  A heavy foot is always the sound guy’s and sound system’s friend.  Often drummers in church settings will feel like they’re playing too loud and they often do with the snare and cymbals, but very rarely are you kicking too hard.  It’s imperative that the sound guy gets a good, hot signal on the kick drum.  It’s the driving force behind the beat.  KICK THAT THING!  You’re not going to break it, and it isn’t going to be too loud for the sound guy or congregation.  If it does break, that will be really cool.  And if it’s too loud, the sound guy will tell you. There’s sometimes the thought that since there is a mic on the drum, it will amplify it fine and you don’t need to play hard.  PLAY HARD!!  As far as the kick drum is concerned anyway.  The sound guy can turn it down if it needs to be.  It’s important because if you don’t give hard, consistent kicks, it’s sounds dead in the mix and like a light thump, rather than a nicely defined, attack-driven kick drum.  It’s understood that there will be variations in the intensity of the song and some parts you may not kick as hard, but even then, still make sure you give a good kick that is harder than what you think it should be.  Even on the softer part of the songs, it still needs to be heavy kick.

With the snare drum, inconsistency is also a major problem I see.  With the snare, it is easy to hit too hard and cause too much acoustic volume. It will be overbearing in the mix.  If you hit too hard, even if the sound guy turns down the fader on the snare mic, it causes a mix nightmare because the sound guy now has to mix the house sound system to the volume of the drums on the stage.  Stay consistent with your snare hits, not too hard, but also not too soft.

With the toms, somewhat of the same deal: A good, strong hit is key.  The toms can be more flexible as far as striking velocity, but a strong hit is best when normal playing occurs. 

As far as cymbals and hi-hats go, you have to be careful to make sure you’re striking them with an appropriate velocity when in the church service setting.  Smashing down on an open hi-hat can be very loud and can actually over-power much of the stage volume if it’s not controlled. 

In conclusion with the Playing Style portion of this entry, just be attentive to the consistency in the velocity of your drum hits, that you’re giving a strong and consistent kick, and that you’re controlling the snare and cymbal volume.  To sum it all up in one word… consistency.

Gear
I am not officially a drummer, although I have picked them up a little and can kick a fat beat.  I don’t know as much about the drum gear itself, but I do know about mic techniques and what sounds good.  Let’s explore a little bit…

Drum shells – The drums themselves are essential to the tone of the drum.  Drums are made of different types of wood and some sound better than others.  Obviously, a really cheap set is going to sound horrible compared to a very expensive set.  This has to do with construction, wood, hardware, finish, heads, etc…  If you have a middle-of-the-road kit, there are some things you can do to make it sound much better than it seems it should.  Again, I am not a drum expert.  I can give some basics, but for more detail info, there are plenty of sites out there with more advanced drum info.  When purchasing a drum set, try out a few kits in your local store and get the sales person to tell you a little about what they’re made of.  A kit made with birch is going to sound awesome.  A kit made with a lesser wood will probably not sound as good.  This will be your ear’s call and your wallet’s.  Get an opinion from a drummer you know and from the sales person.

Drumheads – Drumheads are the part of the drum that you hit with the stick.  One of the best things you can do for your kit is to spend the extra money on some great heads.  They will be more durable, and will sound better.  There are so many different types of heads; you may want to ask a drummer you trust about which ones to get.  A great model to check out are the Evans G2 heads.  They’re popular, 2-ply drum heads that have high durability, good attack, and sound great.  Another great one from Evans is the Evans Hydraulics.  They feature a 2-ply head with a thin layer of oil in between the plies.  The oil gives a fat, wet attack and dampens the strike a bit.  Evans also has a kick drum head called the GMAD which has a ring around the head which allows you to adjust the dampening (the deadening of the resonance of the vibrations when hit) by inserting a foam ring around the edge.  These are just a few of the great heads available, but other great ones are made by companies like Remo and Aquarian. 

Cymbals – A kit, when put together, typically include hi-hats, 1 or 2 crash cymbals, a ride cymbal, and perhaps a splash.  Cymbals typically aren’t included when you buy a drum kit unless you catch some sort of deal at the store, so you’ll either have to pick out the individual cymbals you want, or you can buy a cymbal pack that includes most everything you need.  Zildjian, Sabian, and Paiste are just a few of many companies that make cymbals.  This is all personal taste and how they sound to your ears.  Some will sound crisper, some will sound less trashy, some will have more “sizzle”… you just have to try them.  Again, get some opinions from the drummers in your life.  One of my favorite types of cymbals is china crash cymbals.  China cymbals are usually shape kind of odd, kind of like a sombrero.  They have a big, explosive, what I call, “trashy” sound.  I love it.  Also, a splash cymbal is a great tool to add.  Usually, they’re just 5 or 6 inches in diameter, and they have a small sound, but can add a great accent to a song.

Dampening – Generally, unless you have drum heads with the desired amount of dampening built-in (like the Evans Hydraulics or GMAD); you will want to dampen the resonation of the drum head.  There are several tools out there to do this.  Two of the most popular options are O-Rings and Moon Gel.  O-Rings sit on top of the head around the perimeter and it shortens the length of resonance of the drum head.   Moon Gels are little sticky square gels that you just stick on the head.  The cool thing about Moon Gels is that you can move them on different parts of the head closer to the rim or closer to the middle and achieve a variation of sounds.
  

Sticks and beaters – Drumsticks also have an effect on your drum tone.  Depending on the drummer, the room, and how loud you need to play can determine what sticks feel good to you.  Wooden sticks with round tips, nylon tips, different materials, different sizes and thicknesses are all available.  If you want a big, heavy sound, you may want to use a bigger, heavier stick.  If you’re in a small church with an acoustic kit that is hard to control volume-wise, you may want some soft sticks (rod sticks) which have adjustable sturdiness and output a much lower volume.  Brushes and mallets also have their place when the song calls for it.  The kick drum beater also has some choices.  Some have a soft, felt-like beater, some have hard plastic.  The plastic will give you a sharper smack attack, the felt will give you a boomy-er bass sound. 

Tuning – The most important part of this whole blog entry is tuning.  It doesn’t matter how much you spend on drums, and heads, and sticks... if they are not tuned well, it will sound like garbage.  Tuning is something you will need some guidance on how to do, and experience to get your ears accustomed to knowing what sounds good.  If you don’t know how to tune a drum, get an experienced drummer to come tune your drums.  There’s a great tool called the Drum Dial to help you visual the drum tuning settings so that you can get them back if they go out of tune.  You set the Drum Dial on the drum head near the tuning bolt and it measures the tensions of the drum head.  It’s about $60, but it could save you money in the long run if you have to pay someone to tune the drums every time it’s needed.  If you’re recording, it’s not a bad idea to tune your toms a little higher than you normally would when playing live.  It gives a better attack that helps the recording be more vibrant and engaging. 

Conclusion

There are many aspects that will affect the sound of your live or recorded drums.  It’s not one thing or the other, but rather a collaboration of the elements of gear, usage of the gear, and playing style.  The sound system and the environment surrounding your drums also play a huge part, but I’ll leave that for a near-future entry for the sound guy.  Please comment with any thoughts or advice of your own.  God bless!