On drums...

I've found myself playing more Low Volume gigs in smaller more intimate situations. Restaurants/Taverns with people having meals, and bringing their kids, grandparents and so on.........
These gigs are usually 3 sets, involve a small vocal (only) PA, 5watt Marshall Tube Amp, Small Bass Amp and whatever I choose to take with me.
We are a 3pce Rock/Blues Band, Guitar,Bass,Drums,2 vox and the occasional unmic'd back up yelling from the kit .
No backing tracks, straight up raw Rock, not technical, but trying to keep it dynamic, playing originals, and classic Rock cover songs, Stones/Creedence/Doors/Beatles etc.

I use HotRod style sticks, my Performer Plus 12,16,22, 6in RotoTom + a selection of my softer/quieter cymbals. I don't want to use smaller drums, I think I can keep these sizes under control, and these sizes suit the style of music we are playing. I have, however, had to use a bit of Gaffa on the Toms , as they are very resonant, but after 6mnths of doing these gigs I think I've got it sorted........At least I thought I did.

I started swapping out what snare I used, each time thinking I'd made the right choice , thats What I said... Every time I changed snares, I was convinced that I'd found 'The One'.
It went kinda like this/
14x7.25 SonorLite - 14x5 SClassix - 14x7 HiLite - back to SClassix - 14x6.5 Force3000 - 14x6.5 ForceMaple - back to F3k - 14x5.75 D505 - 14x6.5 D506.

I was originally trying to choose the quieter snare with my standard tuning, but quickly realised I needed a Fat/Wet non obtrusive sound, that somehow, was still obtrusive enough when the guys start to 'Go Off' .
Sundays gig was a realization , my (almost) 4yr old son came up behind the kit after we were done, picked up a Rod, and gave the snare one almighty whack , perfect Rimshot, loud as hell, could have filled anyroom.. People looked at me as if to say 'Why didn't you hit them that hard', then the penny dropped and the looks changed to 'Thanks for NOT hitting that hard'.

Point being, I have NO point , except that, perhaps the drum isn't the issue as much as the player, and changing snares constantly is helping me understand what I can get out of a drum. Different drums are definitely more suited to certain applications, at the moment the D506 is best, next week it might be the D516

Still work to be done .

Cheers

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Jeff
Gots ta luv da Beech
Australia

I only ever fall in love with a drum or a kit when I am playing music, never when I am playing alone. The mystery of drums is in the way they meld with the other instruments and how that sound spreads out to fill a room.

Playing quietly allows the drummer – and I imagine everyone else – to hear the meld. I haven't played a kit in years that I didn't like the sound of in a musical setting... oh, maybe a poorly tuned drum that bugged me until the break, but I have played loudly enough that I couldn't hear the timbre of the drums or anything else very well. While the drums still have tone, they become very attack heavy, and some of the toms, particularly the racks, need damping.

I took up using Hot Rods to play my Signatures more quietly, but what that really did was to allow me to go on whacking them without the same consequence. You can't do that forever, because it will begin to cause problems in your thumb joint... if you play cross grip like I do. But in my opinion rods are really not a good full-time solution because they are too bulky and too slow, all slap but no finesse. At least, that's how I see it.

So now my struggle, and there are some rewards coming, is to use sticks quietly, which gets back to the Finger Stroke thread. The drums are so very dynamic played that way, because of that good ol' relativity of volume.

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Gregory

The majority of my playing is with other musicians, 2-3 rehearsals a week and/or gigging.
When I play with normal sticks I don't mute my drums at all, or as little as the engineer will let me get away with.
I find Rods can be difficult to get the 'touch' with, and have dynamic steps, rather than the finesse you get using sticks. Therefore, I believe for this particular gig (Hard Rock-Blues with Rods), open full drums don't work ,and Rods work better when you use them hard and solid, any finesse just sounds like you are scratching, or dropping a few skewers on your drums .Muffling the drums with a bit of Gaffa smoothes these 'steps' out a little.
I think dynamics with Sticks, rather than Rods, are much easier to control, your dynamic scope however, is limited if you are already trying to play softly.
My standard playing volume is moderate, so I can get louder/heavier when needed, and quieter/softer comfortably, this is the way I play with Sticks or Rods, Sticks are just a little louder fuller, and more dynamic.
Gregory, I don't know how good your dynamics/touch/finesse are, but I find it extremely difficult to play Rock covers (and have them Dynamic and Rockin') in 25ft square room with sticks, whilst people are trying to eat dinner .

I need practice .

Cheers

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Jeff
Gots ta luv da Beech
Australia

Jeff, I'm not sure how good my finesse is, either.

I had a drum teacher who was capable of playing sticks at a level where a table of cocktail drinkers sitting beside him could carry on a conversation easily. I wish I still lived in the same city he does to take some more lessons.

Moderate playing volume, as I would have said about my own playing, is still at least a 5 on a 1–10 scale. I suspect it is more a 7 or 8 in the useful range of drums, but there are folks who go up to 12 or 13, so thinking we're moderate players is only meaningful in relation to what?

The full lushness of a kit does not become apparent until turned down to about 2, maybe 3. Using 1 as a foundational volume, 3 has an amazing amount of power. But it takes a lot of practice and restraint (for me) to stay at those volumes. It is impossible to play at those volumes (again, for me) using wrist strokes, without having to be so careful that creativity and flow become stifled.

Rock and eating are a strange combination...

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Gregory

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

Vater 7A's boys, smallest stick out there, great for low volume.give it a try.
Using finger strokes vs full wrist helps too. As well as cliffs thoughts on tuning, you don't want loud ringy toms on a quiet gig

Thanks guys, but I think the gaffa does the job . And for the first time since I was a teenager, I'm even running an O'ring on the snare , but I think I'll take it off and just use some tape.
The Mahogany Veneer Performer Plus kit is a very open, resonant and full kit, so a couple of small strips of gaffa on the 2 toms just rounds them off, and they still sound full and warm, just a little shorter in sustain, and softer than they are normally.

We have managed to keep these gigs, in part, because we are able to maintain a softer volume, most guys doing these style gigs can't. One of the venues normally won't allow drums, another has noise complaints from neighbours when other bands play there.

Cheers

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Jeff
Gots ta luv da Beech
Australia

Oh well, you can't say we didn't try! I thought you were asking for assistance, not blogging.

I like O rings. I once played a rehearsal in a tine drum practice room in a drum store. The only way it could happen was with them O's.

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Gregory

I would be using a Sig kit and definitely a 8 x 14 Sig snare. Most controllable non obtrusive drums on the planet.

Wish I still had my HLD588. She had such a sweet,subtle,soft RIP YA F!#%ING EARS OFF kinda vibe .
Funny that, I wonder how much softer the D506 is .

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Jeff
Gots ta luv da Beech
Australia