What to do about drummers?

[juniorspecial]

So increasingly I'm noticing bands have drummers that play too damn loud, so everybody else has to dime everything, and then no one at all can hear the singer. Even played softly drums are plenty loud.

Why does every drummer have to hit the skins like he's trying to punch a hole in 'em? How can we stop 'em?

[ch willie]

Arm amputations?

[Stonefreefuzz1]

straight jackets?

[cwilliamrose]

Shorter sticks?

Electronic drums with volume control (looks weird but it works).

[Mesotech]

Turn down, not up. If the drummer can't hear "anything" except his drums, he'll begin playing quieter.

[rudutch]

is there a drummer forum that complains about guitar players?

[Bill Moore]

As a drummer who has high frequency loss in my left ear, from the guitar players amp, I believe Mesotech has it right. It's really hard, even with 2B sticks to play an acoustic drum set as loud as a guitar can be, with a mid powered amp. I was never able to afford a sound man, but would throw 2 mics above the dance floor, record the sets, and let everbody hear how they sound, as the audience does. Most guitarists would never fess up to being too loud, but would instead want the bass or keyboards louder!

[Fedora]

I stress this to my two boys who are both learning drums.
Ya don't have to bash the daylights out of 'em.
Especially since I just put $300.00 into new heads!!

[refin]

Turn down, not up. If the drummer can't hear "anything" except his drums, he'll begin playing quieter.

We can only wish that was true.................

[chuckocaster]

find a different drummer. i have several drummers i play with who can play quietly, but it takes a lot of work on their part to be that sensitive. it really is tough, and you can't always blame them. some guys, yeah. i've had several drummers who were bangers, but that's all they could do. any musician worth their salt can play at different volume levels.

[elicross]

[Offshore Angler]

On any instrument, IMHO, dynamcs is what separates the players from the posers.

[thegeezer]

As a drummer who has high frequency loss in my left ear, from the guitar players amp, I believe Mesotech has it right. It's really hard, even with 2B sticks to play an acoustic drum set as loud as a guitar can be, with a mid powered amp. I was never able to afford a sound man, but would throw 2 mics above the dance floor, record the sets, and let everbody hear how they sound, as the audience does. Most guitarists would never fess up to being too loud, but would instead want the bass or keyboards louder!

Your left is where the snare drum is, which came first the chicken or the egg. The drummer is most consistently asked to play softer and yes the dumb ass guitar players that follow suit are just as bad.

[DoobieK]

One word, Shock collar.

[boobtube21]

That's 2 words, Doob...

+1 what OSA said. I think a drummer that can't play quiet when needed is like a guitar player that can't play without distortion/overdrive.

Actually, I don't even know if that's an accurate analogy. I would think you'd have a lot more agility playing a little softer, therefore tighter chops. Maybe some drummers just think they "rock" harder, or it makes the band rock harder, when they play harder.

At the show we played last Fri, the drummer in one band was so damn loud everytime he hit his snare it hurt my teeth. In that case, playing quieter would have made the band sound a lot better.

[ch willie]

I played with a drummer for a few years--tightest, beat-keepingest drummer in the world. But he was too loud and insisted on being miked. Sure it was a German audience, but they wanted more than just a beat. It was hard to mix the vocals in with the drums as loud as they were. Hell, to get over it, I had to play a couple of years with a drummer who used brushes 90% of the time.

[Stonefreefuzz1]

[Totally bored]

My drummer plays pretty quiet. We play alot of small clubs and my Deluxe Reverb is usually on 2 and a half to 3.
I hate that but if we are to loud we don't get another gig.

He use's a special drumstick like these:



What happens is that when he gets to loud he takes a bite and before ya know it he's full and wants to take a nap. Whatever it takes.

[Totally bored]

Okay I couldn't resist ^^^


Actually, here he is with his special Drum sticks. They are all bunched up and I'm not sure what you call them but they help with his volume.

[Kap'n]

Rods.

[elicross]

Heh. For the record, I'm not necessarily suggesting everyone with a problem drummer should replace him with a DR-880. You just get one and show it to him every once in a while, see. And you say "This is Dr. Rhythm. Do YOU have a PhD?"

[JM3]

In Vegas they make the drummer play behind a plexi sheild

[elicross]

In Vegas they make the drummer play behind a plexi sheild

Possibly the only thing you'll find Vegas and churches have in common!

[boobtube21]

Ha, you've never been to a church in South Orange County. Some of the moms almost look like freakin strippers.

[elicross]

Well, I did say "possibly."

[Bill Moore]

The problem is, you need a drummer to program your drum machine. Our favorite guitar player took a job on the road years ago,(actually building roads), and to keep from going nuts used to record his new,(and old) original tunes, and send them to us. When he got back in town we could get together. You should hear the impossible drum patterns, when we used 2 drummers, we might get close, but not 1 guy by himself.

[dzguitar10]

Lexan panels around the kit help too! We've used them in small bars with great success as well as in our home studio. Easy as hell to make too. However you can purchase them but if you're creative with a table or skill saw the results are more than worth the effort. Again they've saved our ass many times in smaller venues !

[Laker]

There is no way I'm going to enjoy working with a drummer that doesn't "chop wood" on stage with me. I've worked with wanking drummers who don't nail the two and four, who just flail away at a drum kit with no excitment, just sucking the life out of an exciting performance. That kind of drummer will not last two gigs playing in my band. Anyone that gets on a good drummer's case about excessive volume should be playing folk music with accoustic instruments.

[jerryjg]

Drummers, bummers ,Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat..in the dumps with the mumps while the adolescnent pumps his way into hat. With a boulder on my shoulder..feelin' kinda older I trippedthe Merry-go-Round,
With this very unpleasnt wheezing and sneezing the Callopie crashed to the ground.

[grito]

I agree with the geezer: The problem can be traced back to the guitar or keyboard player. Once that gets out of hand the drummer plays louder then the singer blows out his voice.

[juniorspecial]

Ha, you've never been to a church in South Orange County. Some of the moms almost look like freakin strippers.

Strippers do everything normal people do. They have bank accounts, children, ex-husbands, old boyfriends who treated them bad. They play tennis, and go to barbecues, and all that normal stuff.

Some even go to church.