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Drums! (More Confessions of Ignorance)


velorush

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No, I didn't buy any drums (if only I had room!), but this weekend we have a guest worship leader at church.  It is a guitarist who has been there several times, sometimes accompanied by other musicians including a cajon once.  I look forward to these "live" occasions as they require a good bit more engineering than our typical leader / congregation / tracks.

This time he tells me he's bringing a drummer with a small acoustic kit.  REAL DRUMS! 😍 Then it hits me: real drums... 😲 I've got to figure out how to contain the sound from the stage, how to mic the kit, how to mix everything for Facebook Live.  Wow.  Lots to do.

I get to church this morning for load-in and the drummer shows me this:

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Now I realize I live in the sticks and you guys get out way more than me, but I'd never seen anything like this. 

And then he started playing. 

At normal playing, all of the sound was there, but the guitarist and I were standing next to him having a normal-volume conversation.  I mic'd him up with a single condenser mic set to near omni, grabbed an 'overhead' preset in the X32 and we were off to the races.  All of the issues with overbearing drums were done away with.  Volume in the room (we seat 200) was very soft (like, much lower than home stereo loud) without PA support.  Perfect.  Controllable.

He said the heads and cymbals altogether were somewhere around $350.  Bargain.  Much preferred (generally speaking) to the electronic solution.

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After the gig you can use the cymbals to strain your pasta!

I've never seen those either- I'm not a drummer but my brother is. I'll have to ask him about them. Anything that keeps the cymbal noise to a minimum while I'm standing rightnext to them on a crowded barroom "stage" is fine by me.

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Those cymbals are something new to cut down on volume.  The Remo heads are something I have not seen, but there is another company doing cloth heads to dampen drums. 

I have seen fiberglass shields in front of drums.  I have seen drums turned sideways from the audience.  I have also seen drummers who can control their volume. 

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I also found this similar setup reviewed

Actual demo starts around 1:34.  Our drummer was using conventional sticks, so it was somewhat louder than the demo here, but nowhere nearly as loud as a conventional setup.  The positive for the drummer is he was able to wail at will (to fit the song) without concern for overpowering the guitar / vocals / PA.

ETA: Sweetwater has them as a set here.  Everything I'm reading has this as "practice-ware," but I believe the mic'd sounds were fine for performance (in the context of a P&W setting, at least).  There were also plenty of dynamics - he could build or ease up just fine as with a regularly-appointed kit, just more quietly overall.

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These could/should be a game changer in the P&W world as long as they sound as “normal” as you say.

Drums and electric guitar amps are still the problem children in many churches....

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I remember visiting Hillsong church in London - they met in a theater seating was around 2000. We were in early and sat pretty close to the stage (me wanting to eye the equipment and the players closely...). I was pretty surprised that they didn't have the plexi thingies in front of the drums. Five minutes later I knew why: They were playing at full rock concert blast! We had to move further up because my wife was starting to get sick - and she's used to quite a few db from our band days... And yeah, the got kids and older folk in there as well...

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3 hours ago, Jakeboy said:

These could/should be a game changer in the P&W world as long as they sound as “normal” as you say.

Drums and electric guitar amps are still the problem children in many churches....

No prob at my church, largely hymns n all acoustic. I think once there was a bass.

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20 hours ago, Steve Haynie said:

Those cymbals are something new to cut down on volume.  The Remo heads are something I have not seen, but there is another company doing cloth heads to dampen drums. 

Ringo used kitchen-type linen 'tea-towels' on his drum kit heads to dampen them (sonically, not literally), during the 'Get Back/Let It Be' sessions, possibly on the 'Abbey Road' album and other times, too:

 

 

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3 hours ago, Jakeboy said:

These could/should be a game changer in the P&W world as long as they sound as “normal” as you say.

Drums and electric guitar amps are still the problem children in many churches....

Glad to provide a FB Live link if you'd like to hear them through my very amateur mix.  To me they sounded normal enough that will a little EQ I could get a fine live sound.  I would in no way recommend them for recording.

1 hour ago, Gino said:

I remember visiting Hillsong church in London - they met in a theater seating was around 2000. We were in early and sat pretty close to the stage (me wanting to eye the equipment and the players closely...). I was pretty surprised that they didn't have the plexi thingies in front of the drums. Five minutes later I knew why: They were playing at full rock concert blast! We had to move further up because my wife was starting to get sick - and she's used to quite a few db from our band days... And yeah, the got kids and older folk in there as well...

Saw Hillsong at a large venue in Nashville.  Absolutely fantastic live mix and extremely loud.  So much talent on the stage!

30 minutes ago, 0054 said:

No prob at my church, largely hymns n all acoustic. I think once there was a bass.

We use tracks on CD with a DJ deck to manage the list.  That is why it is such a treat when this guy comes to sub.  I'd love to have a live band every week, but no musicians and those who can play aren't committed enough to reach our bar: when it sounds as good as the tracks, we'll go live.  Yeah, not yet...

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