DRUMMER CAFE - Community Forum

I’m sure a lot of you have played gigs where the drums just sound and feel less than inspiring due to the venue, your state of mind, or both.  This happens to me a lot on outdoor gigs, but it happens indoors as well (e.g., when the room is just not great for drums).  Sometimes the snare feels like a slab of formica to me rather than a musical instrument.  What do you do to overcome this?  Or is there really anything you can do besides just accepting the situation and grinding through?

Note:  This isn't an equipment-quality or tuning issue.  I have nice gear, and I'm a pretty decent tuner. I think it's really a combination of environmental and psychological factors.  It's not chronic, but it does happen once in a while.

It happens all the time!   Especially if I am playing multiple nights.  I just suck it up and push through.  Usually, I try to focus on something specific that evening. Maybe trying to sync up better with my bass player, maybe try to concentrate more on my vocals, maybe pull out some fills or try some new grooves that might be atypical for the song...nothing drastic, but something just a bit different.  Maybe I just concentrate on my tempo all night long, or focus on a specific technique...hmmm, tonight will be heel down and tradtional grip!  But I think mainly, try to focus your attention to something you actually have control over to help push through deadzone.
beating back the deamons...Bob

Even though I'm not gigging, I still experience this occasionally while practicing.

The flip side is sometimes things just feel So right - and that's great when
that - rarely - happens.

I used to experience this when gigging on bass, too. 

Sometimes it's related to how you're feeling, and sometimes it really
is the sound sucking.  :)   There are so many parms that go into
good and bad sound, and sometimes, in my experience, they're not always
controllable.

[This will sound bizarre, but on bass, it got to the point where I could hear
 significant differences based on - the weather.  I found humidity really
 deadly to the bass tone, and very cool, dry air to yield max tone.]
[I used to love practicing bass with the AC on or with the windows open
 on a cool dry day.]
[Yeah, I'm nuts.]
 

It’s not easy if you’re not feeling it, I don’t have real answer other than to say ‘In Ear Monitors’ even things out a bit room to room, if you have adequate mics and consistent engineers, but with me, I usually find something else to occasionally put me off if I am feeling that way out…

Although I convince myself that I have play poorly because of bad sounding rooms, I know full well in reality that I have sometimes played exceptionally well (for me anyway) when the sound has been abysmal. In my case, it might just be that sometimes I suck & the nearest thing that is outside my comfort zone get the blame, whether it’s the sound, someone messing with my memlocks or the wrong flavored water on the rider… ;D When I am not feeling it something has to get the blame & it’s isn’t going to be me  ;)

 :)

N

snare, kick and cymbal the groove.

When I feel that way, I usually ask the sound man or a band mate how things are sounding with the kick, snare, or which particular sound I am not happy with at that given time.  If I get the nod that it sounds fine, I just play through it and try to focus on my playing as a whole.  Sometimes the sound man will agree with me and we can try to fix the issue by changing the tuning, mic placement, etc.

It sure is annoying, though, when you are not happy with the sound but the show must go on...

Rick

I just drink more beer till it sounds better.

Hmm?, thee... dreaded..non drum friendly atmospheric catastropic condition huh. Dear god! in heaven ive been there and your snare sounding like a slab of formica was an accurate portrayal of some of these acoustic conditions. Ill usually do what i can with muffeling, reducing it, adding it, stick size, my whole approach may change to counteact this dilemna. I may play softer, less rim shot playing, MORE rimshot, i go through the gammet of tricks ideas and whatever else i can do. What a depressing but necessary subject Smitty. Just let the force be with you on these nights and try to get to bed as early as possible so that the next day arrives more quickly so that the experience can be just a memory.

I find the biggest challenges are when I'm playing outside. Chris Whitten mentioned about one time when he was doing a sound check with Dire Straits where the drums were sounding great through the house - and then they turned the house sound off or brought the level down. He said his drums sounded like cardboard boxes (or something to that effect. Feel free to correct me here CW). Most of us have that as our normal scene.
Albeit, Chris did mention that his drums were tuned to sound good through the massive PA and not necessarily good without it. It was in pursuit of a good mix for this large venue that the drums sound was adjusted. I can relate as back in the '80's I was involved with promoting a concert at the college student union where the band had to play in a cavernous multi-purpose room. The drummer sounded great in the house and his monitors. However up on top of the set they were dead and and flat.

My first impulse when things aren't sounding right is to start playing with the tuning. That can help as a drum probably needs to be tuned differently then it was in the last environment you played in. My snare gets attention first, then toms and bass drum. I also have the luxury of owning a few snare drums. Sometimes if I know a gig is dicey sound wise, I'll bring a couple of snares to see which one fits better. A decent sounding snare can help me to recover a bit mentally, even if the rest of the kit can't be dialed in.

As far as it not feeling good, I tend to recognize when a gig is going not-so-good for me after the first song or two. If the magic is illusive, I try to play simpler. I also agree with Bob Diaz in that I will spend more time trying to lock in time, balance of elements on the kit, etc.

BTW: This is a normal occurrence. All of us have times like this from amateur to seasoned pro. You just have to fool everyone else. Billy Ward calls this 'qualifying good'. You may know it's not your best but your mediocre night still seems good to those that matter (audience, leaders, band members,...whoever is signing the check... ;)).

Jim

I hate that feeling. Its the worst. I actually had quite the opposite feeling last night, with my new snare mounted up on my kit (Tama Artwood 7x13 maple mmmmm).  My kit sounded like I belonged on some huge stage.

Anyway, usually when I feel this I try to focus very hard on the technical side of my playing. I watch my grip very carefully, I make sure I get every note in its exact spot for a reason.  Sometimes this helps, others it doesn't. BUT, it gives your mind something to concentrate on other than how bad the drums sound at the moment.

Remember, drums sound much different on the other side than how they sound where you sit.

Relatively recently I found one of really frustrating things - at every place they tend to crank up the drummer's monitors so that I can't hear my drumkit anymore unless they add it to the monitor.

I did not realize how uncomfortable it was for me, but now I do, so the first thing I ask the soundguy is to turn that freaking thing off :) Then, depending on the stage configuration, I'll ask to put there e.g. a little of keyboards, and I can hear guitars from their combos.

I was amazed how important it was to hear the drumkit directly and without such ear stress. However, sometimes the stage configuration is so unfavorable that I have to add all instruments to my monitor, which could be too loud already. I try to keep it low, but sometimes I have to ask adding some kick sound to my monitor, because I feel uncomfortable without hearing it (which is the case in this unfavorable conditions).

Next time you feel bad about your drums on stage, just check for the above issue if it is the case.

New to the CAFE, so far so good, some really good posts.  Your problem happens to all of us and will continue to happen.  The sound man is my best friend in these situations, have him work up a better sound if possible.  I also have a muffle on my snare Audix condenser mic, which I will take off or put on depending on the situation/sound I need to get.  I have also had problems being created for me if when playing a small venue after doing the sound check the proprietor of the club tells you to turn down.  This to me is the hardest sound problem, if I am not in jazz mode and we are playing some driving covers or originals this automatically sets the tone and attitude for me for the entire night.  I once had one of the managers, or whatever you want to call him, come up to me and tell me that I needed to turn down my kick mic.  I told him that he needed to check my kit out and that if he could find one mic on it then I would be happy to turn it down.  It sucks when you can't please yourself with your sound(s), and it even sucks worse when some idiot tells you your sound is not right, who is clueless.  Keep the faith and just bear with it, if you are like me there are alot more better days than bad.

 
I always feel this when I'm playing somebody else's kit. Nothing is comfortable then, even though the kit in question might be better than mine.
And also, if there's too little time to set up my own kit on stage, and I have to adjust it after the first song, after the second, etc. - I won't feel too well either.
As for sound, I don't care for it during the show. The only thing that you can do is taking your kit well-tuned to the venue, and then you're in the sound tech's hands. Fortunately, I usually have my girlfriend with me, who listens carefully in the middle or back of the room at the tune-in, and she may tell the sound tech what to change if there's something wrong with my sound.