cheddatom

Drummers are in control of so much of the sound of a band. They really should be thinking like a producer. Create dynamics, keep the track evolving, create space, fill space. Behind the kit you can turn the whole band up and down. The rest of the band will (should) follow. A side-stick is very different to a hit on the centre of the snare, which is very different to a rimshot. These are your main "back beat" options. Your right hand can go from the rim of a drum, to the floor tom, closed hats, open hats, regularly opening hats (IE disco), ride bell, ride body, crashing the ride, riding the crash cymbals... This is how you either create space or fill it As a producer, I want the song to remain interesting, so I want the beat, or at least the sound of the kit, to change from verse to chorus. If there are 3 verses, I want at least one of them to be significantly different to the others. Likewise if there's a bridge/middle 8 it should be different. I play in a band with no rhythm guitarist. A typical punk song for us would have closed hats in the verse, open hats in the chorus, ride bell in the bridge. A blues track would have closed hats in the verses, opening gradually for "builds", and I would play the ride cymbal to fill the space under solos I think a lot of drummers just focus on what they're doing rather than listening to the mix as a whole, and it really shows.

Artisan Tap in Newcastle-under-Lyme on Saturday night. Basically a home town gig for us. The local following seems to have really built over the last couple of years. For the first 10 years of the band we were more popular in Nottingham than we were in Stoke/Newcastle! Anyway, 120 tickets sold plus guest list and the place was dangerously full. We had 20 songs on the set list but our front man kept calling out random numbers. I reckon we played 30 in the end. Still struggling with my injury but what an ace night!

I've been paid for rehearsals before when depping. I didn't ask but it was offered so I took it. Is it that uncommon?

100 Club on Sunday night supporting Ferocious Dog again. It's a very shallow stage but I managed to get my drums set up to the side of theirs. I do love playing here despite the challenging sound. The room is so thin, you get loads of FOH bouncing back off the wall. I am still seriously injured but the others moved all of my gear for me, which was most appreciated. The set went OK but I'm known to our fans as "the smiley drummer" and I was apparently smiling a lot less than usual. Our frontman embarrassed me by demanding sympathy from the crowd... but at least that meant they all knew not to squeeze my ribs right? Nope, two different fans asked for selfies and when I agreed they put their arm around me, grabbing me by the ribs and causing my to cry out in agony. Oh well!!! Here's my bright red kit looking cool AF next to Ferocious Dog's boring effort!

I've been a bit lax in here lately. Fewer gigs and some life stuff getting in the way... The last one of the year was supporting Ferocious Dog at Holfirth Picturedrome which is an awesome venue. I'm on drums and I've badly sprained an intercostal muscle or two, so was very apprehensive as I'd been resting for 2 weeks. The other guys all moved my gear for me which was most appreciated (normally I do most of the loading so the van was a right mess 🤣). I set up on the stage in front of the drum riser, which can often lead to cramped conditions but this is a big stage and my bass drum is very shallow. Sound check was great but I could feel twinges in my chest. It was a 50 minute set which seems very long for a support slot. The first 30 minutes went pretty well, but then the pain really started to kick in. I made quite a few mistakes in the last few songs. Thankfully the rest of the band were very understanding, and of course, no-one in the audience noticed. They were singing along in full voice and cheering at the end of every song.

Wow this is incredibly familiar. "I've spent so many hours on the band this week and I really can't afford to" OK mate shall I do this? "No, I need to handle that"

I had a band in once and their bassist forgot he had his tuner set to 432Hz. Everyone else was tuned to A=440 and I could not figure out what was wrong. In the end I realised after opening the bass track up with the pitch and time tool. It was so subtlety out of tune it was almost nauseating. I had a solo artist who recorded his album with me. He was well into all sorts of spiritual and conspiracy theories. Anyway, after he'd finished the album, he left me to mix it while he was away. I sent him a first mix and he came back with "Sounding great but have you read about the resonant frequency? Everything should be tuned to 432Hz in order to resonate with the body, can you retuned the album?" Mad that he thought that digitally re-tuning acoustic instruments and vocals would help the music resonate with your body/spirit. Anyway, I did it and he didn't like the result 🤣

Chipped a tooth on a Super 55? In that case I'll not suggest it! I'm just going to explain that there's no product available to make up for his terrible technique 🤣

Thanks for all the replies! I've been away for a few days... It's not my problem at all, I just offered to find out for him while we were on the way to a gig. I'll see if he fancies a Shure Super 55 The band actually does pretty well playing all over the country in decent venues. I personally don't have vocals in my monitor so I don't know if it's audible, but I've never heard anyone complain.

I think the image of an act is very important. I'm not sure it's vanity in the context of a stage show? Either way a 58 with a big foam wind shield is not going to look "cool" to the audience

It's not that he complains. He just mentioned he'd have to book back into the dentist and so I asked him about it. He said he's tried to stop doing it but can't. I personally agree with him on the look of a windshield, it's very much not rock and roll! Yes, it's his problem, no I've not been dragged into it. I was just hoping that someone would be able to help in terms of an actual product, as opposed to pointing out the obvious

maybe there's some sort of coating I could dip a 58 grille into?

I was thinking a very firm rubber would be fine. Rigid enough not to change the sound of the mic, and soft enough not to chip his teeth. Ideally it'd still have the threaded metal ring at the bottom and be a direct replacement. Wishful thinking I guess. Oh well, he can afford the dentist bills I couldn't be clearer on the changing technique front. It's not happening

He's been doing this for 35 years. His teeth are all chipped but he still does it. He knows it's bad technique but insists he can't change the habit. I was hoping to find a silver basket, like the standard one, but made out of rubber or something like that

He can't deal with the look of the wind shield! I know it's technique but ironically he's too long in the tooth