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

Our singer apparently hits his front teeth on the grille of his sm58 beta. Is there a replacement grille that looks the same, but isn't made of rigid metal? I've had a search but can't find anything. He can't be the only one with this issue!?

It really isn't about the equipment. I played a little cafe venue earlier this year. We sold the gig as "almost acoustic" which basically means the guitarist and bassist use acoustic instruments that plug in. I played my usual set up minus a couple of crashes, so 26" bass drum, bell brass snare, 24" ride, 22" crash, 16" hats. I'm a big guy and I use big sticks. I just played to the mix all night, which basically meant leathering the un-mic'd bass drum, and tippy-tapping everything else. I had a great time!

Drums are my main instrument at the moment. I play loud and quiet, but just wanted to note that the size of the shells or cymbals don't dictate the volume. Big =/= Loud. In my opinion, the drummer should be playing to the room, and if the room is small, he needs to take it easy on the cymbals and snare.

Great venue and festival, we've done it a few times in the past, hopefully we'll be on again in the future!

The old transit was fine. This "upgrade" has all sorts of tech under the front seats. If you sit in the back, you can't get your feet under the front seat. If you sit in the front and there's no-one next to you, you can just about fit on an angle. Unfortunately I have either the bassist or the front man sat in the tiny middle seat to my right. My shoulders touch the window and my fellow passengers' shoulder. My feet are jammed against the bulkhead and my left knee is crushed against a cup holder. I am quite a big guy. It only takes 45 minutes for my knees to start hurting, then it's my hips, then my upper back cramps up. Stockton on Friday was 4.5 hours on the motorway. with one stop. This is why I call it Vantanamo

Stockton on Friday night. This is a fair old drive from Stoke. I'm not sure if I've fully ranted about our van #vantanamo on here before but it is absolute torture. Any other 6ft members here forced to endure a Transit Custom? Anyway this was a killer journey. We went straight to a premier inn to get keys and drop off bags. When we parked up the roadie flipped out. Apparently no-one told him we were staying over in Stockton so he'd not brought any toiletries or clothes! 🤣 The gig was at NE Volume Music Bar which is pretty cool. Stockton looked a little dire (and I'm from Stoke) so I didn't wander around town. A lovely rider of home made veg curry and an assortment of snacks and beers. The room was pretty full when we went on and they seemed to know all the words. Such a great feeling to be able to do this so far away from home! We played 1hr 30. It was incredibly warm on stage and I was fully soaked. I drank 2 litres of water and 660ml of Punk IPA on stage. I had a pint of beer after the set, then another after the load out. Too much information perhaps but I didn't need the bathroom until we got to the hotel! I was starting to get very worried but I guess I sweated all that out! One for The Road festival at Fulford Arms in York on Saturday night. A shorter 45 minute set at this one. I was cajoled into using the house drum kit again. I need to remember why I usually refuse. The hi-hat stand was basically broken and the bass drum wouldn't stay still. Terrible sound after a rushed line check. This is all stuff that would ruin my night years ago but we're so used to it now. We smashed the set and went down really well, although I don't think there was anyone there who wasn't already a fan. Long drive back to Stoke got me to bed at 2AM Sunday morning

I've got my rack tom on a snare stand. If I wanted two I could hang them off the crash stand to my left. The 26x10" BD is very cool though. I have a load of foam inside it so it's all just low end punch. Sorry for the drum chat! I can play bass, honest!

Yeh we played there earlier this year with The Professionals and it was great then too. Friday night was quite funny. They had a band on in the front room/bar, which was rammed full of young people. The band were young too, but they were playing Beatles and Stones covers. In the venue room it was full of old people all dancing along to original folk punk!

It's an old marching drum, 26x10". I put legs on it. I did it for the look of the thing to be honest but it sounds great and it's depth is super useful for these support slots

Crauford Arms in Milton Keynes supporting The Men They Couldn't Hang on Friday night. I can't find any photos! It's a great venue we've played before. No kit share this time as TMTCH were recording for a live DVD (does anyone buy DVDs any more?) and didn't want to move anything. No problem for me as my bass drum is only 10" deep! Great set, super tight, and we were staying over so we all had a few beers and watched TMTCH on their last gig of the year. Hopefully we'll get some support slots with them again! Dogfest at Boston Gliderdrome in Saturday. We were scheduled for 6:15 but a band pulled out and they moved us back to 7:30. Terrible house drum kit. Terrible monitors. Terrible sound. Great crowd who sang along to every word. Must have been 800 at least but again I can't find any photos! This is a great old venue and hopefully we'll get to play there with a decent sound some time Only 4 left this year now. I'll try to remember to take some pics at those