DRUMS
THE ART OF DRUM SOUNDS : OLD AND NEW | Carl Albrecht
Photo by Terren Hurst on Unsplash
What if you had to create your drum sound without using any samples or sound replacement ? Can you do it ? Most engineers love it when a musician ’ s live sound is so good that all they have to do is bring the faders up and let the music happen . So … let ’ s talk about the reality of drum sounds through the generations of recordings and different live settings . This does apply to worship in the same way it works for music history in general so hang on for the ride . I ’ ll try to do this quickly .
As you grow as a drummer I hope you ’ re learning the way drums sound in different settings and styles . Be careful to not get stuck in just copying the sound of drums in modern worship . Which , by the way , is awesome !! I love the production of most modern worship projects . It has it ’ s own sound and vibe in general . But I do agree with those that say it often sounds so generic that it has no personal character . For the most part drums in worship sound “ fat ” or low tuned , with some muffling to control overtones that might feel like they jump out too much . The cymbals are dryer sounding and more “ washy ” and dark . Again , this is not good or bad ; it ’ s just usually the approach to modern worship drum sounds . There are exceptions , but it ’ s good to get these sounds happening in your drum menu . We all need to have our sound work for whatever style we ’ re playing .
In modern worship a standard 4 piece kit is the usual set up – A 22 ” kick drum , a 12 ” rack tom , a 16 ” floor tom , ( all Maple shells seems to be the norm ) and then a big snare drum ( a 14 ” X 7 ” brass shell for me ), a large dry ride , big crash cymbals right & left , and very dry hi-hats is a very typical set up . I use this type of set up most often for worship for both live and in recording sessions . And it works great . From this starting set up I will add other elements as is needed according to the music . I usually tune this set up very low , and muffle quite a bit to get what I consider the typical modern worship vibe . If you are doing contemporary worship in your church I would imagine you approach your drum set up the same way .
A very important exercise in all of this experiment is to record everything you do . Just use two microphones in front of the kit , left & right , about six feet in front pointing back to the snare at that same height , not high over the kit . This creates the best image of how the kit sounds “ out front .” You can experiment with placement according to the room you ’ re in , but this is a good starting point . This is strictly for testing the balance of your sound and the tuning and tone of your drums . This stereo image of you playing the kit should be close to what you want it to sound like on record and in the auditorium . If you don ’ t have the equipment for this then just try recording your drums out front with your phone . Yes , you can get an idea of what you sound like by doing that too . As you do this listen carefully to the balance of your playing and the tuning and muffling of your kit . Does it sound like the style you ’ re trying to emulate ? Adjust each element until your sound is as close as possible to the recordings you ’ re trying to copy .
You should use this method as you experiment with other styles of drumming . Whether it ’ s modern worship , urban gospel , pop , country , rock , R & B , etc . Listen carefully to each style and
try to get your live kit sound to match what you hear on the recordings . And definitely practice all kinds of music . Do not get stuck playing only one type or style of music ! You can usually tune and muffle differently with the kick and toms to adapt to the style you ’ re playing . I do like to add more toms if it ’ s allowed . My bigger set up uses a 10 ”, 12 ”, 14 ” and 16 ” tom set up . And definitely invest in several snares if you can . A big / fat snare ; a standard 5 X 14 ; and a piccolo or popcorn snare are great to have on hand to cover every style that you must play . If that ’ s not in your budget right now then learn how to do radical tuning and muffling changes to create different tones in your kit . There ’ s a lot you can do just by changing those parameters . OK … Have fun and keep growing . Let me know how it goes . Feel free to contact me if you get stuck or have questions . carlralbrecht @ gmail . com
Blessings .
Carl Albrecht Professional drummer for 30 + years , playing with Paul Baloche , Don Moen , Ron Kenoly , Abe Laboriel , LeAnn Rimes and others . He ’ s also a clinician , author & pastor . Contact Carl for coaching , online lessons , producing , or sessions . I ’ m still growing too ... www . CarlAlbrecht . com carlralbrecht @ gmail . com
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