DRUMS
EVERYONE DEPENDS ON THE DRUMMER | Carl Albrecht
The drummer does carry a lot of responsibility to lead the band . Although we are not the actual leaders , the drums are the foundation of every group . How confidently we play and how well we lead a band through the flow of a song is a foundational part of the music . So we must , at all times , play with confidence and power . Which , by the way , does not mean playing louder than everyone else . And it also does not mean acting like an arrogant fool .
I remember a time when I played a large festival in Lagos , Nigeria . I was playing for Don Moen , Ron Kenoly , and Phil Driscoll at an all night worship event with many artists , musicians , and speakers called “ The Experience .” It was estimated that we were worshipping with over 500,000 people . It was one of the largest gatherings I ’ ve ever played for . The event started at 7 PM and was scheduled to go until 7 AM the next morning . It was a very emotional and powerful gathering of God ’ s people .
Because Phil had not brought a band he asked some of the other players to sit in with him . He would mostly use tracks , but wanted us to play along with them to add power to the tunes . He also wanted to be able to flow into other worship songs and minister as the band played . NO rehearsal ! And NO hearing the tunes ahead of time ! I was OK with that because I know he just wanted energy , a flow of music , and musicians that would worship with him . It was a very powerful moment .
Technically speaking I was listening intensely to the tracks as we played along and anticipating where the music would go and how it would build . Thank God the songs had a common structure that seemed to make the task a little easier . No “ train wrecks ” occurred … and the worship flowed . As Phil moved into spontaneous songs of worship , he led the team well through the journey . His cues were excellent , and everyone was very attentive . I recall thinking , that years of training and playing thousands of songs was paying off with good results . * Drummers - take special note here – YEARS of training and PLAYING THOUSANDS of songs . … VERY IMPORTANT !
The other thing that struck me was that I was not afraid , but comfortable with taking on such a strange task . Playing without any preparation . Crazy ! I knew what the Lord had given me to do in the earth and that gave me confidence to say yes . By the way this is not to say that I felt “ proud .” I just knew the Lord would be with us . And yes , I believe His Spirit was upon the musicians for the thing He called us to do . At the end of his set Phil was very pleased , and grateful for our attentiveness , boldness , and sensitivity to the flow of worship .
My next task was playing for Ron Kenoly . Even though I ’ ve worked with him before , it had been a long time . I had a chance to look through his music at the hotel before the event , but that was all . Some of the arrangements were pretty complex and I made my markings on the charts as quickly as I could . Again … NO rehearsal !
I got through the first tune without a hitch . But during the second song , a medley of the songs “ Jubilee ” and “ Mourning Into Dancing ”, I was so excited hearing the band and watching
98 September 2023 Subscribe for Free ...