The Church Drummers Thread

[groovearteest]

Sorry bud, went on vacation to see my girlfriend, didn't have access to the internet for a few weeks. Anyways, the ipad app I'm currently using is called "Xcontrol", and "Xicontrol" is the iphone app. That's behringer, Presonus has one called "Qmix" and "Virtual Studiolove". I've used and love both.

Hey ciz, hows playing in that glass jail lol. Are things working out or are you havin any problems.

I played at a church recently where i had to be behind something similar to this. It made me feel very removed, mainly cuz the soundman didn't really know what he was doing, but because he was so used to having musicians demand how they want the sound, he figured i'd do the same thing and didn't want to adjust anything for me. Plus they didn't have heaphones. Basically this church had expensive sound equipment, but didn't know how to use it. Luckily for me, our church choir was only there to give representation and I didn't have to play for the whole service. The church i was at was one of those churches that generally don't keep the same musicians for very long surprise surprise. But i did and do feel bad for the drummer that had to play for that place.

[georgea]

I'll share some of my experiences. I've played in numerous church settings, from small to large venues and conservative to liberal congregations.

For the more conservative gigs (where acoustic drum sets were frowned upon), I've played either a cajon or a djembe.

For a kinda in-the-middle service, I once played a heavily muted floor tom, cajon, and bass drum. That was an interesting experience. LOL.

For churches that don't have issues with drum sets, I've played in booths, behind "drum shields", and with with no sound isolation.

From these experiences I have come to the conclusion that I'm sure many of you share: I don't like drum booths. To me, I am too isolated from the rest of the band and have to rely too much on the monitors to here them. I've always had a difficult time hearing them even with a headset and it's hard to get that intrinsic "groove" when you're stuck in a cage.

I also don't really enjoy playing with "rods". Unless I'm going for a particular drum texture, they do not have the same feel. I always get irritated when people tell me to use rods so it's quieter. I respond by telling them that you don't need rods to play quieter, you just have to use more control.

Another thing I've noticed, which goes for secular gigs, is that you should make good friends with the sound techs! Most of the time they will want you completely isolated and have complete control over your sound so it pays to have a good relationship with them.


Just my two cents.

Oh and don't get me started on using electronic drums...

[porkpieguy]

Ok, I'll bite.

I've been playing drums in church for close to 20 years now in addition to quite a bit of traveling around with various Christian-based groups playing whatever. I'm over the want-to-be-famous/go-on-tour thing, and I love playing for our congregation every Sunday. I've played inside and outside of the aquariums, and I definitely enjoy life outside the tank. While I don't feel like I can "open up" quite yet in my church in terms of my playing, it's getting there. I'm very happy to be doing what I'm doing. Oh, and my wife plays bass at church as well, and more times than not, she has our almost-two-year-old son strapped to her back while she does it. (You can see her starting at 1:08 under the link entitled "6/2/13 - Music" at http://mpbc.ws/media/.)

Here are some pictures of us rehearsing for a concert a year or so ago (keep in mind that the images you see on the wall(s) are usually in motion):

[Kazzy42]

So last night I practiced with a local church band, and I'll be playing with these guys on Sundays for the rest of the summer! Super pumped - I've been in a church band before but we played on wednesday nights, so it wasn't as big of a deal. Only hitch is that I'll have to use hot rods due to the fact that the place is pretty small and they have essentially no control over my volume. I'm super excited, and honestly a bit nervous lol, I just thought I'd share with you guys, maybe you have some magical words of wisdom for me!

[longgun]

So last night I practiced with a local church band, and I'll be playing with these guys on Sundays for the rest of the summer! Super pumped - I've been in a church band before but we played on wednesday nights, so it wasn't as big of a deal. Only hitch is that I'll have to use hot rods due to the fact that the place is pretty small and they have essentially no control over my volume. I'm super excited, and honestly a bit nervous lol, I just thought I'd share with you guys, maybe you have some magical words of wisdom for me!

Congrats and good luck..................the nerves will go away after you start playing

[longgun]

Oh, and welcome to the forum Kazzy42

[Kazzy42]

Oh, and welcome to the forum Kazzy42

Thanks, glad to be here

[=^-..-^=]

We're (I'm) always discussing attitude on this thread. Like I said before, it's something you'll always fight playing in church, even if you play 30 + years. Now, articles are saying that millenials and twenty-somethings are leaving the churches, and it's not because the music wasn't cool enough, but the relationships and reality they needed just weren't there.

So this brings up another question - Does it even matter if we are there on Sunday mornings drumming? For that matter, should it matter? Shouldn't true worship continue whether we're on the kit or not?

[pastor_bob]

Big Meow, you bring up a good point. Research shows that a couple of important changes seem to be happening in churches: 1) contemporary music may be starting to wind down. Young people are actually starting to look for the old time hymns again, as they seek to express their worship, and 2) young people are not interested in "joining" a church, as much as they are interested in developing relationships within the church.

If the older people of the church have a hard time relating to the younger people, it becomes a turn off, and if music within the church is something that people "experience" rather than becoming a part of so that they can express their faith, then it becomes too fake for some of the younger folks.

Any music within the church setting needs to keep in mind that "performing" is not what it is about. Leading others into a sense of worship is the main goal, whether that is with a band, or just simply congregational singing. It's a very difficult balance to maintain.

[Bish]

If the older people of the church have a hard time relating to the younger people, it becomes a turn off, and if music within the church is something that people "experience" rather than becoming a part of so that they can express their faith, then it becomes too fake for some of the younger folks.

Any music within the church setting needs to keep in mind that "performing" is not what it is about. Leading others into a sense of worship is the main goal, whether that is with a band, or just simply congregational singing. It's a very difficult balance to maintain.

It's all because they brought drums into church. They never should have let that happen. I'm safe, I play guitar.

[pastor_bob]

It's all because they brought drums into church. They never should have let that happen. I'm safe, I play guitar.

Not if you were in my church. I'd have my eye on you Mister!

[key]

Wow, I must live under a rock. I never really noticed this thread and it's a great thread.

I play for a Baptist church that is clearly struggling with it's worship identity. We have two services: Old Hymns with an organ and Contemporary with me in a fish bowl playing the buckets.

It is so discouraging to always here negative comments about the "modern" instruments and the drumming whenever we have a unified service that it almost drove me to stop playing. Our worship band has really struggled with staying "relevant" and reaching those who have a spirit to worship that haven't ever heard any hymns. The struggle in our church is that we don't have enough volunteers to help with other ministries such as childcare since our volunteers are spread between two services. Clearly a unified congregation has issues, not because of the message or the holy spirit leading them, but the issue is as petty as music.

There are clearly two camps that are like water and oil in our church:
1. Hymns and only hymns
2. Contemporary music that they hear on the radio

Anyway, sorry for venting, I thought there may be some that could relate.

[=^-..-^=]

Feeling your pain, Key. I am starting to wonder if those denominations that forbade music stumbled on to something a long time ago. Look at all the frustration something "as petty as music" has caused among the drummers in these threads. It is said the Music Room is the War Department of the church. If it splits churches/resources into two age groups in two services, it doesn't sound like 'Family' to me. I visited a church with a silver service and a contemporary service, and the sarcastic comments from each camp about the other didn't sound very Christlike. I'm thinking as I get older I would rather be surrounded by a loving caring community than be divided by mere music. I would rather give deference to the old folks in the faith who have more wisdom than I do, than see them isolated. I would rather forsake music in the church entirely than see it divide and frustrate us like it does now, especially as we see now that in our struggle to be cool and relevant, especially in music, people are leaving anyway. The one we serve has never had to be made cool and relevant - He is relevant, and we just have to catch up with what He is doing. . .

[porkpieguy]

I guess my "words of wisdom" is to play and have a good time. Don't try to sound like the CD or what you hear on the radio. Use the CD/MP3/Whatever as a guide. I play pretty close to the CD, but it's not exact. With rods, you aren't going to get to play a lot like the CD anyways. Who knows? You may get to the point where they want you to play with real sticks! I know my church has come a long way.

[Ciz]

Hey ciz, hows playing in that glass jail lol. Are things working out or are you havin any problems.

I played at a church recently where i had to be behind something similar to this. It made me feel very removed, mainly cuz the soundman didn't really know what he was doing, but because he was so used to having musicians demand how they want the sound, he figured i'd do the same thing and didn't want to adjust anything for me. Plus they didn't have heaphones. Basically this church had expensive sound equipment, but didn't know how to use it. Luckily for me, our church choir was only there to give representation and I didn't have to play for the whole service. The church i was at was one of those churches that generally don't keep the same musicians for very long surprise surprise. But i did and do feel bad for the drummer that had to play for that place.

Hey man, sorry about the late reply, I've been really busy with church & college. Lifes good But I've been playing in the bowl for a few months now...and I NEVER thought I'd say this, but I LOVE it. With the combination of of our mixer and the audience mics, it's really nice! My biggest complaint, is its HOT in there. I have two fans on me constantly, and it's just blowing hot air on me, I've got to figure something else out. Also, when people are talking directly in front of me, it's a little hard to hear, practices are the only time I run into this issue, but it's minor. But here are my observations.

1. Inside the cage, compared to my previous setup(front shield only in front of a wall) there is less volume. It's alot easier on my ears inside, probably because there actually something to absorb the sound now.
2. I didn't have to go to in-ear monitors, all though I do own some now, I still prefer my hotspot.
3. I am the only one who has the audience mic's on in their monitor, aside from me, it's just for recordings. But because of them being in my monitor, I feel more connected with the audience, more now than before. Especially in when things get very "spiritual"(which happens OFTEN), I can hear prayers, cries, etc... Really helps me get into the music as well as worship.
4. It looks AWESOME.
5. It actually cut the level of my kit volume by about 50%, and it cut our bands overall volume by 35% or so. I HAVE NOT HAD ONE COMPLAINT in the last 2 months on the loudness! Versus multiple complaints per service.
6. Lastly, my kit sounds AMAZING coming through the speakers now. If you mute my drums, they sound very quiet and boxy sounding, but coming through the speakers, they sound very studio-ish. I'm more than pleased with the sound of my drums. Now if we could get away from our crappy JRX speakers and subs, I would be in Heaven.

So overall I really like this cage, it may not be for everyone, but I definitely recommend it.

We're (I'm) always discussing attitude on this thread. Like I said before, it's something you'll always fight playing in church, even if you play 30 + years. Now, articles are saying that millenials and twenty-somethings are leaving the churches, and it's not because the music wasn't cool enough, but the relationships and reality they needed just weren't there.

So this brings up another question - Does it even matter if we are there on Sunday mornings drumming? For that matter, should it matter? Shouldn't true worship continue whether we're on the kit or not?

It shouldn't matter. But it does. The way I look at it, if our band is tight, and has the right "presence"(not the word I want to say, but I'm not going into that), the people that are already 'spiritual' will worship no matter what, but winning over new ones is one of my goals, and people who have never experienced or have had the courage(or were too prideful) tend to be perfectionist and judgmental over the music. After we win them over, we could sing acopelo and they would be happy, at least that's been my experience recently. Our band has been on fire recently, our church size has doubled over the last few months, and our worship service this last Sunday, last 2 and half hours. But we have been cracking down on personal relationships, and personal worship experiences(ie not caring what anyone thinks). We've got youth coming just see if they can experience what others did.

Big Meow, you bring up a good point. Research shows that a couple of important changes seem to be happening in churches: 1) contemporary music may be starting to wind down. Young people are actually starting to look for the old time hymns again, as they seek to express their worship, and 2) young people are not interested in "joining" a church, as much as they are interested in developing relationships within the church.

If the older people of the church have a hard time relating to the younger people, it becomes a turn off, and if music within the church is something that people "experience" rather than becoming a part of so that they can express their faith, then it becomes too fake for some of the younger folks.

Any music within the church setting needs to keep in mind that "performing" is not what it is about. Leading others into a sense of worship is the main goal, whether that is with a band, or just simply congregational singing. It's a very difficult balance to maintain.

I honestly think it depends on where you are. My church has been fading out hymns for awhile now, we may do one every 2 or 3 services, and no complaints. Granted, we have redone some to fit our more contemporary style. But the whole worship team sat down and discussed it, we had more people complain about the hymns than anything, and we prayed about. So my church is just now getting into the contemporary music, and it's absolutely taking off, especially with all the new youth.

But I went to visit my girlfriend in Arkansas, I got to go to her church, they are still stuck on hymns(not that there is anything wrong with that), but they are trying to introduce 'Shout To The Lord' into their church, and it's not going well. Their average age is 28. But all the churches in her area are like that. Worship style is completely different, music is completely different, etc... Yes we are the same denomination.

I guess my "words of wisdom" is to play and have a good time. Don't try to sound like the CD or what you hear on the radio. Use the CD/MP3/Whatever as a guide. I play pretty close to the CD, but it's not exact. With rods, you aren't going to get to play a lot like the CD anyways. Who knows? You may get to the point where they want you to play with real sticks! I know my church has come a long way.

My church has been around for awhile, since the 50's. I've only been around for the last 4 years or so. But they used to have a good worship team, they learned the songs, changed them up, made them their own, and sounded decent. But over the years some people came and go, and they got to where they were just playing chords to every songs, and didn't want to put any effort into it. For instance 'Shout to the lord' was just played with straight chords, no rift or special piano. No intro, no ending, etc. Very bland IMO. My family and I have been working with them, changing the way they do old sounds, putting riffs and stuff back into them, so not every song sounds the same. Right now we're doing really good, but I had them learning them like the radio versions, and then tweaking. Although I really don't want to tweak 'You Won't Relent', it sounds awesome as is.

The only thing I'm dealing with right now as far as church goes, is some of the back-slid-den people on the worship team who are there just to preserve their place.

[BallywalterBeats]

I too am a church drummer who sits in a box, but like Ciz I mostly love it. No longer am I asked to play with rods or brushes, no longer do I have to mute my snare with a tea towel or stuff my kick with pillows! I'm caged but feel free! But this summer it has been very warm, I have a towel on hand and a change of T every week.

[kay-gee]

Feeling your pain, Key. I am starting to wonder if those denominations that forbade music stumbled on to something a long time ago. Look at all the frustration something "as petty as music" has caused among the drummers in these threads. It is said the Music Room is the War Department of the church. If it splits churches/resources into two age groups in two services, it doesn't sound like 'Family' to me. I visited a church with a silver service and a contemporary service, and the sarcastic comments from each camp about the other didn't sound very Christlike. I'm thinking as I get older I would rather be surrounded by a loving caring community than be divided by mere music. I would rather give deference to the old folks in the faith who have more wisdom than I do, than see them isolated. I would rather forsake music in the church entirely than see it divide and frustrate us like it does now, especially as we see now that in our struggle to be cool and relevant, especially in music, people are leaving anyway. The one we serve has never had to be made cool and relevant - He is relevant, and we just have to catch up with what He is doing. . .

I grew up in a strictly a'capella church, so there was never an issue about music. That is not to say there weren't other kinds of issues, if you get my drift. I truly believe issues are part of the human character!!

all the best...

[drummer]

Feeling your pain, Key. I am starting to wonder if those denominations that forbade music stumbled on to something a long time ago. Look at all the frustration something "as petty as music" has caused among the drummers in these threads. It is said the Music Room is the War Department of the church. If it splits churches/resources into two age groups in two services, it doesn't sound like 'Family' to me. I visited a church with a silver service and a contemporary service, and the sarcastic comments from each camp about the other didn't sound very Christlike. I'm thinking as I get older I would rather be surrounded by a loving caring community than be divided by mere music. I would rather give deference to the old folks in the faith who have more wisdom than I do, than see them isolated. I would rather forsake music in the church entirely than see it divide and frustrate us like it does now, especially as we see now that in our struggle to be cool and relevant, especially in music, people are leaving anyway. The one we serve has never had to be made cool and relevant - He is relevant, and we just have to catch up with what He is doing. . .

With respect to everyone in this thread, we really need to be keeping the discussion about drums, not about serving God through music or why people are playing music there, etc. Discussion about religion is not permitted in this forum. We allowed the church drummers thread to remain because of the large church community and the drummers and musicians within but it was under the condition that religion not be discussed. Further, and like other controversial topics in here like Travis Barker and whether toms should be isolated or not, the issue of "why" you play drums in church or how much of your intent goes where, will NEVER be agreed upon so we discourage talking about them. We must just agree to disagree and move on.

Please keep the topic on drums and music only or we will be forced to consider shutting this thread down.


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[BallywalterBeats]

My brother in law checking out the latest set-up.

This is the perspex box I sit in every week, note the new kick head and Sabian AAX pack.

[Ciz]

Very nice! I was digging through my churches old crap in the backroom, found a bunch of lights. I'll post some pics of my abomination soon. Haven't posted a pic on here in about a year, figure I'm due.

[Ciz]

Also, I've gotta ask, what is that thing between your hi-hats and your crash? Is it something for sound absorption or what?

[Ciz]

I moved my drums a little yesterday, while moving them I decided to clean & polish them, so I took a few pics before I but the box back up.

[Ciz]

Some pics of my kit in the box with the lights on.

[Ciz]

For future reference, the door of the box.

[Bish]

Super awesome. Love those white DWs!!