The Church Drummers Thread

[drumstix]

I grew up playing bass in my church, and basically the music director beat me until I settled down and played the chart rather than "chart as interpreted by Bootsy Collins." Yeah, church is not the place to overplay IMO.

+1.

When I first started playing in church, I used to hammer the kit pretty hard. Back then, church was held in a basketball hall at a local high school and it echoed pretty bad. Every once in a while, someone in the congregation would complain and I'd get a bit of a chat from the creative arts director. As I improved in my drumming, I finally took on board the less is more concept and began to exercise a little bit more restraint in my drumming. That being said, I sometimes let myself go for it when the time calls for it in a service.

[Ciz]

I just finished reading through this thread, what a great and inspiring read. I've been a church drummer on-and-off over the past 20 years, and am blessed to be presently involved as a drummer and percussionist in two church music ministries. Neither are particularly large (anywhere from 40-200 congregants per service), and I've been able to avoid having to play e-drums thus far.

I'm currently dealing with some conflicting ideas about drum equipment at the larger church (my "home" church), where some (mostly sound-guy types) have expressed a desire to put the drums in an isolation booth or get e-drums. I'm the main drummer there, and am diplomatically (and humbly, I hope) trying to defend acoustic drums and cymbals...

Personally, I just visited a church with E-drums, and it's just not the same. I feel like it's taking away from the quality of the overall band, you know? I would much rather be stuck in an isolation booth with acoustics than play an E-kit honestly.

+1...........good tasteful licks will never take away from the music.........what I always hate to see is "showing off" i.e. spinning your sticks, throwing them, etc........IMO, that definitely takes away from worship

If you're in worship, and ANYONE is distracting you on the platform, that is not a good thing. I've been in services where the drummer was really distracting, stick tricks, overplaying, showing off, etc... I've been in services where the guitar player was overplaying and being distracting, regardless it takes away from the worship, as well as the band as a whole. I've also been in services that the way some of the people 'dressed' was a little distracting, but I won't go into that I just got back from visiting a friend's church, and God help him, he annoyed the living crap out of me. He's good, he knows it, he shows it..... off, alot. The end of every bar had to be a solo, you know the type?

I'm in the process of changing churches right now. The church is big enough that the drums need to be mic'd in order to blend right, but yet, they still want me to put my shield up. I've honestly found that the shields don't do much for volume. They make my drums sound boxier; but not any quieter. But if it gets people to stop complaining, it's worth it I guess. They brought up something about electric drums, and I didn't even let them get through the sentence. But I'm going to be taking over as sound/media tech, so that decision is now up to me

They're also giving me 10k to redo their sound system I love my Presonus Studiolive mixer. Lending it to them right now so they can get to know it before buying their own. They love how the recordings are turning out now.

[groovearteest]

Ciz I hear ya about the drums held thing. Why is it first instinct to want to put a shield up or drown out the drums in some way, most churches I visit the drum shield does nothing but make it harder for the drummer to hear, but no one thinks of that they just want quieter drums cause its the thing to do. Right now we don't have an official sound man, its pretty much whoever knows how to work the mixer does the job. But the problem is the guy who kinda proclaims himself as our sound man knows nothing about how drum sound works and always has a different(bad) idea for how we should handle the drums sound wise. And even tho my grandfather is the pastor that still doesn't help my case much because he doesn't listen to me. To make matters worse our sound guys ideas usually leave me at a disadvantage, so when I mess up all eyes are on me even tho its not my fault. Sadly the only two people qualified for the job as sound men are me and my uncle( another drummer) but because were family my grandfather won't listen to us much.

[Christiandrummer777]

Great thread! I'm lucky that I play drums and bass for a church that puts a huge focus on worship. I play 2 services on Sunday morning and one in the evening. The church has two sites, the traditional Building has a Roland electric kit, and the new site Has a 4 piece pearl export. It'a miced up behind a shield, and we run in ears- and click tracks. For certain songs (e.g. Freedom is here) we run backing tracks for the synthesized sounds. Our worship pastor graduated from Liberty university and Hillsong university. The youth worship leader will be attending hillsong in the fall. Our sound man ran sound for the greatful dead and guns n roses so he really knows what he's doing. We have a 10,000 watt system at each site. We are so blessed to have a worshipful church, and I actually have people asking me to bring my double pedals and chinas to service. We play a lot of Hillsongy stuff mixed with contemporary arrangements of hymns by my worship pastor and he loves tom groove/drum solo stuff as tranisitions. We also do a lot of folky (build your kingdom here type stuff) and I'll play cajon in acoustic services or a condensed (16 floor Tom, snare, bass, 18 crash, 14 hats) kit when we play for other churches or when we do stuff for the junior high ministry. Now that the only other drummer left, I'm being asked to play for more ministries and events, do any other of you guys ever have a hard time saying no to demands on your time? Btw our church is about 300-500 people

[groovearteest]

I can defintely say one thing from reading this thread. the way my church or most of the other churches in my area operate is apparently not the norm.

[BigFatDrummer]

I can defintely say one thing from reading this thread. the way my church or most of the other churches in my area operate is apparently not the norm.

How so?

[basinbob]

Great looking set. I drool in its presence :-)

From the mid 60s, 70s, and 80s I used a Rogers 4 piece for small venues and a Rogers DB-9 piece for the big halls and outdoor gigs. I mostly played rock and country with some big band, c0cktail clubs, and light jazz intermingled. I quit playing in 89 and gave away the big set and stashed the small set in a closet. Two years ago, after a battle with a medical issue, I dusted off the '64Rogers blue sparkle set and began by playing at my home church on a fill-in basis. Now, I'm doing some work with the church, CR, old standards at the nursing homes, and putting together a small big band for dance studios and dance clubs.

Granted, drumming is drumming. However I always remind the group, and myself as well, to consider the audience. Faster/slower, louder/quieter, show off/background music, . . .

Each type of drumming is different in volume and fills. And I like the idea of this thread, as well as the other threads for specific types of drumming.

I have rambled, but let's keep up the thread. I will post a photo of the old '64 blue sparkle set when I figure out how to do that. Keep on drummin'

[marthared]

Some people are so stuck in their old ways Oh well, and yes, I do often wonder about which of these contemporary songs will become sacred to some, like some hymns are to those old folks. Haha which reminds me, the song "My chains are gone"(Which is one of the songs that I would put in that category), we did last Sunday, some of the old people threw a ROYAL FIT! Ah well, I suppose you can't please everyone

I sooo laughed at your post about Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)... My husband hates it, and any song that changes the original.. especially I Will Glory in My Redeemer... lol! I've learned to just feel sorry for the fogies that can't seem to wrap their arms around current worship venues.

Playing drums in church is definitly worthy of a separate thread... what other drum thread is gonna have comments like "Our 90 year old came up to me after the service and said "I just love your drums!"

[marthared]

Thought I'd introduce myself... Just joined the Forum today.
I'm a fairly new drummer... been taking lessons for 2.5 years, started drumming for a small church last April, on an E-set (have an E-set at home). Bought my first acoustic set (real-thing ) last month, and the church let me set it up and try it out. Played for the first time in a service (or with a group for that matter) last Sunday, and EVERYONE loved it! I tried not to blast them out. Guitar players said it sounded sooooo much better than the electric set. Sooooo.... I'm working on setting up a headset line from the main channel, and teacher put little bits of rolled up cloth w/ my Spongebob duck tape on the heads... got it sounding great!
Yes.... Spongebob... why? Cause I'm a girl! And I'm 55 years young! I'm actually a lifetime tomboy... ride a Harley, play video games, guitar, hydrogeologist as a career, and now drums. Having a blast in life with what the Lord gave me!
I'm hoping to learn a lot from this Christian drummers' thread and all the other info that's posted.

-Martha

[pastor_bob]

Granted, drumming is drumming. However I always remind the group, and myself as well, to consider the audience. Faster/slower, louder/quieter, show off/background music, . . .

Each type of drumming is different in volume and fills. And I like the idea of this thread, as well as the other threads for specific types of drumming.

Welcome to Drum Chat basinbob! I would encourage you to start some threads on playing for different audiences, and for different styles. It's a great idea.

[pastor_bob]

Welcome to Drum Chat marthared!

Sounds like you have done what I did. I started playing drums at 52, so this Sping I'll have 6 years behind the kit. I don't get to play in church, though, because my role is a little different. I do get to play with other pastors though. We created a garage band, and we get occasional opportunites to play for special events at churches. I started with music again when I picked up the guitar, but I really do enjoy anchoring the band.

[Ciz]

Ciz I hear ya about the drums held thing. Why is it first instinct to want to put a shield up or drown out the drums in some way, most churches I visit the drum shield does nothing but make it harder for the drummer to hear, but no one thinks of that they just want quieter drums cause its the thing to do. Right now we don't have an official sound man, its pretty much whoever knows how to work the mixer does the job. But the problem is the guy who kinda proclaims himself as our sound man knows nothing about how drum sound works and always has a different(bad) idea for how we should handle the drums sound wise. And even tho my grandfather is the pastor that still doesn't help my case much because he doesn't listen to me. To make matters worse our sound guys ideas usually leave me at a disadvantage, so when I mess up all eyes are on me even tho its not my fault. Sadly the only two people qualified for the job as sound men are me and my uncle( another drummer) but because were family my grandfather won't listen to us much.

Yup. It kinda sucks having family in leadership sometimes, I should know, my grandfather was a Pentecostal Church of God preacher and my dad is an Assembly of God preacher. I beat the system though, have a respected friend approach them with your ideas, it goes alot further

Now that the only other drummer left, I'm being asked to play for more ministries and events, do any other of you guys ever have a hard time saying no to demands on your time? Btw our church is about 300-500 people

Absolutely. I was running sound for the most part, training some kids on it, running the media(recording audio/video), drumming, music director, and assistant youth pastor at the same time. I am now down to just drums & media. Currently trying to get my church to buy a Behringer X32 mixer, it will make all of our jobs easier lol.

I can defintely say one thing from reading this thread. the way my church or most of the other churches in my area operate is apparently not the norm.

How so?

Great looking set. I drool in its presence :-)

Granted, drumming is drumming. However I always remind the group, and myself as well, to consider the audience. Faster/slower, louder/quieter, show off/background music, . . .

Thanks! Yeah, I pick out the worship selection most of the time, and most of the time, I'll have 7 or 8 songs picked out, and it's not uncommon for us to change the selection in the middle of service. Lol. But normally I'll pick out about half fast, half slow, a few oldies, etc..... Welcome to DC btw!

I sooo laughed at your post about Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)... My husband hates it, and any song that changes the original.. especially I Will Glory in My Redeemer... lol! I've learned to just feel sorry for the fogies that can't seem to wrap their arms around current worship venues.

Lol! I've got a list for you then.
1. Amazing Grace(My Chains are gone) by Chris Tomlin
2. Glorious Day by Casting Crowns
3. Revive us Again by Big Daddy Weave
4. Nothing But the Blood by Jesus Culture
5. The Solid Rock by 4Him
6. What A Day That Will Be by Bart Millard
7. Just a Closer Walk by Bart Millard
8. It is Well by Kutless

We Do most of these songs similar to these, and we ALWAYS have some old fart come up and complain Oh well. Oh, we played How Great Thou Art tonight, we started it off with tom beats(similar to how "Come, Now is The Time To Worship" starts off), and we played it fast. I swear there was a line after the service of people telling us we're playing it wrong.

Thought I'd introduce myself... Just joined the Forum today.
I'm a fairly new drummer... been taking lessons for 2.5 years, started drumming for a small church last April, on an E-set (have an E-set at home). Bought my first acoustic set (real-thing ) last month, and the church let me set it up and try it out. Played for the first time in a service (or with a group for that matter) last Sunday, and EVERYONE loved it! I tried not to blast them out. Guitar players said it sounded sooooo much better than the electric set. Sooooo.... I'm working on setting up a headset line from the main channel, and teacher put little bits of rolled up cloth w/ my Spongebob duck tape on the heads... got it sounding great!
Yes.... Spongebob... why? Cause I'm a girl! And I'm 55 years young! I'm actually a lifetime tomboy... ride a Harley, play video games, guitar, hydrogeologist as a career, and now drums. Having a blast in life with what the Lord gave me!
I'm hoping to learn a lot from this Christian drummers' thread and all the other info that's posted.

-Martha

Welcome Martha! Hope you enjoy your time here in DC

Welcome to Drum Chat basinbob! I would encourage you to start some threads on playing for different audiences, and for different styles. It's a great idea.

Haha I just noticed this was a sticky! Took me 15 minutes to find this thread lol!

[longgun]

I sooo laughed at your post about Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)... My husband hates it, and any song that changes the original.. especially I Will Glory in My Redeemer... lol! I've learned to just feel sorry for the fogies that can't seem to wrap their arms around current worship venues.

Playing drums in church is definitly worthy of a separate thread... what other drum thread is gonna have comments like "Our 90 year old came up to me after the service and said "I just love your drums!"

Welcome to Drum Chat Martha....................you're going to have to post pics of your kit, spongebob tape and all.

[Mr 319]

I would like to know , whats the purpose of the shield in front of the kit in church ?

[longgun]

I would like to know , whats the purpose of the shield in front of the kit in church ?

Torture.................no matter what anyone else says..............torture

[Ciz]

I would like to know , whats the purpose of the shield in front of the kit in church ?

To make the older folks feel better. It's a mental thing. Lol. It actually does help a little on the cymbal cut, but it doesn't do anything volume wise for anything else, all it does is make everything sound boxy. Alot of people hear that it makes them sound boxy, and assumes that it helps with volume. At least that's in my experience.

Torture.................no matter what anyone else says..............torture

Yup... hate being trapped in a box.

[drummer]

Torture.................no matter what anyone else says..............torture

I absolutely agree. Hate the damn things!

[BigFatDrummer]

I don't mind the shield. It sounds louder to me when I'm playing which is fine by me.

However, I believe that a shield was originally intended to block off the drum mics and the drums from spilling into other mics around the kit. It seems that, at least in many churches, they are used to control volume which, from what I can tell, was not their original purpose.

[Ciz]

I don't mind the shield. It sounds louder to me when I'm playing which is fine by me.

However, I believe that a shield was originally intended to block off the drum mics and the drums from spilling into other mics around the kit. It seems that, at least in many churches, they are used to control volume which, from what I can tell, was not their original purpose.

Honestly, with the mics I've been using, after comparing with the shield up and down, I really can't tell a difference. My overheads pick up a little guitar, but they do that either way. My snare, and well as my overheads, pick up my monitor a little, but that has nothing to do with the glass. By the way, the mics I own are all the ones in the Audix DP7 set, plus an additonal D4.

I'm considering going to an IEM, I've always used floor wedges and small personal monitors. I'm currently using a Hotspot monitor, and while I love it, it does bleed through on the recordings. My church is about to purchase alot of new gear, of which includes room mics and a Behringer x32 mixer, which enables me to control my monitor mix with an Apple device. So my question is, for those who have went from traditional monitors, to IEM's, how difficult is the transition?

[groovearteest]

Honestly, with the mics I've been using, after comparing with the shield up and down, I really can't tell a difference. My overheads pick up a little guitar, but they do that either way. My snare, and well as my overheads, pick up my monitor a little, but that has nothing to do with the glass. By the way, the mics I own are all the ones in the Audix DP7 set, plus an additonal D4.

I'm considering going to an IEM, I've always used floor wedges and small personal monitors. I'm currently using a Hotspot monitor, and while I love it, it does bleed through on the recordings. My church is about to purchase alot of new gear, of which includes room mics and a Behringer x32 mixer, which enables me to control my monitor mix with an Apple device. So my question is, for those who have went from traditional monitors, to IEM's, how difficult is the transition?

I personally like the in ear monitors(IEM) better than wedges. wedges are good but i like to have something feed directly into my ear so i'm hearing only what i need to hear and not hearing what i don't need such as an offbeat off key congregation. I use isolation headphones which is basically like in ears, i really only use them when the choir is singing because its somewhat hard to hear the piano and the choir from where the choir stand is. plus my uncle who is the bass player is gonna start using them because his amp isn't that loud and he doesn't have what he needs yet to plug into the mixer so he needs to be able to hear his bass.

[Norske]

Haven't been around DC for a long time, but just popped in and was happy to see the church drummers thread is still alive and kicking. I posted back when the thread started, and have played in all sizes of churches, from 30 to 2000+ congregants, and have seen nearly every situation imaginable.

Currently I've been playing at a church with about 80 members for a few months, and the music is more worshipful than rocking, which is what I'm probably more accustomed to. But this type of music needs to be played a bit more dramatically, which can be a lot of fun too. I end up using the toms a whole lot more, and get to be creative, which is nice. At this church they don't like to play the songs "the way they were recorded", so there's a lot more freedom, as long as the band all listens to each other and plays parts that blend together well. It's not a really small church, and could easily seat 300+, so volume and acoustics are not nearly as bad as some I've played in.

Just a couple of things I noticed in the more recent posts here that I wanted to respond to. First, for those who have people who complain the drums are too loud, it's important for a drummer to learn volume control (which goes for any type of drumming really). You should be able to vary your volume from song to song and even during a song. Sometimes you need to play the verses quieter and come in a little heavier during the choruses. Sometimes you bring the volume up and down throughout the song. As in any type of drumming, playing what fits the music is the important thing.

Another consideration has to be the band blending together. If the band is not loud enough to "cover" the drums, you'll always stand out, and that's not what you want at all. To get a good sound mix is difficult enough, but if all the congregation hears is drums, it's like listening to a bad garage band.

Last, a quick comment on shields. I've used them in very large churches, with in ears and a click, and the drums mic'ed and it's just fine. Because I used in ears, I didn't get all the wash back at me, and of course we a pro sound tech that produced an awesome mix. But I've played behind a shield in other situations where I told them to take it down, and they were always happier with the results when they did. The problem is that they were accustomed to drummers who hit way too hard, and that sets people's minds against the drums every time. Once you show them that they don't have to crack the walls, and that they can actually sound better without a shield, you've won the battle.

At my current church they came up with a different solution than a shield (before I was even there). Again, smaller church, but large enough that we can play at a pretty good volume without chasing anyone away, and I have to credit a lot of that to the sound tech providing a good mix as well. Most churches have volunteers manning the board and they don't have a clue, but sometimes you get lucky and get someone who knows what they're doing. Sometimes they can also be trained, if anyone is actually willing to take the time to do it, and they're capable of learning, LOL. At this church I play an acoustic kit behind a half wall, if that makes sense. It's just two by fours with an attractively painted plywood facing toward the congregation (it really does look like a low wall, and matches the surroundings perfectly), and some sound foam on the side facing the kit. The cymbals stick up above the wall, but basically all they see is me from the chest up, and the cymbals. I like the fact that it takes the focus off what the drummer is doing, but they still see him there and hear him. Kick is mic'ed and a mic between the hi hat and snare. They generally keep the board volume on the drums at minimum. It gives the kit some punch without being overpowering.

Just another alternative to a shield, without the sound problems that a shield creates, and in this situation it works really well.

-Norske

[pastor_bob]

Good to see you again Norske, and thanks for the input on the shield. I've gone back and forth on the idea, but then it seems like everyone hates them. I use in ears monitors to protect my hearing during practices, and to make sure I can hear what I need to hear during the performances. Recently, I started using a couple of overhead condenser mics (Audix f-15's) to go with the kick drum mic that I had been using (just a cheap CAD mic), and I found that my dynamics are better now that I can hear the full kit in my ears.

[Texdrumr]

Ack! I just got asked to sit in with a Christian Rock band for two upcoming gigs. This Sunday is the first! 5 new songs to learn by Sunday morning and the first time I will play with these guys...is at sound check about and hour before we play. Juuuust a little nervous.

The other is with the same band, but next weekend at a Men's Wild Game Banquet. 13 songs to learn from that one.

I'm excited, love the challenge, but a little nervous too!

Tex

[longgun]

Ack! I just got asked to sit in with a Christian Rock band for two upcoming gigs. This Sunday is the first! 5 new songs to learn by Sunday morning and the first time I will play with these guys...is at sound check about and hour before we play. Juuuust a little nervous.

The other is with the same band, but next weekend at a Men's Wild Game Banquet. 13 songs to learn from that one.

I'm excited, love the challenge, but a little nervous too!

Tex

Good Luck Tex

[Ciz]

Another consideration has to be the band blending together. If the band is not loud enough to "cover" the drums, you'll always stand out, and that's not what you want at all. To get a good sound mix is difficult enough, but if all the congregation hears is drums, it's like listening to a bad garage band.

Lol! That's funny, I used the garage band term this Sunday

Once you show them that they don't have to crack the walls, and that they can actually sound better without a shield, you've won the battle.

You'd think. My pastor knows exactly how I feel about them, why I feel that way about them, and I've even showed him the differences. He's aware that we would probably sound better without the shield, however there are way too many people that would complain about it, and he's personally asked me to just leave it up for awile longer. More or less to just keep conflict down for now. We're rebuilding our stage in a few months, so we're going to fight that "battle" then. It's a shame there's a battle to fight in the first place

Good Luck Tex

1+! That's awesome!