What to do for loud drummer?

[lttoler]

I play guitar in a Top 40 cover band doing all styles of rock. We recently got a new drummer which is an old friend. He plays well but is like 3 times louder than our old drummer. I know this will be too loud for some of the smaller pubs and bars that we play in. He bought smaller sticks and used them at the last practice and I can tell that helped significantly but it isnt there yet. Would some kind of padding in the drums and maybe tape or something similar on the cymbals help? If so, what should I be looking for? Thanks in advance!

[yohin]

Tell him to play softer.

[Russ]

Putting dampeners of any kind, doesn't reduce the volume only the length of the sustain of the sound source. The loudness will still be there after muffling. Some music needs another Travis Barker to make it work, but if you think he's too loud tell him to get a handle on it. One technique I use to keep the volume down, is keeping my sticks closer to the drum/cymbal as much as possible. Seems to be working well.

[drummer]

Turn down your amplifier and he won't need to get over top of it.

(Sorry, I'm half deaf because of guitar players. That's no joke!)

Seriously, it is hard for some drummers to play softer but it is achievable. As diplomatically as you can, talk to him about playing dynamically. Pro drummers are able to adapt to a room. It takes a lot of self-control but it can be done. The same with guitarists. For some reason, many guitarists have one volume (LOUD) no matter what room they play in.

[drummer]

Putting dampeners of any kind, doesn't reduce the volume only the length of the sustain of the sound source.

That's a contradiction Russ. If the length of sustain is reduced, the volume is reduced out front.

Some music needs another Travis Barker to make it work...

I don't agree with that at all.

One technique I use to keep the volume down, is keeping my sticks closer to the drum/cymbal as much as possible. Seems to be working well.

This works! I've used this trick for years to control my own volume when needed.

[Larrysperf]

Ditto

[ThePloughman]

Have an acoustic practice, and work with him till he can play and still hear the band. Adapt that to playing live.

[drummer]

Great advice Plough

[atomcorr2]

do what every guitar player does,, turn your amp up .. i also have hearing damage from guitar players ... just keep reminding to keep it down ,he'll get it.

[ThePloughman]

The guys I play with generally practice acoustically. The guitars are acoustic and unplugged, the bass player is plugged in but turned way way down, the electric piano is turned way down, I geneally use a snare and brushes, even though I will mostly be playing with sticks on a set at a gig. Granted that wont work for every kind of music, nor for all songs, but for the most part, it will teach discipline to all the band members. You will hear more and depend much less on gadgetry.

[nio]

Some drummers are more comfortable playing loud...its almost a style thing. You will find that drummers with jazz backgrounds typically play softer...which is preferred since you can always turn up the mics if needed. Anyway, have you considered electronic drums...no matter how hard he hits them, you can always control the volume. Good Luck !

[pastor_bob]

Welcome to Drum Chat lttoler!

If this guy is the drummer you want, and he is respectful of his bandmates, then you can help him be a more complete drummer by helping him learn to play dynamically. I like Ploughman's suggestion, because it will help all members of the band learn to listen to each other, and that can only be positive for band conhesiveness.

[xweasel]

I do what Drummer said - play to the size of the room. Unless I'm practising by myself in the drum room where I can really smash the drums :P

So tell your drummer to keep it down. Unless you guys playing in a big room, there's no need to play loudly. People will be able to hear his drums fine without him playing loudly.

[CrossPoint]

Get a set of electronic drums and turn his amp down, that way he can still beat the crap out of them if that is his style and still be kept under control.

[little_a]

I'm a loud drummer as well and a lot of that comes from me playing w bands who like their drummers to hit super hard. So I do play very loud at times but like pb said he needs to controlling the dynamics of his playing. To this day I have to watch how hard I'm playing on certain songs. He will get it you just have to keep reminding him. Also, this goes for myself, when I'm playing w my band what I'm hearing where I sit is different than what someone hears in the crowd. So slot times I'm thinkin I need to be louder to get over the guitarists amps but really I don't. If he's a solid drummer and keeps it in the pocket, just work with him. He will get it.

[AndyC]

Some good answers already.

Another thing, if he wants to play softer, but is struggling with the feel, or still wants the showmanship that comes with hitting hard, is to grip further down towards the tip of the stick. Holding the stick about halfway down, rather than 3/4 of the way back, greatly reduces the volume without changing the arm and hand movement.

Tape/Muffling on the drums will reduce the effective volume too, and of course the ultimate volume controlled drumkit would be an electric one.

On this clip:- [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTtd5NLtNO8"]YouTube- You Gotta Fight For The Right to Party[/ame] We are in a Tiny bar, and we are quite loud, but nowhere near as loud as it looks. This is a big pillow in the Bass drum, using smaller sticks, (7As rather than 5As or Bs) Full "O Ring" on the snare and floor tom, piece of tape on the small tom and the left hand stick in particular gripped further down the shaft. If we needed to be much quieter, I would usually use hot rods rather than sacrifice the "sweatin and Bleedin" aspect of a Drummer knocking heck out of a kit that I think Rock music needs. However, If I had to play quieter with sticks, I could, but then some of the visual aspect might be lost.

Andy

[backtodrum]

There has been some great advice expressed here. I think that it also comes with age and experience. Allot of the places we play are resturants and small jazz clubs, they are quite gigs and I use brushes and cool rods. I have learned to play quite mainly because of the tyoe places that I gig allot in. i think when your drummer plays the quiter venues that you are playing he will naturally tend to quite down. If he doesn't he problably will never learn to play well with any band and his giging career will come to a screetching halt. I am so conscious now of playing at low volumes my band will actually ask me on occasion to pick up the volume a little, I'll qulify that a little with, that happens only in the small unmiced venues.

[gonefishin]

[QUOTE=lttoler;279328]I play guitar in a Top 40 cover band doing all styles of rock. We recently got a new drummer which is an old friend. He plays well but is like 3 times louder than our old drummer. I know this will be too loud for some of the smaller pubs and bars that we play in. He bought smaller sticks and used them at the last practice and I can tell that helped significantly but it isnt there yet. Would some kind of padding in the drums and maybe tape or something similar on the cymbals help? If so, what should I be looking for? Thanks in advance! [/QUOTE

]Welcome to the board.

Tell him he is supposed to be playing with the band......not over it.

As already mentioned, he just needs to learn how to control his playing. A little self-control and some more experience behind the set and he will do just fine.

I do like Ploughmans suggestion too.