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maybe a rental kit? keep practicing mentally while away from your kit and get all the band practice you can till the show.
First Live Preformance
I've played many a gig as a guitarist but since our drummer just quit I have been draughted to drums for the time being. There's a gig in about three weeks and because of location problems I'll only be able to jam 3 4-hour slots between then and now. So here's a few questions seeming as this will be my first live preformance as a drummer (I'm bricking it by the way)
Is there anything in particular I should be aware of with regards drumming live?
Is there any practise methods you could reccommend since I live far away from my kit?
I own a ****ty drumkit with cymbals that you wouldn't use to cover a bin, do you think i should invest in a kit and blow all my college money for this one gig or should i just borrow a kit...?
Thanks,
El Mex
maybe a rental kit? keep practicing mentally while away from your kit and get all the band practice you can till the show.
maple goodness......
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...12802333_l.jpg
yep start the show on guitar rip a monster lead lick off the top of the show, make a huge deal that the drummer has not shown up then put down the guitar and jump behind the kit. Everyone will love ya even if you suck.
Rule one, do not play over your head, keep it simple and enjoy the moment!
You can survive with a bad kit but if at all possible get your hands on some decent cymbals for the night.
thats a great idea ratmycue! I've been playing drums for a few years now but i've never played live. only trouble is i'll have to bring the guitar equipment as well as the drum stuff. but it'll be worth it.
No prob dude, if its a young hip crowd not only will you get the gals who go for the axe thrasher you will also get the sensible lasses who dig the drummer, and we all know its about 90% of them anyway. If you were close by I would even lend ya my kit.Originally Posted by mexicancounciloffood
Ya if by anychance ireland is nearby...heheh
its a university gig. i'm guessing 300 people. thats more people i've played to ever. its during the day in the college bar as part of er...rainbow week.
thanks for the advice.
Im across the pond sry dude. have a great gig.
My advice is to have 3-4 glasses of whiskey before you get on the scene so everything will sound better (at least to you)
Just find to lend two good cymbals (crash Ride) don't spend money for only a gig
Keep On Drumming
woah dude im from ireland, if its nearby id go see it!!
oh and the best advice i can give you is keep it simple to the pint where your comfortable doing whatever your doing, theres no need to be dave grohl on your first gig, that comes with confidence and time playing live shows
Got to stop hitting my self in the face with those drumsticks!!
First Live Performance!
Hey, El Mex! Haven't shouted at ya lately!
Can you get hold of a practice pad? funky's got a great idea about practicing mentally, but if you can grab a couple of sticks, you can translate the mental to the physical and get comfortable with it. Upgrade the cymbals if nothing else...but don't sell your soul to do it!
Most of all, relax! I wouldn't make a big deal out of the fact your drummer just quit...no need to borrow trouble when you don't have to--although if your crowd knows ya as an axe man, you might do as ratmycue suggests...spring the surprise on them toward the start...start with guitar and have another mate take a solo while you jump behind the set...
Keep the beat goin', but keep it simple...if you get more comfortable as the gig goes along, you can add a few fills here and there, but don't overplay this one...
I'll raise a glass to ya in absentia, okay?(It's a long way to Ireland at this time of the year)
Good luck, mate!
keep the beat goin' ... Don't keep it to yourself!
Charlie
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." --Henry David Thoreau, "Walden," 1854
"There's a lot to be said for Time Honored tradition and value." --In memory of Frank "fiacovaz" Iacovazzi
"Maybe your drums can be beat, but you can't."--Jack Keck
mulla i'm from Cark bai! But i'm in dungarvan at the mo. its on in ucc
im from limerick, go to college in tralee but id be tempted go to see it if it didnt affect me too much!
Got to stop hitting my self in the face with those drumsticks!!
heheheh...yeah...no luck renting equipment so far. I was going to go to college in tralee but i ended up going to waterford
First Live Performance
Hey, El Mex, I have to laugh...when I see "Tralee," I instantly think of "The Rose of..." (sorry, mate, but we Yanks don't know Ireland as much as we'd like.) And "Waterford," of course, is synonymous with "crystal" the world over!
Actually, some of my dad's relatives came from Wales and/or Ireland, but I'll be darned if I know which part...guess that's where I get my knack for blarney...
keep the beat goin' ... Don't keep it to yourself!
Charlie
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." --Henry David Thoreau, "Walden," 1854
"There's a lot to be said for Time Honored tradition and value." --In memory of Frank "fiacovaz" Iacovazzi
"Maybe your drums can be beat, but you can't."--Jack Keck
hahahaha, I live near blarney... you kiss the blarney stone and you get the gift of the gab or the ability to talk loads...
Whoo....played my first gig as a drummer! What an experience....its just so unbelievably different from playin the guitar up on stage....(for obvious as well as not so obvious reasons!)
Was it all you hoped it would be? and now that you have played both guitar and drums on stage, which would you rather play all the time now?
Ya, I'm curious as well. How'd it go? Did you borrow some cymbals or just give it hell with what you had?
Ernie S.
I got a ludwig kit off my friend.
Cymbals: Meinl Byzance bright crash, Meinl MCS 16" crash and a Meinl MCS ride. Rythym Tech 15" Ribbon Crasher, 10" cowbell. Sonor Cast-Series Hi-Hats but I ended up using Zildjian ZBTs.
Last time I saw the kit it was in really good condition. This time....er not so good.
1: As my friend had lost his top hi hat (including the clutch) he didn't give me his bottom Meinl hat just the stand. I decided I would use my own clutch. 50 mins before the gig and I realised not all clutches are the same width...uh oh.. had to get a taxi to my other friends house pick up his stand and ZBTs. that was ok but costly.
2: Not sure if his skins had ever been changed. there was plastic tape all over the heads which was peeling off. They sounded like those plasticy ones you get with a low end kit. except these ones were beaten within an inch of their lives. shortage of e-rings too so pretty much all the kit sounded pants.
3: No catches for the cymbals. the stands were falling to pieces. I was surprised that none of the cymbals fell off.
4: I had been practising on a sonor Fusion (the smaller version) 5 piece with an extra normal sized floor tom. The ludwig kit I got was presumably low-end and full size. the second tom was missing due to someone converting it into a smoking device. So I ended up with a 4 piece (regular sized kit) with an extra floor tom which was exactly the same size as the other floor tom. No time for a tune up so I made the best with what I had.
I think if I had had a different kit I would have enjoyed and played the gig much better. I wasn't used to the kit I was given at all but i understand that and am now dreaming of a Tama Mirage Starclassic Ice finish with frosted white hardware! It basically worked out like so: Yeah I'm playing the beat woo this is fantastic! Oh here comes the fill. ..ok first tom and a seco...ok I have no second tom...better go to the floor tom and then to the other floor tom which sound the same...oh too late I've messed it up. bugger.
Also I had never played a micced up kit. All of a sudden this massive bass drum appeared out Of nowhere. I like. but some of the mics got in the way and i hit em....
by the way despite the poor state of the kit i was still grateful to my friend for bailing me out of a sticky situation.
As a conclusion
Despite the fact that everything that could have gone wrong went wrong on the drum kit side of things I enjoyed the drums. They give you a bit more shelter from the audience which guitaring doesn't. Although I do love the running around onstage and jumping off stuff parts. I firmly believe now that drumming is the most important part of a live preformance. with vocals second , bass third and guitar least important. (Obviously i'm generalising here and taking for granted that all band members have some form of skill with their instrument) Because Of the rythymic and loud nature of drum most mess ups I think will be noticed. Also percussion is really the odd one out in a band. if you mess up on guitar generally you can rough it up as much as you want as long as you have a solid rythym section in my opinion. But every band is different and it depends on what skill you want to aspire to and which direction you want to take.
I like running around on stage with a guitar. I hate sitting down on drums.
I like being slightly hidden from the audience on drums. I don't like when a gig goes bad and you're standing up on stage as tall as I am with a guitar looking like an idiot.
I like the tonal range that can be achieved from guitar. I dislike the tonal limitations of a kit when you don't have you;re ideal setup.
I hate the messyness of guitar cables and levels and effects and such. I love the simple concept of drumming - Hit Drum Make Noise.
I hate not being able to sing while playing drums but I love the fact that I can play a unique instrument as well as guitar.
I love the way I can play two instruments and understand the two hence being able the influence the songwriting process more.
I love being an essential element as a drummer. I hate being at war with the other guitarist while playing.
I hate the fact that I just bought a 100watt Peavey Valveking stack and wireless system for guitar which is now rendered redundant by the fact that the band has asked me to play drums full time.
I love the fact that I can see how big an ego the guitarist /bassist has onstage. But i hate the fact that i have to deal with it.
I love being able to take my time on guitar and improvise this and that with ease. I hate the fact that drumming is exhausting and improvising generally makes you work harder. then you sweat and smell after the gig much worse than the other members.
I love that you can pick up a cheap guitar and it'll probably sound ok but I hate that a good drumkit costs a lot of money and you get no thanks for it.
I'm undecided yet as to whether i should focus on drums or guitar. but I really would like to continue with drums as I feel my guitar playing has been made redundant in the band. But I have just bought that massive amp and won't be able to afford a semi decent kit for a long time.
great response mex I really enjoyed the follow up, now what everyone really wants to know.............................................. ...
did you get a lot more lasses after you, coz you are the cool drummer?
First Live Performance
Hey, El Mex! I raise another glass to you in absentia, mate!
It sounded to me like you almost put your last post in the wrong thread (I was thinking "it's more like it should go into 'The most embarrassing experience that happened to you as a drummer.'")
And as you balanced the pros and the cons of guitar vs. drums, I thought "uh oh, we're losin' a drummer"--UNTIL ya mentioned that the purchase of your Valvestack is "totally redundant!"
Each instrument has its pluses and minuses (yeah, even the drums, dude!)--but the fact they want you as a steady drummer is
Congratulations, bro'!Rock da drums, Mex! Rock da drums!
keep the beat goin' ... Don't keep it to yourself!
Charlie
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." --Henry David Thoreau, "Walden," 1854
"There's a lot to be said for Time Honored tradition and value." --In memory of Frank "fiacovaz" Iacovazzi
"Maybe your drums can be beat, but you can't."--Jack Keck
Thanks for the post Mex, I felt like I was there with you bud, cringing and excited for you at the same time. We've all had those type gigs in our lives. Just pick you self up and dust yourself off, you survived and you don't have anywhere to go but up from here. keep drumming there is nothing like it when it is good it is euphoric, when it is bad it is the lowest of lows. But I always come back for more.
Mex, thanks for that blow by blow account of the gig, and the analyisis of drums vs. guitar! I have not played my drums live yet, but I have done that with the guitar, so I can imagine what it must have been like once you sat down at the kit, and the "nerves" hit you. I'm sure it got worse right after the first mistake. The good news is that you seem to have brought it under control and worked through it all, so you will have come out the other end much stronger for the experience. Hang in there! With all the support that I have received recently for my question about growing on both guitar and drums, I have come to the conclusion that being able to relate to the guitarists, as a drummer, or being able to relate to the drummer, as a guitarist is a very valuable thing. No matter which way you go, this experience will be something that no one will ever be able to take away from you, and you have become a more valuable member of a band!
Quoting gonefishin: Just have some bacon with ya when you go pick her up..........youre an instant chick magnet.
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