In the “Sound Advice” series of articles I discuss all the crucial things I wish act members would know about the sound engineer’s perspective to make our common goal of having a great sounding show more hassle and tension free. This one will focus on drums and drummers.

Drum sound is one of the most prevailing and all-consuming topics in live sound. Whenever I attend webinars, lectures or seminars given by engineers, or even during my teaching experience, most people want to know how to get a great sounding drum. This is partly because a drum kit is in most cases the most complex instrument on stage we have to tackle, partly because having a great sounding drum translates into a great sounding show. The beat element in music is so primal and so rooted in our bodies that we tend to intently focus on it as listeners, which means that sound engineers across the globe spend hours and hours of their time getting the drum sound just right. That being said, drummers can make our jobs much easier if they know what can help us get there.

Great drum sound comes from a great sounding drum

I have said it many times, and in this case it rings particularly true - great sound through a PA system comes from a great sounding source. I always consider the speaker system as a magnifying glass for sound: even minor imperfections at the source levels become painfully obvious when amplified. The more space the drum has in a mix, the more obvious they are. Making sure the drum kit is in perfect working condition is a key element for success. All hardware tightened and checked for unwanted rattling noises, new drum heads, proper tuning (not just tone, but sustain as well), cymbal selection - it can all make or break your drum sound. There is no EQ or exciter or compressor or a magic wand in the world that I have on the console that can make a dull sounding snare sound right, if a drum head is worn out. We can maybe mask some stuff in the mix, but with the beat being such a prominent element of any mix, it is impossible to make it sound great with a bad sound at the source. So have your drum kit stage ready, change drum heads regularly, keep your pedals and the rest of the hardware in top shape and don’t forget about your drum throne. You would be amazed how many times I had intimate acoustic sets ruined when at the end of an emotional song a drummer shifts in their chair and there is a loud metallic shriek that ruins the magic for everyone in the room.

Bring tools to adjust the drum kit sound on the spot

I know, I know, if you are a drummer, you already have tons of gear to schlep around, you already need the most time to set up and tear down your rig, and now I am asking you to bring more stuff with you? Well, yes. I don’t want you to go nuts and have another van of gear with you, but here are the essentials that, honestly, you should already be carrying with you: 

• Drum keys(!) for tuning your drums - notice the plural here. If there is an emergency that needs to be addressed either during sound check or during the show, you need to have one of those puppies in reach at all times. And since they are prone to accompanying guitar picks to the Bermuda Triangle or wherever things go when they get lost, you should have more than one on you at all times. 

• Moon gels and other drum head dampening options - you might like the long sustaining sound of your toms, but sometimes it just doesn’t work when amplified. Having proper solutions to address that ringing at the source can prevent sound engineers from using excessive settings on gates, making your drums sound more natural, giving you more dynamic range to play with during your performance.

• Cymbal dampening magnets and/or professional gaff tape that doesn’t leave residue on cymbals and a roll of toilet paper - I don’t have to list all the benefits of having a roll of toilet paper on you, but one of them is that it works very well for dampening overbearing cymbals in smaller venues. You can simply tape a piece of it to the underside of the cymbal. It is advisable to protect your cymbals from unprofessional tape that would leave sticky residue by bringing your own and using it at the request of the sound engineer. If you want to go for the pricier option, you can get the professional cymbal-dampening magnets - whether or not you still decide to bring toilet paper is then completely up to you…

• Spare drum heads and other spare parts you think you might need - even if you change your drum heads regularly, it is always prudent to have some spares, especially for the snare drum. Live shows are unpredictable beasts with lots of moving parts. One wrong move and something sharp might come in contact with a drum head, rendering it unusable. Although you can’t prepare for everything that might happen, you can bring a show to an end without one of the toms, but probably not without a snare, so have at least that one with you. Here is a tip: maybe have a different style/type of drum head - that way you can experiment with various sounds and see which one works the best when amplified.

• Working cables (and spares) for all your backing tracks player, click, mixers, etc. - working with a drum kit on its own can easily take up 10 or more channels on the console. Adding backing tracks and metronome lines on top of that increases the amount of work needed to get the drummer set up. If we are constantly having signals cutting in and out because of bad cables or plugs, that work load goes through the roof. If you are using and controlling a backing track rig or triggering samples, make sure you have your needed outputs and/or cables properly marked with channel numbers that correspond to your most updated technical rider AND names of channels. That way we can keep the guessing game to the minimum and have all our connections done in the least amount of time.

Be mindful of your surroundings when setting up

When you are setting up your drums on stage, be aware of your surroundings. If you see a sound engineer or a stage hand setting up microphones on your drum kit, show them respect by not playing when their ears are inches away from an extremely loud sound source. I know that you need to check where everything is positioned and you have to adjust for accuracy and comfort, but waiting 15 seconds until a kick mic is placed and connected before you go on a double kick quest for speed will be much appreciated. Especially with younger and less experienced drummers that seems to be one thing that starts a lot of bad blood with sound guys. Trust me, we can mix shows much better if we are not bleeding out of our ears while doing it. At least a “heads up” warning is in order, so we can maybe wear protective ear plugs or simply move away until you are done setting up.

Bring your A-game to sound check 

I can imagine how boring it must be to just play the kick drum during sound check. But I promise you that when we tell you to play a kick drum, we want to hear the kick drum and ONLY the kick drum. So if you decide to go into a crazy beat for the next 16 bars, we will just wind up exactly where we were, me asking you to play the kick drum, because I need to hear just that. A bit of discipline during sound check can make things move along much faster. Keep your hits consistent and at a volume that you will be using during the show (through the louder parts). That allows us to quickly set input gain levels and work out any issues with the drum kit. A major issue we experience on a daily basis is what I call a “two-faced” drummer. The first personality is present during sound check, where the hits are done with an air of “don’t care, let’s just move along” attitude. The second one gets revealed during the show where the drums are immensely louder with all of the adrenaline rushing in, making you hit harder and effectively making all our sound check work useless. My advice - even if you are playing one element of the drum kit, imagine playing through a song you really like from the set list as if you were already on a gig. That can help you keep the consistency and have a great sounding drum kit from the top of the show. 

What about monitoring?

Let’s repeat the obvious: drums are quite a loud instrument. As a drummer you should be aware of that and take every precaution to keep your hearing intact. Instead of just buying sound dampening head gear, I strongly recommend a good pair of IEM headphones that have to be moulded to your ear. These custom builds are necessary if you want to have the low end information properly present in your mix and if you want to keep the leakage of your surrounding environment to a minimum. Having said that, I still see way too many drummers wearing IEMs to “protect their hearing”, only to then blast ungodly amounts of click levels into their earphones. So just as a PSA, I feel obliged to say- don’t. Not only can it damage your hearing, but it cuts you off from the other band members, not letting you respond to musical cues. The best approach seems to be to put the click off center and/or at such a level that you can only detect it if you are out of sync with it. If you are not wearing IEMs and are still relying on wedges, try figuring out what is the lowest level you can work with comfortably. Since the drum kit is miced up with so many microphones, the feed from your wedge can get picked up by your overhead microphones, hi-hat mic, or any other microphone close to your wedge. If there is no dedicated sub for the drum fill, the chances of getting a nice, beefy kick from your wedge are very slim. In that case, don’t go too heavy on the low end, but instead focuson the higher frequencies of the kick drum for accuracy and try leaving out all other elements of the drum if possible. Especially in smaller clubs and venues, try establishing a good monitoring environment from amps on stage (bass, guitar) by changing their position and volume, so that all band members can feel pretty comfortable playing even without monitors, then just fill in the missing parts (keyboards and vocals). It makes for a better playing environment, because you can play more dynamically and better respond to what is going on on stage.

Building a great relationship with the sound engineer starts with these basic tips. Keep the conversation open and ask if there is anything else you can do on your end to better the sound. After all, you and the audience are placed on the opposite sides of a very loud beast of an instrument, which can often influence the way you perceive your sound as opposed to how everyone else will hear it. Sometimes it will actually come down to someone asking you to play differently (“Can you try playing the hi hat softer?” seems to be a popular demand). Think about your playing style if these demands are recurring. They can actually provide great tips for your practice sessions and furthering your skills.