Sound
Who’s in control of the volume?
Right at the heart of a great band mix is getting the relative levels of each instrument and vocalist right and getting the overall volume right. But what about when one instrument is outside of your control? What about when they are the loudest instrument?
In my experience, this is often the situation in our churches. Unless you’re using electronic drums or your church is big enough to mic the drums, your drummer is playing live to the room and therefore he or she sets the volume for the whole mix. If the drummer is too loud, then either they drown out everyone else, or you push everyone else up and the neighbours start complaining about the loud music.
So here’s my top 5 strategies for ‘mixing’ the drums.
5. Get a quiet kit. Some drums and cymbals are louder than others. Get a set that isn’t so loud.
4. Use a drum screen.
3. Ask the drummer to use brushes or hotrods rather than sticks. Drummers usually hate this, but it helps a lot.
2. Turn the fold-back speakers down. By the time you have a bunch of amps on stage for guitars, keys, bass and a few foldback wedges for the vocals, there can be a lot of noise on the stage. This forces everyone to turn themselves up so they can hear themselves which compounds the problem. There should be a minimum of noise coming from the stage. Get all the instruments to turn down their amps so they can just hear themselves. This will encourage, and enable, your drummer to come down as well.
1. Ask the drummer to hit softer.
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4 comments for “Who’s in control of the volume?”
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i think your order is wrong.
Ask the drummer to play quieter should be number 1, its alot cheaper than a drum screen, brushes, or a new kit.
and don’t turn the foldback down, then you become a narky ass, just ask the rest of the band if they wouldn’t mind turning down, the foldback needs to be heard if you want a happy band and for them to sing in tune.
Hey Rich,
Thanks for your comment. You are right – asking the drummer to go easy is the first – and cheapest – thing to do.
(They are kind of in reverse order, although I didn’t think much about the order. The numbering is confusing.)
i think if you can’t get drum mics, get all the other instruments louder – seriously.
I don’t know many drummers who would be happy at all with hitting softer. And I know many drummers who would go out of time if they tried to hit softer.
Hotrods would be number one, but Dave has a good point, what’s wrong with loud music?