Two drummers

A

andy craig

Freshman
Mar 31, 2011
18
0
1
Hi all.

The act I'm working with uses a percussion player who occasionally plays along with the main drummer on a regular drum kit.
They are not playing to click, so they are not always locking together, and some kick and snare hits are sounding a bit 'flammy', to coin a phrase.

Any ideas? I've tried gating kick drum B via a key from kick drum A, but that hasn't been that successful.

I'm inclined to treat it as a visual thing and mute Kit B, but if anyone has any suggestions, I'll give it a crack.

Chur,
Andy.
 
Re: Two drummers

Yo

Whats the monitoring situation between the 2 drummers..... Im tempted to say they are having trouble keeping in time due to the distance between them if they don't have any of each other in the opposite wedges. even if its just a bit of Snare and hats for time. might be enough to get them to lock together tighter. I have had this before with bands that have 2 drummers.

Just a thought

Kim
 
Re: Two drummers

Kim Watson said:
Yo

Whats the monitoring situation between the 2 drummers..... Im tempted to say they are having trouble keeping in time due to the distance between them if they don't have any of each other in the opposite wedges. even if its just a bit of Snare and hats for time. might be enough to get them to lock together tighter. I have had this before with bands that have 2 drummers.

Just a thought

Kim
Click to expand...

+1

Another thing that might help is making sure that the percussion player has clear line-of-sight to the main drummer (and can see the snare head)
 
Re: Two drummers

so if this is just sometimes it is a bit "flammy" then wouldn't that be ok? i mean if you had two drummers but out the front it sounded like one drummer then whats the piont. I have been listening to Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East"( i think that is the album....) but they have two drummer and you can hear that they dont always hit together but that is why it works and sounds so good.

I dont think you have much to worry about.

cheers dave
 
Re: Two drummers

Thanks for the replies.

I don't think it's a monitoring issue; both players are on IEMs.
What I'll try at rehearsal tomorrow is a mute of kick drum B, and hard pan the snares and hats.
I already have the hats panned a little, but I'll get a bit more extreme and hopefully that will work.
Thanks again, I'll let you know how it works out.
Chur,
andy.
 
Re: Two drummers

David Luscombe said:
so if this is just sometimes it is a bit "flammy" then wouldn't that be ok? i mean if you had two drummers but out the front it sounded like one drummer then whats the piont. I have been listening to Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East"( i think that is the album....) but they have two drummer and you can hear that they dont always hit together but that is why it works and sounds so good.

I dont think you have much to worry about.

cheers dave
Click to expand...

Butch plays the "meat" of the songs, Jaimoe the counterpoints. What would be the point if both drummers played the same thing all night long?
Edit: Big ABB fan
 
Re: Two drummers

Why mess with it at all? Let the band sound the way they sound unless they're asking you to manipulate it. Occasionally I do sound for a Grateful Dead tribute band. Two drummers. I just mic them up and go. If they're not dead on in parts, so be it. It's up to them to be tight - or not.
 
Re: Two drummers

A guy I work with a couple times a year says this:

"Everything gets a mic. Whether or not you turn it on is up to you."
 
Re: Two drummers

Dick Rees said:
A guy I work with a couple times a year says this:

"Everything gets a mic. Whether or not you turn it on is up to you."
Click to expand...

I tend to mic everything as well that a lot of guy that work in my venue don't. Things like snare bottom, overheads, HH, individual percussion instruments, etc. They'll use maybe one overhead, never do do the snare bottom, use one OH mic on a percussionist. I find more often than not, I'll use all the mics I place even if it's just bit. The extra control and clarity of instruments is well worth the extra effort. I think the other guys don't do it out of an attitude of laziness or that 'marginally ok' is good enough. Though the venue isn't huge, there is certainly a benefit going the 'extra mile' in my opinions. And it seems the bands and the audiences notice based on the feedback I get.
 
Re: Two drummers

Kemper Watson said:
Butch plays the "meat" of the songs, Jaimoe the counterpoints. What would be the point if both drummers played the same thing all night long?
Edit: Big ABB fan
Click to expand...

Thats is excatly what i meant when i said, "what is the piont of having two drummers if out the front they sound like one drummer" !
 
Top Bottom