Custom Drum Hardware Blog

The challenge with drummers and bands managing stage volume at live shows all begins during practice with the fine art of setting proper levels, using your PA system as it was designed, living by decibel metering, and understanding song dynamics. But in the end, good, consistent sound levels all start and end with the drummer.

LEARN STICK CONTROL

If you as a drummer play your skins too loudly or softly, there are some practice techniques you can use to begin mastering stick control. First, the legendary instructional book “Stick Control” by George Lawrence Stone is a must-have for any serious drummer. I still practice from that book 30 years after hitting my first head. If teaching books don’t float your snare wires, try learning – or re-learning – traditional rudiments and paradiddles from a plethora of online resources until you can consistently accent each stick strike with both your left and right hands and feet fluently. Once mastered, you will be able to easily control your sound levels and become a much better drummer in the process.

RUN DIRECT INTO YOUR PA

If your guitarist and bassist are still cranking the volume, stick control mastery is a mute point. If you don’t have a sound guy hired to keep levels consistent without blowing eardrums, there are some techniques you can employ to get a good EQ. If your PA system allows, try miking all guitar and bass amps and running those signals through a pre-amp direct into your board. You will still use your on-stage amps at lower levels, but they will serve more as monitors than the only amplification devices for your stringed instruments. At larger venue gigs, the same theory really applies to miking at least your kick and snare drum – and one or two ambient overhead mics – if you are lucky. I know many bands that run everything through the PA – even at rehearsals – and “hide” their own amps on stage by pointing them inward or at different angles toward the band to reduce overall stage volume.
The PA system is your friend if you use it correctly and purchase one with at least 8 channels and proper wattage for your musical needs. If your guitar amp isn’t able to run directly into the PA, I have been in bands where the guitarist will use a smaller wattage amp, mic it through the PA and then run it at lower volume.
It all starts and ends with the amp’s volume knobs, however. More often than not, there is not enough PA gear to go around at gigs, so it usually results in a mix of amps running direct in and ones that are self amplified. My advice: Guitarists and bassists who play the loudest should run direct in and use on-stage monitors to control sound output.
Another option is to both mic and line out your amp into the PA. Beware of running too many things into on stage floor monitors, however, as they tend to muddy up the entire sound and confuse the overall leveling process. Another option is to try using in-ear monitors or headphones to beat the floor monitor balancing challenges. Bass carries more than any other instrument in a band so if you continue to have issues with volume, try EQing the bass amp so it is more mid-range highlighting attack and punch than its low end.

VOCALISTS SHOULD EAT THE MIC

Vocal levels also play a crucial role in your band’s overall sound integration. Whether your singer screams or whispers, vocals should have the low end rolled off quite a bit on the board. And technique plays a vital role, too. Vocalists should almost be eating the microphone while singing, thus reducing how much gain you apply to that channel and prevent leakage from other instruments to reduce feedback problems.

GET SOFTER

The other tip bands regularly employ is just to not play so darn loud all the time. Dynamics are a fundamental ingredient of overall musicality and composition. You should talk regularly about dynamics as they apply to each song. Levels should rise and fall several times in any given tune to express and accentuate the different parts. If you find your ears ringing at the end of rehearsals or gigs, your band played too loudly all night.
Drum and guitar Plexiglas shields, which Gibraltar Hardware just released new products for, are also another good tool to use live to control on stage volume and capture the true essence of your drum shell and guitar amp sounds.
If all else fails, buy a decibel meter if your stage – and practice – volume continues to be an issue, and live by your desired settings – preferably 10db lower than your current maximum levels. Mount the meter so all bandmates can see it while playing.
Ultimately, if you as a drummer can’t hear the vocals or other instruments clearly, YOU are the one playing too loudly.

- Tim Kane is an independent drummer, instructor and writer living in Massachusetts. He writes a regular blog for Gibraltar Hardware.