Low-volume Drumset… an Oxymoron (kind of).
OK. First and foremost, I will admit, I am a hard-hitter. And my drums are LOUD (that is an understatement)! It can tend to be a problem on occasion, especially on the low volume gigs in small spaces.
So… I’m on a new mission…I’m going to put together a drum kit that is naturally a low volume kit (hopefully).
Now some of you may think that’s a oxymoron – a drum set that is not loud – but I think it can be done. You see, different woods/materials have different sound characteristics. For instance, I owned a set of Ludwig Vistalites back in the day. Vistalites are made from Plexiglas, they were the loudest drum set I have ever owned. I just got a great deal on a Gretsch Catalina Club Rock kit that is made of Mahogany, and much to my my surprise, the kick drum and toms are much softer sounding than my PDP Maple LX or MX kit. I have also heard that Birch drums are loud, but I have no experience with that.
As far as cymbals, I recently began to checkout Dream Cymbals (I’ve always been a Zildjian guy), but there is something intriguing about the sound of these cymbals. They remind me of the old Zildjians from the 50′s and 60′s. I recently bought a set of 14″ Bliss Hi-Hats, and was amazed to find that next to my 13″ Zildjian K/Z hats, they are much quieter.
So here’s what I’m doing… a small jazz BeBop kit (18′ or 20′ kick, 12″ tom, 14″ tom) made of Mahogany, and a set of Dream Bliss cymbals. Certainly the new 14″ Bliss hats are going to be a part of this setup. The main requirement of this set… low cost. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Drum technology has really come a long way in recent years, and even cheap drums in the hands of a drummer who understands drumhead selection and tuning can sound pretty phenomenal!
There may be hope for this old rocker after all. Stay tuned…
Hey Jeff,
I was considering starting a low volume drummer blog and in my poking around found your comments on the subject. I am a drummer and thought that in the past I was a heavy hitter, which turned out not to be true compared to some very good but very loud local drummers. For the past 15 years though I have downsized my kit considerably, which makes for a more comfortable setup (for example: my hi hats are 12″ and my biggest crash is a 15″). I’ve also in that 15 years learned how to play in a relatively lively way at lower volumes, using a little more finess – which is really fun! It just doesn’t make sense to play at high volumes. And everyone who hears our band play comments on how pleasant it is to listen to us AND how irritating it is to listen to other bands that play so increibly loud. And when you break it all down, the bands volume is set by the drummer, which can create huge problems, or can make playing fun. But your comments touched on some areas that I hadn’t thought of in bringing my kit volume down – choices of wood, cymbals, etc. However I haven’t the “luxury” of spending a lot of money on maximizing that effort, so I just expirement and do the best I can with what I have (and I’ve done pretty well). I hope to purchase a new kit in the next year and am interested in finding out every detail of how the kit/I can maintain a low volume while balancing it with a great sound. I may go ahead with starting my blog, but I just want to say thanks for sharing your thoughts on the subject – your comments immediately set me on a different course of making my choices when I do purchase my new kit. I am interested in finding out more of your experiences and will do my own research as well on the subject.
Thanks SO much for sharing!
Mike
Comment by Mike Dupuis — December 12, 2010 @ 1:23 pm
Mike, thanks for your comments! Just this weekend I did a gig with an acoustic blues band and a classic rock band, and my Gretsch Catalina Club kit ($350.00 on ebay) amazed me! On Friday using a combination of brushes and Blasticks, I was able to keep the drums perfectly balanced with an acoustic guitar, dobro, harmonica and bass. Then Saturday, I took the same kit to a very small club with lots of hard solid surfaces, and got lots of comments on the great drum sound… even the Bar manager was happy with our level (and that has never happened!) Good luck with the research, and feel free to post a link to your new blog. I’d love to follow your progress.
Comment by admin — December 13, 2010 @ 9:32 am