In Which I Flagellate Myself for Procrastination

It has been an inexcusably long time since I have posted to this blog. However, I assure you that it is not for lack of things to say! Instead, my time has been spent continually rushing from place to place, from task to task, from irreplaceable chunk of a rapidly passing and finite lifetime to irreplaceable...well, I think you get the idea.

I think that I may be too nice for my own good. Allow me to give you an example: I am an outspoken and dedicated atheist. I describe myself as a scientific atheist, meaning that I value observation and empirical evidence over other arguments but I am open to new findings and discussions, but that is besides the point. The reason that I say that I am too nice for my own good is that when my friend Shannon told me that the drummer for her church band was moving away and asked me to fill in temporarily, I said, "Sure!" 

It seems that "temporarily" is a subjective term. It has been months since I took over the position of house drummer, and there is no clear end in sight. And although I have been offered time and time again the opportunity to back out with grace, I have so far declined to do so. The reason being I would feel guilty leaving them in the lurch. This congregation thrives on its music. This is a church that gets on its feet and sings, approaches the altar with humility and openly weeps during the more moving choruses. ("With drums?" I hear you ask. Yes. With drums.) Even though my personal beliefs are not hinged upon the success of this particular Sunday morning event, I would feel personally responsible if I left them disadvantaged. 

To add to the discomfort, the fact that I am an atheist seems to have gotten out through the grapevine, and recently I have had a few people come up to me after service and ask if they could pray over me to help me find Jesus. Now, I don't want to sit through this. It's uncomfortable and I find myself feeling embarrassed for the person doing the praying for the sheer absurdity of the concept that by laying a hand on my head and muttering some words I might have a sudden and overwhelming change of heart. However, I can't refuse! And the reason is, as mentioned before, I am too nice for my own good. These people aren't trying to make me uncomfortable or make me feel unwelcome or substandard - in fact, it is the exact opposite. These are good people, and they genuinely feel that what they are doing is going to help me. They like me and they want me to share in this passion of theirs that has brought them joy. I can't deny them the right to make a kind gesture to someone, that would be like reacting to a proffered hand by spitting in it. On the other hand, if I were to arrive at church one day with free copies of The God Delusion for everyone, they would all be offended because I would be "attacking their beliefs." It's an unfair double standard, but at the end of the day I'm too nice to do anything about it. 

I suppose that in the long run being the nice guy is the best policy. In the short run, however, it does feel like I have to bend over backwards a lot.

Precision Drums!

This is very exciting news for me! I have been endorsed by Precision Drums. I spent forever figuring out what I wanted in a drum set and hashing out the design, then the built it for me and let me tell you - it sounds great. There are pictures of it at http://precisiondrum.com/html/endorsers.html, and I'm reposting the testimonial that I wrote for them here. If you're a drummer I highly recommend thinking about getting a snare drum or a whole drum set made by Precision - they can do anything you can imagine, and playing a drum that is a product of your own imagination is a thoroughly fulfilling experience.

Here's the blurb I wrote for Precision:

Let’s start with a simple statement of fact: Precision Drums are awesome. My set is the most responsive, beautiful sounding, and beautiful looking kit that I have ever played. The finish is striking and masterfully done. In fact, as soon as I have them out of the cases, I have people coming up to ask me who made them.

As to the details of the construction of the drums, I selected a 20 ply maple snare (4x14).This is the first time that I have used such thick wood on a snare, and the extra plys have an interesting effect on the tone. Tuned tightly, it produces a strong, wood-tinged pop with dark edges, and the tone is strong enough that it can clearly cut through other instruments on stage without needing to be cranked to marching-snare level tightness. Hitting near the edge of the head causes the higher frequencies of the wood to respond, so the result is a startlingly different ringing snap. Also, in part due to the thicker shells, rim clicks from this drum are positively deafening.

The toms (9x12, 13x16 – Maple, 8 ply) ring out loud and clear. They can also handle different types of heads and different muffling styles, so you can suit them to the situation easily. The tone is both warm and vibrant, and the wood responds well to even light pressure.

The bass drum (18x22, Maple, 8-ply) is definitely a professional’s instrument. It produces tons of sound, and the there are many options as to how to shape and direct that sound. The shell of the bass is very responsive, so it will ring strongly without having to pound the drum as hard as you can (although I still tend to do that anyways). I use a muffled batter side head to balance the sound with the other instruments, but that does not detract from the satisfying THOOMP you get out of it. It’s basically a made-to-order producer of awesome.

The whole process of designing the kit was greatly facilitated by Gary and the rest of the team at Precision Drum Company. They were able to take my half-baked ideas and turn them into something tangible, and could answer every question I had with an amazing wealth of knowledge. This drum set is going to last years, and is one of the best that you’ll be able to find anywhere.

Tune Your Drums

You can always spot a drummer that doesn't perform very often. Not only by the fact that they normally aren't very good, but there are other signs as well. For instance, the toms will be set up at awkward angles, indicating that the drummer in question is not very comfortable tearing down and setting up the set. However, the one that bothers me the most is more subtle, and is made more annoying by how easy it would be to fix.

You see, drummers that primarily play in their basements or garages hardly ever get the chance to hear someone else play their drums. By always being behind the kit, it's impossible to know how your drums, tuned the way that you have them tuned, sound from the viewpoint of the audience. Three things take place - first, the drummer's proximity to the drums makes them seem louder and snappier than they sound to the crowd, which is a natural effect of acoustics. Second, the drummer is, in a way, behind the sound. The drummer sits on the impact side of the instrument, and the air and sound is being projected forward, after it has a chance to ring through the wood of the drum, the resonant head, and whatever mics have been set up. Third, the sound of the drums is dampened by the sound of all the other instruments on stage. To get an idea of what this sounds like, it is exactly like putting studio rings or masking tape on the drums - the sound is muffled, shorter, and darker.

The end result is that the drummer is back there rocking away, and the audience is hearing mud. The muffling effect is most noticeable on the snare drum - get up behind the drummer, and the snare sounds poppy and sharp. Move to the front of the stage with the crowd, and it is almost indistinguishable from the music, meaning it can't project that essential backbeat and give the song any rhythm. This is extremely common with broken dreams bands and weekend warrior cover bands. Having never played a show where drummers share a set, or stood in the crowd while a friend sat in, the player never realizes how bad their set sounds.

There is a simple solution to this - TUNE YER GODDAM DRUMS. Take a drum key and actually tune your drums, and listen. The snare should be sharper and more "ringy" than you want it to actually sound to the crowd. The toms should ring for just a little longer than you want them to, and this is easily controlled with any of the million drum muffling products on the market. With every part of your kit projecting a little more sound than you think is appropriate, the sound that will actually cut through the band will sound natural, lively, and genuine. In other words, good. If your drums are being mic'ed, a lot of this problem goes away.

Yeah, nothing really funny in this one. It's just a pet peeve.