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Challenge sharing drum kits


SbrickwallS

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Anybody else ever run into this problem?

So, we get a chance to open up for a national touring band and the headliner asks me if I would play on the headliners kit to avoid time tearing down/setting back up between us and them. I always agree to this request when it comes up as it's good buisiness and share kits with other bands as needed, but I was tested pretty good on this dudes kit. If you can see the heads on his drums were completely loose, maybe finger tight at best, and there was a good 6" or more distance between the tom toms. As a rule, I try to never adjust somebody elses kit so that they are good to go when they hop up to play. Also, this drummer also ran some extra lights/effects from a work station by his hi hats so there was no adjusting even if I wanted to. I was able to fit my snare in place of his, as his was sitting (no snare stand) on the top of his kick drums with the hoops keeping it in place. It is always a challenge to play on different sets but this one was crazy! lol  Do any of you run across this as well?

 

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Yup, never at your level of performance but for small town gigs. 

Had to use the one guys set all the time. He was taller than me by quite a bit. His toms were setup white heads no dampening and real loose so they sounded like little timp drums. I like my kit tight his was way spread out. So needless to say when using other peoples drum kits I simplify what I'm playing, sometimes just keeping a beat only just to keep the band on beat. 

Then if the kit really sucks I take out the negative energy out on crappy cymbals. One kit I used had camber cymbals, those are like hitting a trash can lid, no rebound, they don't take any of the energy from the stick, instead it sends it back up your arms. 

I don't care who's kit it is, it's not yours and it sucks. The drums are going to be 99 % different than what your used to, cymbals are going to make your brain spin in circles cause they don't sound anything like what your perception is. 99 % of the time you don't even get a warm up or practice before either, = more suckiage.

Bass drum pedals, snare and high hand stand are as personal as  your underwear as far as I'm concerned, no two are completely the same unless owned by one person.

Later on I begain refusing using others kit, now I just refuse opening. for anything. 

I want to see bass players and guitar players use the same equipment sometime, see how that fly's. 

Why is it such a big deal to just swap out kits? Cause of sound check? What reasons do you see as to why? 

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It does take time tahing the mics off, tearing down the kit, moving it off stage, bringing in the new one, setting it up, micing it again.

 

If the headliner wants to soundcheck, then it's happening twice. I personally prefer of bands can share kits. Often the bands are friends and plan out before hand. Sometimes they even do share amps etc.

 

Sometimes, sometimes not.

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Regardless of what instrument is involved ... playing on somebody else's gear almost always sucks.  Like lots of folks, I'm particular about my gear - and have spent lots of time and way too much money getting it just the way I like it.  Stepping up and playing somebody else's gear rarely (if ever) feels right.   Sometimes, it ain't bad ... but usually?  Nope. 

I usually avoid it to the largest degree possible.   When I simply can't avoid it - I look for a couple of patches (usually an accoustic piano and a functional organ) that I can call up as appropriate - and pare down my playing so that I'm just covering the basics.  

The absolute worst situation for me is when I (as a player who is very rooted in piano) find myself facing a pile of cheap plastic gear.  The action and feel is so far removed from what I typically play that I'm miserable playing it.   It's one of the reasons that I usually avoid the local "open mic/jam" sessions.  There's rarely a decent keyboard there as "backline" - and the logistics of bringing one are too daunting.  

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Right on, and I'm totally willing to do whatever the venue or headlining band that night wants to do. I probably share kit's 50% of the time when playing the tribute band circut. We are lucky to headline most of our shows though so usually both bands would be using my kit. Sometimes sharing kits isn't feasable though but I can tear down or set up in 15 to 20 minutes.

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StratGuy22 wrote:

 

 

 

If the headliner wants to soundcheck, then it's happening twice. I personally prefer of bands can share kits. Often the bands are friends and plan out before hand. Sometimes they even do share amps etc.

 

 

 

sometimes not.

 

I hear ya you think that if you do some politicing you could work things out? Yeah this one person in particular's kit I asked for 3 things to change and he was a **** about it and refused. Swap snare drum, bass drum pedal and throne. What would that take? 3 to 5 minutes tops.....? 

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I hear ya you think that if you do some politicing you could work things out? Yeah this one person in particular's kit I asked for 3 things to change and he was a **** about it and refused. Swap snare drum, bass drum pedal and throne. What would that take? 3 to 5 minutes tops.....?

------------------------------------

 

When we discuss bands sharing drums, the other drummer uses their own snare, throne, kick pedal if they want and their own cymbals.

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Yup, the key is to keep it simple. I played a weeks worth of. Show on a sound comanys provided board. I was asked what I wanted . I asked for a Roland 300 series stage piano. I ended up withh ard700 nx I played the week on 4 presets that the tech set up for me. Worked fine. I had action I liked and the basic sounds.

 

 

 

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I have the "schlep the organ" thing down pat. It's a workout, but it's not hard. You'd be surprised at the reaction you get wheeling that stuff through a bar. People move! :)

 

Setting up a stage piano means a stand, bags, cords, all that stuff. You actually need more room during setup because you have to put the bag on the ground, open it, lift the piano to the stand, then find a place to stash your bag, etc.

 

But, one thing for sure, I try to get the organ on stage before the show starts and I always stay 'till it's over. Although I HAVE setup mid-set (at the invitation of the host band).

 

One thing I particularly like about taking an organ to open jams - I don't feel pressure to play piano, rhodes, clav, whatever parts. I like to just play organ when it's song I don't know. And I really enjoy getting physical with the instrument.

 

I *do* own a VR-09 I may start taking out more often, though. The organ is really hard to get out of the house in the winter time, as I can't drive around to my basement walk-out when there's a foot of sn*w on the ground.

 

Wes

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SbrickwallS wrote:

I was able to fit my snare in place of his, as his was sitting (no snare stand) on the top of his kick drums with the hoops keeping it in place.

WHAT?!?!?!? :smiley-wtf:

That... are you serious? I can't fathom that. I must be missing something.

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FitchFY wrote:


SbrickwallS wrote:

I was able to fit my snare in place of his, as his was sitting (no snare stand) on the top of his kick drums with the hoops keeping it in place.

WHAT?!?!?!?
:smiley-wtf:

That... are you serious? I can't fathom that. I must be missing something.

That's what i thought. LOL

 

We don't have to share kits often but when we do its usually for a mulit band benefit. I just do my best with what I'm given. Sometimes its just uncomfortable sometimes its just... Awful!

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Yeah, this one really shocks me. I've gigged healthily for the past 10 years or so, and if I were to ever share a drum set again, my "contingency bag" is still coming with. It would include a snare stand, my hi-hat stand, and a boom cymbal stand, as well as the usual cymbals, snare, bass drum pedal, and throne.

I'm not going to lie - looking at the setup is pretty bad and does NOT make my inner clock feel good! But that said, you're a great player and you nailed it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 11 months later...
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Hey fellas, thought I'd share a funny deja-vu moment. I posted a video of me playing on a quirky drum kit that I was asked to share way back in January of 2014. Well, as luck would have it we were booked to play with these guys again this past weekend, in the same venue and absolutely nothing had changed. I thought it was funny and again it turned out to be a really fun show, but that kit . . . my God! lol

Here's a shot from this past show last weekend.

 

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My question is who are these "national" headliners that are using such crap equipment? I've always hated sharing equipment, especially when doing anything approaching a tribute band situation. In that situation I prefer to not be just going through the motions playing the songs through what ever crap d'jour the pawn shop would loan them. Yes that happened. We're trying to emulate the sounds of the songs, including drums, as well as playing the songs as close to note for note. The only time I remember being happy with the results of shared equipment was when a fill in drummer had to use somebody else's kit. His kit sounded like someone kicking cardboard boxes down a flight of stairs. His timing had the same effect but that's a different thread. In general relying on someone I've never met and may never see again to take care of my equipment just never seemed like a good idea, particularly if I go on after them.

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I dislike sharing gear, but sometimes it's necessary. As a keyboard player I usually manage to always use my own keys since the patches are exclusive to me, and keys are usually fairly easy to run on and off the stage.

 

Drummers usually get the short end of that stick as drum kits are hard to change out quickly and who likes to play on someone else's kit? My present drummer is a lefty so that brings up a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

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I hear ya Guido61, it's just the nature of the beast sometimes. I obviously never run across this when playing all night cover tunes because I'm the only band there, but with my tributes and originals gigs I'm asked to share or strike kits. Most of the time we end up using our own kits so it's just the panic rush of either tearing down so fast that you risk leaving something or the first band taking too much time tearing down and you end up setting up so fast that it's not quite how you like it. But I still enjoy the shows so it's not a deal breaker for me. It's just when you run across a messed up kit like this one that it sticks in my mind.

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Oh the humanity. How many countless gigs I have done on kits that when I showed to play looked like the one below. Sometime missing crucial hardware. I never could (nor still) understand the drummer being asked to do this. Can you imaging telling the guitarist and bassist that they were going to have to use house instruments? I guess it is why ... just about anymore, I use Bass, Snare, Hihat and some cymbals.

 

 

 

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