Straying out of my comfort zone

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
Yesterday I knowingly committed myself to an outdoor festival type gig in 6 days where I have to play...gasp...E-drums! Oh no! What have I done? How could I be so careless? I wasn't originally supposed to be on the gig, but I weedled my way in.

It's with my regular band plus an extra female singer. I have maybe 3 minutes total lifetime playing time on an E kit.

This should be interesting. No doubt the looper will be used.

Full report next Sunday.
 
Yesterday I knowingly committed myself to an outdoor festival type gig in 6 days where I have to play...gasp...E-drums! Oh no! What have I done? How could I be so careless? I wasn't originally supposed to be on the gig, but I weedled my way in.
It's with my regular band plus an extra female singer. I have maybe 3 minutes total lifetime playing time on an E kit.
This should be interesting. No doubt the looper will be used. Full report next Sunday.

Should be a great learning experience.

I'm always worried about electronic equipment failures.
Make sure you bring your acoustic kit with you, just in case.

.
 
I recommend that you find out about the monitor arrangement. Without a good headphone/IEM mix, you're screwed.

On the plus side, just imagine- you can have myriad different kits at the twist of a knob and stage volume levels should be much more comfortable.
 
Once you know how to play an acoustic kit, e-kits are easy. It's going from an e-kit to an acoustic kit that's hard.

What is weedle anyway? Did you just make that word up? No, don't answer, I don't want to derail a fresh thread.
 
Should be a great learning experience.

I'm always worried about electronic equipment failures.
Make sure you bring your acoustic kit with you, just in case.

.

I literally never leave home without a full kit. But it's a multi band thing and we play for only one hour. So if there's equipment failure....at least it should make for a great thread.

I recommend that you find out about the monitor arrangement. Without a good headphone/IEM mix, you're screwed.

On the plus side, just imagine- you can have myriad different kits at the twist of a knob and stage volume levels should be much more comfortable.

Well if I'm screwed so is everyone else. I don't think we are the first to go on, so fingers crossed hopefully any hearing/monitoring issues will be sorted out by the time I give it a go. I just realized I may have to wear cans, ugh. I hope not. And there's no way I'm twisting any dials. I'm not inviting disaster.

Once you know how to play an acoustic kit, e-kits are easy. It's going from an e-kit to an acoustic kit that's hard.

What is weedle anyway? Did you just make that word up? No, don't answer, I don't want to derail a fresh thread.

Well thanks for the encouragement Paul. If it's not like you say, I'm holding you personally responsible lol.

A weedle....another way to say that is I wormed my way in.
 
What is weedle anyway?

Weedles waddle but they don't fall down ;)

Larry, I can't believe you're worrying. Stop it, stop it NOW, and take every syllable of all the advice you've ever given to other people!

(Gosh, that told you!)
 
I do all my practice on an E kit. Think "No dynamics". You can get really carried away but the volume stays pretty much the same.
 
Weedles waddle but they don't fall down ;)

Larry, I can't believe you're worrying. Stop it, stop it NOW, and take every syllable of all the advice you've ever given to other people!

(Gosh, that told you!)


Yes I've been told!

But Madge I'm gonna suck! I will have no dynamics, no real cymbals to finesse and everyone will laugh at me and I will run away and trip on my cape and get thrown out by someone's boyfriend and be humiliated!

Actually, I'm not too worried. What's the worst that can happen? I find it easy to laugh at my own mishaps. I am kind of looking forward to my first live situation with E drums as a sort of challenge. Not sure what to expect at all. Getting out of ones comfort zone...at this point in my trek, it's time I placed myself in a situation like this. I'm confident in my abilities and even if the worst happens, what can I do? Smile and make the best of it. If other guys can play E drums with no issues, so can I. And if the worst possible thing happens, that will be entertaining too, right? So it's all good. Looking forward to a brand new experience.

People generally have a kind heart when they see a person really trying to do the best they can while everything falls to pieces.

Yea, let's just go with that lol.
 
I'm gonna suck! I will have no dynamics, no real cymbals to finesse and everyone will laugh at me and I will run away and trip on my cape and get thrown out by someone's boyfriend and be humiliated!

Welcome to my world.

People generally have a kind heart when they see a person really trying to do the best they can while everything falls to pieces.

NOTHING will fall to pieces!
 
I do all my practice on an E kit. Think "No dynamics". You can get really carried away but the volume stays pretty much the same.

And you don't even have to mess with the volume (dynamically) either! Oh what fun! A sound "engineer" is going to be in control.
 
...I will have no dynamics, no real cymbals to finesse and everyone will laugh at me and I will run away and trip on my cape and get thrown out by someone's boyfriend and be humiliated!
...

Don't worry. Your mom will go back there and pick up the e-drums for you.
 
Don\t do it! E-kits really suck big time live.. think elevator music with no presence other than in the sound booth. If all the other drummers are playing acoustic kits you will be very disappointed. I'd talk to the sound guy.. usually what happens is they mike one kit really well then say say they don't have time to swap out multiple kits.. then after some negotiations everyone agrees to share the moked kit but swap out your own snare and cymbals..
Also I find e-kits unreliable (even my Roland td-10 with the mesh pads. If you have any electronic glitches you are hosed.. I tried one once and the e-brain or maybe it was an audio loop started making an odd beeping noise randomly.. no idea what caused it - but never again..that and the horrible sound.. it was like playing a toy compared to the sound of real drums!
 
I have no choices or say here. If I didn't open my big mouth, I wouldn't even be on the gig lol. Not even sure who I bumped. Everyone else will be playing the same kit. I look on it as a challenge. One thing I've learned, and it really is true....If I play with steady meter and impeccable tempo....everything should be fine. (said like Doc Emmit Brown on "Back to the Future")

I don't know that I will be able to do any of my trademark stuff on the cymbals, so I will have to make up some different things to do on the fly. (not my fly lol) Toms I don't use nearly as much as my cymbals. Maybe there will be real cymbals there, not sure. That would be nice.
 
Be warned. The guy from the hahahaha thread was a seasoned drummer who took an e-kit gig for the first time.

*violin shrieks from The Shining*
 
Your reputation as a drummer (and indeed, your manhood) is at stake here. But hey, no pressure....
 
Don\t do it! E-kits really suck big time live..

Only true if the PA is too small for the venue.

People who use at least some e-kit parts live include that Neil guy from Rush and Pat something-or-other from King Crimson.
 
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