our music store routines

zakhopper316

Silver Member
so im sure all of us have that thing we play when we first sit down at a kit in a music store, a bring out all the stops type of thing. u usually play this jojo mayer groove thing, but have recently decided to change it up since my skills have progressed.

so im wandering, what do you guys play when you go into a music store?
 
I usually try to keep it short, sweet, & lay down a funky kinda groove with a few fills. If I am considering buying a product I will take a little more time to compare & get a feel for the kit/cymbal/whatever.

I really hated working at GC b/c some people would come in their & just bash the crap out of everything until I finnally had to ask them to stop. Its one thing to try a product or even do a solo, but there is a point where it becomes ridiculous, especially if the kids can't play.
So, I try to be considerate to the workers their b/c they probably have to hear 15 moby dicks & 17 slipknot travis barkers a day.
 
I really like the guys at my local. I get on well with them all and we're all on a first name basis, so I spare them my mindless flailing round the kit. More often, I get stuck talking (I can wander in to buy sticks and still be there an hour later) and never think to bang on their wares.

If I have to, I'll jump on a e-kit with cans on, but as I haven't bought a kit from a drum shop in years, there really is no need. If I want to try something specific, I just grab it off the shelf/rack and play away.
 
I have never gone into a music store and just played on a kit. what is the point of that? to show everybody that you can play? If I want to hear a kit I will play each drum a few times at different dynamic levels and listen to the sound of the kit, thats about it. I spend more time looking at the finish, bearing edges, hardware, the inside of the shells.

When I see kids showing off on kits it usually turns me off and makes me want to leave the store. I generally try to go to the stores through the week during the day, and I only go in on the weekend if I have to pick something up and try to get in and out as fast as I can.

The last kit I bought I barely played in the store. It was up on the wall and as he handed me the bass drum I tapped the batter and I knew right then I was going to buy it. I set it up for a minute and hit each drum a few times and I was sold.
 
I have never gone into a music store and just played on a kit. what is the point of that? to show everybody that you can play? If I want to hear a kit I will play each drum a few times at different dynamic levels and listen to the sound of the kit, thats about it. I spend more time looking at the finish, bearing edges, hardware, the inside of the shells.

When I see kids showing off on kits it usually turns me off and makes me want to leave the store. I generally try to go to the stores through the week during the day, and I only go in on the weekend if I have to pick something up and try to get in and out as fast as I can.

Ditto!

I rarely buy instruments in music stores anymore--they're WAY too overpriced! I usually buy them on craigslist, and then I don't have any compulsion to play them, just make sure they're in good functional and cosmetic shape. I may tap on them a few times, but chances are I'm not going to like the sound of the heads that are on them or the previous owner's tuning, anyways. I'll save the playing for when I get home, after I fix them up.
 
I feel so bad for the guys who work there. The stuff they have to listen to...aghhh! If I'm buying a cymbal I'll go on a weekday morning - empty store, and the guys have a little more patience. That way you can get them to play what you're looking at so you can hear it from a different perspective.
 
I have never gone into a music store and just played on a kit. what is the point of that? to show everybody that you can play? If I want to hear a kit I will play each drum a few times at different dynamic levels and listen to the sound of the kit, thats about it. I spend more time looking at the finish, bearing edges, hardware, the inside of the shells.

When I see kids showing off on kits it usually turns me off and makes me want to leave the store. I generally try to go to the stores through the week during the day, and I only go in on the weekend if I have to pick something up and try to get in and out as fast as I can.

The last kit I bought I barely played in the store. It was up on the wall and as he handed me the bass drum I tapped the batter and I knew right then I was going to buy it. I set it up for a minute and hit each drum a few times and I was sold.

i love playing different drum kits, and i guess im probably one of those kids that turns you off, i dont play the same kit for more then a minute or so tho.
i could never buy i kit by just striking the drums individually a few times. i have to feel how the drum kit grooves. and if it fits me well.

i encourage everyone to actually play a kit before buying it, same as driving a car on the road before buying it.
 
i love playing different drum kits, and i guess im probably one of those kids that turns you off, i dont play the same kit for more then a minute or so tho.
i could never buy i kit by just striking the drums individually a few times. i have to feel how the drum kit grooves. and if it fits me well.

i encourage everyone to actually play a kit before buying it, same as driving a car on the road before buying it.

The mechanical feel of a kit comes from the heads and tuning, mostly. Bearing edges have a noticeable impact, too, but not as much. The physical feel of a kit is due to spacing, angles, and heights of the drums. If a kit is set up in a store, chances are it has heads I wouldn't choose to use, tuned to a way I would never tune it, set up with the drums where I wouldn't normally place them. That doesn't exactly tell me much about a kit's feel.

If I WERE to go and buy a kit, based on how it feels on the showroom, I'd have to bring along some heads, retune, and reposition everything. Also, I'd bring along some plywood planks and a bunch of sound-absorbing materials to see how it performs and sounds in several different acoustic environments. I figure a kit is worthy of my collection if I can get a good sound and feel out of it in many different situations/gigs. I want a kit that will perform well in real life, not just sound decent on a showroom floor. I'm not going to cough up a lot of money for a drum kit that's going to be worth half as much as soon as I take it out of the store, and I certainly won't do that if I'm unsure as to whether or not it will perform up to my expectations.

But, that's just me...
 
I never play anything in the store without asking. If I'm thinking about buying a cymbal, I'll go in on a weekday, bring my own stick and ask the staff first if it's alright with them. I've only done this two or three times before as I've bought all my cymbals off www.cymbalsonly.com .

I've never played a kit in a music store, as I was too young to really know what was going on when I got my current kit, and I haven't needed another one since. If/when I do buy a new kit, chances are it'll be Keller shells put together by me, so I probably won't try any then anyway.

Personally, if I see some kid come in at a store, sit down at a random drumset and start slamming the skins with the only intent being to show off their skills, I'm not impressed. If you're testing a kit to buy it, you should be examining the hardware, edges, finish and then sound by playing each drum individually. Sound is debatable even as most store kits have shoddy tuning and poor heads.
 
I have never gone into a music store and just played on a kit. what is the point of that? to show everybody that you can play?.

This.

I worked in 4 different music stores.

Once thing we behind the counter quickly notice:

The Pros don't play the kits. They come in, get what they need, chit-chat for a while, and go about their business. I've had the pleasure of waiting on both name players and local pros, and they don't sit behind the kits to show off.

It's the amateurs who feel the need to show off what ever chops they have. And quite frankly, it gets old real quick. Who are they playing for? It's not like music execs sit around music stores just waiting for the right talent person to walk in.

Now, if you are actually considering purchasing the kit in question, that's different. Solo to your hearts content if you're actually in the process of buying something. But just wanking on a kit just because you can just annoys the staff, puts wear and tear on the kit for the person WHO will one day buy it, and sends a message loud and clear you are not a pro.
 
i have to feel how the drum kit grooves. and if it fits me well.

Drummers groove my friend. Kits just portray that sound. I've never seen one kit "groove" better than another.

Try before you buy, by all means....but you really don't need to set the whole thing up to determine if you like the sound of a kit or not. I always check the kick and one tom. That really is enough for me. The rest is down to my head selection and my tuning abilities.
 
I always try to act like I can't play for crap.
I just kind of hit things in an off-about way to hear the sound of what I'm trying.

I find that acting like a beginner gets the attention of the sales associates faster.
One of them will smell a quick sale to a novice and walk over to show me all that he knows.
I then let him play so that I can hear better what it is that I am interested in.

If I play the item like I know what I am doing, No one seems to want to help me.
I have made some great deals this way.
 
I will add that I recently started testing cymbals in a different way. I used to go in an play the stuff I was interested in the cymbal room. But I started only testing cymbals in conjunction with at least a kick drum. The reason being I rarely ever just hit a crash on it's own, I spent alot of time in stores trying to find the right sounding cymbal and everything sounded wrong to me. Once I started playing them together with a kick I found I actually liked alot more cymbals. I still try to do this on a weekday and I check with the sales person to see if it's okay to do my thing.
 
I'll usually sit down at a kit, kick the bass drum a couple of times, hit the snare a few times and do the same with the toms. Then I wait until no one is around and I'll play a Bonham groove like When the Levee Breaks or Fool In The Rain. I always stop when anyone comes into the room. I get embarrassed when I'm playing in front of people without a band in front of me. I don't know why.
 
I can't stay away from drums and my dad found that out when I was in my single digits. A lot of times I just tap a few heads with my fingers, hit a few cymbals but most of the time I ask for a pair of sticks to give their TD12s and 20s a run, love those things. If I'm seriously intrigued by a kit, I'll ask if I can tweak the tuning of the drums if I find that they're not even in the ballpark. I won't buy a set of drums or a cymbal for that matter until I've played them, sometimes several times.

Dennis
 
I really don't like going into music stores anymore because of all the people that go in there just to beat the crap out of things they don't even have a clue how to play. I understand if you are looking for a particular sound or are in the market for a new kit, but I don't care to hear everyone and their family members play a drum solo when I'm trying to buy needed items. Guitar Center is by far the worst of the music stores I've been in. I refer to it as the Wal-mart of music stores. Sure they have a lot of stuff in stock, but most of it has been beaten to the point it wouldn't even classify as "like new" in most stores. So for now, or until I find a place that doesn't irritate me to shop at, I'll continue dealing with the little ma and pop owned shop I've grown acustomed to the past 5 years. Even they aren't immune to the idiots, but at least they aren't afraid to tell you to keep it down or to leave if you are getting out of hand.

I read the thread on band etiquette...maybe someone should start one on music store etiquette....?
 
So, I try to be considerate to the workers their b/c they probably have to hear 15 moby dicks & 17 slipknot travis barkers a day.

haha. I played guitar in high school (late 80's/early 90's).. the local music store had printouts hanging on all the amps that said:

Prohibited Songs:
Stairway to Heaven
Sweet Child o Mine
Crazy Train
Iron Man
One
etc.
etc.

I've never played drums in a music store...
 
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