what if i mic the drums, and put the drums in the back of the stage? and play with sticks?
Aren't you aiming for them to be quieter? Micing them up is amplification....the complete opposite of what you're trying to achieve.
If the stage is half a mile deep, placing them at the back may reduce the volume. Of course, if it's a normal stage it's unlikely to have a material effect.
Drums are loud by nature mate. Dynamic control is your best bet.....failing that, look into an e-kit.
Ths sound guy having control is always the best option....however, he can't make you any quieter than the drums are acoustically. If the drums themselves are too loud, the sound guy won't be able to do much about it other than turn everyone else up.....and that's the scenario you seem to be trying to avoid.
I think lots of the idea of changing sticks and dynamics. If I've ever needed to be really quiet, I'll grab some 7A sticks and aim not to play at the same volumes as I would at a rock gig with full PA. Adjusting the way you play to the room you're playing in is the best bet IMHO. You don't use a sledgehammer to knock in a thumb tac......same with quieter gigs. Drop the 5B or 3A sticks in favour of a thinner, lighter model and learn to play quietly, is my best advice.
yeah the control thing for the sound guy was why the drums would go farther back, so it's not loud...............do lighter and smaller sticks help with the volume ????
As I said, a matter of a few feet is not gonna have a material effect on volume....at least not enough to aid the sound guy.
To a small degree they'll aid with keeping the volume down. But for the most part, dynamic control comes down to the player.
Depends on the room - but usually getting the stage volume low enough that the kit can be miced & put through the PA will help get a more even drum sound across the congregation. For church stuff this tends to be very important because God is supposed to be the focus - not the musicians (apart from performance pieces of course). So if the drums are too loud near the front - and too quiet near the back - it's hard for the drummer to underpin the music without distracting...
Personally I use a Steve Smith Tala wands (great feel & sound - and quieter than most rods) for louder songs - but often smaller sticks (Vic Firth AJ6 - great rebound) for quieter songs! What I find is that my dynamic control is better when playing slower/quieter/less busy parts. But when we're doing more intense (faster/louder/ more exuberant) songs I can overplay - hence the rods
Eventually I'll get my dynamics under control enough to just use sticks - but I'm not there yet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x50muKPdo2M&feature=channel_video_title
has some good advice on this sort of stuff...
....and i was wondering if using hot rods would lower the volume...
Yup - they're quite nice - but I prefer the rebound you get from the AJ6 - at least when playing quietly. If I need to play a bit louder then the SPE2 (Peter Erskine ride stick) is good - nice and chunky, but good rebound. I certainly find it easier to control the dynamics when playing quietly with a stick that wants to rebound, even when tapped lightly.Of course for playing medium/loud then anything will rebound enough - and I usually end up picking a 5A - or the SPE2have u tried the 8D's???
Practice on a pad. It does wonders. I went away and did some serious practice a few weeks ago, a lot of it focussed on low volume rudiment playing and I found a pair of sticks I was comfortable with.
I play in an acoustic swing band and it's easy to overpower the band if I play loudly and this was the case until recently. When I came back after a month of practice, not only was I a cleaner player, but I was half the volume with the same intensity. That surprised a lot of the band - it's not like I was a hugely loud player anyway, but it made a lot of difference.
So, two messages here. One, practice, practice, practice. Low volume ability is a sign of good technique and control. Two, find a pair of sticks you are comfortable with. The size or tip shape doesn't actually matter but if you're comfortable with the sticks, then you'll have more control.