My very first open mic

AnotherDrummernamedJoe

AnotherDrummernamedJoe

Senior Member
I've never had the stones to go to an open mic before, but I thought I'd give it a shot since the old lady is out of town and I was bored. Its a venue provided kit, a Tama Swingstar with some pinstripes and and emperor x on the snare. Zil ZBT bronze except for the ride, which is an A Custom Ping Ride. Check out the floor tom. Racks were taped to hell too. To say that these sounded like cardboard boxes would be a disservice to cardboard boxes. What the hell, I'm having fun.
 

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At least you had a nice throne to sit on. ;-)
 
I have one!! Get the backrest too. Your body will thank you!
 
Well done! Did you get to play much, and what did you play, and are you going again?
 
Magenta said:
Well done! Did you get to play much, and what did you play, and are you going again?
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I actually got to play quite a bit. I was one of 3 drummers there and the leader kept asking for me, for what that's worth. I guess he liked what I was doing. I was also the youngest cat there by far, and I'm 40. LOL. It was an acoustic gig, playing old rock and blues standards. They do it every Sunday and I'll probably go back. What the hell, it was a good time. Before I do I need to re-invest in some hot rods for that kind of setting.
 
keep it simple said:
Congratulations! Great that you're having fun :)

Methinks some tuning lessons are in order for the kit owner though :(
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I offered my assistance but the guy said he likes the dead tub sound. I told him I understand he likes the muffled sound due to the boomy room, but for crying out loud he had a dirty dish towel folded over 3 times and then taped to the head. It sounded way worse than dead, if that's even possible. He still declined. They were his drums and that's how he liked them, so whatever. I respected his wishes and played on. I didn't use that floor tom much. :)
 
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That looks like the typical open mic kit that I see.

I like open mics. I made some friends there.
 
I play open mics too. There's muffling, and there muffling! Does this guy know about moon gel? heh.. if I use cloth I just cut up a small square of an old t shirt and tape that on the edge of the head real light. Sometimes that is too much and I just keep my drums wide open. I just throw one of those plastic muffle rings remo makes on the snare. Just playing with rods and brushes with right touch will work too. Why use those huge sticks and deaden all the tone out? I think he's going about his softer sound all wrong. I do have a snare that I muffled with a huge square of an old t shirt stretched over the shell and wedged under the head. But I use that to get that classic muffled sound on purpose and if it sounded to dead in the room I wouldn't use it.
 
Here is what I typically bring to open mics, especially at the coffeehouse. These are Tama Silverstars in jazz sizes. I also use pro mark hot rods and some light maple sticks I got. Note moon gels on everything. I also put a small felt throw blanket in the bass drum.
 

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But used to just do this: haha..
 

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That looks similar to the kit I play on at the open mic near me, minus the brick of dish towel muffling though.

The kit I play on at this joint has ZBT hi-hats with missing chunks out of the top hat. I'm hoping the organizer replaces them soon
 
STXBob said:
Jeez. No wonder the drummers who came to the open mic I ran always enjoyed it. I put out a nice kit, properly tuned, with quality cymbals.

I had no idea that was an anomaly.
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If my kits weren't taken by the two other bands I'm in I would have definitely suggested that the guy let me bring mine. In the future I might invest in a small 4 piece to bring to open mics, strictly for that purpose if I'm going to be attending a lot of these.
 
RockNGrohl said:
Here is what I typically bring to open mics, especially at the coffeehouse. These are Tama Silverstars in jazz sizes. I also use pro mark hot rods and some light maple sticks I got. Note moon gels on everything. I also put a small felt throw blanket in the bass drum.
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That looks fun to play on.
 
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