Playing outdoors

philrudd

Senior Member
Do y'all have any particular rules about tuning for an outdoor gig? I'm talking the pure instrument sound, not including PA of any kind (I just did an outdoor gig yesterday and there was no mic'ing of any kind - no singer in this band).

I haven't figured it out yet, but it's clear to me that playing outdoors, the drums seem to require a little different tweaking than when playing indoors. For example:

- I find the snare ring is more pronounced in an outdoor setting, so I tend to loosen the snare's batter head. It seems to have more 'thwack' that way, though inside, I tend to tighten the snare pretty tight.

- Toms are opposite: I find myself tuning higher on toms; when the top heads are too loose, they don't seem to project as easily as they do in an indoor venue.

- Bass drum seems to require the least amount of tweaking. The biggest problem I've had is when playing a small kit in an outdoor setting - it's difficult to get the 'boom' out of a small bass drum when there are no walls/ceiling to provide reverb.

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this, especially with things starting to open back up again and gigs becoming available. I've played several outdoor gigs in the past couple of months, and while I'm not disappointed at the way my kit sounds in these settings, I feel I can do better.
 
If all my drums are mic'd, I don't change a thing for outdoor gigs. If they aren't, it depends on the circumstances. If I want more projection and penetration, I might tune up a tad. Otherwise, I'll probably make no alterations. I've been mic'd for the vast majority of my outdoor performances, so volume and clarity haven't been a problem.

I've never been one to obsess over "tuning to the room." Sometimes I know nothing about the room until I arrive for the gig. There's no time to make detailed tuning adjustments. Real-world drumming means going with the flow.
 
I've never been one to "tune to the room." Often, I know nothing about the room until I arrive for the gig. There's no time to make detailed tuning adjustments. Real-world drumming means going with the flow.

That's only true to a degree. It's not like I change heads depending on circumstance, but I absolutely take the room into account when assessing how to tune my drums. Thirty seconds of quick adjustments can, in my experience, make a huge difference. (To me, if not the audience...or band members.)

And again, assume no mics - I'm talking about the drums themselves, not including a PA; that's a very different (and more controllable) situation.
 
That's only true to a degree. It's not like I change heads depending on circumstance, but I absolutely take the room into account when assessing how to tune my drums. Thirty seconds of quick adjustments can, in my experience, make a huge difference. (To me, if not the audience...or band members.)

And again, assume no mics - I'm talking about the drums themselves, not including a PA; that's a very different (and more controllable) situation.
I'm not saying the setting is irrelevant and should be ignored, just that catering to every variable of a given environment is sometimes beyond our grasp. Furthermore, the changes we make, as you point out, might be lost upon the audience and noticeable only to us. If the band and crowd can't tell (or don't care), I have little incentive to alter the feel of my drums by changing their tuning. Like every other factor related to drumming, the decision comes down to a judgement call. Judgment calls are informed by personal degrees of tolerance.
 
The only thing I ever do is adjust the Evans pad and kickpro sandbag in my bass drum for maximum volume with tamed resonance when I’m outside. If the FOH mics it, I adjust to his satisfaction.

I don’t mess with any other drums because the sound changes so radically I’d never know what to bring.

Pre-Covid, in the span of two days I went from my cement-floor studio (reflective) to an all-aluminum & steel mobile stage with PA (very reflective) to a night club with a small-ish carpeted stage surrounded by acoustic curtains (very dry). My Starphonic aluminum snare was tuned medium tight and it cracked nicely at the bright venues. At the night club it felt like its cutting power vanished (we were loud, too, so a brass snare would’ve been more appropriate inside, for a more ear-crushing experience).
 
I like the outdoor acoustics to my drums but like you I tune up slightly. The pinstripes outdoors sound a (bit) tubby..i kind of like the sound but tuning up a bit adds the right balance for me. It's not a night and day difference..its the baby bear thing where it says this porridge is.....
just rrrright.
 
I don’t mess with any other drums because the sound changes so radically I’d never know what to bring.
That's exactly what I mean when emphasizing the difficulties of catering to unknown environments -- especially when outdoors, where you might be competing with sounds you aren't even aware of.
 
Do y'all have any particular rules about tuning for an outdoor gig? I'm talking the pure instrument sound, not including PA of any kind (I just did an outdoor gig yesterday and there was no mic'ing of any kind - no singer in this band).

I haven't figured it out yet, but it's clear to me that playing outdoors, the drums seem to require a little different tweaking than when playing indoors. For example:

- I find the snare ring is more pronounced in an outdoor setting, so I tend to loosen the snare's batter head. It seems to have more 'thwack' that way, though inside, I tend to tighten the snare pretty tight.

- Toms are opposite: I find myself tuning higher on toms; when the top heads are too loose, they don't seem to project as easily as they do in an indoor venue.

- Bass drum seems to require the least amount of tweaking. The biggest problem I've had is when playing a small kit in an outdoor setting - it's difficult to get the 'boom' out of a small bass drum when there are no walls/ceiling to provide reverb.

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this, especially with things starting to open back up again and gigs becoming available. I've played several outdoor gigs in the past couple of months, and while I'm not disappointed at the way my kit sounds in these settings, I feel I can do better.
If you Mic the drums i think this will help alot, And have a monitor with your drum sound to gauge by
 
I'm in the don't mess with anything outdoors camp. The sound is usually coming from everything being close miced anyway. Let the sound system carry the load and eq you as needed

I tend to mess more with the sound if you're in a room that should never be considered for live music.
 
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I haven't done a great deal of playing outside, however to echo Mikyok I've always been close micd with or without studio rings to the PA man's taste. I did a slot at a multi band all day event two years ago (we're booked again for the end of June this year, fingers crossed it'll happen) where the PA man used mics to trigger sounds for some or all of my drums. Given the time constraints and complexity of his situation I was perfectly happy with that
 
If I'm playing un-miked outside, I'd probably play a 22, 10, 14 configuration with my PB snare. A 22 would move a little more air than my 20, and the higher-pitched 10" and 14" toms have a higher pitch than my 12" and 16". Bigger toms that are left unmiked and played outside are sort of useless if you leave them tuned up. Those higher frequencies matter.
 
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If all my drums are mic'd, I don't change a thing for outdoor gigs. If they aren't, it depends on the circumstances. If I want more projection and penetration, I might tune up a tad. Otherwise, I'll probably make no alterations. I've been mic'd for the vast majority of my outdoor performances, so volume and clarity haven't been a problem.

I've never been one to obsess over "tuning to the room." Sometimes I know nothing about the room until I arrive for the gig. There's no time to make detailed tuning adjustments. Real-world drumming means going with the flow.
Second that.
 
I'm not saying the setting is irrelevant and should be ignored, just that catering to every variable of a given environment is sometimes beyond our grasp. Furthermore, the changes we make, as you point out, might be lost upon the audience and noticeable only to us. If the band and crowd can't tell (or don't care), I have little incentive to alter the feel of my drums by changing their tuning. Like every other factor related to drumming, the decision comes down to a judgement call. Judgment calls are informed by personal degrees of tolerance.
Also a lot of times you only get about 5 min to setup (with the house kit, even worse when you have to set your kit) before you have to start playing, having time to tune in most cases is a luxury.
 
I'm in the don't mess with anything outdoors camp. The sound is usually coming from everything being close miced anyway. Let the sound system carry the load and eq you as needed

I tend to mess more with the sound if you're in a room that should never be considered for live music.
Out in the open is a weird thing. Is it the temp? the sun? that can cause even plastic heads to sound slightly loose/mushy?. It's not EVERY outdoor setting that causes me to slightly tune up (a tad). It's that I've noticed the need or want to do this tweaking outdoors.
 
A higher tuned drum carries further absolutely.
 
They're not all the same, but I wouldn't change anything. The sound just goes out here and you have little control.

It's just another thing to get used to like a small club that's already bad and then completely changes when it's packed with people and the monitor sound you thought awas there and balanced doesn't hold up.

Just learn that you need to be the most comfortable and play and then you just have to trust the that the PA and whoever's operating that.

Unless you use the same people and gear all the time, getting used to less than optimal monitoring situations and still be able to give it your best is just part of playing live.
 
D
Out in the open is a weird thing. Is it the temp? the sun? that can cause even plastic heads to sound slightly loose/mushy?. It's not EVERY outdoor setting that causes me to slightly tune up (a tad). It's that I've noticed the need or want to do this tweaking outdoors.
I'm in England, what's this Sun thing you're on about?
 
D

I'm in England, what's this Sun thing you're on about?
As soon as I read England I thought about a favorite drummer of mine Andy Newmark who lives in England. He talks of the dreary weather in his area which I love overcast rainy days.
 
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