Rehearsal room abused kits

Captain Bash

Silver Member
I rehearse once a week with a band and for reasons of convenience i use the rehearsal kit at rehearsal studio. The town I play in is dominated by metal bands. The drummers of the metal bands (who subdivide themselves into ever smaller niche sub genres; sludge, black metal, grindcore etc.) are nice enough but leave the rehearsal room kits in such a terrible condition it really isn't possible to play them without me having to spend a good 20 minutes rejigging everything.

Now don't get me wrong I am not a perfectionist and have played many gigs using mid-level gear (e.g. 80's Pearl export), but these kits were quasi maintained and could therefore function within normal drumming and musical parameters. Its become pretty clear to me that these Black Metal, Sludge, Putrid Splurge, Fecal Abyss guys think it's normal to just beat the crap out of a kit with the butt end of 5B. Has anyone else come across this issue.
 
One of my friends is a metal drummer, and he goes through a pair of 2Bs at every show.

We used to do marching together, so I joked that he should use marching sticks next if the 2Bs aren't up to snuff... I can't imagine many drum heads would withstand some marching sticks haha


In many music schools, the kits are about the same. I went to NEC in Boston, and the kits there would be beat to crap, and the only drumset programs they had were jazz. I'd go in to use a practice room and the heads had divets in them, or sometimes holes... and jazz guys typically use sticks that are smaller than a 7A.

I don't necessarily think it's the genre, but people not having any respect for the instrument since it's shared, and not their own. I bet their own kits are pristine, while they trash these kits.
 
One of my friends is a metal drummer, and he goes through a pair of 2Bs at every show.

We used to do marching together, so I joked that he should use marching sticks next if the 2Bs aren't up to snuff... I can't imagine many drum heads would withstand some marching sticks haha
I'm an extreme metal drummer who exclusively uses marching sticks. Never gone through a drum head, and my heads that I just replaced after a year and a half of constant use had no dents in them.

All in the technique, the gear and style don't matter. People need to stop acting like metal musicians go through sticks, cymbals, and heads constantly. There are musicians with poor technique who break shit with every style of music.
 
I've wanted to post something about this for some time but you beat me to it. I don't know if you can blame a genre of music. What I do know is that surely it's the fault of the room owners if the kit isn't up to scratch. I don't think people go to a practice room with the intention of trashing the kit, so it's more like just wear and tear that's got so bad that it's gone beyond repair. Things that I've had to deal with recently are botched hardware that you can't adjust, toms with no tighteners that dangle off the mounts, clicky loose bd pedals and wonky stools that put your life at risk each time you sit on them. None of these have anything to do with heavy hitting.
 
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We play at a few different rehearsal studio's. One is $50 per hour and includes a sound man, a mic'd DW Collector's, huge stage space, everything works and sounds great.

The others is $25-$35 per hour. If something doesn't work, good luck you are on your own. The kit is usually a Catalina, Export, or something-star that was bought off of Craigslist 15 years ago and never had a piece of hardware replaced or fixed (unless you count duct tape repairs).

The first is always booked and darn near impossible to schedule. I wish they would charge more. Maybe that would open some time. For me, it is always worth the extra $.

It's not even the crappy drums that turn me off on the budget studios. I kind of expect that and for 2 hours I can live with the poor tone. Just give me some hardware that works. I really shouldn't need to bring my own throne to a rehearsal studio.
 
I've been in a few of these rehearsal studios but after a few tries would only rent if you can bring your own kit. Worth the hassle to load out and use my own stuff, and not these duct taped drums and hardware. Luckily current band does not have to use these studios.

But I would like to see some pictures of what you guys come across? We see so many threads of nice kits, what do the worst rehearsal studio kits look like?
 
A few months ago, I stopped in at a rehearsal place in Denver. And the kit did show some definite wear. Character, as I like to call it. But, I loved playing it. Yes, it sounded and looked nothing like my own kit. And that was what was cool about the experience. It was different...

Nonetheless, I was just there to practice and have fun. And being able to just show up, with my drum sticks and a metronome, was so convenient for me. I really, wish more cities in America, had hourly rehearsal rooms, with drum kits provided.
 
Take your snare and your cymbals and just enjoy the ride. I agree with those to say that it's less about genre than it is about not caring for equipment that doesn't belong to them.

If you are really picky about sound, you could always buy a couple of heads to take with you plus an electric screwdriver and a bit that fits a drum tension rod. You should be able to mount heads pretty quickly and tune them up.
 
I'm an extreme metal drummer who exclusively uses marching sticks. Never gone through a drum head, and my heads that I just replaced after a year and a half of constant use had no dents in them.

All in the technique, the gear and style don't matter. People need to stop acting like metal musicians go through sticks, cymbals, and heads constantly. There are musicians with poor technique who break shit with every style of music.

I wasn't really saying that, and if you read the rest of my post I clearly said it is not a genre thing, as I've seen the same destruction in practice rooms that were for jazz drummers...

It's interesting that you can use marching sticks, usually they sound awful on drum sets, as they are too big, whereas a 2B or something like that is made for those types of heads.

Nonetheless, I was just there to practice and have fun. And being able to just show up, with my drum sticks and a metronome, was so convenient for me. I really, wish more cities in America, had hourly rehearsal rooms, with drum kits provided.

The kit had cymbals and a snare??? Most rehearsal places I've been to, private or school, usually just provide toms, bass drum, pedals, cymbal/HH stands, and a snare stand. I've always had to bring my own cymbals and snare...

I've practiced at Berklee a few times, and that's the only place that I've seen immaculate kits with snare and cymbals, but they are locked in so you can't change them even if you want.
 
The place I used to go to had some pretty OLD broken down equipment, but they updated the kit while I was rehearsing there ( a few months back).
I never used their snare though. It just had a bad sound.

BUT....I DID notice that almost every band in there were heavy metal bands.

We were the only Jazz group in the place.......which was actually pretty funny....every time we'd finish a song, we could hear the other groups through the walls real clear!!!

BUT, I think the equipment was just old....not necessarily the fault of the Metal bands in this instance.
 
I guess that's one good thing about living in the rust belt where real estate is not at such a premium. There were/are always some unused spaces about for cheap by the month. I find it hard to imagine renting by the hour.
 
Fifty dollars an hour to practice? You guys must be loaded, we dont have a sound man or mic up for most of our gigs never mind rehearsal.

Anyway. I have played some truly awful practice room kits but its usually the hardware that's the main moan. I always take my snare, stool, BD pedal and cymbals but they are easy to carry and set up. I truly believe that working around the problems of a strange kit has made me a better drummer, It no longer phases me if something breaks or is not quite to my liking during a gig, I know I can play round it.
 
HAHA! I did a jam at LA Rehearsals in January.. while I was over there from Australia.... the studio was recommended by a friend. Yeah ok... had great backline in the room.. Marshall and Trace Elliot.. and a huge Yamaha PA... but the drum kit was the worst I have ever played..... was a Tama/Yamaha setup.. LOL I dont think I had ever played a kit in such bad conditon :D but the jam was fun anyway.
 
I went to one in Kettering expecting cymbal stands, throne, snare stand etc.

There was nowt but battered toms and a flappy kick drum.

So I stole a stool from one of the other rooms, stole a floor tom from another room and gaffer taped my snare to it with some polystyrene in between.

I then took a mic stand and wrapped some gaffer around it to at least give me 1 cymbal stand.

So no hi hat either. Needless to say we never practiced there again as we were told that there was a full backline.
 
I've played on some shocking rehearsal kits in my time, notably in/around London but it's only for a rehearsal I guess. Can normally make things work for the 3/4 hours I'm there.

Luckily now mostly rehearse in the same place which has a lovely vintage Slingerland kit so I don't tend to come across this problem as much anymore.

Still, always raises a chuckle when I do!
 
I think this is where my hatred for Pearl stems from.

It's not genre specific it's just poor inconsiderate drummers with more ego than talent.

Only way round it is to get a lock up.

More often than not the owners of the rehearsal rooms tar you all with the same brush and will patronize the snot out of you......Robannas in Birmingham springs to mind!
 
Fifty dollars an hour to practice? You guys must be loaded,

4 guys, 2 hours, it's $25 per man. If I were to go out and watch a football game with friends I would spend twice that. Since I never do any of that anymore, I consider rehearsals my pathetic excuse for a social life.
 
I can't stand rehearsal room kits.

I'm sure in the upper echelon of music, pros get to get play in nice studios with well maintained, nicely tuned kits. In my world, that's never the case, and the kit is always a disaster - especially the snare.

When a kit sucks, I don't enjoy playing at all.

I just went through this very recently. I asked ahead about the kit, and I was told: "no one ever complained." I get there, and it's B8 cymbals that sounded like trash can lids, heads that were decrepit and looked 20 years old, and a snare stand that couldn't be raised. It was stripped and as low as it would stand, and there was no way to move it up. Yeah, that was a fun rehearsal.
 
I often play metal, and some of those niche subgenres in particular, and I don't identify with that at all. All of my gear is in good repair, and most of my peer group is the same. Sure, there's exceptions, and it's important not to confuse functionality with battle scars.

Most of the garbage kits I see being gigged are with punk or indie bands, and I think in those cases it's perhaps considered part of the aesthetic.

I think the issue is more with it being a shared kit, and nobody taking care of it. That's not really any different than most house kits you'll come across.
 
I have had the same experience with rehearsal studios. Horrible kits! They're always set up weird. I have to remember to bring sleeves and felts for the cymbals because they are always missing (stolen). I bring my throne, cymbals, extra sleeves and felts, bass drum pedal and snare drum. Usually that solves the problem, but then there's always the drum head issue. Last time I got a floor tom with a 2-ply head with one ply that had been torn off. It was just awful. I mentioned it to the studio worker, but he just laughed and said he can get a few more rentals out of it.

I have to play this same damn kit tonight. Hopefully the head is better. I might just bring the stock head that came with my Ludwig kit because I'll bet that crappy one is still on there.
 
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