Silent stage age: do your drums matter anymore?

Stickman said:
Yes it's true .. having a great sound engineer and technology can make a world of difference. One example I ran into a long time ago - seeing Level 42 at a University hall in the 80's. The opening band had unbelievable sound quality.. (and they did their own sound). When the headliner Level 42 came out.. they were great but the sound was muddy and dull by comparison. This is one reason why I try to sound engineer my own sound.. and educate myself on sound production in general..to make sure it's the best it can possibly be out in the audience.
BTW - the sound guy in the opening act I mentioned - was the drummer!
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I saw Level 42 recently and these were my thoughts exactly... so 40 something years later they still sound the same!!
 
He's got a proper last name.
 
Chris Whitten said:
Well in the first few minutes he says he hates it.
I think the ultimate set up is a combo of triggers (triggering album sounds) and real drums.
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Think Depeche Mode. No drummer & they sold millions of records. And this was back in the 80's. It's even worse now.
 
Al Strange said:
They tend to have a live drummer though mate…The Sisters of Mercy on the other hand…:unsure::)(y)
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yep, depeche mode used to be all electronic, nowadays they have Christian Eigner on the tub for them :)


sisters have a drummer though.......doktor avalanche ;)

i jest! theyve always used a drum machine, ive got 2 of the drum machines as plugins to get their sounds from back in the day.

their best drum sounds were in the 80s and early 90s, now theyre fairly weak sounding, and SoM are a shadow of their former selves, ive seen them several times and i hope they get better, some shows theyre good, others not so good :(
 
Most of the purely electronic acts - like Kraftwerk, Chemical Brothers, David Guetta - they all have extremely expensive, very elaborate multi-media going on. Screens with movies, lots of lights, pyrotechnics etc..
 
KEEF said:
I saw Level 42 recently and these were my thoughts exactly... so 40 something years later they still sound the same!!
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I also saw Level 42 in a concert hall and the sound was top notch.
The other time with L42, I think it was the boxy hall and the sound guy wasn't as good - it was more that the drummer/sound guy in the opening act had some kind of small speakers set up around the room. and some miking techniques that made the overall sound crystal clear and punchy. The drummer was also the lead singer - I hate guys like that!
 
Back on topic.. I saw a great cover band Friday night that was ‘silent stage’ and I have to say it was pretty disappointing. The band was tight and flawless ripping through all the killer dance tunes but it sounded dull and lifeless .. no dynamics. Just sounded like an AM radio station or as my buddy described it ‘elevator music’. The e-drums sounded like fake drums and had zero presence - no thump that you feel from the kick and the snare sounded the same no matter what.. no crack or variety.. just repetitive and dull.
At one point I said this is why you need a sound guy out here at the back tweaking the levels.. and my friend said ‘turn around, the guy behind you has been standing there all night with an iPad.’ So even that didnt seem to work. They seemed to have state of art equipment with a mobile rack full of gear and a quality e-kit.. but it didnt work for me as an audience member!
 
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