The sound you like most...

sticksnstonesrus

Silver Member
- your kit in your IEMs (or whatever sound support you use - monitor, nothing)
- your kit while someone else is playing it and you're standing on the 'outside'
- your kit through the board (compressors, big bottom, processed & tweaked at a venue or in the studio)

My example. I get the chance to listen to recorded FB Live productions of the church service I play and a lot of times, I hate the online mix....but I know that FB Live is getting the feed directly from the house board, which for the drum mix is the drum mics exclusively...but its not mixed further than that. Certainly not what those in the church seating were hearing (acoustically) - which I have heard and the live mix is phenomenal. I take that with an ounce of faith that the current mixes (in my ears, and when I tune the house kit and my snare sound) is going to sound good for the service but still terrible for the FB Live production. In review of those times when I'm not hearing the kit while playing but from what it's producing, I did detune my snare batter (sounded too high and dry) and tuned up the lower floor toms for more sustain (very flat).

So curious...How long did it take you to learn how to decipher how your kit sounds from opposing views/angles. Obviously, drums sound different on the throne while playing than they do when you're listening to them from the audience perspective and even more after they've been manipulated through tech. At what point do we just accept that they're going to sound trashy in IEM mixes but have faith they capture the killer sound you think you have it tuned for at a show? How much can you lean on sound engineering to have your back to make it right?

Thoughts...

Andy
 
I love hearing my drums through our house PA a church. It sounds like thunder.
 
Drum kit in the grand hall of a castle.

It's the nicest sound I've ever heard. It's like studioverb live.

Works on any instrument as well. You see smiles at sound check it's that good. If I ever come into a obscene sum of money I'm opening a recording studio in a castle :)
 
I haven't really given much thought to how they sound to the audience (maybe I should now). All that mattered was how they sounded to me in the monitor. As long as I could hear them mixed well with the vocals & bass, I was good to go.
I let the FOH guy worry about how they sound as I'm hoping they know what sounds best.

We have started recording our sets for posterity & promotion, so now I'll be able to gauge how the mix sounds to those staring at me.
 
Of those 3 choices? I'd say having some one else play and me either being near them on stage or in the audience (if the room sound is decent).

I don't tend to like super subby kicks with an added 2-5kHz spike for attack and snares with a ton of 200Hz in them. And that seems to be the MO for most FOH drum mixes unless otherwise specified and expertly dealt with by a competent engineer. It ends up being the same but worse in the monitors because the sub tones from the kick are delayed. Unless the monitors are actually real drum sidefills that can handle low frequencies, and,again, you have an engineer that can deal with getting a good sound. I've never used IEMs before so maybe that would help... in theory.

I've never heard a straight board mix that sounded good to me.
 
I like it when I can hear it coming from the mains. Usually only during soundcheck. Once the rest of the band comes in I only have whatever is in the monitor (generally kick) and the obscenely loud sounds coming out of the guitar and bass amp.
 
Fine tuning a little.

Knowing that a kit sounds different when you're playing it than it does when you're listening to it being played...bridging what you think you know when tuning it to what it translates to when the ears of your audience are hearing it...pretty profound when I put two and two together.
 
I've always liked having a floor monitor speaker or two and open stage so I can sort of hear the other players on the floor as well.

The IEM thing makes me feel a bit disconnected, like it's a recording session and not a stage gig or something.
 
I almost never worry about my in-ear drum sound. I want to hear what I need to make sure I'm not playing too hard, but I don't care too much about the relative sound quality of what I'm hearing there.

I trust in my tuning and choice of heads, cymbals, etc. to deliver what I intend to the house and the studio microphones. I love hearing a well-mixed playback of my playing. I have let others play my drums at shows partially because I love to evaluate how well the various bits of my instrument interplay with the band and with each other. Ultimately, that's the only sound my drums make that matters.
 
I almost never worry about my in-ear drum sound. I want to hear what I need to make sure I'm not playing too hard, but I don't care too much about the relative sound quality of what I'm hearing there.

I trust in my tuning and choice of heads, cymbals, etc. to deliver what I intend to the house and the studio microphones. I love hearing a well-mixed playback of my playing. I have let others play my drums at shows partially because I love to evaluate how well the various bits of my instrument interplay with the band and with each other. Ultimately, that's the only sound my drums make that matters.

I don’t spend time doing anything with my IEM sound other to make sure the right levels are in the mix (click, vocal, EG, AG, Bass). And have done the same...listening to someone else just play some simple 4/4 at about 60% power.
 
One of my most validating moments was when our bassist, who I've known for many years heard my drums in the audience instead of standing right next to them.
He mentioned how good they sound in the audience.

This is why I prefer to hear my drums with someone else playing them. I can hear what they're supposed to sound like.

It's a frustrating pleasure because I tell people in the band that the drums don't sound good until you're back a ways from them.

I realise they don't hear anything I talk about when I talk about drum sounds.

I can explain resolved sound and overtones, but they don't care to pay any mind to it.

It was nice when the bassist made note of it because it meant he is mindful.
 
I remember a long while ago, thinking to myself that I had such a great sound (while playing the kit) and then realizing later that it was all sorts of what I didn’t want when I was listening to the kit being played. That dynamic put a lot of larger elements into perspective.
 
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