Drummer Issue

[Slater]

“Man, That snare sounds great!…when it’s working. I understand why you keep giving it a chance, but I hope you’re not going to try to use it on a gig.”

 

[gln1955]

Tell him his Radio King is dead and buy him a brand spanking new Spotify snare.

 

[pepj]

Its bad enough during a rehearsal but intolerable at a gig.
Players should use fit for purpose kit.
If he can't or won't then move him out.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I think enough other folks have mentioned the need to talk to him about it. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had less time to enjoy the hang of a band. The enjoyment, for me, is the playing and that’s what I make time for. Between family, work, my dog, etc… I have limited time to “waste” on people sorting out their gear. Be kind about it, but don’t be afraid to say, “hey, I only have two hours to rehearse. I’d hate to miss our time together waiting on a snare drum when we have others that will work just fine for practice.”

Regarding him geeking out about gear - he’s just trying to build a relationship with you guys, and music/gear is an easy way for him to do it. I wouldn’t let that impact your enjoyment of him or the band. Be happy he’s trying to make a connection. And yeah, he might be trying to show off a hair regarding the deals he’s getting. He might have confidence issues and needs a boost to make him feel better. I wouldn’t sweat it.

 

[two fingers]

Seriously. Thanks for the replies. I spoke to others in the band and we all agree he gets one shot with the Radio King and if it craps out he needs to replace it with a working snare.

Hey please check back in and let us know how it goes next rehearsal. Good luck with it!

 

[75Ric]

I used to be a band director and gave drum lessons on the side. The language we always used was 'you practice at home to learn your part and get your sound right' and 'you come to rehearsal to put your right-sounding part together with everyone else.' Sounds like this guy doesn't have his sound right and is using rehearsal for what should be personal practice time.

This is right. He needs to get his sound right before rehearsal.

I'd approach it from his perspective. It must be really frustrating for him to have to stop in the middle of rehearsal to try and fix his snare when it goes out. That's got to be some pressure on him. You can note that you figure it must be frustrating to him because it's frustrating to everyone else. Because it's happened several times, it probably needs to be taken to a repair shop. Everyone loves cool gear, but when it objectively isn't working, you have to do something about it. I'd encourage him to go in this direction, get it fixed by a pro, and then everyone (i.e., the band) will benefit from a cool snare that isn't breaking down all the time.

 

[lfmn16]

How can I get this guy to just use a good working snare at least until he gets the Radio King sorted out?

Have you tried talking to him? Every conversation doesn't have to be a confrontation. I'd just say something like, "Hey, love the new snare, but until you get the issues worked out, could you use another one? We only have X amount of time to rehearse and we can't afford to spend that time adjusting our equipment. Thanks." If he's a jerk about it, you might as well quit and cut your losses because he'll only get worse.

 

[mrcbass]

Me? No thanks, I'll pass. Twice is too many for this kind of nonsense. Irritating is one thing (don't think I'd last long with that alone), but thoroughly wasting everyone's time regularly? Nope. Next project please.

 

[REV]

Drummer issue update! After a few more rehearsals the snare drum issue was still a problem. I was really dreading having a conversation about the snare drum with this guy. Anyway, at our last rehearsal I got there a little early to talk to him about it and as I walked in our drummer came up to me all excited. "You won't believe this" he said. "I went to this pawn shop and there on the shelf was a Ludwig Blah Blah Blah Blah snare drum. They're incredibly rare. The guy had no idea what he had. He wanted $X and I talked him down to $X. " So our drummer rattled on and on about his latest prize. As each band member came in he started the whole story over again. Long story short. The "new" snare sounds fine and doesn't crap out so for now all is well. Thanks to everyone for your input.

 

[Krakmann]

I'm not sure what will happen when we start to play out.

Exactly this: tell him what would happen in a live situation. Would he really stop the gig to fix the snare?