Thoughts on acrylic drum screens?

[BassyBill]

A good soundman is not going to be able to convince that Beta 87 that the singer singing into it is louder than the snare drum bleeding into it. No soundman can do that.

True - in situations where it's that bad, I agree. I guess drum shields can have their uses in those circumstances, if they can make a significant difference to the level at the point of the mic. The alternative might be to use a mic with a really tight unidirectional response (like a Beta 87) and rethink the stage placement. This might not be the answer in a really reverberant room, but in those circumstances I think the drum shield is also going to be very limited in benefit.

 

[calebbarton]

They're stupid. I've only done a couple gigs with them and I hated them, and we will never use them again. They cut down the noise of the drums just enough to where I can't hear them and I'm forced to run them in my monitor, which I hate. I find it a totally obnoxious and loathsome practice. Just deal with the damn bleed like soundmen have done for decades long before stupid drummer boxes.

Thank you. +100000000000000000000

Everyone always assumes that a drummers volume can not be controlled. Are we so smug to assume that no drummer can control their stage volume? How about you guys? Do any of you play softer or harder at times to accentuate different parts? Do you believe in dynamics? Just get your drummer to play softer. If he is any good, he should be able to do it easily.

If nothing else its a good skill to have. Yeah, it wont sound the same but dude, that's the point.

 

[BassyBill]

Case in point:

We had a big youth conference on at church a year or two back, and part of the stage decoration was some big dummy speaker stacks. They weren't plugged in, they weren't even loaded IIRC. The stage design was left in for the Sunday morning service, and the PA guys got countless complaints about it being 'too loud because of the new speakers.' I was in the room, it was no louder than any other Sunday.

To the untrained ear/eye, something that looks like it should affect volume, does. Essentially, people hear what they want to hear. So regardless of how much effect a perspex screen really has one way or the other on volume, because people can see that there's some 'soundproofing' between them and the kit, they percieve it as quieter.

THIS is hilarious.

Band at the Wedding - YouTube

 

[Exploiter8]

If the drummer has no skins on the bottoms, have him put them back on with some soft foam cut the diameter of the shell put in to lay on it and help muffle the sound. Kind of like the old pillow in the bass drum trick.

X8

 

[KingRazor]

Thank you. +100000000000000000000

Everyone always assumes that a drummers volume can not be controlled. Are we so smug to assume that no drummer can control their stage volume? How about you guys? Do any of you play softer or harder at times to accentuate different parts? Do you believe in dynamics? Just get your drummer to play softer. If he is any good, he should be able to do it easily.

If nothing else its a good skill to have. Yeah, it wont sound the same but dude, that's the point.

Sometimes inexperienced drummers have trouble controlling their volume levels.

A bass player or keyboard player's volume is manageable because they can simply be turned down. Acoustic drums don't have volume knobs.

If every drummer had good dynamics and knew when to quiet down, drum shields would never be necessary. The fact that they exist in the first place just shows that some drummers are not very dynamic, they're all on all the time or not at all.

 

[Jimbob Jones]

Are we so smug to assume that no drummer can control their stage volume?

Not at all. I would say most drummers can. But I would also say that many drummers refuse to. Hence our problem.

(BTW that video is awesome Bassybill)

 

[TinIndian]

My drummer started using a screen aboout 2 months ago. He mikes his drums anyway so the screen was a natural progression. It allows a little more control of the drums in the mix by redirecting some of the sound back, we hang a black curtain up on our truss behind us and behind that we have a couple of moving blankets to try and absorb some of the reflected sound, seems to work. The thing I like about it best is it quiets down his cymbals from my perspective and I don't feel like someone is jabbing an icepick in my ears.

 

[TapyTap]

In a live band situation, play your bass behind an acrylic screen/box and all will be revealed as to how obnoxious it actually is to do so. It is not the answer.

Drummers need to utilize dynamics when playing (as do all musicians), and playing with a soft touch comes with practice. When I first began to play drums (many moons ago), I would play with a heavy hand, but now I am able to play with an extremely light touch, or loud, or any level in between. It simply takes time to develop the ability...practice is the key.

There are many good books available that can help a player work on such skills. Specifically, as it relates to drumming on a kit, here are several book suggestions:

Accents and Rebounds: For the Snare Drummer by George Lawrence Stone

Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer by Ted Reed

Future Sounds (Book & CD) by David Garibaldi

There are certainly many other great books besides the three I mention here, but these are recognized by many in the percussion field as solid sources for developing these skills.

Of course, there is also the issue of developing the ears to listen to the other musicians and how to interact with them when playing on the kit, but that also comes with practice and experience.

 

[MNAirHead]

Interesting, how does one make people perceive that the drums are quieter?

Same way when I bring my SVT to a gig that bassists will walk up talking about the "sweet tone of an SVT" I'll commonly chuckle as I normally go direct.

Same way as when I show up to a gig that people believe you to to be a better player if you pull out a freak instrument like a chapman stick.

Same way as if I put black veils over all maps at a church they think it's quieter

 

[bassman314]

Same way when I bring my SVT to a gig that bassists will walk up talking about the "sweet tone of an SVT" I'll commonly chuckle as I normally go direct.

Same way as when I show up to a gig that people believe you to to be a better player if you pull out a freak instrument like a chapman stick.

Same way as if I put black veils over all maps at a church they think it's quieter

And candles... Candles make it quieter... The more candles and less electric lighting you have, the quieter it is...

 

[Jayson]

Can't stand them, but for a different reason than most- the sound where we have used them has been ok, especially since we mic our drums, but the real issue to me was the literal physical wall between the drummer and I. We weren't able to interact in the same way, and I felt musically separated from him. It was awful.

We do fine without them.

 

[MNAirHead]

From a production stand point ...unless the drummer is on IEM, many times wedges will be cranked up higher making the sound even a bigger mess.

 

[KingRazor]

From a production stand point ...unless the drummer is on IEM, many times wedges will be cranked up higher making the sound even a bigger mess.

IMO in-ears are a requirement if you're using a drum shield.

 

[jaywa]

IMO in-ears are a requirement if you're using a drum shield.

Yes, because the ambient volume that hits the drummers ears will all be reflected right back at him, making the volume of the drums to him twice as much as it was before.

I interact with quite a few semi-pro and pro drummers, and every one of them whose opinion I respect despises these things.