Jonnie Brown

The drums have been too loud for a very long time. Many people have thought of different solutions to make drums sound quieter: drum shields, special drum heads, special sticks,  muffling inventions, special cymbals, electronic sets, and the list goes on and on. I believe the only real way to sound quieter as a drummer is to play quietly. Sure, all of those things mentioned above are well, and good, but a drum is only going to be as loud as the drummer plays it. So really, it's not the drums that are loud; it's the drummer that plays them loudly. But having a softer touch isn't enough. It's not enough to just play quietly. You have to have something else called "taste." You see, the drum part that you're playing was recorded in a place where drum volume was most likely not a problem. You can try to play the same part quietly, but your context is obviously different. Here's a good example: If you are using hot rods and the recordin...

Worship Leader: "Hey, I need a drummer on this weekend. Are you available?" You: "Yes! Do you have a click track that you normally use? Or do I need to bring it?" Worship Leader: "Oh, we don't use a click." What are you supposed to do now? How do you use a click track when the band isn't used to it? Let's start with logistics. I have found that most bands that don't play with a click usually don't have an in-ear monitor system. So, if your band plays with wedges (speakers on the floor pointed towards the band) the easiest way to do it is to plug in your headphones/in-ears to your phone and use a metronome app. So you will be the only person that hears the click. Or the more complicated option is to take an output from your monitor, plug that into a baby mixer, and plug your phone into that same mixer. Violà. You can have your mix and click in your headphones/in-ears! If you have questions about that, consult you...

I’m not talking about driving. Although, you should wear your seatbelt while driving. I’m talking about using a metronome or a “click track” while playing. I remember the very first time I ever attempted to play drums with a click. It was at our band’s rehearsal, and it was kind of really bad. I didn’t even bring my own headphones. My friend held up his physical metronome (this was not too long before the days of smart phones and metronome apps) to my ear while I played about as loud as I could along with most everyone else in the band. Did I say it was bad? Cause um. It was bad. I would get off beat and wouldn’t even notice that I was off for a really long time. Then I would just stop playing to figure out where the beat was and everyone would be like, “What’s going on? Why are you stopping?” I think we tried it and crashed miserably about 4 times before we all decided that playing with a click is not going to work for us, and we’re just wasting our time trying. Maybe you’ve co...