Bloody Snare drum wires.....

[dave_bass5]

Over the past few rehearsals and gigs, ive noticed my drummer's snare wires are vibrating over most of the intros where he doesn't play, but me or the bass player start the song, and over one where he uses rim shot most of the time. 

I know there is a lever to mute/pull these back.  I asked him at the gig on Sat about one song and he said it was tricky doing this. I appreciate it can be, but isn't it something he should be doing anyway?

I think it sounds very unprofessional having extra noise's over intros. Im the only one that has brought this up. 

 

Am I being unreasonable telling him to get this sorted?

[Mykesbass]

Sorry, can any of our drummers on here explain the difficulty as I have never encountered a drummer who has thought this was a problem?

[dave_bass5]

Just now, Mykesbass said:

Sorry, can any of our drummers on here explain the difficulty as I have never encountered a drummer who has thought this was a problem?

I was surprised he had never even considered it, but with my band I seem to be the only one that picks up on these things. 

I guess he was put on the spot and so I can understand he wasn't prepared for this, but im hoping it will be sorted going forward.

 

Or do bands not bother with this sort of thing and im just being anal?

[gjones]

20 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

I was surprised he had never even considered it, but with my band I seem to be the only one that picks up on these things. 

I guess he was put on the spot and so I can understand he wasn't prepared for this, but im hoping it will be sorted going forward.

 

Or do bands not bother with this sort of thing and im just being anal?

 

It really cheeses me off too. No drummer I have ever played with ever thought it was a problem, until I brought it up. Then they looked at me with a stupid look on their faces.

 

Have you ever showed your drummer how you can tune your bass guitar to the oscillation of his snare drum, it's an interesting trick.....and illustrates the problem of intrusive snare drum rattle pretty well. 

[dave_bass5]

Glad it’s not just me. I’ve let it go for a couple of years, admittedly it’s not been a big deal with our old set, but we now have a few songs where its very noticable.

 

I dont play bass in this band, but to do what you suggest above id have to teach my bass player how to tune his bass first……😂

[Dad3353]

I'm a drummer, and I've never heard of this being a problem, as it's a drumming reflex to back the snares off at the end of the song, and snap 'em back on for the next one. Are there drummers that don't do this..? 

No issue now, for me, anyway, as I use an e-kit, soooooo... 

[Beedster]

3 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Are there drummers that don't do this..?

Hell yes

[dave_bass5]

1 minute ago, Dad3353 said:

I'm a drummer, and I've never heard of this being a problem, as it's a drumming reflex to back the snares off at the end of the song, and snap 'em back on for the next one. Are there drummers that don't do this..? 

No issue now, for me, anyway, as I use an e-kit, soooooo... 

I’m pretty sure none of my other drummers over the years didn’t do this when possible. 
I mentioned an E kit to him, as he does have one, but got an odd look lol. 

im just dumbfounded that none of my band have never mentioned it before, although I’m not really surprised considering the other issues they never hear or mention. 

[EBS_freak]

16 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

I asked him at the gig on Sat about one song and he said it was tricky doing this.

Perhaps he should spend the next week doing this as part of his practice… assuming he does.

[dave_bass5]

30 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Perhaps he should spend the next week doing this as part of his practice… assuming he does.

Im not sure he does much of that. He seems to make a lot of mistakes. He is a good drummer but doesn't quite get the songs right these days. Nice bloke though and I would never want to argue with him, but things have to be said if they need to.

He did ask me to remind him at the next rehearsal, which I took exception to and told him maybe he should make a list of the songs that need this. I wipe enough asses already. 

[BigRedX]

As someone who has played in many bands where the drums are produced by non-human means and has shared the stage with lots of bands with human drummer this used to be a massive problem back in the 80s and 90s and we were always having to ask the drummers in other bands to turn their snares off so they wouldn't rattle along in sympathy with out backing track. However this thread made me realise that I can't remember the last time I had to make this request, so at least the drummers in the bands on the small bill as us are clued up to this now.

[dave_bass5]

I can’t ever remember having to ask a drummer in all the years I’ve been playing. Maybe it’s not been much of an issue and I’ve not noticed, or they were turning  them off when needed. 
Either way, we now need this to happen in my current band and i expect it will be an uphill struggle, but i won’t let it go. 
I just wasn’t sure it was a thing with drummers. 
 

Thanks for the replies and confirmation. 

[Lozz196]

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a band where a drummer has done this. But then subtlety of playing not that prevalent in the punk/Oi scene I suppose.

[dave_bass5]

3 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a band where a drummer has done this. But then subtlety of playing not that prevalent in the punk/Oi scene I suppose.

Not even when playing Stand by me? 😂

[Hellzero]

It reminds of an old joke told to me by a drummer...

 

Q: Do you know how to create a bassist?

 

A: You take a big pile of shìt, but not too much or it will turn into a drummer.

 

Sorry @Dad3353... 😉

[cheddatom]

I have a few snares where the throwoff is very stiff and takes two hands to get off and on

 

When I was playing quiet folk songs in pubs with limited PA, I would keep my snare off as much as possible in intros etc. Now I play bigger venues with big PAs I leave it on. You can't hear it FOH

[Dad3353]

17 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

I have a few snares where the throwoff is very stiff and takes two hands to get off and on ...

 

Most snare drums can be adjusted for snap-on/off tension, assuming they're in good condition to start with. Just sayin'; yours may be exceptions. 

[cheddatom]

Just now, Dad3353 said:

 

Most snare drums can be adjusted for snap-on/off tension, assuming they're in good condition to start with. Just sayin'; yours may be exceptions. 

 

I have a pearl throw off on both of my main snares. You have to lift the whole thing up to take up the slack before you can pull the level up to fix it on. You can kind of do it one handed but it's not the easiest thing. If it was ever a problem I'd probably find a better throwoff mechanism and fit that to both, but as it is, for 99% of our gigs, no-one can hear it

 

[Dad3353]

2 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

 

I have a pearl throw off on both of my main snares. You have to lift the whole thing up to take up the slack before you can pull the level up to fix it on. You can kind of do it one handed but it's not the easiest thing. If it was ever a problem I'd probably find a better throwoff mechanism and fit that to both, but as it is, for 99% of our gigs, no-one can hear it

 

 

Odd. I have that same system on one of my Pearl snares, and have not had any issues, once it's strung up and adjusted by turning the knob. Just lucky..? Probably. My Camco snare has a very basic trigger, which could be sensitive to throwing itself 'off' if not correctly tensioned. I don't use my metal Tama snares much, but they are all easy and reliable.
But I digress; an e-kit solves this and many other issues..! 

[cheddatom]

6 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Odd. I have that same system on one of my Pearl snares, and have not had any issues, once it's strung up and adjusted by turning the knob. Just lucky..? Probably. My Camco snare has a very basic trigger, which could be sensitive to throwing itself 'off' if not correctly tensioned. I don't use my metal Tama snares much, but they are all easy and reliable.
But I digress; an e-kit solves this and many other issues..! 

I probably have it set wrong. I'll ask an expert when I get chance. I have it sounding great when it's on, and when it's off it doesn't rattle, so I figured that was good enough, but yeh, if I want to do a drum solo and switch between on and off it's basically impossible. Thankfully I've not been asked/allowed 

[BassTractor]

Huge problem.
To compare: Andy Partridge wrote just one song about his terrible ex, but XTC felt the need to write a whole album about this ...




I already have my coat on ...

[Buddster]

I've know drummers place thier hand underneath to mute the snates.

Much like the guitarist who won't shut up at rehursal, I'd love to stand in front of them with a set of wire cutters. 

[Dad3353]

24 minutes ago, Buddster said:

...  I'd love to stand in front of them with a set of wire cutters. 

 

Anecdote : It was a concert for the launch of the first Kiemsa CD. The local hall was packed; the whole evening went off splendidly. Come the final number, Our Eldest, on guitar, had imagined a novel way of playing his solo spot, at the end of the song. At high volume, his Laney amp screeching, he took a pair of wire cutters and proceeded to cut each guitar string in turn, to the stupefaction, and cheers, of all present. End of the last song (or so it had been planned...). The acclamation for an encore became too pressing, so they had to return to the stage, but Our Eldest had to remain silent, with a red face, whilst the others played out the occasion. One had to be there; it was a great evening. 

[dave_bass5]

29 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

I have a few snares where the throwoff is very stiff and takes two hands to get off and on

 

When I was playing quiet folk songs in pubs with limited PA, I would keep my snare off as much as possible in intros etc. Now I play bigger venues with big PAs I leave it on. You can't hear it FOH

We tend to play smaller clubs, where nothing other than keys and Vox go through the Paso its getting quite noticeable, especially on stage.

[dave_bass5]

1 hour ago, Buddster said:

I've know drummers place thier hand underneath to mute the snates.

 

This is what I first suggested to him. I thought it would be easy to do that.