Hi Mathew, I enjoy reading your blogs. Very good commentaries and rebuttals on interesting topics. What is your opinion of church audio techs? As we all know, the skill level is a wide range of talent, depending on the church size, number of people performing, number of people who can actually run the sound booth, etc.
I am currently playing in a church situation where all the drums are mic’d and we have 2 overhead mics for the cymbals. The entire set up is enclosed in a plexi-glass cage so the techs can monitor the sound exactly. These audio guys make issue with the cage door being closed at all times, the mix has to be perfect – which usually means the drums are somewhat soft, etc. I get the feeling they think that just because there are drums in church, that automatically means the drums are too loud.
These audio guys want to be able to control every sound on stage. Yet I can walk into the nearest bar or other non-secular venue and find an excellent Blues band playing, the band is mic’d perfectly, yet one can sit 20 feet away and still be able to hold a conversation at normal speaking volume. The drums aren’t enclosed, the guitars all have amps, etc. No soundproofing on the walls. Yet it seems every church MUST have the drums enclosed, the guitars fed directly into the system, etc.
I must ask, in all of your experiences playing church venues, is this the norm? Or a better question may be what is the mindset of church audio techs? And I must be honest in telling you I’ve almost had a row over the drum sounds with one particular tech being too cocky / egotistical. We sorta have a difference of opinion in that area. And one problem I have with all audio people is that most of them are not musicians, trained or otherwise and can’t seem to grasp how a particular instrument works. Like drums and dampening and muffling the heads.
Thanks a bunch for your time and expertise!
David
David, thank you for your kind words. I have played in a dozen or so different churches over the course of my career and I have had similar experiences with the audio techs that you have had with a few of the previous churches I have played at. I don’t find it at all uncommon for there to be some tension between drummers and the audio techs. However, keep in mind that sometimes the audio techs are carrying out the policies dictated to them by the music director or the pastor and they may not be squelching out the drums on their own.
This is especially the case with enclosed sound booths. Designing and building this kind of booth requires a resource allocation and approval that would go far beyond the audio techs authority. The cost of an enclosed sound booth along with the micing system, plus whatever other ancillary sound equipment that would be needed, would be quite expensive. The people in the church who hold the purse strings would be the only ones who could approve that kind of purchase. In most of the independent denominational churches, it would be the pastor that would have that kind of purchasing authority.
I visited a church a while back where the set up is just as you described in your situation. The drummer is caged up inside a fully enclosed booth as if he was on display in some kind of freak show. I am surprised that they did not post a sign in front of the booth that says, “Please don’t feed the drummer.” I saw the crash cymbal move when the drummer hit it. However, I could not hear the sound of the actual crash itself. So I walked over to the sound booth and asked the tech if he could turn up the crash cymbal mics. He was not receptive to my request at all.
After the service, we got into a little argument and I asked him, “Tell me that you don’t see anything wrong with the drummer hitting the crash cymbal and not being able to hear the crash. Don’t you see anything wrong with that picture?” His only response was, ‘well I am just doing what I am told to do.”
Concerning the issue of drummers playing in enclosed booths, I don’t know exactly how common or widespread that is. If you watch Christian TV you will see that ever so often. I personally don’t like the concept of enclosed booths for drummer’s in a live audience setting. Now, if we are talking about a recording studio, that’s another matter altogether. The reasons I don’t care for enclosed booths for drummers are as follows:
1. The acoustics of the room you are playing can often times deliver pretty good mix of sound all on its own. The only time acoustical adjustments should be made is when you need to compensate for what the room lacks. For example, the church I am playing at now is an old church that was built back in the 30s. Playing in that room is like playing in a canyon. And of course, one of the ways we compensate for that is by having the drums behind a plexi-glass shied.
2. Enclosed drum booths potentially squelch out the coloring and texting that a drummer might do when he plays the soft songs in the latter half of the song set. By coloring and texturing I mean, the use of cymbal rolls and tinkle punctuations, chimes, rain stick or other devices and techniques that give a nice aesthetic ethereal sound that enhances the music and the mood of what’s going on at the time. The sound techs are usually more preoccupied with the overall mix of the vocals and rhythm section and they normally are not sensitive to coloring and texturing that the drummer or percussionist may be doing.
3. Enclosed booths are not generally percussionist friendly. If the drummer is in an enclosed booth then what do you do if you want to have a percussionist? Do you build a booth for him too? If the percussionist is not put in a booth, then that begs the question, why is the drummer in a booth and not the percussionist? If the percussionist is put in a booth, that would cost the church more money. A lot of praise bands view the percussionist as expendable and would rather not have a percussionist at all if they have an enclosed booth for the drummer. That way they won’t have to deal with that whole issue.
I played at a church where the leadership insisted on electronic drums for basically the same reasons other churches use enclosed booths for acoustic drums. I lasted about a year at that church before moving on. However, I had other issues with that church that figured in to my departure besides the edrums.
Like you, I too have experience playing with secular bands in secular venues where there was a good mix of sound with minimal intrusion by the audio tech. As a general rule, I have noticed that there are a lot of good business and technical practices used in the secular venues that seem to be ignored at the church level. I think it would behoove church praise bands to adopt some of these practices in their music programs. Some churches are better at adopting these practices than others. I think it depends and the background and experience of the music director and how involved the pastor is in the music program.
Of those pastors who are heavily involved with their praise bands in terms of dictating policy, I have noticed that the pastors who are also musicians tend to be more understanding of the needs of the band that those who are not. At the church I am playing at now, the pastor is not a musician and does not get involved in mirco managing the music program. He is smart enough to realize his limitations and he lets his music director run the show.
That is pretty much my perspective on audio techs and enclosed sound booths and I hope that it provided some insight.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
DVD Review: Drum Grooves For Worship, by Carl Albrecht
One concept I have strongly emphasized and will continue to emphasize in my seminars and blog articles is that, praise music is a genre unto itself with its own set of distinctives and nuances. If a musician wants to play praise music, then it is up to him or her to learn what this genre requires. (I would apply this same principle to the other genres as well.) On the same token, it is up to those musicians who have the knowledge and experience in the praise genre to teach the younger and less experienced musicians what those distinctives and nuances are. Among all the instructional DVDs for praise drummers that I have seen so far, the 2008 instructional DVD by Carl Albrecht entitled, Drum Grooves For Worship does that best job of teaching praise music distinctives and nuances for drummers that I have seen thus far.
Before producing this DVD, Carl spent several hours doing research on the top 100 CCLI songs and sub-dividing those songs into 7 distinct groove patterns. In addition to this DVD, Carl also published his research observations in writing and gives a much more detailed account of each song that he listened too. These observations are available on pdf that you can down load from his website, http://carlalbrecht.com/wp-content/uploads/Drum-Grooves-For-Worship.pdf. In this pdf, Carl not only gives you the different groove patterns, but he indicates the ideal tempo for each of the songs, as well as the kick patterns for the verses and choruses. This pdf could be used as a cheat sheet for those younger, inexperienced drummers who are learning the different praise songs.
Here are the 7 grooves that Carl has identified:
Groove #1 – Straight 8th note feel (17)
Groove #2 – 8th note w/ filler 16ths - Alternative Rock Feel (26)
Groove #3 – 16th note “Train feel” – Rock or Latin (20)
Groove #4 - 8th &/or 16th note feel in Ballad Style (27)
Groove #5 - 6/8 Majestic Feel (7)
Groove #6 – Shuffles or Swing feel – Triplet minus the middle* (1)
Groove #7 - Odd Time Grooves – . - 5/4 - etc. etc.(3)
Keep in mind that a praise drummer needs to learn as many different groove patterns as possible in order to be as versatile as possible. However, a good praise drummer should learn to master these seven grooves first and then move on from there.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this list of groove patterns are the top groove patterns of CCLI’s top 100 for 2008. I am quite certain that in a few years there will be new songs in CCLI’s top 100 that weren’t there in 2008. My best guess is that the first five groove patterns will more than likely still hold their existing places. I am not so sure about the last two, we will just have to wait and see.
As for the DVD itself, I found Carl to be very articulate and telegenic. He conveyed all of his points very well and all of his points were very relevant for praise drummers. Carl demonstrated groove patterns covering well over a dozen different songs. One thing I found very interesting is that Carl did not use any instrumentalists to accompany him while demonstrating the different groove patterns. Instead, he sang or hummed the songs as he played the grooves. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In Carl’s case, he happens to be a fairly decent vocalist in addition to being a good drummer and percussionist. So for him, the singing and humming actually worked.
In addition to teaching the seven basic grooves patterns of praise music, Carl also gave a lot of practical advice for praise drummers in regards to developing good practice habits. Drum Grooves For Worship is an excellent teaching video for all praise drummers at any level. I highly recommend it, I was not disappointed with my purchase of this product.
Before producing this DVD, Carl spent several hours doing research on the top 100 CCLI songs and sub-dividing those songs into 7 distinct groove patterns. In addition to this DVD, Carl also published his research observations in writing and gives a much more detailed account of each song that he listened too. These observations are available on pdf that you can down load from his website, http://carlalbrecht.com/wp-content/uploads/Drum-Grooves-For-Worship.pdf. In this pdf, Carl not only gives you the different groove patterns, but he indicates the ideal tempo for each of the songs, as well as the kick patterns for the verses and choruses. This pdf could be used as a cheat sheet for those younger, inexperienced drummers who are learning the different praise songs.
Here are the 7 grooves that Carl has identified:
Groove #1 – Straight 8th note feel (17)
Groove #2 – 8th note w/ filler 16ths - Alternative Rock Feel (26)
Groove #3 – 16th note “Train feel” – Rock or Latin (20)
Groove #4 - 8th &/or 16th note feel in Ballad Style (27)
Groove #5 - 6/8 Majestic Feel (7)
Groove #6 – Shuffles or Swing feel – Triplet minus the middle* (1)
Groove #7 - Odd Time Grooves – . - 5/4 - etc. etc.(3)
Keep in mind that a praise drummer needs to learn as many different groove patterns as possible in order to be as versatile as possible. However, a good praise drummer should learn to master these seven grooves first and then move on from there.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this list of groove patterns are the top groove patterns of CCLI’s top 100 for 2008. I am quite certain that in a few years there will be new songs in CCLI’s top 100 that weren’t there in 2008. My best guess is that the first five groove patterns will more than likely still hold their existing places. I am not so sure about the last two, we will just have to wait and see.
As for the DVD itself, I found Carl to be very articulate and telegenic. He conveyed all of his points very well and all of his points were very relevant for praise drummers. Carl demonstrated groove patterns covering well over a dozen different songs. One thing I found very interesting is that Carl did not use any instrumentalists to accompany him while demonstrating the different groove patterns. Instead, he sang or hummed the songs as he played the grooves. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In Carl’s case, he happens to be a fairly decent vocalist in addition to being a good drummer and percussionist. So for him, the singing and humming actually worked.
In addition to teaching the seven basic grooves patterns of praise music, Carl also gave a lot of practical advice for praise drummers in regards to developing good practice habits. Drum Grooves For Worship is an excellent teaching video for all praise drummers at any level. I highly recommend it, I was not disappointed with my purchase of this product.
Friday, July 1, 2011
ARTICLE REVIEW: My Response To Carl Albrecht
On June 28, 2011, Carl published a piece on his web site entitled, The Calling of a Worship Drummer. http://carlalbrecht.com/category/worship-drumming/. In this article Carl encouraged praise musicians to take their spiritual office seriously by urging them to develop and hone their musical skills and to grow spiritually at the same time.
Carl cited five very relevant scriptures to support his points:
• REV. 5:10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God.”
• II CHRON. 34: 12 – 13 “The Levites – all who were skilled in playing musical instruments – had charge of the laborers and supervised all the workers from job to job.”
• I CHRON. 25: 7 ““…all of them trained in music for the Lord…”
• I SAMUEL 10: 5 – 11 “…they will be coming down from a high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps … and they will be prophesying. The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.”
• I SAMUEL 16:23 “…David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.”
Carl also indirectly cited two scriptures without giving their references that were also very relevant to his premise:
• “The Lord truly inhabits the praises of His people.” (Psa 22:3)
• “He said He will be found when we search for Him with all of our heart.” (Jer 29:13)
It is basically a good article. The only issue that I have with the article is that Carl needs to get his terminology straight. In his 1,400 word article, Carl mentions the word “worship” in its various forms 20 times. Or 21 if you include the picture at the beginning of the article that shows Carl holding his drums sticks in his right while raised in the air, with the caption below reading, “Carl worshipping.”
Carl has the same misconception about worship that most Evangelical Christians have. Praise and worship are two completely different concepts. The problem is, most Evangelicals have difficulty making the distinction between the two and they end up using the pop cultural definition of worship as opposed to the Biblical definition. Take the photo of Carl at the top of his article. One raising their hand or hands is an act of praise, not worship. Here are just two scriptures that support the concept of praise being manifested through the lifting of hands:
• Ps 63:4 “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.”
• Ps 134:2 “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.”
Praise is an activity based concept and the scriptures teach that praise can be manifested through: giving of offerings, thanksgiving, or a verbal declaration of praise; and/or by shouting, dancing, lifting of hands, singing and playing musical instruments. Those are all activities. This is why I refer to myself as a praise drummer as opposed to a worship drummer. There is no verse in the Bible that reads, “lift your hands in worship.”
Worship on the other hand is a posture based concept and not an activity based concept as praise is. This is where most Evangelicals go wrong. They associate worship as an activity and it’s not. The scriptures teach that worship is a posture and an attitude of bowing. The notion that worship is defined by lifting hands and music is simply NOT BIBLICAL. I challenge anyone to show me one scripture that defines music any other manifestation of praise of as worship.
Here are just two scriptures that well illustrate how praise and worship are different:
• II Ch 20: 18 & 19 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
• Ne 8:6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Some of you might be thinking,… “Gosh Matthew, aren’t you being a little nit-picky here? After all, you just said that Carl’s article was good, so why are you splitting hairs over the semantics of worship?” If you were thinking that, let respond to you this way.
Suppose you visited a church where the Ushers pass out the bread and wine after the Pastor says, “will the ushers please come forward to take the offering.” Then, the Ushers pass the offering plates after the Pastors says, “we will now partake of Holy communion.” I think calling communion, “the taking of the offering” and the taking of the offering, “communion” is just a ridiculous as calling singing and music “worship.”
So my point is we need to call things what they actually are and we as Christians should be using the Biblical definitions of those terms if a Biblical definition is applicable. So, if Carl were to go back and revise his article by replacing all the references to worship with praise, then his article would be even better than it is now. It is as simple as that.
BTW, I just recently bought Carl’s instructional DVD, Drum Grooves for Worship and later this Summer, I will publish a review on it. I will not make an issue of how Carl used the word worship in my upcoming review since I have already done that here. Suffice it to say, aside for the worship issue, I loved the DVD immensely, so you can expect my review to be more on the positive side.
Carl cited five very relevant scriptures to support his points:
• REV. 5:10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God.”
• II CHRON. 34: 12 – 13 “The Levites – all who were skilled in playing musical instruments – had charge of the laborers and supervised all the workers from job to job.”
• I CHRON. 25: 7 ““…all of them trained in music for the Lord…”
• I SAMUEL 10: 5 – 11 “…they will be coming down from a high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps … and they will be prophesying. The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.”
• I SAMUEL 16:23 “…David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.”
Carl also indirectly cited two scriptures without giving their references that were also very relevant to his premise:
• “The Lord truly inhabits the praises of His people.” (Psa 22:3)
• “He said He will be found when we search for Him with all of our heart.” (Jer 29:13)
It is basically a good article. The only issue that I have with the article is that Carl needs to get his terminology straight. In his 1,400 word article, Carl mentions the word “worship” in its various forms 20 times. Or 21 if you include the picture at the beginning of the article that shows Carl holding his drums sticks in his right while raised in the air, with the caption below reading, “Carl worshipping.”
Carl has the same misconception about worship that most Evangelical Christians have. Praise and worship are two completely different concepts. The problem is, most Evangelicals have difficulty making the distinction between the two and they end up using the pop cultural definition of worship as opposed to the Biblical definition. Take the photo of Carl at the top of his article. One raising their hand or hands is an act of praise, not worship. Here are just two scriptures that support the concept of praise being manifested through the lifting of hands:
• Ps 63:4 “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.”
• Ps 134:2 “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.”
Praise is an activity based concept and the scriptures teach that praise can be manifested through: giving of offerings, thanksgiving, or a verbal declaration of praise; and/or by shouting, dancing, lifting of hands, singing and playing musical instruments. Those are all activities. This is why I refer to myself as a praise drummer as opposed to a worship drummer. There is no verse in the Bible that reads, “lift your hands in worship.”
Worship on the other hand is a posture based concept and not an activity based concept as praise is. This is where most Evangelicals go wrong. They associate worship as an activity and it’s not. The scriptures teach that worship is a posture and an attitude of bowing. The notion that worship is defined by lifting hands and music is simply NOT BIBLICAL. I challenge anyone to show me one scripture that defines music any other manifestation of praise of as worship.
Here are just two scriptures that well illustrate how praise and worship are different:
• II Ch 20: 18 & 19 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
• Ne 8:6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Some of you might be thinking,… “Gosh Matthew, aren’t you being a little nit-picky here? After all, you just said that Carl’s article was good, so why are you splitting hairs over the semantics of worship?” If you were thinking that, let respond to you this way.
Suppose you visited a church where the Ushers pass out the bread and wine after the Pastor says, “will the ushers please come forward to take the offering.” Then, the Ushers pass the offering plates after the Pastors says, “we will now partake of Holy communion.” I think calling communion, “the taking of the offering” and the taking of the offering, “communion” is just a ridiculous as calling singing and music “worship.”
So my point is we need to call things what they actually are and we as Christians should be using the Biblical definitions of those terms if a Biblical definition is applicable. So, if Carl were to go back and revise his article by replacing all the references to worship with praise, then his article would be even better than it is now. It is as simple as that.
BTW, I just recently bought Carl’s instructional DVD, Drum Grooves for Worship and later this Summer, I will publish a review on it. I will not make an issue of how Carl used the word worship in my upcoming review since I have already done that here. Suffice it to say, aside for the worship issue, I loved the DVD immensely, so you can expect my review to be more on the positive side.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
More Products by Keith Banks
Back on March 25, 2009, I did a review on a 2006 instructional DVD that was written, produced, and performed by Keith Banks entitled, Defining A Worship Drummer. In my review of that DVD, I addressed the product’s strengths and weaknesses. As for the product weaknesses, one of my comments was, “I thought the teaching side of Keith’s DVD could have been a little less philosophical and a lot more practical because he never taught any special drumming techniques or nuances that would have been relevant to the praise genre, nor did he ever give any general drumming tips.” At the time I wrote that, I did not know that Keith had produced a CD entitled, “Finding The Pocket of the Groove” that same year he did his first DVD (2006).
“Finding The Pocket of the Groove” is a CD that features 33 different drum grooves from 9 different genres such as latin, fusion and straight-ahead jazz, funky & soulful, rock, latin, reggae, hip hop, and R &B. This would be a valuable product for any praise drummer simply because a lot of praise songs sample from a variety of genres. In order to be an effective praise drummer, one needs to be familiar with the various styles, and this CD can help you do that. This CD is also a very good practicing tool for bass, guitar, piano, keyboard players, as well as drummers and percussionists. It will help a drummer with his/her timing and develop the groove and feel the pocket.
In 2009, Keith produced two more instructional videos entitled:
Series I, Dynamic Drum Lessons (Beginner & Intermediate Drummers)
Series I, Dynamic Drum Lessons (Advanced Drummers)
Both of these videos are very practical and teach a lot special drumming techniques and nuances that are relevant to the praise genre.
The DVD for Beginner & Intermediate Drummers covers the fundamentals of using the proper handling of the sticks and foot techniques. It also covers some basic rudiments, the essential counting system of notations, basic structure of building drum fills, and developing dynamic grooves. Keith also wrote a book that accompanies this DVD that scores all the exercises.
The other DVD for Advanced Drummers teaches the following concepts:
• The funk clave
• Cross over hi-hat
• Phrasing & articulating creative drum fills
• Thinking out the box drumming concepts
• World & cultural rhythms
I am of the opinion that clave should be illustrated on all drum rudiment charts along with all the double stroke rolls, paradiddles, flams, ruffs and etc. simply because all pop music as we know of it today is based on the clave (the 3/2 son clave in particular). Although there are different ways to play clave on the drum set, Keith shows the viewer how to ride the hi-hat with clave.
The cross over hi-hat concept is where the drummer uses the snare hand to hit the hi-hat between the back beats of 2 and 4 while the other hand is riding the hi-hat. The reason Keith calls it “cross over” is because the snare hand crosses back and forth from the snare to the hi-hat. Many drummers are using this technique and it does help add some spice to your groove whether you are riding your hi-hat or your cymbal.
This DVD features two songs and on one of them entitled Avivanos. In this song, Keith demonstrates his “out of the box” thinking and his phenomenal independence by putting together a double ride combination. Keith played 16ths on the snare at a tempo of 92 bpm with his left hand while playing the hi-hat and the snare with his right. In another segment of the song puts together a paradiddle combination between the kick and the snare while riding the cymbal.
Keith gives the viewers their money’s worth with plenty of material. Any drummer who can master all the techniques taught in this DVD will be one bad cat. The only down side of the DVD is that it did not come with an accompaniment book as the DVD for Beginner & Intermediate Drummers did. Of course, it’s very understandable why there is no book. Preparing an accompaniment book for this DVD would be a greater undertaking because the exercises are a lot more intricate than the exercises in the first one. But, then again, the fact that this DVD has more intricate exercises would be an argument for writing the accompaniment book.
The title to both of these DVDs reads, “Series I.” So this begs a question. Does this mean that there will be a “Series II” coming out anytime soon? Only Keith can answer that question.
“Finding The Pocket of the Groove” is a CD that features 33 different drum grooves from 9 different genres such as latin, fusion and straight-ahead jazz, funky & soulful, rock, latin, reggae, hip hop, and R &B. This would be a valuable product for any praise drummer simply because a lot of praise songs sample from a variety of genres. In order to be an effective praise drummer, one needs to be familiar with the various styles, and this CD can help you do that. This CD is also a very good practicing tool for bass, guitar, piano, keyboard players, as well as drummers and percussionists. It will help a drummer with his/her timing and develop the groove and feel the pocket.
In 2009, Keith produced two more instructional videos entitled:
Series I, Dynamic Drum Lessons (Beginner & Intermediate Drummers)
Series I, Dynamic Drum Lessons (Advanced Drummers)
Both of these videos are very practical and teach a lot special drumming techniques and nuances that are relevant to the praise genre.
The DVD for Beginner & Intermediate Drummers covers the fundamentals of using the proper handling of the sticks and foot techniques. It also covers some basic rudiments, the essential counting system of notations, basic structure of building drum fills, and developing dynamic grooves. Keith also wrote a book that accompanies this DVD that scores all the exercises.
The other DVD for Advanced Drummers teaches the following concepts:
• The funk clave
• Cross over hi-hat
• Phrasing & articulating creative drum fills
• Thinking out the box drumming concepts
• World & cultural rhythms
I am of the opinion that clave should be illustrated on all drum rudiment charts along with all the double stroke rolls, paradiddles, flams, ruffs and etc. simply because all pop music as we know of it today is based on the clave (the 3/2 son clave in particular). Although there are different ways to play clave on the drum set, Keith shows the viewer how to ride the hi-hat with clave.
The cross over hi-hat concept is where the drummer uses the snare hand to hit the hi-hat between the back beats of 2 and 4 while the other hand is riding the hi-hat. The reason Keith calls it “cross over” is because the snare hand crosses back and forth from the snare to the hi-hat. Many drummers are using this technique and it does help add some spice to your groove whether you are riding your hi-hat or your cymbal.
This DVD features two songs and on one of them entitled Avivanos. In this song, Keith demonstrates his “out of the box” thinking and his phenomenal independence by putting together a double ride combination. Keith played 16ths on the snare at a tempo of 92 bpm with his left hand while playing the hi-hat and the snare with his right. In another segment of the song puts together a paradiddle combination between the kick and the snare while riding the cymbal.
Keith gives the viewers their money’s worth with plenty of material. Any drummer who can master all the techniques taught in this DVD will be one bad cat. The only down side of the DVD is that it did not come with an accompaniment book as the DVD for Beginner & Intermediate Drummers did. Of course, it’s very understandable why there is no book. Preparing an accompaniment book for this DVD would be a greater undertaking because the exercises are a lot more intricate than the exercises in the first one. But, then again, the fact that this DVD has more intricate exercises would be an argument for writing the accompaniment book.
The title to both of these DVDs reads, “Series I.” So this begs a question. Does this mean that there will be a “Series II” coming out anytime soon? Only Keith can answer that question.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
I am going to begin this article by making a statement that has gotten me into trouble in the past. And that is, churches are a consumer product. Yes, as repugnant as that might sound to you, this is the God’s honest truth. Think about it. For those of you who attend church regularly, ask yourself why you are attending the church you are currently attending. When you are on your way to your church, I bet you pass by several others before you arrive at yours. The bottom line is, everyone who attends a church, has a reason they pass by other churches and attend the particular church they are going to. One’s selection criteria could range anywhere from denomination and doctrine, location, the charisma of the pastor, the music program, the children’s or youth programs or whatever. In today’s day and age, it is not at all unusual for an individual or a family to attend one church for a few years and then up and leave and attend another church for a few years.
For the musician playing in a church praise band, this dynamic comes into play even more so. As for me, I have attended eight different churches in the last fifteen years. Of those eight churches, I left only three of them over a disagreement with the music director or the direction the music program. Then, there were two churches that just made me a better offer than the ones I was currently playing for at the time. This is the hazard one has to contend with if one’s selection criteria for a church is whether or not there is a chair for that person in the praise band. The music business in general is very lucid. Groups come and go and the musicians who play for groups come and go. The music program at any given church can be very lucid too, even if the musicians playing for a church praise band are playing for a higher purpose than their secular counter-parts.
If you are truly dedicated to being a praise musician, you are going to have to live with the possibility that you might be playing in a few different churches over the course of your musical career. Another cold hard reality is that praise band musicians more often than not, are more loyal to the praise bands they play with than the churches they are playing for. One exception to that rule happened when a guitar player once told me that he had to wait three years before the music director would let him play in the band. I then asked him: “Instead of waiting three years to play in this praise band, why didn’t you just find another church that could use a guitar player?” He then gave me that how dare you look, and said, “I would never leave this church. This is my church home and I love the people here.” I responded by saying, “well okay then, that’s the choice you made. Obviously this church and its people are more important to you than your desire to develop and hone your guitar skills.” I don’t fault the guy for the choice he made.
So, it all comes back to one’s selection criteria for a church and the choices one makes regardless if you are a serious or casual musician. If you are in a situation where you are not happy with your role or the lack thereof in the praise band at your church, you have two choices. Accept the situation for what it is, or change churches. As for two of the three churches that I left over musical disagreements, they way underestimated my resolve to leave them for a better situation after I expressed to them my wishes and desires. As I have grown older, I have learned that it is better to just leave and look for a better situation than to stay and complain and thus risk causing discord and contention.
By the way, just so you know, I am very happy with my current praise band situation and have no plans to leave anytime soon. And the reason I am where I am today is a result of the choices to stay or go in the past.
For the musician playing in a church praise band, this dynamic comes into play even more so. As for me, I have attended eight different churches in the last fifteen years. Of those eight churches, I left only three of them over a disagreement with the music director or the direction the music program. Then, there were two churches that just made me a better offer than the ones I was currently playing for at the time. This is the hazard one has to contend with if one’s selection criteria for a church is whether or not there is a chair for that person in the praise band. The music business in general is very lucid. Groups come and go and the musicians who play for groups come and go. The music program at any given church can be very lucid too, even if the musicians playing for a church praise band are playing for a higher purpose than their secular counter-parts.
If you are truly dedicated to being a praise musician, you are going to have to live with the possibility that you might be playing in a few different churches over the course of your musical career. Another cold hard reality is that praise band musicians more often than not, are more loyal to the praise bands they play with than the churches they are playing for. One exception to that rule happened when a guitar player once told me that he had to wait three years before the music director would let him play in the band. I then asked him: “Instead of waiting three years to play in this praise band, why didn’t you just find another church that could use a guitar player?” He then gave me that how dare you look, and said, “I would never leave this church. This is my church home and I love the people here.” I responded by saying, “well okay then, that’s the choice you made. Obviously this church and its people are more important to you than your desire to develop and hone your guitar skills.” I don’t fault the guy for the choice he made.
So, it all comes back to one’s selection criteria for a church and the choices one makes regardless if you are a serious or casual musician. If you are in a situation where you are not happy with your role or the lack thereof in the praise band at your church, you have two choices. Accept the situation for what it is, or change churches. As for two of the three churches that I left over musical disagreements, they way underestimated my resolve to leave them for a better situation after I expressed to them my wishes and desires. As I have grown older, I have learned that it is better to just leave and look for a better situation than to stay and complain and thus risk causing discord and contention.
By the way, just so you know, I am very happy with my current praise band situation and have no plans to leave anytime soon. And the reason I am where I am today is a result of the choices to stay or go in the past.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
If You Have A Drummer, Why Not Drum? (A Response to Branon Dempsey)
Back in April of 2009, Branon Dempsey published a two part article on his blog entitled, “To Drum or Not To Drum” (go to http://www.worshipteamtraining.com/ArticlesOnMusic.html). These two articles cover the dynamics of how the drums (acoustic as opposed to electronic) mix with the other instruments in the smaller churches that tend to have small praise bands.
Before I begin my review of Branon’s work, let me first mention the Branon and I go back a ways. I played drums and percussion under him for two years from 2002 to 2003 while he was the Music Director at Family of Faith Lutheran Church. For the most part I think Branon’s articles offered some good insights. As for the points in Branon’s work that I would take exception to, I would like to politely offer a different perspective and smooth out a few rough edges.
First, I will highlight the positive parts of Branon’s work. In the beginning he correctly identified one of the biggest challenges a small praise band faces when he wrote:
…”the fewer instruments you have, the drums will only stand out that much more. In other words, if all you have is a piano, a guitar and a drummer, it's going to take more dynamic range for the other two instruments to balance out the drums.”
I know this to be true from first-hand experience. I have played in small churches under the scenario that Branon just described. I remember how I had to adjust my playing in order to maintain the ministry value of the music under that kind of arrangement.
Branon also did well in explaining the purpose of the drums in a praise band when he wrote:
“As for drums, the main purpose of the band is to support the singers, the end result to lead the congregation in worship and in song. I have seen and heard many church bands that spend way too much time on the drums, when they lack the other instrumental support to the music/singers as a whole. The drummer's job is like the band, to provide a clear sense of timing and pulse.”
Branon gave a lot of good practical suggestions on how to apply external volume controls on the drums by using carpets, shields, banners and other acoustical modifications. There were good tips on how the band members can better communicate, as well as some practice tips for the drummer. On the whole I think it was a good article that needed to be written. There are a lot of small churches out there that struggle to field a complete praise band and often times have to make due with less than ideal conditions. So that two part series of articles definitely filled a vacuum.
Now, allow me to dot and cross a few Is and Ts in the parts of Branon’s work where it fell a little short. For starters, he made the dependability and the reliability of the drummer an issue. Although he was correct in emphasizing the importance of having a consistent drummer, this is not an issue that is unique to just drummers. I have been playing drums in praise bands for almost 25 years, I can tell you quite a few stories about the inconsistency of a few guitar and bass players. The fact of the matter is, everyone in the praise band needs to be consistent.
The reason consistency issue is a lot more pronounced in the smaller churches is because the talent pool of musicians is not as deep as the larger churches. Those small churches who are fortunate enough to field a complete praise band, often times run into trouble when one of their musicians goes on vacation, a business trip or gets sick because they may not have a back up musician available to step in as a sub. Even the most faithful and consistent praise band member does not usually play all 52 Sundays out of the year. Having back up musicians is not a luxury that most small churches have.
I think Branon could have done a better job of laying out his premise and making some distinctions. For example, he wrote:
“Now let's talk about skill. As said before, it is always better to not have a drummer than to have one who is uncontrollable.”
When I think of an “uncontrollable” drummer, I think of an uncooperative drummer who is totally out for himself and disrupts the objectives of the Praise band while being under an illusion of MTV grandeur by playing loud all the time and playing fills every two bars whether the song actually needs them or not. I think we need to first start with the premise that if a drummer is coming to play at a church, then he needs to respect Praise music as a genre and be willing to learn to master all the nuances and techniques that are required to be an effective praise drummer. This is something all musicians of all genres have to do if they want steady work. If I go play a country music gig, I will need to use my vocabulary of country licks and chops on that gig. If I were to play like a metal drummer on a country gig, I probably will not get a call to play with that band again. Playing the Praise music genre in church is no different.
Let’s make the distinction between the beginning drummer who is struggling to keep time and the drummer who can keep good time, but may lack the finesse to play softly at those key points in the song service. If we are talking about the former, then we are talking about a competency level issue. In this case, I would advise the Music Director to find a tactful way of telling this young inexperienced drummer that he can’t play until he gets his timing together. Then again, the same could be said about a beginning guitar player who can’t quite make those chord transitions and keep up with the chord progressions of the songs.
As for the case of a solid drummer who is having difficulty playing softly, this problem can be easily compensated for. Although I give Branon credit for addressing volume reduction when he made some suggestions on external acoustical options, he never thoroughly addressed the issue of stick options. There is a reason I keep a set of brushes, multi-rods and mallets in my stick bag in addition to regular drum sticks. This is something all Praise drummers should have so they will be better able to provide whatever coloring or texturing a song may need. But, the multi rods can especially come in handy for those drummers who are having volume issues. Cross Sticking is another technique that can be used to take the edge off the volume.
The skill level issue is another problem that many small churches have to deal with. Breaking into a praise band in the larger churches is often times very competitive. And it can be difficult for a young musician to get in some quality playing time and experience if his church has a deep talent pool of musicians. To a large degree, the smaller churches are sort of like the minor leagues for praise musicians. They are more desperate for talent and they will be happy to have any kind of musician regardless of skill level. A lot of the larger churches have a youth group that might have a youth praise band. This is also another way young musicians can get some experience.
In part two of Branon’s article, he spent two paragraphs raving over “drum machines/loops/clicks.” I refer to those things as the “synthetic drums.” His advice on synthetic drums was sound. But, Branon never made it abundantly clear that the synthetic drums should be a plan B measure when there isn’t a drummer or a minimally competent drummer available. Remember, synthetic drums have their limitations. They are mechanical, predictable and they don’t have a heart and soul. They are unable to, as Branon would say, “match the moment,” or produce an ethereal (another word I learned from Branon) texturing or coloring effect.
When discussing the issue of the synthetic drums vs the live drummer, there is one hard cold reality that we need to keep in mind. The fact is, if any church in our day and culture expects to see any significant growth, they will need to have a good red hot praise band. Period! I don’t care how well the Pastor delivers his messages. If a Pastor does not have a good praise band backing him up, his church will not see any significant growth. I can make the argument that a church with a mediocre Pastor, but a good praise band has more potential for growth that a church with a really good Pastor and a mediocre praise band. So, using synthetic drums as opposed to working with a beginner level drummer who is struggling may be the most expedient and convenient way to go in the short run. However, in the long run I think they would be doing the music program a big disservice. So, if you have a drummer with the minimum required time keeping skills and he has a teachable and cooperative spirit, I say use him as much as possible. In the long run the music program will be better off for it. I don’t know of any church that developed a successful music program using synthetic drums.
Please understand that my critique of Branon’s two articles on the drums is in NO WAY intended to impugn Branon’s credentials and credibility as an accomplished Musician, Song Leader and Music Director. In fact, if the music program at your church needs some help in the way of coaching, training, workshops, clinics or whatever, Branon would be the guy that I would highly recommend for this. He holds a Masters Degree in Music, and understands every facet of running a church music program. He is proficient on keyboards and guitar. He used to be a drummer when he was in High School, so he knows how to communicate with drummers very well.
Branon has an excellent grasp of music theory, he can read music and write and compose and has written many praise songs. He is very good at evaluating talent and coaching accordingly. Branon is equally proficient in coaching vocals and the rhythm section. He also is very knowledgeable on the technical aspects of a music program. He knows his way around a sound booth and recording studio. So when it comes to church music ministry development, Branon is the complete package. For more information about how to contract his services, go to the Worship Team Training web site that I referenced at the top of this article.
Before I begin my review of Branon’s work, let me first mention the Branon and I go back a ways. I played drums and percussion under him for two years from 2002 to 2003 while he was the Music Director at Family of Faith Lutheran Church. For the most part I think Branon’s articles offered some good insights. As for the points in Branon’s work that I would take exception to, I would like to politely offer a different perspective and smooth out a few rough edges.
First, I will highlight the positive parts of Branon’s work. In the beginning he correctly identified one of the biggest challenges a small praise band faces when he wrote:
…”the fewer instruments you have, the drums will only stand out that much more. In other words, if all you have is a piano, a guitar and a drummer, it's going to take more dynamic range for the other two instruments to balance out the drums.”
I know this to be true from first-hand experience. I have played in small churches under the scenario that Branon just described. I remember how I had to adjust my playing in order to maintain the ministry value of the music under that kind of arrangement.
Branon also did well in explaining the purpose of the drums in a praise band when he wrote:
“As for drums, the main purpose of the band is to support the singers, the end result to lead the congregation in worship and in song. I have seen and heard many church bands that spend way too much time on the drums, when they lack the other instrumental support to the music/singers as a whole. The drummer's job is like the band, to provide a clear sense of timing and pulse.”
Branon gave a lot of good practical suggestions on how to apply external volume controls on the drums by using carpets, shields, banners and other acoustical modifications. There were good tips on how the band members can better communicate, as well as some practice tips for the drummer. On the whole I think it was a good article that needed to be written. There are a lot of small churches out there that struggle to field a complete praise band and often times have to make due with less than ideal conditions. So that two part series of articles definitely filled a vacuum.
Now, allow me to dot and cross a few Is and Ts in the parts of Branon’s work where it fell a little short. For starters, he made the dependability and the reliability of the drummer an issue. Although he was correct in emphasizing the importance of having a consistent drummer, this is not an issue that is unique to just drummers. I have been playing drums in praise bands for almost 25 years, I can tell you quite a few stories about the inconsistency of a few guitar and bass players. The fact of the matter is, everyone in the praise band needs to be consistent.
The reason consistency issue is a lot more pronounced in the smaller churches is because the talent pool of musicians is not as deep as the larger churches. Those small churches who are fortunate enough to field a complete praise band, often times run into trouble when one of their musicians goes on vacation, a business trip or gets sick because they may not have a back up musician available to step in as a sub. Even the most faithful and consistent praise band member does not usually play all 52 Sundays out of the year. Having back up musicians is not a luxury that most small churches have.
I think Branon could have done a better job of laying out his premise and making some distinctions. For example, he wrote:
“Now let's talk about skill. As said before, it is always better to not have a drummer than to have one who is uncontrollable.”
When I think of an “uncontrollable” drummer, I think of an uncooperative drummer who is totally out for himself and disrupts the objectives of the Praise band while being under an illusion of MTV grandeur by playing loud all the time and playing fills every two bars whether the song actually needs them or not. I think we need to first start with the premise that if a drummer is coming to play at a church, then he needs to respect Praise music as a genre and be willing to learn to master all the nuances and techniques that are required to be an effective praise drummer. This is something all musicians of all genres have to do if they want steady work. If I go play a country music gig, I will need to use my vocabulary of country licks and chops on that gig. If I were to play like a metal drummer on a country gig, I probably will not get a call to play with that band again. Playing the Praise music genre in church is no different.
Let’s make the distinction between the beginning drummer who is struggling to keep time and the drummer who can keep good time, but may lack the finesse to play softly at those key points in the song service. If we are talking about the former, then we are talking about a competency level issue. In this case, I would advise the Music Director to find a tactful way of telling this young inexperienced drummer that he can’t play until he gets his timing together. Then again, the same could be said about a beginning guitar player who can’t quite make those chord transitions and keep up with the chord progressions of the songs.
As for the case of a solid drummer who is having difficulty playing softly, this problem can be easily compensated for. Although I give Branon credit for addressing volume reduction when he made some suggestions on external acoustical options, he never thoroughly addressed the issue of stick options. There is a reason I keep a set of brushes, multi-rods and mallets in my stick bag in addition to regular drum sticks. This is something all Praise drummers should have so they will be better able to provide whatever coloring or texturing a song may need. But, the multi rods can especially come in handy for those drummers who are having volume issues. Cross Sticking is another technique that can be used to take the edge off the volume.
The skill level issue is another problem that many small churches have to deal with. Breaking into a praise band in the larger churches is often times very competitive. And it can be difficult for a young musician to get in some quality playing time and experience if his church has a deep talent pool of musicians. To a large degree, the smaller churches are sort of like the minor leagues for praise musicians. They are more desperate for talent and they will be happy to have any kind of musician regardless of skill level. A lot of the larger churches have a youth group that might have a youth praise band. This is also another way young musicians can get some experience.
In part two of Branon’s article, he spent two paragraphs raving over “drum machines/loops/clicks.” I refer to those things as the “synthetic drums.” His advice on synthetic drums was sound. But, Branon never made it abundantly clear that the synthetic drums should be a plan B measure when there isn’t a drummer or a minimally competent drummer available. Remember, synthetic drums have their limitations. They are mechanical, predictable and they don’t have a heart and soul. They are unable to, as Branon would say, “match the moment,” or produce an ethereal (another word I learned from Branon) texturing or coloring effect.
When discussing the issue of the synthetic drums vs the live drummer, there is one hard cold reality that we need to keep in mind. The fact is, if any church in our day and culture expects to see any significant growth, they will need to have a good red hot praise band. Period! I don’t care how well the Pastor delivers his messages. If a Pastor does not have a good praise band backing him up, his church will not see any significant growth. I can make the argument that a church with a mediocre Pastor, but a good praise band has more potential for growth that a church with a really good Pastor and a mediocre praise band. So, using synthetic drums as opposed to working with a beginner level drummer who is struggling may be the most expedient and convenient way to go in the short run. However, in the long run I think they would be doing the music program a big disservice. So, if you have a drummer with the minimum required time keeping skills and he has a teachable and cooperative spirit, I say use him as much as possible. In the long run the music program will be better off for it. I don’t know of any church that developed a successful music program using synthetic drums.
Please understand that my critique of Branon’s two articles on the drums is in NO WAY intended to impugn Branon’s credentials and credibility as an accomplished Musician, Song Leader and Music Director. In fact, if the music program at your church needs some help in the way of coaching, training, workshops, clinics or whatever, Branon would be the guy that I would highly recommend for this. He holds a Masters Degree in Music, and understands every facet of running a church music program. He is proficient on keyboards and guitar. He used to be a drummer when he was in High School, so he knows how to communicate with drummers very well.
Branon has an excellent grasp of music theory, he can read music and write and compose and has written many praise songs. He is very good at evaluating talent and coaching accordingly. Branon is equally proficient in coaching vocals and the rhythm section. He also is very knowledgeable on the technical aspects of a music program. He knows his way around a sound booth and recording studio. So when it comes to church music ministry development, Branon is the complete package. For more information about how to contract his services, go to the Worship Team Training web site that I referenced at the top of this article.
Monday, May 16, 2011
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