... than the urge to become a drummer

What do you notice about the two pictures above, taken at a Christian convention centre, on the same day and about six feet apart?

To play the Clavinova, you need to be a musician. Of any age. That's fair enough. You don't need to be accomplished enough on electronic keyboard to know that without either built-in speakers or an external amplifier, it won't make any noise. But you at least need to be a musician. Fair enough.   

To play the drums, you just need to be an adult. If you're a child with many years of experience and tuition in playing percussion, you are banned. A young person, no matter how highly trained and accomplished they are as a kit drummer, or how well supervised by an adult drum teacher such as myself, is simply not allowed to play these drums.

But an adult, no matter how inexperienced, is free to play the drums. I wonder, is an adult baboon included? Some of the adults who have calmly sat down at my personal drum kit and banged away seemed to have no more idea of how to play than I would expect of a baboon. They would not dream of picking up a violin or flute without knowing how to play it, let alone without asking the owner even if they did know how to play. But then, you don't play the drums, do you? You just hit them. You can't damage a cymbal just by hitting it, can you? It's just a piece of metal.  

Welcome to the world of the church drummer. A world in which you can count on having to take your own music stand to a gig, even if the other members of the band are all provided with music stands. And having done so, you can expect someone to commandeer it, normally without asking (you just turn your back and it's gone) or if they do ask, it's to say "You don't need this, do you?" after they've already picked it up. I mean, drummers can't read, can they?

A world in which the band leader will publicly scold or even dismiss you if you protest that the music stand is after all your own personal property, clearly marked with your name. I mean, after all, the drummer is expected to be a team player and support the other musicians. (Just don't expect them to reciprocate.) 

A world in which you can expect the vocalists to get three foldback wedges before the drummer gets one. I mean, drummers don't have ears, do they? 

A couple of more specific stories.

Mark my words

The very first time I took my drum kit into a church, for a youth service, one of the elders came over to me afterwards. The rest of the band were already in the hall having coffee and raisin toast and chatting up the girls. I was packing up. We get over it. Just as we get over having to have decent cars, and then having the guitarist say "Oh, you've got a van, you can bring my amp can't you?" and then expecting you to carry it in to the venue for them as well. We get over it.

Anyway, this church elder took the trouble to come over and say to me

It's all right to have them in a youth service, I suppose, but mark my words, any church which used drums every week would close within a year.

This is I'm afraid typical of the encouragement that drummers received in most churches for most of the twentieth century. And I want to make it quite clear that I did exactly as he asked. He was an elder after all. So I did mark his words. 

It looks like a church again

Some years later I had built up a roster of seven drummers who played in two of the three services, every Sunday. There was a "family service" first thing in the morning, using the drums, then a "traditional service" with organ music, and a choir using the space that the drums took up in the other two services. And then in the evening, a youth-oriented service again with drums.

I left my big "stage" kit at church, in its road cases, for all seven drummers to use on Sundays. But that still meant we needed to set up the kit twice every weekend, and pack it away again, also twice. The choir practiced during the week, so they expected the pews to be set up for them. We were expected to remove the pews, and replace them afterwards. Occasionally the choristers helped us to set up their pews after the family service, but most often not, and sometimes they complained when they did need to help us because time was short. There was no suggestion ever that they might remove the pews after using them so that we could use the space we shared.

And the organ, of course, was set up ready for the organist. No suggestion that their space might be used by others. Because their gear is provided by the church. We provide our own. 

But one January, it was planned that there would be no choir for the whole month. So I asked the choirmaster (first) and then the minister whether the drums could be left set up for the month. Both readily agreed. So for the whole month we didn't need to pack the drums away. It was a little taste of heaven.

The first Sunday in February I was rostered to be the "duty elder" for the traditional service. (I also sang in the choir that morning, as I often did.) This involved (among other duties) standing with the minister to shake the congregation's hands as they left. As they did so one of the ladies gushed to me

It's so nice not to have those drums at the front. It looks like a church again.

We get over it. I bear her no ill will, in fact I sincerely hope that she never realised whose drums they were! I had played them at the official opening of that church building, at a church dinner and jazz night, and at several other activities supported by members of the "trad" congregation. But perhaps she had not noticed. 

Where are the drums? 

Fast forward a few years. This same church appointed a music coordinator, who took over the organising of the drummers' roster from me, and dropped me from the roster.

So after my last spot playing I sadly took my drums home. Wouldn't you? It was a morning service, so that worked well for me.

Band practice for the evening service was at 5 pm for a 6 o'clock service. 4:30 was the setup time for the PA person and drummer. At 5:15 I received a 'phone call from the new music coordinator. "Where are the drums?"

It gets worse. She knew they were my drums. The cases in which they had normally lived for some years in the vestry cupboard were all clearly marked with my name. But you'll notice the phrasing. "Where are the drums?"

It gets still worse. Her husband was an excellent drummer, with his own gear of course. He was still on the roster of course, just not playing on that particular night. Why was she ringing me not him?

But my pet peeve is

the plastic cage known as a "drum booth". There are only two problems with them. They lead to bad drumming, and they lead to bad worship.

(Well,  all worship is good. But it's better without the drum booth.)

Something is needed if you're making a good recording, to keep the hihat and snare sounds out of the vocal tracks. But even then a simple screen (see below) is sufficient.

(That picture is of Tris_Imboden, drummer with Chicago from 1990 to 2018 and with many other credits... awesome drummer although I preferred Danny_Seraphine, the original drummer in Chicago.)

Please don't put your drummer in a cage! Instead get one you can trust to play as part of the band.

The good news

Properly taught, a drummer develops four things at once. Faster than ever before. Slower than ever before. Louder then ever before. And softer than ever before.

Because it's control. And with control, you will be faster and louder than you would ever be if you just worked on loud and fast.

Properly prayed with and for, a church drummer doesn't need to be kept in a cage. (But as observed above, you do need a screen between them and the vocal mikes if you're streaming or making a high quality recording.)

And they are there, just waiting to play. Just as soon as you get the baboons out of their way.

And if you are a drummer

Have a good laugh with me and be encouraged. You are not alone.

You can contribute much more than others realise. Not just in church. Ringo Star was always regarded as the most expendable Beatle, even by the band. He's increasingly being recognised as the least expendable. They went nowhere until he joined, and his drumming was superb. And he contributed even more to their teamwork than to their music.

Drumming at its best is like that.  

Ringo was a team player. A drummer needs to be. So to a lesser extent does a bass player. The others can get away with egos and it can still work. But even the late great Keith Moon is listening to the other members of The Who. Just watch the videos. Or listen to any Rolling Stones album and ask, how much is Charlie Watts contributing both in creativity and support of the others? It should be no surprise that when they formed, he was by far the most musically qualified member.  

And God is of the same opinion. As a player of the cymbals, you are the only one of band explicitly told by Scripture to play loud when appropriate. 

It's a sacred trust. Whether in church or anywhere else. Be worthy of it. It will be worth it.

See also church drum kits