Sunday
07Sep2008
Drum Shield or No Drum Shield
Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 04:47PM I'd love to hear from you--do you use a drum shield onstage? If you do, do you like it? If not, why not?
Leave a comment below, and Monday or Tuesday I'll post my own opinion and hope to make my case. Let's hear it - Drum Shield or No Drum Shield?
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (11)
HATE drum shields! Take a really great drummer and physically separate them from the band...terrible idea. Then again, I'm the type that believes the music should just about rattle the fillings in your teeth.
As a sound guy - necessary evil. W/o them the drummer really sets the volume level for the stage and house and they can be just about impossible to mix around.
As a sometime drummer, I hate playing in them. I feel like I'm in a fishbowl, and really separated from the rest of the band.
As a most-of-the-time guitarist, I kind of like them. They keep stage volume down...
We don't have one, but we probably should. I'd probably go with a half wall with padding around the bottom. I like that connection with my drummer.
I agree about them being a necessary evil, most of the time. We have one, but honestly need something more -- with a ceiling... you see, there's a baptistry located right behind (and just above) our drummer... it echoes. A lot. And he's an amazing drummer and can play hard! So... I don't know how much the shield does because of the "acting" echo chamber... different problem I guess there... :)
As a guitar player, I hate them. As a drummer, I hate them. As a worship leader I hate them. All the sound dudes love them. The older folks love them. I comes down to the musicians against the rest of the world ... and we loose. I just had a funny day and we moved the kit out and back in again ... http://ptacoustic.blogspot.com
Depends on the room and if it can handle a lot of stage volume. Some people go crazy and make an isolation booth instead of just a cage, that's a little overkill.
totally a love/hate thing.....hate what it does to the connection of the band....love that most average sound people can do a better job of mixing......face it ....it really is a sound issue not a drummer thing!!!
At our church it is a drummer dependent thing. We have 5 drummers in the rotation. Of the 5, our best drummer is also the loudest. Our sanctuary is large and well treated so it doesn't affect the house, but there is a real impact on stage volume. On the times that I get the opportunity to play with him, I wish we had a shield. His volume forces me to turn up, ask for more vocals and guitar in the monitor and the background singers tend to complain that they cannot hear themselves. All of our other drummers are fine volume-wise and a shield would be more of a detriment than a help.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Ralf, of the End of the World Band.
I hate them... in every sense, there's no doubt that they separate the drummer from the rest of the band... but you really do need them. If you are looking to get a shield put in, you need to get some good drum mics and a good in ear monitor for the drummer... the sound will reverberate quite a bit in the shell and you definitely don't want a muffled, mono sound coming from the drums as your only source of sound from them. We bought a 4 piece plexiglass shell... so the drummer is not completely covered/enclosed... it works well sound wise.
"End of the World Band" - I love it! Did I mention that we have so many guitar players that we usually have 3 on stage at a time so that each can play once a month? Seriously. Can you say "Guitarmageddon"?!