Decent gear DOES help...

KelvinS1965

As some might know, I go to a local college once a week to a guitar/drums lesson. The end of term is approaching, so we're doing a little show for friends and family. Some of us decided to book some local rehearsal studios to get some extra practice in this morning, they include acoustic drums, amp heads, cabinets and a small PA with mics with the studio for a small extra cost.

Well all I can say is that you'd think it was a different band playing to the one I heard at the college: The bass player could actually hear my drumming and could keep in time much better. I wasn't fighting with some thick rubber drum pads that barely trigger and the guitars sounded great through the half stacks. The only weak point being the vocals as I tried to sing and drum for some songs and another guitarist sang on songs he isn't playing guitar on. The singer wasn't there today, so we had to make do.

Frustrating as the show will be using the basic gear that they have at the college and for logistical reasons there isn't time for us to bring in our own gear (apart from guitars) due to the kid's show that's on immediately before ours. At least I know that we can play half decently and I'm really looking forward to a couple more rehearsals at the studio, even if the actual gig might be a bit of a downer.

I'm not one to suggest that beginners splash out on a £3k Gibson or similar (and being 'all the gear no idea'), but I think there is a case for getting something half way decent, especially if planning to play with others. Or even like us, just renting somewhere to play with the gear you can use...you too might find it quite inspirational.

Perhaps I'll come across as a prat because I feel the poor kit at the college is dragging us down, but I honestly don't think it's helping us learn as a band. At least this morning was gooood and I really enjoyed it.

reevesy

always remember when I was a drummer in a band when I was a teenager....had a little cheap premier 4 piece set....before all the 4 piece kits got trendy.....it was a case that I couldn't afford 5 drums

after we'd been playing a bit we booked a proper rehearsal room....where a 7 piece drum kit and amps were all ready in place...as you say the difference was huge.

got a tape of it somewhere.....mind you all you can here for about 10 minutes is me thrashing the drums and everyone else shouting at me to shut up.

think its a combination of better kit and perhaps an improvement in people playing as it sounds so much better.

just recently I've been in a few guitar shops on my travels  and have been picking a few guitars up that are 2 or 3  hundred quid above what I've got.....and they've sounded great......my chords always seem to sound a lot cleaner...

you've only got to go on flea bay to see all the 50 quid guitars on there.......least with spending a bit more to start with and getting a half decent one at least theres a chance of pulling some money back on it.




been tempted to try a grand or 2 taylor or  Gibson acoustic.......daren't as there might not be no going back afterwards

KelvinS1965

Yes I suppose you have to be realistic too especially if you try something that is a bit out of budget.

Probably not worth buying a really expensive instrument when you first start, just incase it doesn't work out, but equally something really bad might put you off. Though I did go a bit OTT earlier this year when I decided to get back into drumming and got the Roland TD30 kit at about 4 x the price of the one I started looking at, but it's not as if I'd never played drums before. Trouble is that it also makes the college kit seem hard to play as well...

I sometimes come back from the college feeling a bit deflated and like I've not really got the hang of a particular song (Nirvana's Teen Spirit was one recently). Then I practice at home on my kit and can manage much better; it's hard to play when the sticks don't bounce and you can't really hear yourself (the pads barely trigger unless you really hit them hard and in one exact spot). I'm looking forward to playing Teen Spirit on Monday night with the guitarists who are playing that song at the gig. Since they didn't come today, I hope they'll be surprised at how much better it all sounds and I'm sure they'll play it better as well judging by today.

reevesy

had a quick go on a roland kit when I was looking at guitars not so long ago...was thinking about getting a set this time last year before I decided to try the guitar

must admit I didn't get the expected bounce .....mind you In about a second I'd totally forgot how to play anything and reverted back to the default boom tit boom boom tit

...mind you i hadn't touched a pair of drum sticks in about 25-30 years!

must be nice ...and beneficial.... to be able to play with a few people.

mind was having a laugh earlier stumbling my way through a few Christmas songs while the daughter was singing along

KelvinS1965

Yes the bounce isn't quite the same as an acoustic kit (it took me about 3-4 songs to get into the feel of it this morning on the acoustic kit). I hadn't drummed since I left the Navy back in 1989, unless you count the 'steering wheel bongo' or the 'coins in the trouser pocket' kits. Funny how it starts to come back...I nearly didn't buy the kit at all as I played at the same studio using their kit first and I was so rusty I thought maybe I should just stick to guitar.

The main attraction with the college class is being able to play as a band, with different guitarists, etc. However, I'm thinking that next year maybe just rent the studio once a week and meet there instead. If the others want to go to college then they'll learn something new and I'll just practice on my kit at home in between.

I was also playing some Christmas stuff today; we're playing 'Merry Christmas everyone' (Shakin' Stevens) as an 'all star band' number at the end of the show, so I thought I'd get ahead of the lesson and practice it myself. Like a lot of songs we do, I wouldn't have picked it, but I quite enjoy drumming to it.

KelvinS1965

Out for another session shortly, three hours so plenty of time to run through every song in the gig, both drums and guitar for me. Looking forward to playing through the half stack again and the feel of a 'real' drum kit.

KelvinS1965

Last rehearsal tonight ready for tomorrow night's gig. I think we're as good as we're going to get as there are players of various stages, but everyone seem to have put in a lot of effort practising at home between rehearsals. We got some great sounds out the half stacks and the acoustic kit (bashed and beaten as it is) sounded a million miles away from the 'rubber tyre' ekit that we use at the college. At least we know how good it can sound...

I took my video camera and recorded the last run through of the whole set for posterity. I might take selected parts and put the sound track up on here at some point. I'm going to record the gig as well, so I can put it on DVD/AVCHD discs for everyone, tonight's bit can be 'the making of' bit.

KelvinS1965

Well, 12 hours rehearsal must have helped to some degree; didn't go too bad in the end. I felt like my fingers turned to butter (I always struggle playing guitar straight after drumming anyway). I watched back my two guitar songs off the video I made and it wasn't as bad as it seemed in my head (just that I knew there were more notes in between the bits you can actually hear).

Definitely gives me even more respect for the bands I see playing at local pubs, etc as I now really appreciate how much work they must put in.