Playing with a drummer

So Friday night I played at a public event with a band. it was fun. this was the 2nd time I played with them,but the first time with a drummer [full set] .I had a really hard time, both singing and playing, I couldn't hear myself. we had no monitors. luckily I wasn't the lead singer and the one time I played solo, it was just me and the singer doing "soul sister" , no drums. so I've learned a big lesson . next time I'll at least bring my amp to use as a monitor. it is really hard to sing and play when you can/t hear yourself.

I think that is a very common problem. I would suggest getting a powered P.A. speaker and using it as a monitor. You can put it on the ground side ways in front of you like a wedge and run directly into that (giving you total control of your personal mix) and then out from the speaker to the house mixing board. Both Yamaha and Samson make relatively affordable ones that are plenty loud enough (150-250 watts) and still pretty light to haul around.

Most powered P.A. speakers have a small 2 or 3 channel mixer built into them so at home or on a solo performance you could plug both your instrument and vocals straight into the speaker and have the ability to mix the levels and get a decent sound.

I almost always have a powered speaker with me in the trunk just in case a venue doesn't have a good monitor mix or the sound guy is less than optimal.

Adding a drummer to the band really changes the overall dynamic and having the ability to monitor your vocals is an absolute must. An amp will be somewhat helpful, but I've found that a wedge style speaker on the floor in front of you is by far the best choice!

Here is a link to the one that I use if you are curious:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Yamaha-MSR250-Active-Powered-Speaker-105016273-i1416290.gc

or this is a similar option from Samson:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/In-Stor...RO-D412-POWERED-SPEAKER-109171419-i3195790.gc

It seems like most people have trouble playing with a drummer the first couple of times - the same is often true of a bass player - and if your first time is with bass and drums it can be really interesting.

Even if you've played with a drummer, it can be hard the first couple of times you have to front the band with a drummer - at least it was for me - it would have been a disaster if we hadn't had a really good rhythm guitarist at the time who helped me work things out.

John

Maybe you can talk the drummer into playing a cajon, instead of a full drum set and playing to one side of the stage, moving the sound forward so you and the vocalist can hear yourselves better. With no monitors, stage volume needs to be managed even better:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Meinl-S...th-White-Ash-Frontplate-105798573-i1138441.gc





If the ambient noise of the venue is loud, you will need to get some monitors, like the powered ones mentioned.

Also, a good sound engineer and road crew can help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Rhh_4GZmU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=74dMts1NMwA&feature=endscreen

As a drummer with a few years of (amateur) gigging experience, I can see both sides. But I can also tell at a glance those musicians who've never played along with a rhythm line before and it really is a mile away from just playing solo and can really throw people off, because there's very little room for artistic tempo changes unless everyone knows they're coming.

Notwithstanding the jokes about drummer's timing, practice playing along with a metronome to make sure you're not wandering too much off the beat and get used to being 'led' by a beat and having to keep with it. You may have already done this, but if not, it's a new experience that will help you de-focus on the drums a little.

In terms of monitors, in-ears are a LOT cheaper than they used to be, and a lot more portable than a wedge monitor! But I know where you're coming from about finding it difficult to play and sing if you can't hear - I used to play drums and sing, and that really WAS a struggle without a good monitor mix!

it wasn't the tempo, it was just how loud the drums were. on one song I was half way through before I noticed my music was in a different key than everyone else. I was unfortunate to be closest to the drums. I felt really bad for the singers. trying to harmonize when you can hardly hear yourself is tough. We we had 4 nice PA speakers, we should have used one for a monitor. it would have helped. thanks for all the advice, it was def a learning experience. I recorded some of the songs with my zoom set up out in the audience. luckily it sounded a lot better out there than it did on stage.

strumsilly said:

it wasn't the tempo, it was just how loud the drums were.

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A full drum set behind an acoustic group is overkill. If the drummer does not have a cajon, the drummer should be using brushes on a snare and a crash/ride, with no kick drum. Stage volume can kill an overall mix and needs to be controlled, even with amplification. As a live sound engineer if any musician is playing too loud on stage, I will put so much volume into their monitor mix that they will back off on their playing. Without a good sound engineer, the musicians on stage need to respect each other and not over power the mix. Ric