Annoyed and disappointed with myself

phil_qc is right, it is all fun; although getting stiffed out of your drinks afterwards sucks.
I also played on Saturday night but it was a charity event in a very large back yard and were the last band on, the acoustics and drums sucked but it didn't matter. I couldn't hear anything of what the lads were playing except for the most basic melody (monitor was not on) but I knew the songs and just played like I could and ignored all of the rest, by this time the audience was not all that critical either; as it turned out another drummer who had played just before us came up to me and told me it sounded real good out in the listening area. That made my day, along with winning $50 and eating a great meal.
Great time and fun. This may not be the best advice but when I miss something and I have, I just hit the closest thing right after and nobody is the wiser, do it again and it sounds like you are too cool for shoes. I know how you are feeling and it is not wrong to be critical of yourself, something I am very familiar with but eventually you loosen up at the gigs and you realize you had nothing to worry about after all.
 
I wasn't sure where to post this - in this thread or the one started by 8Mile. The sentiment is the same - I am very frustrated, angry, and disappointed with the lack of progress I am making on the journey. I seem to have taken two steps back recently and have lost my mojo. I can't "hear" anymore and continue to make the stupidest newbie mistakes - most recently I left a drum stick INSIDE of my 14" tom after "tuning" it. Songs I could play a week ago I mess up. I know it is a slump and temporary but it is maddening and rattling my cage bad.
 
If you had to turn 90 degrees to see the audience doesn't that mean your drums were pointed away also?

Yep! It really didn't help.

were the drums heavily muffled??

It didn't occur to me before but that's a possibility, because they were pretty dead-sounding.

Take 'em as they come!

That's going to be a bit easier now. There's been some good advice here!

sometimes just a little more attitude from the kit works miracles in the presence, without actually getting very loud.

That makes a lot of sense. I don't want to be loud loud and I don't want to hit hard - but I do want to give the impression that I'm doing both!

Was it the old bass drum nut again?

No, that was ok - in fact it actually got a mention in dispatches - but it was mic'ed.

On a serious note too, if Liam mentioned it to you, he will have done so on the basis of it being in your control, so the answer is clear to me.

Yeah :/ that was why I was annoyed with myself.

as it turned out another drummer who had played just before us came up to me and told me it sounded real good out in the listening area. That made my day, along with winning $50 and eating a great meal.

Wow - you must have been chuffed to bits!

I wasn't sure where to post this - in this thread or the one started by 8Mile. The sentiment is the same - I am very frustrated, angry, and disappointed with the lack of progress I am making on the journey. I seem to have taken two steps back recently and have lost my mojo. I can't "hear" anymore and continue to make the stupidest newbie mistakes - most recently I left a drum stick INSIDE of my 14" tom after "tuning" it. Songs I could play a week ago I mess up. I know it is a slump and temporary but it is maddening and rattling my cage bad.

Come on - I can do it and so can you. We're made of sterner stuff! It's so awful when you're trying your best and seeming to get nowhere, but I bet there isn't a single person on here who hasn't been through it. You can tell from all the replies I've had on this thread, all giving encouragement and advice: everybody who has taken the trouble to reply has understood not only how I was feeling, but why I felt that way.

It'll come right, for you, for me, and for all the other people who are experiencing the same thing, but it can only come right if we hang in there and keep plugging away.
 
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Come on - I can do it and so can you. We're made of sterner stuff! It's so awful when you're trying your best and seeming to get nowhere, but I bet there isn't a single person on here who hasn't been through it. You can tell from all the replies I've had on this thread, all giving encouragement and advice: everybody who has taken the trouble to reply has understood not only how I was feeling, but why I felt that way.

It'll come right, for you, for me, and for all the other people who are experiencing the same thing, but it can only come right if we hang in there and keep plugging away.

You are correct - chin's up, let's get to work.

M
 
I wasn't sure where to post this - in this thread or the one started by 8Mile. The sentiment is the same - I am very frustrated, angry, and disappointed with the lack of progress I am making on the journey.

Ups and down, we all have them to varying degrees. If you're feel bad about playing ATM, I recommend doing something else and get your mind off it. From five or so years on this forum this seems to be what most of us do on a downswing.

See Madge? I knew that feedback came from a drumhead :) (ie. Liam). Most people don't notice or care about drum levels unless it's a large imbalance.

Tons of players use the butt end for backbeat at times, and some use their butts exclusively (so to speak) for both volume and tone.
 
Come on - I can do it and so can you. We're made of sterner stuff! It's so awful when you're trying your best and seeming to get nowhere, but I bet there isn't a single person on here who hasn't been through it. You can tell from all the replies I've had on this thread, all giving encouragement and advice: everybody who has taken the trouble to reply has understood not only how I was feeling, but why I felt that way.

It'll come right, for you, for me, and for all the other people who are experiencing the same thing, but it can only come right if we hang in there and keep plugging away.

Ed Zachary. (exactly)
 
There were three bands there, and I suppose the organiser wanted as little faffing around as possible. The two floor toms just made the setup unfamiliar: I'm used to two rack toms and one floor, and I couldn't get my crash where I usually have it (and I missed it twice!). The bass drum was mic'ed and apparently that sounded fine.

It wasn't a bad gig as such. But the audience were relatively far away from us and I couldn't see anybody unless I turned my head 90 degrees, so it felt unpleasantly detached. I'm a sensitive soul, aren't I!

ohh I see, that makes sense to save time of course. How bad was it when you missed the crash? I've almost dropped sticks from missing, sometimes I scrape my knuckles against something as well. And yeah I guess that kind of awkward staging would be lame. Then again when I drum I goto to a different planet!
 
No, that was ok - in fact it actually got a mention in dispatches - but it was mic'ed.
Aha! Now that's a game changer. Was the rest of the kit unmic'd? If so, the end result is hardly surprising. If you're not used to "feeling" the bass drum PA response in the room, & adjusting the top end of the kit bias accordingly, then you were fighting an uphill battle.

You may have hit it spot on there :)
Just yanking your string as usual Bob (see what I did there? ;)
 
How bad was it when you missed the crash?

It wasn't a biggie and I was pleased that it didn't put me off my stroke, but it was a bit of a"Gah!" moment.

Aha! Now that's a game changer. Was the rest of the kit unmic'd? If so, the end result is hardly surprising. If you're not used to "feeling" the bass drum PA response in the room, & adjusting the top end of the kit bias accordingly, then you were fighting an uphill battle.

:D yay! Playing the bass drum audibly still doesn't come naturally, I have to keep reminding myself to do it and checking that I am doing it, but it's becoming easier and it's heaps better than it used to be - Liam will tell you!

Now at the risk of making myself appear every bit as stupid as I really am, you've just made me realise that I didn't allow for that at all. I spotted that the bass was mic'd and that nothing else was ... and did precisely NOTHING about it. So in fact, when I thought I'd done everything I could, it turns out I didn't. Which, paradoxically, comes as a huge relief because when I started this thread, I'd felt completely at a loss as to how to improve what I'd done. Now I feel equipped to do better next time I'm in a similar situation - whether the kit is facing forwards, backwards or sideways!
 
:D yay! Playing the bass drum audibly still doesn't come naturally, I have to keep reminding myself to do it and checking that I am doing it, but it's becoming easier and it's heaps better than it used to be - Liam will tell you!

Now at the risk of making myself appear every bit as stupid as I really am, you've just made me realise that I didn't allow for that at all. I spotted that the bass was mic'd and that nothing else was ... and did precisely NOTHING about it. So in fact, when I thought I'd done everything I could, it turns out I didn't. Which, paradoxically, comes as a huge relief because when I started this thread, I'd felt completely at a loss as to how to improve what I'd done. Now I feel equipped to do better next time I'm in a similar situation - whether the kit is facing forwards, backwards or sideways!
The devil's in the detail - worry ye not :)
 
Late to the party but pleased to see that Madge got a happy ending. ;)

You were the first to know, but I hadn't been stewing about it for so long when I told you.

I've just bought a new frock for the next gig. The gold one is excruciatingly uncomfortable. This one has the approval of Mini-Madge, Stylist to the Star, so it should be ok.

We had a rehearsal on Wednesday. We're the only band at the next gig so we've had to resurrect some of the "old faithfuls" in order to fill up the slot. We ditched them in the first place because they sounded like every other version, but when we revisited them, with the fresh ears of our relatively newly-acquired second guitarist, they took on a new lease of life. Exciting times!
 
Ooops... I missed this thread... sorry Madge :(

Lots of good advices given here, so the next time you'll do much better, I'm sure :)

I emphasis on the advices of playing rimshots (a bit hard to get them right at first, but once you've got it, it's a powerful weapon), playing with the butt end of the stick, the wooden beater could help too.

IMO, the biggest fall down when you play a back line kit is the tuning, on the amateur gig scenes, 9 times out of 10, the drums will be poorly tuned, heavily muffled and dead sounding, it makes it so hard to sound good and loud enough.

Whenever you can, try to insist bringing your own drums and cymbals.

Keep it up Madge, I know you can do it... the next time I'll see you play, you'll be so loud that...

104305183-person-getting-wind-blown-in-the-face-gettyimages.jpg


... I'll be blown away :)
 
Drums are so freakin' loud how could they not hear you?

You did fine. Every gig is different and something always happens.
 
Apologies for not sharing in this sooner Madge. You learn 100 x more from your "failures" than your successes. Not that you failed. Madge, it's always better to have the drums too low in the mix than the opposite. This is the journey. Ain't it a blast?

On the list of things to do "wrong" this is kinda small potatos. Not to minimize how you feel at all, just that it's probably a lot less worse than you think.

You really need to record yourself. That way you know EXACTLY what happened, and can make adjustments based on actual proof, instead of relying on other peoples perceptions.

Blending the kit to wherever you are is a high skill. Props for understanding this and trying to adjust at this early point in your trek.
 
the next time I'll see you play, you'll be so loud that I'll be blown away :)

Whenever that is :/ unless you are around on Wednesday? I dangle the prospect (ooh, Matron!) of dearest David ....

Drums are so freakin' loud how could they not hear you?

You did fine. Every gig is different and something always happens.

My dear, even I can't hear me sometimes, haga!

Apologies for not sharing in this sooner Madge. You learn 100 x more from your "failures" than your successes. Not that you failed. Madge, it's always better to have the drums too low in the mix than the opposite. This is the journey. Ain't it a blast?

On the list of things to do "wrong" this is kinda small potatos. Not to minimize how you feel at all, just that it's probably a lot less worse than you think.

You really need to record yourself. That way you know EXACTLY what happened, and can make adjustments based on actual proof, instead of relying on other peoples perceptions.

Blending the kit to wherever you are is a high skill. Props for understanding this and trying to adjust at this early point in your trek.

I think it's been far too long since I told you how much I love you, Larry. You've made laff and cry in a couple of lines!
 
Gosh Madge, you really made my day. I love you too, your whole energy.
 
Gosh Madge, you really made my day. I love you too, your whole energy.

And you've just made mine.

I have been awake for almost 20 hours. If there's any energy left, it's caffeine + alcohol, and not necessarily in that order, haga!
 
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