am I the last one to know about this technique for playing lower volume on cymbals?

Bo, sometimes I am playing with an acoustic guitar player who is singing without any amplification. I probably do not have the control you have at these volumes, but I am working at it. It is really tough or me to get that low of a volume, I am looking for as many tricks as I can find. At this volume, I choke the sticks, sometimes play with my hands without sticks. I have a foam pad that I put on the bass drum so that I do not get too loud. And this trick by playing at the top of the cymbal at the edge area, works for me when I have to get really low volume and maintain a steady beat.

I've been practicing on a pillow and that seems to help my control of volume as well.

Bo, what do you do to improve your ability to play low volume?

Actually, playing on really soft things tends to make technique worse. The best thing you can do is play your kit as much as you can. Perhaps its because of my brush technique that I can play very softly with sticks - but a majority of my formative years were spent playing that set of drums and although I own pads, if I can practice on the drums themselves, that's what I'm going to do simply because that's what makes the money ;)

There's a Chick Corea album entitled "Friends" where Steve Gadd really shows off how softly he can play, and I've listened to and tried to emulate guys like Joe Morello and Mel Lewis all my life. Those guys were the kings at playing softly and intensely. Will Kennedy of the Yellowjackets is another guy who can cook really fast and soft too (actually, there are alot of pros who can, not just who I mention). Even Simon Phillips alluded to not playing his double bass drums so hard when playing because it would be a bit too much to have so much bass drum in the track, so he can do it too, although it's not apparent in alot of what he does. Another king of soft playing is Peter Erskine. Perhaps if you started to listen to some of these players, playing softly would make much more sense in a musical context instead of just trying to play what you would normally play softer.

But me building up those chops is just like everything else: you just have to put in the time doing it - no other way around it. You have to work on it. Listening to top notch players actually doing it is your end goal, so as you listen to them, that is your gauge on how well you're doing it. Start doing all your snare drum exercises really softly, and of course, start slow. Maybe you're trying to rush this development along to quickly, and as always, it leads to frustration.
 
I relate, EV. I've struggled for the last five years to get low volume playing together and still tend to start lifting my hands ad getting loud. That's been the most useful thing more me - making sure that I keep my hands low. I have a bad habit of using higher stick heights than I need and then tempering the stroke. Obviously better to play a freer stroke from a low height.

Trouble with playing the ride closer to the edge is that you might get a darker, less intrusive ping but you also get more wash, which causes another kind of clutter.

Actually, playing on really soft things tends to make technique worse. The best thing you can do is play your kit as much as you can.

I found that too. Also on my marble topped coffee table, which feels hideous but it forces you to tap lightly.
 
Bo, I put Friends on my Amazon list for CD’s to purchase. This month I purchased four already and have to hold off a bit, otherwise my CD shelf will collapse.

I listen to Joe Morello, I really like his style. However, I do not think of him as playing low volume. But, I never heard him play live. Perhaps it is his style that makes me unaware of how low volume he was actually playing. I would not consider Art Blakey playing low volume either. I saw Art Blakey play live and I have to confirm that he did not play much low volume during those shows. Art had a very dominating style.


When I think of low volume drummers, I think of Elvin Jones and Papa Jo Jones as being able to control the volume. I also think of Max Roach as having control over his volume, and you hear Max Roach being able to play low volume and high volume on a lot of his work.



There is that one video of Gene Krupa doing his match stick thing. He had to be able to control his volume. What was the story, “that Krupa brought a bass drum into the recording studio when at the time only a few other drummers were actually recording bass drums?” He must have had a lot of control over his volume if he was able to keep the recording needle from skipping.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-H6Xt17DMc

I can see where brush work would help. There is no bounce on the brushes. Just trying to do a roll with brushes gives a lot of control. I make sure I practice my brush technique often. Lately I am traveling less and have more time to sit on the set so I hope this helps.

Anon La Ply, I will keep in mind what you’re saying about stick heights and give that a try. Do you set up the drums differently for playing low volume? When I play with others outside of my own house I bring with me my Gretsch Jazz Catalina four piece kit. It is a small kit and everything is close to each other.

This has been a battle of mine for many years, not a recent problem. About 30 years ago I was playing with this one band that refused to practice above the volume of low volume speaking. They said it was because we were practicing in such a small room they did not want to play loud.

It was really tough on me. I felt that I could not play what I really wanted to play in their songs and I had to hold back not only the volume but what I was playing as well. But, when we played a gig, I was able to open up and play full volume. They told me afterwards that I sounded a thousand times better when we played live and I sounded like a completely different drummer. They told me that they were going to get rid of me because they did not like the way I was playing when we were practicing but they changed their minds after the gig. I told them that the volume was making me play different, and they agreed too and agreed to practice at a higher volume. However, I stopped playing with them, because that low volume just drove me nuts.
 
I listen to Joe Morello, I really like his style. However, I do not think of him as playing low volume. But, I never heard him play live. Perhaps it is his style that makes me unaware of how low volume he was actually playing. I would not consider Art Blakey playing low volume either. I saw Art Blakey play live and I have to confirm that he did not play much low volume during those shows. Art had a very dominating style.

Big band drumming is usually louder than small group jazz playing to deal with all those horns. On the other hand, listen to Art at the start of live version of Moanin': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynZDm50EgBY ... whisper quiet at first, then he moves to a strong ride pattern but his LH work is very gentle by rock standards - and with low stick heights.

Anon La Ply, I will keep in mind what you’re saying about stick heights and give that a try. Do you set up the drums differently for playing low volume?

I never thought to. If I took leave of my senses and decided to go back to playing loud rock I'd raise my hihats to make room for a higher backbeat. I still don't have the low stick heights down as well as I'd like - old habits die hard ...

This has been a battle of mine for many years, not a recent problem. About 30 years ago I was playing with this one band that refused to practice above the volume of low volume speaking. They said it was because we were practicing in such a small room they did not want to play loud.

It was really tough on me. I felt that I could not play what I really wanted to play in their songs and I had to hold back not only the volume but what I was playing as well. But, when we played a gig, I was able to open up and play full volume. They told me afterwards that I sounded a thousand times better when we played live and I sounded like a completely different drummer. They told me that they were going to get rid of me because they did not like the way I was playing when we were practicing but they changed their minds after the gig. I told them that the volume was making me play different, and they agreed too and agreed to practice at a higher volume. However, I stopped playing with them, because that low volume just drove me nuts.

Yes. Playing rock at low volume for neighbours (or whatever) is frustrating. The drum part will feel lacking because power is part of the appeal ... if John Bonham played the same notes at low volume we may not have ever heard of him.

If you have to play loud music quietly then all you can do is play it clean and tasty. The good (and bad), thing about low volume playing is you can hear the individual instruments more clearly - including every little timing misalignment. You can get away with an awful lot under a cymbal wash and overdriven guitars. That's part of rock's appeal too :)
 
Back to the lowering of the volume problem.

On Saturday I was playing in my small room with some people. I have been choking the sticks and trying to play at a very low volumes.

I discovered on Saturday, that the resonating buzz from the other instruments of the snare wires was louder than when I was hitting the snare drum. I have to make the conclusion that I have achieved playing at a lower volume, but the drums themselves are still too loud.

The volume we were playing at is just slightly louder than singing without a microphone.

So I guess I have to muffle the drums and cymbals at this stage.
 
I usually keep a few bandanas and hopefully a microfiber cloth and a sock or two in my snare bag. For low volume stuff, I just drape a bandana over my snare and/or gently wedge something between one of my snare basket arms and the bottom of the drum. A sock can work well on a bass drum beater, with some creative twisting and inside-rightside-outing. And the soft cloth is nice for dusting and shining things!

Being able to play freely AND quietly is always one of the biggest challenges for me
 
Definitely agree that to play softer you just have to hit less hard. Being able to play quietly opens a lot of gig opportunities. I find most rock club venues WAY too loud, so even in that type of situation you need to play to the room.

Cymbals, because they represent the high frequency side of the spectrum, really cut anyway. When I need to play loud, I still don't hit my cymbals very hard. The nature of cymbals allows them to be heard regardless.

One thing I've learned is that the drums are always louder than you think they are, especially a rimshotted snare. Find the right volume, and then dial it down by 15%, and you'll be perfect.

I practice quiet playing by keeping my isolation headphone volume super low. If I'm learning a tune, or playing to a metronome, I keep it low so that if i play too loud I lose the playback sound. It's hard to stay disciplined, as volume is so easy to obtain with the drums. This is one of the tricks I've used to force quiet practice.
 
This is why the edge of the cymbal feels like that....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zssXukkKoWM


Volume is the amount of air moved by sound, and I've always felt the edge of the cymbal moved more air. It also produces a darker, more complex and lower tone - and the high pitches are the more damaging/cutting frequencies, sso maybe that's what your hearing?


As far as playing quieter... if it were me at the gig, I'd be breaking out the brushes. I could do the gig with tiny sticks any play small the whole time, but I'd prefer to use brushes. At this point, the main thing I don't like about playng quietly is not being able to move much. I like swinging my arms - always have. It is the reason (i think) that I always had such trouble playing quietly. It wasn't until one day I realized how awesome playing quietly can be - and I honestly wanted to not for any reason but my own desire - that playing quietly became easy.
 
For playing quietly, especially in a church environment, I've tended to use brushes - traditional wire brushes. This enables you to play quietly when necessary, but when needed, you can really lay into the kit quite hard. In fact, some brushes are made so that you can turn them around and use the handle to play.

If I was in a situation where I needed to play very, very softly with an acoustic kit, I would look into buying a flat ride, covering the drumheads with a thin cotton cloth, and using a fleece beater on the bass drum.

As others have noted, though, one of the most useful things a drummer can learn is to play softly. It's quite difficult to do, and requires the development of a completely new set of skills, but these are skills that will benefit your playing overall.

GeeDeeEmm
 
A lot of it has to do with the cymbal too.

A thicker cymbal will not open up unless you hit it harder.

No way your get a satisfying crash unless you hit it.

Flat ride cymbals because they don't have a bell are also great in a quiet situation.

Sabian says their AAX line sounds the same at low and high volumes ,but I haven't found that to be the case.
 
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