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Does Gear Matter?

By Philip Hendrickson

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go.” 1 Samuel 17:38-39 ESV


When young David offered to fight the giant Goliath, King Saul put his best armor on the boy. Saul was trying to help, but heavy armor didn’t fit what David was called to do. When I was a boy helping with repairs around the house, my father always emphasized using the right tool for the job. Approaching a task with the wrong tool makes things unnecessarily difficult; having the proper tool makes success much more likely. Gear matters.

Consider a trumpet player. A standard Bb trumpet can cover many parts, but an experienced trumpeter may choose between several mouthpieces depending on the range, tone, and articulation called for in the music. If a piece is particularly demanding, the player might switch to a piccolo trumpet or other model to make it easier to perform the part appropriately.

“But drums are just drums, right? Aren’t they all pretty much the same?”

If we play any one of twenty different snare drums, the average person will say that it sounds like a snare drum. But if we play several of them back-to-back, a careful listener will notice subtle differences in tone, resonance, articulation, and relative volume. The player may notice a different feel under the sticks that makes it seem natural to play a particular style of music on that drum. For an extreme example, compare the tight, snappy pop of a modern marching snare against the deep, warm bark of an old wooden-hooped marching drum hung on the hip. Roughly the same size, the two drums use vastly different construction materials, heads, and tuning, and achieve very different sounds.

Lest we start an argument, my point is not that one drum sound is better than another. The sound you want depends on the musical setting and desired results. The point is to select tools that help you achieve those results, rather than force the drummer to fight against tools designed for a different purpose.

Thick, heavy drum shells are made to project loudly, and they need to be hit hard to activate the shell’s resonance. That is great when playing in a large arena with screaming guitars and cheering crowds. In a small space with softer music, those drums would be overpowering if played to their potential. And if played gently, the drums will sound dull and unresponsive.

Thin, light drum shells give out very musical and pleasing tones under a light touch. They are great for small spaces or quiet, sensitive music that calls for articulate playing and subtle nuances. Bang on those drums too hard and the sound becomes choked or strained. Though louder, the sound loses its musicality. Cymbals, too, have a wide array of sizes, weights, and shapes that give them a sound profile suited best for certain musical styles. We’ll discuss cymbals in more detail at another time.

Each drum has a range of tuning and a playing volume at which it performs well, and a particular sweet spot where it really sings happily. Change to thicker or thinner heads, a different style of rims, or even different sticks, and the drum’s musical sweet spot will change. These are adaptations we can use to our advantage if we are willing to experiment. Ask a drum technician about the difference between triple-flanged, die-cast, and wood hoops if you want an earful of fine details!

The point is not to spend lots of money on every gadget or new trend. Rather, consider your musical context and fine-tune your equipment over time to be the right tools for the job. A good thing about worship drumming is that the physical context stays fairly consistent, making it easier to test gear during rehearsals.

Drummers need to learn how to control their instruments to match the musical context. But let’s not handicap them by requiring them to use inferior gear or tools ill-suited to the task at hand. The worship leader and drummer should take time to discuss the tools at hand and lay out a plan for fine-tuning them to match the space and worship style. Everyone benefits when this happens: the leader, drummer, other band members, and, most importantly, the worshippers in God’s house!

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