Often Churches are drawn into the dilemma of choosing between Acoustic Drums and Electronic drums when building or platform parameters change. As we will see, the choices are not as clear and straightforward as one might think. Sometimes decisions must be made for the greater good rather than personal preference. This article will highlight the many different factors that should be considered when choosing which type of drum set to use.
First, though, a few disclaimers. I am not either pro Electronic Drums - anti Acoustic Drums, or pro Acoustic Drums - anti Electronic Drums. I believe each have their place. Also, I bring a small amount of perspective to the discussion as I have, on occasion, played both types in church services (though I was the bottom-of-the-barrel choice for a drummer).
Acoustic Drums are Always Better than Electronic Drums...
Many drummers, if not all, will make and stick by the above statement. And from their perspective it's probably true. They sit amongst the set receiving the full surround-sound experience of the thrill of the shimmering highs, booming lows, and the nuances of the percussive attacks at close range. However, for us mere mortals listening in the audience, the experience can be drastically different.
Some History and the Need for Control
In the good ol' days everything was acoustic - pianos, guitars, drums, voices and all other musical instruments. Then came along electronics and the ability to record music. Before the advent of elaborate multi-channel mixers and multi-track tape recording many recordings were done with a single mic. In the recording studio voices and instruments were strategically placed in varying distance from the microphone. The softest sounding was placed near the mic and the loudest placed the furtherest. Anyone can guess where the drums were...yep, way at the back.
Just a quick aside here - anyone that thinks drums can't be played softly hasn't consulted with an accomplished Jazz drummer wielding a set of brushes. However, most drummers go after the drums and cymbals with a big oak stick... It's gonna be loud... at some point.
Back to the historic recording studios. Soon multi-channel mixing and recording technology came along. Now each voice and instrument could be mic'd independently. This introduced a new problem - bleed over. The drums, and other loud instruments like brass, would bleed over into the microphones set for voices and soft instruments which of necessity had their gains (head amps) turned up to capture the weak sounds. The solution was "get those drums out of here". Enter the drum booth. This new little room isolated the drums from the main studio and kept the drum sounds only in the drum mics. New problem. The drum booths were small and thus highly reflective to sound waves - loud would be another term for it. The walls had to be dampened with sound absorbing materials. Egg crates worked great (back when they were made of cardboard).
The need to control drums when used in conjunction with sound systems was recognized.
Some of this same historic progression followed in the church scene. Back then a church usually had a piano, an acoustic guitar, some accordions, and, maybe - just maybe, a drum or two. None of the instruments were mic'd and maybe only one mic was used for the singers.
Another side note here. It wasn't until the late sixties that electronic pianos were brought into the mainstream. They did not sound like real pianos but had a unique, and classic, sound of their own. Not many tossed their acoustic piano for the electronic ones. It wasn't until the Eighties and the innovation of sampling technology that keyboards, that tried to sound like real pianos, begin to evolve. Eventually the keyboard began to take over from the piano - and likely for four reasons. 1, They were basically maintenance free - no need to retune them frequently, 2, They were highly portable, 3, They offered a variety of sounds, and 4,They were getting cheaper.
Now it's difficult to find an acoustic piano in a church, but ask any pianist and they will tell you that nothing sounds and plays like a real piano. (By the way, unless you were Jerry Lee Lewis, you sat down to play the piano. Now with keyboards almost everyone stands - at least on one foot and one heel. What's up with that?)
Back to our history. Soon churches were installing some type of shield or booth for the drums to gain volume control over them. Pity the churches that didn't.
Now to present day. Electronic drums have been around a while but are continuing to evolve with better sampled sounds and more sensitive sensors on more natural playing heads. Many churches have moved to exclusive use of electronic drums. Is this the best choice? I say that depends... on a LOT of factors.
Before I get into the factors let me make one Hugh and Important point.
Once an acoustic drum set is put into an enclosed booth and mic'd they turn into a set of ELECTRONIC DRUMS for all but the drummer. Only the drummer will enjoy the full benefits of having acoustic drums. Everyone else will experience the drums colored by all components downstream in the sound system. Include the Sound Operator in the list of components that will color the drum experience.
Factors
Sound System: Does the sound system have the sonic ability to approximate the expensive set of acoustic drums in the booth? Are there properly matched mics for the frequency range of each drum component? Or are cheap $100 general purpose mics being used? Are there enough mics and available channels for each drum component? Does the mixer have available compression and gates to control the drums? Does the main speakers have the frequency range and headroom to reproduce the drums?
While an electronic drum set will sound equally as bad on a poor sound system - using an acoustic set (while sounding great only to the drummer) will, likely, not sound any better. Improve the sound system - especially the speakers - for immediate improvement.
Sound Operator: Does the sound operator have the knowledge, training and the "ear" to mix all of the drum components into one tight drum mix? If not the edge here goes to the electronic drums which will use the drum electronics to send a one or two-channel mix to the sound system for the sound operator to deal with.
Understand that the multi-channel drum mix from either a mic'd acoustic set or a high end electronic set with multi-channel outputs will need slight mix variations from song to song. It's not set it and forget it.
Space: Does the stage have enough available space to house a fully enclosed set of acoustic drums with mic stands?
Some will advise to simply surround the front of acoustic drums with a plexiglas shield. The results are usually less than desirable with bleed (especially cymbals) coming over the top of the shield. And how are you going to contain that 30 foot long frequency wave coming off of the kick drum?
If fully enclosing (with interior absorption panels) the acoustic drums is not an option due to space or aesthetic reasons - check mark goes to electronic drums.
Tuning and Maintenance: Is your Sound Operator adept at tuning the drums? Yes, I said Sound Operator. Remember the mic'd acoustic drums are only acoustic to the drummer. For the sound system they are electronic. A sound operator who knows what they are doing works with the drummer in tuning the drums to the sound system. This is a combination of tuning the drums (usually a tighter less ringy sound is achieved at drum head) and gating, compressing and equalizing the drums at the mixer.
Does your drummer regularly replace worn drum heads and retune the drums with the sound operator? As with all acoustic instruments drums are susceptible to fluctuations in temperature and humidity. Not to mention being beat with a wood stick.
If no one knows how to tune the drum set for a sound system the advantage goes to electronic drums which never need tuning.... per se.
I say per se because electronic drums need tuning from time to time in their trigger sensitivity settings. The trigger pads get out of calibration - again from being beaten with a stick.
Hopefully this article has given you some factors to consider when choosing which type of drums to use in your church. Sometimes it's not even about price as both types of drums can range from under $500 to well over $7500. The simple fact is that it's not as simple as "Dude, those type are the worst!"
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