Acoustic Drums

SSW tried playing acoustic last night for the first time. It went surprisingly well. No vocal mics...the only amplification was a very quiet bass amp uses with a fretless bass for KS.

I stripped my kit down to snare, hi hat, splash, and bass drum. Added chimes, tamborine, cowbell (didn't use it), baby bongos, egg shaker, and maracas. The maracas didn't work so well so I'll probably ditch them and the cowbell may be unneccessary. I tried playing with brushes, hot rods, and 7A sticks. In general it seemed best to cross stick as much as possible...or play on the edges of the snare to get that hi quiet Carribean sound. The splash was really jarring...so I think it needs to be used less often than I normally crash. I really had to pull back on the sticks and it threw my balance off...which made my bass drum unsteady. I was planned to play a 16" bass at the show...but I think I'll use the 22". It helps keep things grounded and isn't overwhelmingly loud (though more prominent than usual). The boys made out like using brushes was no big deal and the way to go. But this really isn't brush music and I don't really know how to use brushes. They worked really well on one song only...Too Drunk to Fuck...which I converted to a train shuffle with brushes. I think I'll go with hot rods mostly used quietly and cross sticked as much as I can get away with. I might buy a thinner pair to get even quieter too. Note to self...egg shaker worked great on Stooges medley.

Overall...play less and more simply. Drop the complicated bass patterns. Drop most crash/splashes. Simple.