Often the most unappreciated volunteers in a church.
Some of the most gracious & patient people I know.
To the tech geniuses who control the ‘suck’ button…
This shout out is for you!

My most visited blog post over the past year (by a long shot) was on building a new drum booth.  Call it a drum booth, drum shield, drum cage, whatever – the bottom line is that sometimes the acoustics of a room will create a need to control the sound of your drums.  I wanted to get a little more detailed with the specs, materials used and the things I learned so I’ve written an updated post here.

Start talking about building a drum booth and some people start talking about using an electric drum kit.  Not me, no way…I believe electronic drums are of the devil.  My feeling is that if you’re gonna have drums in your band, then play with an acoustic kit.

There were some specific challenges I had in building this particular booth due to the room it was in.  I’ll try to leave out things that won’t apply to everyone.  There were also some political matters that I won’t go into here….you know, sometimes there’s the insane pastor’s wife you have to deal with.

My goal was to build a booth that contained sound and visually kept the drummer as unobstructed as possible.  I wanted it to look and feel feel like he was part of the band, not tucked away in a box.  My first choice would be to go without a top/lid, but the acoustics of some rooms will amplify sound shooting up.  You’ll also need to consider reflected sound exiting the back of the booth.  Something will need to absorb those reflections wether it be theater walls, curtains or sound panels.  This will be determined by the room and space you’re dealing with.

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I’m often asked about the gear and equipment I use when I play out, so I’m going to do a little blogging on that over time here. This info is kind of a moving target for me because technology is continually updating and new gear is always hitting the market. I probably should confess that gear-lust often clouds my good judgment…but I’ll save my confessions for another post.

For years I’ve exclusively used Elixir Strings. I’m a rhythm guitar player, self-taught, but a keyboard player first. Perhaps it’s because I’m a sissy (or most likely because of it) that it took me a long time to build up string-calluses on my fingers. So when I first played Elixir Strings with the POLYWEB coating, my fingers felt like they were being pampered and I became an instant fan.

Not only do I love how the strings feel when I play, I’m also thrilled with the way these strings keep their intonation. Other strings I’ve played always seem to have a short ‘shelf-life’ and required constant tuning. Elixir’s stay in tune week to week, needing only minor adjustments, and last a lot longer than any other brand I’ve tried. I dig this because it saves me money and time spent constantly changing strings.

I’ve also found that my Elixir Strings consistently maintain their tone. They don’t just sound great for a few days of playing and then loose their brightness. I can play them for several weeks and still be happy with the tone I’m getting. Many other strings sound great at first and quickly begin to sound dull and lifeless. Elixir’s sound great the entire time I have them on my guitar.

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