[Dixielandjazz] Boom Crash Drummers

[Steve Barbone]

"Robert Smith" <robert.smith at tele2.no> wrote

> Hello Tom,
 
> Your comments are probably right as regards OKOM, but my personal wish is to
> replace the drummer on nearly every pop record where the drummer, with his
> "Boom, crash, boom crash" drowns just about everything else on the record. I
> reckon a washboardist playing a washboard lying on its side between his legs
> would be the answer.

Which brings up an interesting question. Is it the recording engineers who
make the drums sound so loud? Would they do the same to the washboard sound?
Maybe so. Perhaps the Pop fans are the ones who "demand" loud drums (and a
heavy beat)? 

One think I notice with our young audiences is that they enjoy loud, back
beat drumming and many accents, and also loud guitar and bass in our rhythm
section. So, we ramp their sound up accordingly.

Conversely, the older folks say things like "The guitar is too loud." and so
we ramp the sound down accordingly.

In a mixed age audience venue, we really have to laugh, as half the folks
think it is too loud while the other half thinks it is too soft. What do we
do? Ignore them both and be sensitive to which opinion "venue management"
favors. After all, they are the ones who pay us.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone