Cue the Drummer

This week's guest blogger, Craig Colson, discusses the role of the drummer through his experience as both a drummer himself, and music leader at Liturgy.


by Craig Colson

 


I think we have all been to the Mass with the overzealous drummer who was way too loud, played way too much, and just plain overpowered the entire group. Being honest, I have to admit that, at one time or another, I was that drummer. There is something about being a drummer that makes you want to play loudly! It just feels better and sounds better. While this may be great in a concert setting with mic’d up drums, sub woofers, a thumping kick drum, etc...it is not the case at Liturgy.

I began playing the drums at the young age of 13 for the weekly youth Liturgy at my home church. Having the opportunity to play drums at Mass was what got me involved in the church. It also got me interested in learning more about Liturgy. To this day, whenever I'm leading from the piano or guitar, I always seek to find the best drummer I can to play.

In our celebration of the Liturgy, it's about the voice! The music must support the people singing!

So, if it's about the voice, why do we need drums? First of all, we don’t always need them, but they are nice to have as a main instrument in our liturgies when played tastefully. Drums and percussion are mentioned several times in the psalms, most popularly in Psalm 150 which says:

“Give praise with tambourines and dance, praise him with flutes and strings. Give praise with crashing cymbals, praise him with sounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath give praise to the LORD! Hallelujah!”

Even the U.S. Bishops document on Liturgy “Sing to the Lord” says:

89. “However, from the days when the Ark of the Covenant was accompanied in procession by cymbals, harps, lyres, and trumpets, God’s people have, in various periods, used a variety of musical instruments to sing his praise. Each of these instruments, born of the culture and the traditions of a particular people, has given voice to a wide variety of forms and styles through which Christ’s faithful continue to join their voices to his perfect song of praise upon the Cross.”

So the question I would ask is: If these are the instruments that were used in the beginning, when the Ark of the Covenant was in procession, shouldn’t we be using them now? Don’t they express true worship and the true joy that we have in the resurrection?

A few things to be considered when using drums at Liturgy. First, the space you’re in can dictate a lot. If your church is made of stone and marble and is like an echo chamber, drums will be a challenge...but can still be used effectively. In this case, a great solution is to either use percussion such as congas, shakers, tambourines, etc. and/or to construct a drum enclosure that will help limit the sound of the drums. Microphones can then be placed on the drums to put them into the sound system so that the sound engineer can control the volume. This has proved very effective in many churches. Of course, we should do our best to make the enclosure as professional and as aesthetically pleasing as possible so as to not draw a lot of attention to the drummer.

This is a picture of the drum enclosure we recently built in my church. It is lined with acoustic paneling, the wood bottom is fully insulated, and there is a small door for the drummer to enter and exit through. It is cooled by the A/C vent in the ceiling.
 

Electric drums can also achieve a similar effect and some brands are better sounding than others. I would caution that if you are going to use electric drums, be sure that they sound as “real” and “acoustic” as possible so as to not make the music at Mass sound electronic or hokey.

The Drummer
Now that we know what kind of drum kit we will use and how to help control the sound, the next important element is the player. As I said earlier, a good drummer is essential. The drummer doesn’t have to- and shouldn’t be- flashy. 'Less is more' is always a good principal at Liturgy. There shouldn’t be any 'clicking sticks' to start songs, or 'trash can endings' at the end of songs. The drums don’t need to come in at the beginning of every song either. In fact, they shouldn’t! Dynamics are key to using drums effectively. Brushes and Hot Rods (which are a type of sticks that have softer sound) can be used depending on the feel of the song.

A good drummer will not always play the typical rock beat, but will listen to recordings to get a few different beats to build a song up and bring it back down. In contemporary music, a popular beat is to have the kick drum play on all four beats with just the Hi-hat cymbal and building into a beat adding a tom or two in-between to build the song. The use of playing the same beat with a side-stick (rim) instead of the snare is a great way to approach the softer section of a song. If you listen to what the drummer played on the song below you can get an idea of this concept as the verses use kick drums on all four beats and then add in the 'typical' rock beat on the refrains.

 

That's a clip from "Veni, Sancte Spiritus" off of Craig's new CD, 'I Am the Way.'  (see the sidebar)

‘Training’ a Drummer for Liturgy
When training a drummer for Liturgy, a great way to get them started is to have them play a few percussion instruments along with a more seasoned drummer who can 'show them the ropes.' Let them sit in on the kit for a song or two here and there. As their confidence builds, adding the newer drummer as the 'main drummer' can be achieved slowly and effectively. Sending out recordings to musicians is a great way to get them to learn the music ahead of time so that they are not just coming in cold, not having heard the beat on a song or knowing how it goes.

Contemporary music can be used very effectively with good, pastoral musicians. We need to strive to help our communities sing with full, active, conscious participation with a solid support of instruments to uphold their voices that praise our God...just as David did in the psalms, and our ancestors did in the early church.