What's in a gig?

What does it take to play a gig?

Having a successful night is more than just slinging your gear in the car, turning up and playing.

Whilst you may get away with that for a while, invariably something will go wrong at some point and in that situation you’ll be thanking “previous you” for putting a bit of thought into your routine.

Let’s make sure we’re prepared and professional!

Being your own drum tech

Most of aren’t in the position to be able to employ our own tech, so we have to play that role.

Sometimes, many or all aspects of a tech’s job can get overlooked when we’re doing it for ourselves.

Just grab the drums for the next gig - “sounds ok? good, that will do!”

Not really, no.

So what type of things should we consider?

Ahead of the gig

It all starts well ahead of hitting the road, and there’s more to do than you think.

By running through some basic checks ahead of time, you can save yourself from a potential nightmare scenario at the venue.

Equipment check and maintenance 

Tuning. Whilst some would argue that most of your audience won’t notice a difference anyway, I would argue that they will, even if they don’t know it. Having your drums sounding right for the music and venue in order to complement the overall sound and feel of the band can go a long way towards making or breaking a gig.

Mixing the sound “at source” (meaning “getting the kit to sound right acoustically”) is always much easier and within your control than trying to rely on a sound guy to resolve everything - if there even is one - and in many cases, a bad sound source won’t improve dramatically despite all efforts to fix it in the mix.

Apart from anything else, sitting behind a kit that is SINGING can really increase your enjoyment of the event and enhance your playing and those around you.

Check all drum heads for any signs of wear or damage and replace them as needed.

You may also consider something like tuner fish lug locks if your drums tend to de-tune.

Ensure all hardware, stands, and pedals are functioning properly - do they fold up and down easily, are there any signs of wear and tear? Are there any signs of damage to threaded components?

Check cymbals for signs of cracks or key-holing.

As a final check, some drummers recommend setting up the entire kit at home to ensure that nothing is missing.