Low Volume Drums and Cymbals?

One of my biggest frustrations about being a professional musician is the gear you have to use when using your own isn’t an option. Many times they are outright designed to be as loud as possible. Why, you may ask? With the advent of loud, amplified music and electrified instruments, drummers and drum makers had to figure out a way for the drums and cymbals to actually be loud enough to “hang”. Drummers began hitting harder and harder. Makers began making bigger, thicker, and more robust drums and cymbals. Nowadays, micing technology has advanced to the point where the need for such loud instruments isn’t as great and drummers are still learning to hit too hard. I have played MANY gigs where I was told to play with dynamics and “fill the room”. Sometimes those rooms are full of brick and other hard surfaces. This means “filling the room” could actually mean “play as quiet as you can”. This led me to try and wrap my mind around making drums and cymbals that would fill spaces appropriately and cause me to not have to play so extremely quiet in order to not get yelled at. I first landed on the “Venue Series” drums. I utilized elements like rounded bearing edges, shallower sizes, and thinner shells to quiet down the natural volume of the drums. I also started modifying my cymbals to be thinner and darker. This helped me greatly by changing the response of the instruments. Each drum and cymbal has a way that it wants to be played. Bigger drums invite heavier playing. Thin, wobbly cymbals invite a more nuanced approach. I later went even further with the “Little Series”, featuring drums ranging from 3”-6” deep and oftentimes only having a batter head. These drums were perfect for the loudest of venues and and even for apartment/home practice. I also found that the tone was incredible. So much so that I started recording rock and country records entirely on a kit with a 16×4 bass drum and a 14×3 floor tom. It really worked. All in all, “quiet” drums and cymbals still mostly depend on the player playing with dynamics and feel, but having instruments designed for that purpose are hugely helpful.