Pros and cons of drum shields

[acousticgal]

How many of you use drum shields during worship?

We've had a contemporary service for 10 (yes, TEN) years, have had drums from the beginning, and just last Sunday a handful of people (who attend our traditional service, believe it or not) have decided that we should use shields. They've taken this up at our business meeting; as a result, I've got to investigate and price.

Any input? Do I really need to mic every piece? Any brand recommendations?

[sicstrings]

We use a drum shield. It's not a fully enclosed version (brand??) and our auditorium is small enough (350 seats) that mics are not required. We've found that by using the shield our drummers actually play better (more fills and runs) because they are able to play without worrying they are louder then the band (we're 'contemporary' too). Using the shield has helped our overall house sound. So, don't be too apprehensive about using one.

[twc_admin]

How big is your room? How close (proximity) is the drum kit on the stage from the first row of worshipers? How low are your ceilings?

[acousticgal]

Our house seats around 350, just like Steve's... but is long and narrow, like a tunnel. The drums are in the corner of our platform so they are between 14 and 16 feet from the ceiling - it slopes. I'd say that the first row is about 12 feet away.

The kick drum is about shoulder level when people are standing...

[russhutto]

Drum shields are like windshields.

We'd all rather feel the breeze in our hair, but hate the bugs in our teeth.

[Kevin E.]

Drum shields are like windshields.

We'd all rather feel the breeze in our hair, but hate the bugs in our teeth.
I don't have anything to say in this topic but found your comment funny! Lol! I love it!

[Darryn]

Our church has a completely enclosed drum shield and it has been wonderful. We all have inner ear monitors (odd but good) and it keeps the over all stage noise to a minimum. We have the drums miked and it has been working for us.

[Stevie Nature]

I used to be at a church with drum shield and in-ears. The problem we kept running into was that none of the mics just picked the drum they were supposed to. It was basically a big mush of sound. Also, the drummer couldn't hear unless you spoke in the mic. Not a big problem, but it was a little annoying. I think the issue with the mics was our sound people.

[acousticgal]

When you say "completely enclosed" do you mean the top, also? I've seen that...

The only way that we could afford in-ear monitors right now is if they dropped from the sky; our drummer would have his own assigned wedge...

Thanks for all the info so far, one way or another, I've got to submit $$ figures to our budget committee by the end of the year.

[russhutto]

You could even have the "builder" types in your church build an enclosure too.

[acousticgal]

That's funny... my husband IS a builder!! I never thought of having him make it for us. Plexiglas and hinges, I suppose? I'd probably want to go and actually see one just to get a feel for what they look like!

[russhutto]

Well, depending on how "shielded" you want to go, I would suggest a very TALL enclosure/total enclosure or nothing at all.

One time we had some well meaning folks put one together out of plexi-glass and hinges that was only about chest high. Not quite high enough. Basically, it created a ear piercing wall of face-slapping cymbal sound. Not quite the effect we had in mind.

Just be sure that you build a good enclosure, maybe add some padding to the inside walls (not all the way up or he won't be able to see!)...

[worshiptheKing]

I have been in both situations. We don't have a drummer at my present church, but here goes. A drum shield with decent acoustic material behind it works OK. I wouldn't even mic it for a mid sized room. Of course for a larger room use mics. We when build our new building I am looking at building a drum booth. At least 3 sides, depending on stage location, with an angled front to rear top with acoustic material. Drums will be miced for control. I saw/heard this set-up at a church and loved it. Vocals and band had wedge monitors that were easily controlled because of reduced stage volume. Thing is it can be pretty affordable if there is someone who has some carpentry skills as blindeyes said. Plexiglass and hinges is a waste of time IMHO.

[John and Sherri Street]

The drums are often (not always) the loudest component of the overall sound for the typical church group and will usually benefit from a shield of some sort. I've seen the fully enclosed booths and the sound can be controlled very well but if your drummer is sensitive to being isolated, they may not like it too much, and it may be an unnecesary expense.

We went with the 5' high plexiglas version and it helped the other musicians who were next to the drums immensely. Even though the initial comments (complaints) came from the congregation, not having a cymbal crash 2' from your ear is a good thing. We may be adding some sound absorbing pads around the bottom of the shield in the future.

Sometimes, just adding the shield will give the impression that the group is trying to satisfy those who feel the drums are too loud regardless of whether there is a substantial difference in the sound or not. Kind of like a placebo effect. I know we should only be concerned with what actually makes a difference, but trying to explain that to a room full of hearing aid equipped geriatrics can be a challenge. Not trying to pick on the older folks or the hearing impaired, but that is usually where these comments start.

I think the shield we got was around $300 from Musician's friend.

Basically adding a shield will:
1. Help the other musicians.
2. Show that you are willing to try new things.
3. Give the impression that you care about the congregation.

[acousticgal]

Spurs4SC,

A drum booth sounds great but is impossible for us at this time... I'll have to stick with plexiglass!

John and Sherri,

You made some great points. As I think about those who are requesting the shields, the "placebo" effect might be what makes all the difference. I agree that they probably need to see our willingness as a band to try something new!

Good insight!

[dtpuga]

I have mixed on a variety of drum kits from electric to acoustic with no shield, front shield, short shield, all the way around shield, with and without roofs. I'd say that asking us to recommend a solution is about like asking me how fast to drive on your street on the way home. I can tell you how I drive, but it really is dependent on your street and who else is on it.

My experience has taught me NOT to do anything I didn't have to with drums. The reason shields keep the sound from going everywhere else is because it bounces it back at the drum kit (read this: the microphones get everything more than once). We are building a plexiglass shield for our new sanctuary. We are going to build it across the front and partially covering the sides. It will be about 5 feet high with the drums on a riser. My research has lead me to think that as long as the plexi is in the path from between the drum surfaces and "our" ears, its most important effect is accomplished. The more you shield, ESPECIALLY if you completely enclose, the more you will muffle your drums. And they will sound dead and all the mics will pick up everything that is hit. I have moved a shield about one foot further away from a kit than the prior week and had a DRASTIC difference in mic pick up. The more space you have free around your drums the better

If your drums are in a corner or close to a wall, treat that wall too though. We shielded our youth drums and shoved them in a corner. It was like we made a cannon out of our drum sound. We had a Clearsonic around two thirds of the kit and hard wall behind it. We added an ugly piece that made a difference. We lost 10dB of pressure at the stage by adding an egg crate mattress pad covered with a black sheet behind the kit. That room is only about 100 seats and the ceiling is only 8 feet, so, yeah, sound nightmare for a big loud youth band. We had to do what we could in there. Since it was youth we were able to get away with the cheap fix. The fact that our stage cieling is now about 18 inches from the top of the clearsonic actually projects sound as if it is ported in there rather than muffles it. We got lucky.

Hope this helps,
-Travis

[worshiptrench]

1. Homemade shields DON'T work as well as production models because they invariably rely on hinges which leaves gaps for the sound to "shoot" through.

2. In our 800 seat room we have a Sonic 6' shield that wraps around the front and side of the kit. We actually need to add an additional panel because some sound jumps around the side and bleeds into our bridge team (sort of choir) mics.

3. In our new room with 2000 seats that is 270 degrees around, we are figuring out what we are doing. Aesthetically I would rather not shield. The room will be large enough that we don't need it room-wise. However, because of stage bleeds into other mics we might have to shield drums. Or simply place more subtle shields between element of mic and drum source rather than a whole shield around drums

Note: If you have a hard surface behind your drums (brick, wall, etc.) a shield will make things worse b/c the shield will reflect sound back towards the hard surface and then it will bounce into the house. We had one church we consulted who we actually put a crated shield behind the kit (they put some cool fabric on it so it was actually vibey) because of a brick wall. It sounded way better than when they had it in front of the kit with no absorbtion.

[acousticgal]

Thanks, everyone, for your wise and experienced replies...

I'm going to price them and give the quote to the budget committee as asked.

If they decide to set aside the money, then I'm gonna try to borrow some before buying (to test).

[rneufeld]

Rather than go with full height shields, we put up a "fence" of corregated plastic sheets that come to just below the level of the cymbals. It made a HUGE difference and avoided having to "cage" the drummer.

Our platform is tiled (great for a choir ... lousy for drums). Putting the fence in place (and carpet under the drums) reduced platform sound level substantially. Our sanctuary seats about 450. We lightly mic the drums for the sanctuary and our webcasts.

One of the advantages of being involved in worship & technical ministry is that there are lots of people present every Sunday who are sound reinforcement experts (ok ... that wasn't nice ...was it?)

...Randy

[amprodirect]

The fence is a good idea. It really makes no diff the proximity of drums to the congregation if you have other live microphones on the stage. Acrylic shields will "reflect" only high frequencies. This being said, the shield would do you good if it is the high frequency information that is the issue (and probably is). One thing we do in one of our venues is use the acrylic shield around the kit (3 sides), mic the entire kit, but place a absorptive material in front of the kick drum to absorb reflections.

Placing a reflective surface around your drummer will create some interesting nuances, tackle them as they arise. Try new things, don't do just because everyone else does.

Bottom line, if someone is willing to get you a drum shield, do it. Be willing to experiment to get the best results.