Mystery Solved
Upon reflection, both of the times when we experienced the “dead drum” sound was on days when it had been obnoxiously humid outside.
The AC system for the sanctuary isn’t on unless the sanctuary is used. Therefore, the drums had been sitting all day in this humid environment. Even though we turned on the air conditioning just before practice, it wasn’t early enough for the drums to have time to adjust.
Taking This A Step Further
Knowing about the humidity problem, we can make a point of kicking the AC on earlier on those days when the humidity is bad. But what about re-tuning? Once a drum kit becomes re-acclimated to the conditioned air, it’s a good idea to check the tuning.
For those of you working in portable churches that pull your drums out of a trailer each week, temperature and humidity changes can definitely impact your tuning.
If you deal with a lot of temperature/humidity-related issues with your drums, work with your drummer on drum tuning.
As far as a tuning aid, Dan said he’s a big fan of a Tune-Bot (even over Drum Dial or even by ear) because “you have a fiercely accurate measure of both the fundamental pitch and both batter and resonant heads. The elasticity changes in different temperatures so a proper digital tuner has provided the best results over a weight/pressure based type or app.”
High humidity can also cause problems with microphones. Store your mics in a dry place, such as a sealed foam-lined microphone box, if you work in high-humidity locations or if you store your gear in a trailer.
Whether you have acoustic drums that stay in the sanctuary or you haul them out of a trailer each week, realize that temperature and humidity change will alter the sound of your drums and sometimes you need to re-tune them.
No one said live audio production was easy!
Ready to learn and laugh? Chris Huff writes about the world of church audio at Behind The Mixer. He covers everything from audio fundamentals to dealing with musicians. He can even tell you the signs the sound guy is having a mental breakdown.