In the first installment of this series, we spent some time on the history of rhythm in worship, which, in African churches, really goes back about 300 years. In some traditional Christian churches, it looks like a new idea. What about at The Met?
I have been here going on nine years and drumming has been a part of our worship during all of that time. The style has most definitely changed. Our church is located in the fastest growing part of Houston and our congregation is mostly young families in their 30s and 40s.
We’ve transitioned from a traditional style of worship to a blended style of worship in the last three years. We currently use a rhythm section comprised of a keyboard, Hammond organ, bass, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, acoustic drums and a trombone/sax line.
We are currently piloting a program we developed called M3- Mentoring Met Musicians. We recruit through various forms of internal advertising, then audition them and send them through M3. M3 is not designed to teach musicians to play an instrument. It is designed to teach them to survive in our unique playing environment. There are several qualities we are looking for in any musician. First and foremost, attitude is king. They must be team players. Second, we use a click (metronome or loops, at times) to “lock” the band together. They must be able to keep time with the click. And third, they need to be able to play the style.
How do you think praise drumming is different for musicians?
It’s not performance-based, it’s worship. Their job is to lead people in worship and not be a distraction.
Are you concerned about volume levels?
Most definitely. What do you do to control it? We are always trying new things to make it better. At one point we even built a complete drum room for the stage, built out of Lexan. There were some real acoustic issues with that one. We currently use a custom shield on the front side with some 2x2 Clear Sonic Sorber panels placed on the inside.
We use a Beta 52 on the kick, placed with the screen just inside the hole. The snare uses an SM57 on top. We occasionally will add another on the lower head if we do any brushwork. We use Beta 98D/S on all four toms and a pair of SM81s on overheads. The Djembe uses an SM57 as well.
What about electronic drums? Any applications for them at The Met?
We only use electronic sets in our rehearsal spaces for volume reasons. Electronic drums have come a long way but, in our opinion, still just don’t sound the same. There is some life missing there. Our drummers are great, they understand how to play in our environment. They haven’t had to make a great shift in playing style.
Yes. We have an analog split installed between the stage and the PM1D and we send that up to the ProTools HD system in our studio. We multitrack the service every week. The goal is to have live worship CDs available to our congregation as we go.
What advice do you have for recording drums in the studio?
Up to this point, because of the split from the stage and the in-ear monitoring system in there, we track everything from the stage, even the studio projects. We could do it in the studio but it works great from the stage.
Who handles sound engineering for The Met?
The technical arts team is staffed completely with volunteers. We have rotating teams that ensure time off to prevent burnout. We also train and mentor those who are new to the ministry.
Does the same person handle live and recorded sound?
We have different volunteers on the team for handling front of house, then a team that deals with ProTools studio and CD/DVD recording of the message for distribution immediately following each service.
Any war stories?
We have just recently started incorporating drum/percussion loops in our services. While waiting on some equipment to come in, we used a CD player as the source. We were six bars into the song and I noticed that the band was not with the loop. The situation didn’t deteriorate too far before I pulled the loop out of the house. At that point, I did some investigating and discovered that the loop aux had been turned off to the band. Ouch! We nailed it in second service.
You can learn more about The Met and its wide range of offerings and ministries by visiting their site at www.themetonline.org
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