I have written in the past about being able to play the drums at different dynamic levels, and I feel that that’s an important part of learning the drums. I try very hard to know my limit as to how hard to hit. I don’t hit hard to begin with, and I get uncomfortable if I feel I have to “pound” the drums. I do not like competing with another musician on the same stage, especially when it comes to volume. If someone is playing loudly and the leader has tried addressing this issue, there’s not much I can do. I can also make the request that this person turn down a bit, and that may or may not help the situation. In fact, some people get bugged if you ask them to turn down.
The one thing I will not do is to simply start playing louder. I always try to blend with the entire band. It has been my experience that if one person is too loud (and then if I get louder), then the whole band tends to get louder. When the band gets louder, then that one person will (most likely) get even louder. And on and on… What I do in this situation is to simply know that I’m at an appropriate volume and I stay there. The band will tend to stay at their current level and let that one person be too loud. It doesn’t sound great and it is not professional on that one musician’s part, but it does happen. I’d rather have that one player stand out, then to have the band be too loud for the room. Luckily, this happens less frequently when I play with professionals. Looking back, I wish I had taken this approach back in the garage years ago.
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