Staying Relaxed

When practicing, I focus on staying relaxed, getting a nice sound and groove. I find that when I’m at the gig, there are times when the sound is out of my control. This could be due to playing on a “house” drum set and/or a louder than usual band situation. When that happens, my groove feels different and I can end up less relaxed. I have found that the best thing for me to do at that point is to let go of wanting to hear things exactly one way or another. Even though I tend to start being less in control and less relaxed, I very much need to be even more relaxed to stay in control. It seems to be a bit of a paradox, yet it seems to be what helps me in those situations. I’m not always successful at this, hence, I practice more. At the gig, I try to call on my muscle memory to guide me.