Worship Teams
Choosing Cymbals for Worship
Over many years of experience playing in a wide range of venues, including old wooden community halls, outdoor stages, and small, medium, and large venues, we’ve had the opportunity to engage in valuable conversations with drummers, worship leaders, pastors, and people in the congregation about advice and feedback on drum sound in church.
We’ve synthesized these conversations and opinions into some practical guidelines for creating a great drum sound and choosing cymbals for worship.
Suggestions for creating a great drum sound in church:
Have a conversation with the drummers on the team about technique. Not all drummers have the same level of experience, formal training, and musical tastes. You may have an energized youth drummer whose favorite genre to play is rock or an experienced professional jazz drummer. You will have to tailor the conversation to the individual’s unique needs. Some drummers need encouragement to play with more control and finesse, and some may need a little push to play with more passion and to be more aware of song dynamics. A good guiding principle is to play according to the room and song.
Now, let’s talk cymbals. Cymbals will probably be your church’s drum sets’ most blamed and polarizing component. Researching and learning about the right cymbals can be daunting, but here are some thoughts to start. Choose darker cymbals over bright cymbals. Thinner, brighter cymbals may have too much explosion or projection. Sound guys may call this “cutting through.” You don’t want your cymbals to dominate the sound or be the loudest thing picked up by vocal mics—give the audio technician a chance to create a balanced mix.
Another way a church drummer can play with more control and balance is using lighter drumsticks. They naturally bring the volume down, perfect for worship music’s softer, more reflective environment. Lighter sticks let you play with more finesse, so the drums blend in nicely with the band instead of overpowering everything. They also make it easier to play quietly while still keeping control and precision, helping to set a more intentional and worshipful tone. We recommend looking at 7A, 8A, or 5A (stay away from 2B) sticks.
Snare dampeners are a great way to improve the sound of drums in a church setting. By controlling overtones and reducing that extra ring, they give the snare a tighter, more focused tone that fits well with worship music. This helps the drums blend in with the band without overpowering the vocals or other instruments. Plus, it gives the drummer more control, making it easier to create a warm, balanced sound that suits the atmosphere of a worship service. Play across the cymbals rather than straight down unto them.
We would also suggest putting more overheads in the drums’ IEM mix and mounting the cymbals lower and looser and angled towards the drummer.
Often, achieving the right sound for your church’s drums is a process that can take a couple of weeks of learning and tweaking. Be patient! You will get there.
We know achieving a balanced sound and choosing cymbals can be daunting. But we want to help. If you have questions or wish to discuss your church’s unique circumstances, you can set up a consultation to help you find what is needed for your church or worship setting.
Email: worship@redcymbals.com or call us +61 422 500 071
To help narrow down your cymbal search, Red Cymbals has designed products specifically for worship music and worship drummers.
The Vertical Series:
The Vertical Raw series is drier, thinner and definitely darker than the Vertical Series with a range of hammering styles applied to give the cymbals less wash, a shorter decay more low end buttery tones. While on a drum shed road trip in the USA we chatted again with drum maker and worship drummer, Josh Rainey from the Vertical Drum Co. and came up with these sweet sounding cymbals. Josh and I wanted to create something that was going to enable front of house engineers to put the overheads back into the mix and have control over the cymbals which in a lot of situations take over. These cymbals won’t dominate the mix however they leave you with the option to turn up the overheads or down as the case may be. Check out the demos below or on our YouTube Channel and get in touch if you are keen to try some out.
The Vertical ‘RAW’ Series
The Vertical Raw series is drier, thinner and definitely darker than the Vertical Series with a range of hammering styles applied to give the cymbals less wash, a shorter decay more low end buttery tones. While on a drum shed road trip in the USA we chatted again with drum maker and worship drummer, Josh Rainey from the Vertical Drum Co. and came up with these sweet sounding cymbals. Josh and I wanted to create something that was going to enable front of house engineers to put the overheads back into the mix and have control over the cymbals which in a lot of situations take over. These cymbals won’t dominate the mix however they leave you with the option to turn up the overheads or down as the case may be. Check out the demos below or on our YouTube Channel and get in touch if you are keen to try some out.
More Resources to help you choose cymbals:
If you’re a CCLI License holder, don’t miss this exclusive 20% off discount. Redeem this offer in your CCLI Profile here.
About Dylan Redman
Dylan is the founder of ‘Red Cymbals,’ an Australian company whose cymbals are handcrafted in theirfactory in Istanbul, Turkey, using methods that are part of a time-honoured tradition, spanning many centuries since the 1600’s. Theywork with drummers who admire quality and excellence and cater for a range of styles and sound from Dark, Dry, Trashy to Bright and can customise cymbals to suit your sound.
