Live drums on stage???
What do you guys think of having DJembes and hand drums on stage whilst the DJ drums. I have a dozen or so Djembes in the studio where i work and i am considering implementing them to my shows.
any input would be great 
This used to go on at the clubs around NYC years ago. I forgot the guys name that used to do the drumming. Was awesome. Was a good 7-8 years ago. I donāt go out anymore so I canāt tell you if it still goes down.
Saw a set where the DJs had a live drummer providing accompaniment. Was actually really sick.
Give it a try and see what the reaction is.
i was thinking of bringing 3-6 djembes on stage and having a friend co-ordinate the drum section while i DJ
Depends on the type of music you play and the talent of the drummers but this can be really awesome and inclusive if youāve got people who are decent drummers. I will say, if the people canāt drum it becomes a big Pain in the A$$ hearing off rhythm drums pounding while youāre trying to mix.
2 things we have excess of in this cityā¦ shity DJās and drum circles haha. I have many drummer friends and every other household probably has a djembe of sorts in it
Mixing with a drummer is fun, djembes are easy to mix along with but drumming and mixing at the same time sounds hard!
around 2000 I was djing at times with a djembe player and at times with a person playing a full kit. The drummer on the kit was used to always playing to a click track and my monitors needed to be loud as !@#$ to play.
ODESZA does live drumming.
check out acts like London Elektricity, Bulldogs, Pendulum etc. they all perform with live drums. Iāve always wanted to do something like this as well, but couldnāt find the right DJ to join me on stage.
Needs more Cowbell!
Sorryā¦had toā¦
Otherwise it was a cool jam!
This works great with house music or anything that meshes well with a Latin vibe. As mentioned, clubs in NYC had this very often (Iāll go back 15-20 years on that one). Bongos, congas, etc. I remember being blown away watching a guy (who almost looked homeless) jam away while a half naked girl danced in between him and the drumsā¦and did not miss a beat. That is some talent 
It added a great vibe to some songs that would be tired or played out otherwise. Kind of like the human version of a remix deck.
Donāt think the hippy drum circle would be a good vibe though 
well i play various āpureā forms of trance. so some balaeric stuff, progressive, psy, uplifting etcā¦ The drummers i have in mind all work with me and some have 30 years experience. it will be strictly djembeās though
Itās a great idea. Also, if youāre going to do this I recommend leaving a few moments almost purely to the drummers (while keeping a metronome). Iāve seen Huggie do this in Milwaukee with two guys on snares and 3 more on hand percussion rotating so that each drummer gets a rest during a 4 hour set. Epic.
Percussion and House music go together like vodka and redbull especially when the DJ and Drummer know each other well, we have been a DJ percussion duo since 2007 and find it can be difficult in certain club enviroments when the drummer doesnt have a dedicated foldback or the DJ booth lacks sufficcent space.
Electronic drum pads like the Roland Octapad SPD30 are perfect for club gigs dragging a full kit around can be a bit awkies.
Nice work Ash and Dave u have just inspired me to make a vid
Check this one out its Michael Schack one of the worlds best drummers, im not a fan of the music style but pretty cool all the same
i have 8 drum pads/modules, octapads, spd 10, 20, handsonics, korgs you name it as well as a dozen or so djembes and a td20x 0_0 i never thought about grining the electronics out when DJing haha
We Love Live Drums!
A great live drummer can really set off a set. Iāve seen drummers for all sorts of sets from Hip Hop, to chill, and downtempo, to jam bands, and everything in between. Michal Menert has had A.C. playing drums with him and those are always my favorite sets not to mention the good ol days of PL rocking out with live drums. Glad to see live drums back with the PL Live Band.
drum controllers are pretty cheap also some 16 pad thing is easy to place and gives the drummer options.
lol the drummer i usually teach/play with can barely check his email let alone use a controller that requires software. although i am looking purely at djembes on stage, for that hippie feel
We have mapped our SPD30 to trigger Hot loops and hotcues within traktor and also the first 8 cells in each remix deck. its opens up so many possibilities and looks pretty cool too. Setting a few cue points to an acapella (or creating a remix set from an acapella) and drumming vocal layers over a track is sweeeeeeeet