10 Things that helped me prepare to execute as a drummer in front of 34,000 people at #NAYC

North American Youth Congress was an incredible experience, to say the least. Getting to worship alongside 34k people for 3 days was amazing. But it’s also tons of work. Here are 10 things that really helped me execute as a drummer that week and hopefully will help you succeed in whatever your playing context is!

1. The Moises App

If you’re not familiar, the Moises app is a game changer for your practice time. In short, it allows you to import any song and separate all the instruments apart. So you can solo the drums from any song to help you learn it.

Here’s a video I made that goes into more detail!

2. My metronome - The Boss DB-90

Hand in hand with Moises is my metronome. I know I’ve talked about this guy before, but I’ve had it for years and still use it all the time. It’s so versatile and is really useful when I’m trying to break down sections of a song over and over and I just want to loop it an easily manipulate the tempo as I speed things up. When I’m learning a section of a song or a difficult fill, I ALWAYS learn it super slow and play it over and over and then speed it up.

3. This DW Practice Kit

I bought this practice kit and stuck it in my basement a couple of months before NAYC and I’m loving it! I know a practice kit isn’t a new concept by any means, but in the past, I’ve always lived super close to my church or the place my kit is set up. Now that I’m a little farther away, I really wanted something I could play easily and late at night. It turned it to be a great investment, and is made really well!

4. My Bose Noise-canceling Headphones

I know this list may seem to be getting more and more obvious, but hear me out (get it?). I use these for practice when I’m on my practice kit, and even sometimes on my actual kit, but that’s not why they made the list. These came in handy when I was on-site and in long days of rehearsals if there was a time when the singers were going over something or we were on a break and I needed to review material. I had my in-ear headphones in most of the day, but I could have these handy and connected to my phone if I needed to quickly reference something we were about to play or if I wanted to see if I played something right. I’d recommend getting some good over-ear headphones in addition to your in-ears!

5. The Apple Notes App 😂

For real though. I create “drum charts” for almost every song as I’m learning them and then wean myself off of them as I get closer to an event. I put drum charts in quotations because they’re not really charts, more like cheat sheets. I write patterns and things to remember for each song like this:

I think it’s pretty self-explanatory, and I’ve also talked about it on YouTube some, but would anyone be interested in me doing a breakdown of how I create drum charts on my notes app?

In addition to charts, I also copy important emails or documents into that note to keep things all together. In a big event like this, there are emails, dropbox links, texts, all kinds of stuff flying, it’s easy to miss.

6. Ableton Live

In case you’ve never heard of it, Ableton Live is the industry standard software that people use to run live worship tracks. Now, there are different and new playback engines, like Prime, but Ableton Live is the OG of this arena.

7. My Marino Customs Vlog cable

You may not believe this, but this cable was actually my idea, lol. I talked with the owner of Marino Customs at a conference I was playing at and talked to him about my needs, and he developed this cable. Basically, it allows you to simultaneously plug in your headphones and have a way to track your audio!

8. Hydration Multiplier (Strawberry)

I know, I know. This list is getting more and more random by the second, but this honestly is a part of my routine on an event like this. Hydration, sleep, and eating right are hard to do when you’re on the go so much with close to 18-20 hour days, so throwing one of these with some water into a shaker bottle is an easy way to stay hydrated. This + a banana will keep you from cramping, drummers! Pro tip!

9. Ludwig Universal Walnut Snare

Man, this snare smacked the entire week! Having the right gear definitely helps you execute at a high level! Hated to see this one go, but did a giveaway and it went out to Nathaniel Crites! Be on the lookout for more giveaways!

10. My Mapex kit!

I know what you’re thinking, the kit pictured here is not my kit. You’re right lol, but unfortunately Mapex doesn’t make my kit in the color I have anymore! I know, crazy. This is the newer generation of the kit I have. I love my kit, specifically for the way I like to play, a little higher up with flatter toms, the shorter depths of the toms really help me position my kit the way I want it to be!

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I know this list has contained a wide variety of things, from obvious, to random, to hopefully helpful. No matter where you are in your journey of playing drums, I hope you keep pushing yourself to do better, be more prepared, and give it your all! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me by commenting below, or emailing me!