How I Became a Drum Tech | Q and A

[@matthorndrums]

Thank you all for watching the videos. Glad to have finally created something that resonates with all of you! Here's to 10k more! Yes, it's a sock. EDIT: Monetization has been turned on since this video was published.

[@Lifelover00123]

Got customers coming into my drum shop saying things like "so I''ve been watching this guy on youtube thats tech-ing..." me: "Matt horn?" them : "Yeah!" Word is getting out :)

[@2010Dementor]

i love thhis content man!!

[@drumaddict89]

thank you for creating them 🤘

[@ryangryszczuk7537]

Hey Matt. Love the videos. I'm 35 play the drums. How often do you change your bottom heads ..and any tips for beginners on how to tune your kick drums ( I coulda saved my mom n dad pillows n blankets till 10 years ago thru trial n error and upgrading as you do in drums cymbals n hardware.❤ The videos keep it up! I wish i had KZbin when I started. Cheers

[@Johnnybananass-_]

I was teaching warped tour 05... that's a travelling circus for sure,.

[@DjWooPig]

With getting into the industry, you hit the mail on the head. Work at your local venue or production house. You’ll start off pushing cases and wrapping cables. The days are long, and the pay is shit, but with every show that passes you will start to move up the ranks. It might surprise you how quickly it can happen because most people aren’t dedicated or responsible enough to stick around for long. Net work with everyone you can, and that doesn’t mean showing every tech your sweet guitar or drum fills. That means having genuine conversation about something other than work. Most people that are on tour work enough. The last thing they want to hear is you ramble on about how great you are at playing drums in your dad‘s basement.

[@matthorndrums]

Mic drop!

[@rps_silver1435]

I just wrote the drummer a DM if they could need one. Did in the beginning for free and for fun. Now i get good money with it. Just try it

[@Curtis.720]

Mate you’re a certified legend.

[@edvanesch178]

Matt, I am a drummer my name is Eddy, and what you do, and share with us is so cool. There's not a lot of this kind of footage around. So please can you make lots more of these videos? Musicians can learn a lot, and people love this. Take care, and bless.

[@matthorndrums]

Thank you for the kind words, Eddy! I plan on making these for a long time! Thanks for watching!

[@christopherhunt3961]

I’m a guitar player but I love watching your videos. They’re awesome

[@klasu1031]

Ofc u hit 10k subscribers. Even I'm watching these entertaining and interesting videos. And I'm from Oulu, Finland.

[@Lifelover00123]

Chiming in on your proposal to other techs. I got into the industry by "being an accident" as well. I got asked to fill in for my drum teacher 18 years ago when he went on tour and then got pulled out into the tech-ing side (amongst other things) after because I was "professional and chill". It really does come down to being open to listening and learning as much as you can while taking opportunities when you see them and running with it. I'd also like to give you a huge hug for saying that you do not have a method for tuning. I get asked this like 10 times a day and after so many years its just second nature. Sometimes the drum kind of goes where it wants to naturally go and other times its easier to tune based on feel. Some people really want the drum to feel a certain way, other people want it to sound a certain way, certain drums when recommending heads tend to not play nice with remo and others dont play nice with evans heads etc. Its such a loooong process to break down and explain to people looking to get into it and every line of drum is different! Anyway, a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE congrats on getting 10k. Much love from Texas

[@ronaldvolnoff4997]

Thanks for doing this, and thanks for carrying us around like a baby in a baby bjorn so we can enjoy all the drum tech action! Looking forward to whatever is next!

[@matthorndrums]

Love my lil babies!

[@carsonford4345]

Man, listening to you talk I literally hear me trying to talk myself through all the things stressing me out lol. Thank you, this was helpful for me. From a broke 25y/o drummer on his way up the ladder 🤙

[@AustinFryMedia]

16:20 is no joke. Seeing you use dampening made me realize that it’s okay (actually preferred for me) and I’m here for it. Great video, as always. Been following you and luke since TWA days. It’s refreshing to hear opinions and strategies from someone like yourself who lives and breathes drums almost every day. Keep it up man.

[@gatolibero8329]

Our music teacher taught us to dampen drums. I never knew it was some kind of taboo thing. I'd use heavy objects with tape or cloth to get the desired sound. Who knew...

[@ThePumpshack]

Being a drummer myself , your videos have been hella helpful for tuning and maintenance! Can’t wait till the next vid 🔥👌🏼

[@downswingdegen]

I’ve done merch, stage managed and been a drum tech from 20 to 31 I’m 38 now. It was a dream to make it to your level. It was always for fun and be with friends. But it must be amazing to do it as a professional. Your videos makes me want to get back into it. Thank you for keeping my inner child happy.

[@seanbdrums]

Haha, thanks for answering the question! That's a pretty bad one 😅 Luckily everyone solved it like absolute pro's

[@damionchrist]

I loved touring, especially in a bus! Best days of my life. Got to see the world playing drums, amazing! Never had a legit drum tech, but had good friends that would always help. Had 3 dw kits, which are the bomb! No regrets.

[@coreygalletly723]

Thanks again, appreciate it, maybe I’m on the right path as a stagehand (for now)!!!

[@ericp9596]

Good stuff Matt, appreciate what you do. Keep it up.

[@samharrell1131]

Loved getting to know the guy behind the camera. Keep up the good work bro! Loved that you pulled the curtain on life of a touring musician/ tech/ person. It’s definitely not for everyone and has a way of rooting out the bad ones. Love what you do bro! Btw going to check out some early Word Alive stuff. 28:04

[@BeardDuder]

This was a nice change up, thanks Matt!!

[@blakehunt5382]

Freaking awesome man! I appreciate the transparency bro!!! Can we all appreciate this man was doing this at warped tour for $300 a week 😳😳🤯🤯

[@jcmoore5819]

I’m a guitar player but love watching these videos. It’s cool to see the backstage work that goes in to seeing the band perform. Tuning drums can be a tedious process sometimes. Seems you’ve got to work extremely quickly and efficiently. Busy work but probably super fun!

[@simontopping7169]

Honestly, i think alot of drummers really appreciate how openly and often you talk about tuning. Its one thing I’ve played with all my life and though others will say mine sound great, i always second guess and look to learn from pros like yourself. Never known one to talk about it until finding you. I have learned alot from watching you videos, as relaxing as they are!! Keep it up man!

[@matthorndrums]

Love to hear it man. I sometimes feel like my approach to tuning sounds lazy, but it's just how ive always done it. Turn knobs until it sounds good, idk. I think people make it more intense and serious than it needs to be.

[@EthanTeaDrumming]

Knowledge is so valuable in this world. You are opening the door of drum teching to so many people. Thank you!

[@WhisperingTranquility.]

i have never really been interrested in drums, but i watched all your drum tech POV in one day xD

[@petarawlinson8776]

MATTY! Happy seeing you doing what you love and being able to make a decent living doing it 😁 However, I miss you, Luke and Tony. TWA just isn’t the same without you 😭😭

[@andylemm]

This is sick, thanks Matt. You're the man.

[@AdamBriffa]

The sock pop shield got me going tbh, Matt! Great stuff!

[@mickgentry8128]

Keep doing what you are doing Matt all of us drum nerds are loving it cheers.

[@ghosttownreview1531]

Yes, a tuning tutorial from you would be great! I'm constantly tuning my students' drums and I know I could be quicker / better at it.

[@Faceless3791plays]

Awesome to see you doing your thing! Hopefully I get to run into you at a show sometime! Thanks for all the videos!

[@banobi4979]

nice! been waiting for this one

[@ZachMeadowsMusic]

This is great! You’re the real deal- confident, professional and humble. Keep filming, I’ll keep watching 😊

[@jamespalmore4103]

Man it's so cool to see you doing such big things! I've followed you for awhile now with your time in The Word Alive and now seeing you doing this. It's just awesome man! You're such a killer drummer too! Wishing you nothing but more success in the future! 🙌🤘🔥

[@Jhan1996]

Love your vids man. I’ve been drumming since I was 3 and I love watching you setup and go to war with those toms lol keep it coming bro!

[@heartcasket6334]

I enjoy this type of video for sure! mixes it up enough to retain me on the channel! Can you make a video about picking your personal cymbal setup like sonically what do you look for in diff situations

[@Evan_Bryant_Drums]

I love these videos. I've just seen you this past week in St. augustine at the amp ! Drums sounded great!

[@Eeper]

Super cool to see this. Me and my band are just starting to get into this crazy world of touring and playing with bigger acts. It’s just cool to see this POV. So thanks.

[@rockabillyron]

Awesome! Enjoy and work hard

[@ryandoyle221]

Very informative man. Looking forward to more. Loved the sign off at the end. “Go learn somethin bout the drums, bye” 😂

[@smokin2again]

Seen a couple of your videos and just subscribed.Wife and I have seen well over a 100 bands over the last 25 years so music is our thing and enjoying your content

[@NotASaint1985]

Regarding the rack tom, I would recommend changing the head and getting a thicker head as well. The tension in a thicker head tends to hold the tone, response, bounce and tuning much longer than cheap thin heads, or thin heads in general Especially tuned the way he does with his drums. ALSO, the angle that the tom is at is going to capture all that wind, cool air, hot air, lights, etc. Always going to go out of tune.

[@La_sagne]

anything other than an sm57 would have been weird for a drum tech to use for this 😅

[@matthorndrums]

Hahaha! For real dude!

[@mikeo5657]

You're taking me back 20 years to the days when I was teching.. You're absolutely correct, be a good person, be helpful, be that guy who will jump in and help but not annoyingly aggressive. Takes time, do the grind, and with time, it might happen.

[@kingatreyu]

Hey Matt, great video! if you're asking for content ideas: Since you proably know also a lot of different setup of various bands, I would like to see/learn how they setup their click&backing tracks. Maybe you could give us a tutorial how to setup Ableton (as I am starting to get into that at the moment. For example I'd like backingtracks/samples for everyone and clicktrack just for me as the drummer). Cheers big fella

[@mittiecollins1510]

Awesome video, Matt! I always 'wanted to be in a rock n role band'! I have always loved any kind of drums, and I am learning so much and getting to see a bit of what it would have been like!

[@mittiecollins1510]

Silly auto correct! Meant roll!

[@ruimsilva95]

Matt, you're amazing. As a drummer your content just hit me right in the feels. Don't know how to explain! I just hope some day I'll reach your level. Keep up, we are all with you!

[@andreasschierbaum]

Tanks for your videos. They are so chilled, so honest, so entertaining. Just like a school lesson bit in a cool way. Greetings from Germany. Stay safe

[@miketurnbull7410]

Brilliant and yes, I'd like to see more of this type of content - we get to see a bit more of who you are and that's great. Thank you.

[@tyburham5430]

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions. Very much enjoy your videos.

[@juanluiselzurdo]

Congrats on your 10k’s 🎉, love your channel

[@Dazlerdee49]

Matt these videos are what drummers find so interesting I would love to go into tech cause I love gear and presentation and tuning love your inside keep doing the videos

[@LukeyLukeFairchild-ey4ct]

You sir are an amazing tech and Drummer!!

[@aaronpulido7049]

Awesome bro! Love your videos man! Keep up the great work looking forward for the next show 👍

[@thousandwattflowerpot5419]

Great Video Matt, learned a lot.

[@GP-Music.]

Yep, it's not what you know. It's who you know. That opens doors! Have to go out and network and be a hardworking team player. Congrats on everything Matt! Enjoy the holiday season. I hear its kicking off again Jan 12th-13th. Hope to see ya with Luke in January, so I can holler at you and Chris obnoxiously from the floor lol. Much love brotha!

[@Corrupted_Mind1]

This is so fascinating. Kudos to everyone working in this industry.

[@zaneking8239]

Awesome man! Great video! Keep doing what you’re doing! We appreciate you!

[@tsound_]

As a drum tech for a backline company I can agree fully and hopefully outline for others, that tuning drums is a complete science fair. There will never be a single solution. Just test different methods and see what sounds good for each drum! Then do it all over with another method and see if that works better or not. I use drills to quickly get my tension rods to almost finger-tight. Saves a little time, but most of what I’m doing all day is tuning/changing heads. Also thanks for all these awesome videos Matt, I aspire to be at your level some day!

[@kyleliftsdrums4669]

Love your vids dude, they chill me out - straight up drummer ASMR for the most part. Great for winding down after my own shows - keep it up!

[@wallacehardiniii9038]

Love this Q&A!

[@bearmehenceofficial24]

Awesome stuff bro! Congratulations on 10k I Love the videos! I’m excited to continue watching, following and supporting you man!🤘😎

[@somersfamily]

Legend ❤ we love you

[@deesnuggets730]

Been watching your videos for a few months, never put it together what bands you worked with until i seen avenged and falling in reverse and recognized the drum set. Blew my mind.

[@darlarae516]

I have missed tangents . Love seeing you share.

[@wiktorselke4706]

imo it would be cool if you would make a video about what is your pelican case, tools that you use or some cool things that help being drum tech. amazing video as always 🤘

[@RileysDadRocks1]

Dude I just found this channel somehow while on youtube. I love this kind of shit and I wish there were more behind the scenes stuff out there about backstage stuff and everything that makes a show happen. I'm a drummer and really enjoy watching what you do. Your POV videos are very cool and fun to watch. Thanks. Keep em coming Bro✊️

[@str1897]

Your videos are gems ! I follow you since Life Cycle and I love to see you grow ! Hope we get more Q&A !

[@alexmas3824]

Thank you man for the moments of positivity in dark everyday life. hello from Ukraine

[@souldrummer818]

Mate your onto something here, interesting what you say about the tuning and to just be a good bloke yes so true, I’ve been round all the big players and bands here in Australia 🇦🇺 the guys that made it are cool some of the ones coming up through the ranks are cocky.

[@zsomborhegyesi7925]

A very enjoyable video. I feel like you have a great sense of how to make the things you do entertaining and fun. Keep doing what you enjoy, and it will resonate with the right people

[@tylerdrums_eth]

Crushing it! Stoked to have met yah at the Little Rock show on the last tour!

[@ccoreybarkleyy]

these have become my comfort videos

[@OTOSoundsandVisuals]

Hey Matt, love the video. It really shed some light on aspects I was interested in. I know alot of questions were some of the major ones, and also for some more beginning drummers. I was wondering if you would be open to a video down the road that breaks down some finer details in ways for more experienced drummers such as myself. Ive been playing for 18 years now, scored some endorsments, played in tech death, beatdown, thrash bands, played with the Word Alive in my old band in CO Springs. although I can't remember if it was Luke drumming haha anywho, IM trying to breakout more, so just seeing if theres any deeper advice for more experienced drummers. im just kind of spitballing, and this randomly occurred to me as this video ended. much love from CO, keep it coming.

[@timcmusic1545]

Nice explaining man. very nice video and love your drum tech videos. I would be very happy drummer to have a tech like you. Very proeffesional and good mate. Good job

[@cameronbvideos]

Love your usual videos, but this one is wicked man! Thanks for doing this! p.s. being able to edit one of you usual drum tech videos AND be able to edit a Q&A nicely is a talent dude!

[@EtO124]

You are so cool! Keep it coming mega awesome content! Great idea with the beginning of the video

[@andrewg4863]

Definitely like a skilled trade. You learn hands on. You fail, stress, you rage, overtime it gets simple and overtime you develop the skills, shortcuts, knowledge, logistics. And it’s repetitive like other trades.

[@Asphaltsquadron]

Late to the party on this one, Matt. The DW Rack Tom comments. LMAO! I have a 1-off custom 7 ply birch kit (looks very similar to SPAUN) and I have the same issue with my 12" rack Tom. The 14" floor tom, and 14" 10 lug snare (also birch) are almost always perfect, but that stupid 12" tom....ughhhh. Such relatable comments. Glad its not just my kit. Keep up the great vids man. Going to try those snare weights next too.

[@MrMTG21]

Proud of you man! I remember getting off work and going to the bar behind the pizza place we worked at when you got your first shot. Hope you’re doing well and lets grab a beer sometime soon when you’re in Arizona!

[@matthorndrums]

Copper Basin?

[@matekiske]

bro i love this guy as a drummer !!!! KEEEEEEP ROCKIN BUDDY !

[@BiymChisu]

I love your drumming on life cycles and love your content!

[@EP1C_HD]

My brother is starting a band I’m the only person (besides himself) to tune and adjust his guitars because he taught me fingers crossed my boy goes on tour 😂 find ur music friend and NEVER LET EM GO!

[@TheCrashley1772]

As far as the dampening thing... I put rings on my drums to control the sound on stage. If there needs to be more sustain or reverb, that can be added front of house.

[@matthorndrums]

It's just weird to me that some people think dampening is a bad thing. Not every band calls for John Bonham tones lol

[@Bigdogfindley]

LOVE your videos bro! You seem like a super chill dude. I just finished watching the Portland video. I really wanted to go to that show, but couldn't make it. Back when I was playing, I absolutely HATED tuning my drums, so I would have my buddy (who was an AMAZING drummer) come over and tune them for me. I would do my own snare, but I could never get that ring out of my toms. Doing what you do would stress me out I think. I did FOH and some lighting for a few gigs for friends bands and that never bothered me though. I love doing FOH, but just don't get to do it any more unfortunately.

[@PeterBillyDrums]

keep dong it matt! i loved all the content you make. cheers from indonesia! God bless you, matt!

[@Notfunny6931]

Great job Matt, love the POV stuff.

[@kevinhyman6156]

love what you do. love the videos. keep being awesome at what you do! rock on

[@stevolene]

Good job editing this video, still have no idea who you work for but it’s enjoyable to watch

[@toddelroddrums]

My 12” DW rack tom has drove me crazy for 15 years! The only thing I’ve discovered that seems to make it easy to tune is a little tape on the bottom head

[@kevinstrange8037]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. 👍

[@blakeaf3]

3 minutes in.. Man this is awesome!

[@adamminix4598]

Ok this is cool as fuck, I’m glad I found your videos. It’s awesome getting a back stage look at what goes on. As far as that headphone hiccup, shit happens man! I’m sure nobody in the crowd even noticed. I was at So What Festival in 2022 and the headset didn’t work, or quit working (I can’t remember), for Clay Aeschlemon during Polyphia’s set. So his drum tech started off by tapping on his leg with his hand as the metronome, then eventually grabbed a drum stick and used that to tap him with. I had no clue until a few weeks later when I saw an article on it, went back and looked at some of the pics I took and could see him plain as day lol.

[@matthorndrums]

Haha this happened to Luke and I back in the day when he was playing with TWA on warped. I didn't have a headset though, and he was hardwired. I had to loo at the blinking light on his mixer match the click so I could tap on his back. Glad you like the videos man!

[@Pilot_the_Dune]

It is crazy and not glamorous to think about but, getting into the business is who you know. I didn't want to believe it until luck fell upon me. I do teleproduction. Broadcast mixing, FOH, monitors. Literally came from building cabinets to audio engineering by a high school friend. I am a drummer of 30+ years so that helped. Matt us right. Networking is the key. Go hang. Be a good hang and professional. Cheers.

[@brianhorn7938]

Your name is Matt Horn. My name is Brian Horn. You're a drum tech. I'm a drum tech (a different sort of drum tech lol) I work with marching percussion, the snare drums specifically. When you're part of a perc staff for a drum corps and you work directly with a section, your title on staff is a "tech" so I would be considered a "snare tech." Our group is the Hawthorne Caballeros if you're ever curious to check it out (we're currently the 2x drum champs of our circuit!) Love to find a fellow Horn Drummer out in the wild! This is a first! Haha Also this video is awesome, there's a ton of great info here! Have a good one homie 👍🤘

[@user-cb9ei7er4i]

Keep on growing dude! Love your content

[@michaelgiambruno5278]

Dude didn’t even realize it but I’m pretty sure I saw you with the word alive back a few years ago opening for Starset. Honestly blew me away how good y’all were

[@emilrova]

Great clip as always!

[@Leo-xl4uq]

This was awesome, thank you for sharing your wisdom.

[@diarrheanator1379]

Being a drummer is my dream man, maybe even a tech some day.

[@fecklessman]

this was a fun watch.

[@jesse-gz1ri]

It's about being in the right place at the right time,as I'm shy and antisocial I'll never make a decent living even after over four decades of playing drums professionally. It's more luck than talent or knowledge.

[@NicolasxMenendez]

So much knowledge man, thanks a lot