Hybrid drumming fuses the traditional acoustic drum set with the latest digital percussion technology, enabling players to perform with the electronic sounds and processed textures that drive modern music styles. Since 2003, Roland sampling pads and acoustic triggers have revolutionized this style, and they’re regularly used everywhere from indie gigs to arena stages.
Instruments like the SPD-SX PRO make powerful partners for hybrid drummers, allowing them to incorporate loops, one-shot sounds, and melodic phrases into their musical universes. Every drummer has a unique story about their approach to blending traditional and electronic elements. After SXSW performances and tour support for Grammy Award-winning group Tank and the Bangas, guitarist Torrence Thomas and drummer Joseph Butler IV explain how hybrid drumming has helped their three-person band sound like a 20-person audio experience. They break down their church roots, gear wish lists, and the demos born on the road.
The Backbeat
How did playing in the church influence your sound?
Not just our sound, but also my approach to professionalism and to the craft. I got specific progressions from playing in church. Also, how I prepare for rehearsal, for a show, how I communicate with my band members, and how I work in the studio with other artists. That church experience has played a big part in building how I am as a professional. We’d rehearse 2-3 times a week. I learned very early on that practice and rehearsal are two different things. You practice at home, but when we rehearse, there ain’t no time to practice. Many of those disciplines and values were instilled early on and continue to help me today.
TORRENCE THOMAS
I came into my first contact with the SPD, as far as playing, in church when I was about 16 years old. I’m 28 now. I started with the SPD-SX. I’ve been using the SPD-SX PRO since the band started. It influenced me to take up hybrid drumming because that’s where I was introduced to it. I saw how much it helped elevate drumming. You don’t know what could happen at a church. A keyboard player may not show up; a musician gets sick; stuff happens. Whenever you have stuff available that helps rather than hinders, we’re always here to help. The SPD encouraged me to seek it out more, get better at it, and incorporate it more in my work.
JOSEPH BUTLER IV
The Mashup
Why were you so interested in hybrid drumming and the SPD-SX PRO?
I saw the capabilities of what they could do. I was a big fan of adding more depth to our live sound. If we couldn’t add a person, we saw how wonderful the SPD could be. We knew we needed to expand our sound. Instead of adding a new person, the SPD was the perfect solution. It really set us on the path to where we are now.
TORRENCE THOMAS
I love hybrid drumming. I want to integrate more stuff. I want to get more into the triggers. I want to get more into foot pedals, switches, and stuff like that because I love the elements they bring to the show. You can’t get everything you have in your music with your live instruments. If you can have stuff that elevates your show and adds what you’re missing in your music to it, then it’s perfect.
JOSEPH BUTLER IV
UP AND RUNNING
What is it like switching between the traditional drums and the SPD?
What songs does the SPD help enhance live?
Every track has a backing track. Whatever the setlist is in that order, I like to have the SPD already laid out in whatever order the show runs. So, when I go from track 1 to track 2, and there’s some banter or talking in between, I’m switching scenes, making sure everything I need to play that is going to be incorporated in the song is there. It really is seamless. I make sure everything is lined up pre-show. We’ve done acoustic gigs when it’s just two acoustic guitars, and I’m solely on the SPD. Those were some of our more fun shows.
When it’s just me and the SPD, that’s when I really get to explore the sounds and effects already integrated in the pad. Since Roland comes with so many sounds loaded into the SPD, I went to an empty scene and loaded up what I would play to complement the music. I have a clap here, a hi-hat here, a cymbal, wind chimes, snare, or whatever it is I’m using. I’ll stay on that scene or switch it around from time to time, depending on what the song calls for. I listened to different stuff that was already in the SPD, and put some of them on an empty scene. When it gets time to do something acoustic, that’s my go-to right there. I think I even saved it as “Go-To.”
JOSEPH BUTLER IV
One of our songs, “Your Energy,” has a sample that plays throughout, with a lot of different elements, from risers to auxiliary sounds like a door slamming. Another song, “Consent (It’s Been A While),” starts with that chimney-like intro. Sometimes we don’t play with a keyboard player. When we don’t, we put that into the track. So, the track is our keyboard player as well, which is important to make that sound full with just three people on stage. “She Wants” has a disco vibe and groove. The SPD is doing everything from the shakers to the claps to the synth stabs that are in the song. It’s doing all of that stuff.
TORRENCE THOMAS
We run all of our backing tracks through the SPD because, in the band, we technically don’t have a keys player—just guitar, bass, and drums. All of our backing tracks are run through there. Our background vocals and stuff like that are plugged in. On the back half of “Slow Motion,” it’s really electronic. The drums become more electronic-sounding than live-sounding. So, if I had those sounds programmed already on the SPD, either lined up with the triggers or just switching over to the pad, in general, which I will have when tour starts, that would add that essential element to the show.
JOSEPH BUTLER IV
Off The Road
How does the SPD-SX factor into the music-making process when you're on the road?
We’ve used the SPD to record the demos. If we’re just messing around on the road, and I’ve got it, we plug it up to the interface and mess around with some sounds, lay down some ideas, at least some foundations of songs where we can turn it into something later. Most of the time, I use the stock sounds already in there. There’s some stuff in there. “Highest Ascension,” “Pivotal Timing,” and “A Shroom Song” off the new album started as demos of us messing around on the road with the SPD. Most of the time, we come up with these at the Airbnb or backstage at a show, either before or after. The SPD is always around. Roland is always around, from MIDI keyboards to beat machines. We love Roland.
JOSEPH BUTLER IV
The Inspiration
Who are some of your drumming inspirations, and how can we hear them in your work?
Tony Royster Jr. When I first got on YouTube to watch drum videos, he was one of the first drummers I saw. He’s been on tour with some of the biggest artists. He was on the road with Jay-Z on The Blueprint 3 Tour. He was killing it. I picked up how to be a solid, professional drummer from him.
I grew up playing in church, so also people like Calvin Rogers and Clemons Poindexter, a couple of my dudes from Chicago. I haven’t met them, but I love those guys because of how much inspiration they’ve given me. They definitely show up in my music. I try not to copy, but their playing and experimenting definitely inspire me.
JOSEPH BUTLER IV
Forward Motion
What's on your wish list, and where would you bring the SPD?
Between the TD-50 and the triggers. The acoustic set is cool for what it does, but if you can add another element to it, man, it gets crazy. I’ve seen some rigs. Jerrod “J-Rod” Sullivan is a Roland user. He was on the road with Janet Jackson. All that electronic pop music Janet was putting out meant they had to have that in the live show. So, when I see him play with some of the gear he’s used (TM-6 PRO, SPD-SX PRO, and TD-50X V-Drums sound module), I can definitely see myself having a setup like that.
If I got a call to do an award show, I’d definitely bring my SPD to be in the house band for the BET Awards and the Oscars. I know how much music is being played at those types of events and shows, and the Roland would be perfect for it. It would be able to get me all the sounds I need, and it would definitely be reliable.
JOSEPH BUTLER IV
