Recent content by gra7

Art Blakey, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Peter Erskine, Dave Garibaldi, Cindy Blackman, and Steve Gadd

I’d just wish both Yamaha and Tama made all their higher quality drums in Japan again. There is just something not right about a Recording Custom or Starclassic made in China regardless of how good they get the build quality.

Yes, this. I edited my post in this thread because you raised a very valid point. While I love the feel of playing a 24" kick, I can't get comfortable behind it without compromising my throne height and rack tom position.

Shallower kick drums define my sound, responsive and punchy. I use a 14x22” for rock and 8x18” for smaller venues and no-mic lower volume stuff. EDIT: While I do enjoy playing larger 24" kick drums, I can't seem to get comfortable behind them without compromising my rack tom and throne height.

I am not in it for the money either as this is my hobby not my primary source of income. When I played a few cafe shows with less than 50 people seated, we were paid with great coffee and a sandwich - and they were some of the best gigs ever because the band was great and we all had a great...

i Just entirely deleted FB (and Twitter) as well. I only had it for messenger and the marketplace but the people you don’t know are either toxic or think FB is the new Ashley Maddison and friends means with benefits. I still have Instagram like the OP because many drum companies market to here now.

I have a similar approach except it’s two ply mesh heads on a Tama kit, with an EAD10 and low volume cymbals - in a room that has sound proofed walls and ceiling - playing from 10pm to 11pm.

I find 2B sticks way too big for kit play but just right for playing on the practise pad. I prefer to use 8A sticks on the kit. I guess that is weird such a big step down in size.

Others have already said it but the Yamaha Akira Jimbo 7x13 is the only one I can think of for me

Some of the "drum hacks" I have used have already been mentioned here - but I will contribute a few more: Before the "Big Fat Snare" was a thing, I used to cut old drumheads around the hoop edge and place them on top of drums to change the sound - also cutting old drum heads to make a muffle...

I feel there are varying degrees of gear reduction - including just having one small kit with 2 cymbals and hi-hats - but I am quite happy with two kits (22/12/14/16 and an 18/10/14) and 2 snare drums (brass and walnut). My real "addiction" is probably cymbals - I have many, but my "excuse" is...

For me it is easily this Tama drum ad:

I just tend to go with art designs I like, regardless of the band. Here is a rough interpretation of what I mean.

For a song I am not familiar with, I first search online for the BPM of the song and then listen to the song at least twice, looking for key sections of the song - important fills, breakdowns, vocal hooks etc - and make notes for that. I will next see if the original band (or maybe other...

My confession is I threw out the George Lawrence Stone "Stick Control" book in the late 1980s. I was at that time very frustrated with different drum teachers interpretations of it and not owning it removed that issue. I still don't own the book, but instead have two Joel Rothman books which I...