Drum "tone"

[druz15]

nothing like the sound of a Ludwing Vistalite being beaten up but someone who knows what they're doing

[Danger Mouse]

If you've ever played live with someone with a really nice kit (and they can play well), it certainly does make a difference. I had a drummer in a band with a hideously expensive Drum Workshop kit he'd build up over the years, it just sounded so good and sat so well in the live mix, it was like an extra dimension to our sound. He was replaced by a guy with a bog standard Tama kit that was past it's best and we definitely lost something in the process.

But screw being a drummer, especially in metal when you have two kick drums and multiple other bits and pieces to lug around and put together. I always refused to help move the drummers kit, the guy with the DW didn't use cases for the stands and I was always scared they would move while I was carrying them and eat my fingers (ok, so the concern may have been exaggerated so I didn't have to lug his bloody kit around for him, but still... I owned and drove the van, I should have some benefits as a result).

[rickenbackerkid]

One drummer I work with drives a HiAce, and he has a full touring drum coffin. this kind of thing:



It's great because you roll it out of the van, into the venue, set up, and after the gig do it reverse. No lifting and no hassle. Totally a great idea, but you would need a van to transport the thing.

[Slowy]

in the studio, drum "tone" is even more critical and obsessive than guitars. many top session players and studios dont even tune their own drums, they have a professional drum tuner/drumhead replacer on call 24 hours. the guys that get the drum tone are so specialised they dont even need to play the instrument!

Guitarists need one of those!
"That's your tone. Now shut up and play."

[dylan]

at the other extreme, i love it when a drummer turns up in a white van, and in the back is his kit allready completely set up. you just pick each piece up and carry it in, put it on the floor, and bingo, drummer ready to play:)

needs to be a dunger kit tho...

with the drum tuning specialists, i guess its just like tuning an acoustic piano. you dont do it yourself, you get an expert.

[Kev77]

nothing like the sound of a Ludwing Vistalite being beaten up but someone who knows what they're doing

this , for a bass player is the right kind of bad

[The Scarecrow]

Just stay away from Lars' "St Anger" snare sound

[Danger Mouse]

Just stay away from Lars' "St Anger" snare sound

St Anger was at it's worst, but Lars has always pushed his drums far too far up in the mix. Would be ok if he wasn't such a shithouse drummer.

[druz15]

If you've ever played live with someone with a really nice kit (and they can play well), it certainly does make a difference. I had a drummer in a band with a hideously expensive Drum Workshop kit he'd build up over the years, it just sounded so good and sat so well in the live mix, it was like an extra dimension to our sound. He was replaced by a guy with a bog standard Tama kit that was past it's best and we definitely lost something in the process.

But screw being a drummer, especially in metal when you have two kick drums and multiple other bits and pieces to lug around and put together. I always refused to help move the drummers kit, the guy with the DW didn't use cases for the stands and I was always scared they would move while I was carrying them and eat my fingers (ok, so the concern may have been exaggerated so I didn't have to lug his bloody kit around for him, but still... I owned and drove the van, I should have some benefits as a result).

I'm far from a competent drummer but we have one song that I drum on.

One gig we played I got to use one of the other bands' DW kit. Fuck it sounded powerful, one of those drum kits that sounds like a big studio rock kit, naturally in the room without studio /soundman trickery to make it sound that way

[Slowy]

DW gear does sound amazing; so it should for the prIce!

Happy memories of the night we made our drummer pack his Tama Warlock kit into his Aston Martin. I never believed it would fit! Lucky he's a little fella, there sure wasn't much room behind the wheel.

[Eruera]

This has got me GASing for a drum set haha

[Timoes]

Im gasing for an Aston Martin.

[sopachrga]

My heart says Aston Martin and a DW drum kit.
But my wallet says Ashton drum kit and an HP.

[Slowy]

You have to be in a very special place before the fiscal idiocy of an Aston Martin makes any sense.
As well as needing another car to actually drive, it must be replaced every 18 months so the depreciation doesn't completely rape you. And then you still have to befriend a guitarist with a Hilux.

[cholera]

I havn't got to play on too many DW kits but did help set up Tom Larkins, and a maybe a couple others while working local crew at shows at TSB arena. One thing I had never known, after playing drums for years was that the DW kits are stamped inside with the note they are meant to be. I guess each shell is designed for an optimal tuning. Tuning drums is an absolute nightmare, and that's once you have decided how you want the bottom head to relate to the other, there's a few choices. I had your stock standard Pearl export kit years ago, and took it into a recording session where guys doing a course had to record a band at the end. It just so happened that Hiddee, the ex HLAH drummer was doing the course. He spent about 15 mins tuning my drums up and to my 17 year old ears the kit was transformed, I couldn't believe how good it sounded.