DRUMx Talks

http://www.musicradar.com/news/drums/drum-kits-of-the-pros-stars-live-and-studio-drum-setups-in-pictures-428337

Well the title says a lot about I want to talk about this but its been big one for me recently and that is my sound. My sound is always changing and I've gone through a lot of gear in fact like 7 snares 5 kits and a couple cymbal set ups in the last year. There is no do all set up, well in my opinion there isn't. I have no run into one snare that cuts the way id like it too for every situation. Theres just to many things to consider and even from one song to the next or parts of a song one snare sound doesn't sound exactly how your gonna want it too. And this has been a realization of mine over time most people don't care, natural sound doesn't seem to have as much importance when it comes down to it anymore. Studio magic will make any snare work but lets face it if you love your craft why leave it up to that I want to use three different snares a song. If I could go into a recording situation and had pick every sound down to the kind of beater I use on my kick to get that right texture I would. And before I get to far into the rabbit hole on why your sound is important let me tell you why I think this is a big deal. Just changing my kick drum drastically changed how the bass guitar sounded within our practice environment. If you don't think thats huge well maybe this post isn't for you. Your sound affects everyone. That goes for a guitar tuning change a pedal change a key change within a song. Why are we the only instrument in a live application to have to settle with a universal type sound? Well what is comes down to most of the time is ease of transport. And an ever changing space. Realizing this suddenly Terry Bozzio's grand master kit didn't seem so crazy. I guess the point of this whole thing is that if this reaches one person and they start thinking about how there sound will change how they and the whole group will sound then I'm happy. You can't just go buy a supraphonic and a vistalite and expect your band to suddenly sound like a Zeppelin record. You might have a sound similar to the Bonzo but that doesn't mean it'll work for what you are doing. I think there is a reason Jazz and Rock music have there staple separate sounds, because they work. So if I have anyway to summarize what you should look for in your sound is can you hear you without physically being louder than everyone else. If you can't hear your kick or can't hear the bass consider different tunings and muffling systems and that really goes for each part of your sound nit pick on how your sound might conflict with other instruments and think about what you can do to fit the mix of everyone not just making your snare sound just like your idols because you like that sound.