Funky Gumbo

Drums

The following is for serious gear heads! Also, please note these are strictly my personal views and preferences. As with most things (especially the Arts), there are many different approaches to the same end.

I’m a vintage drum guy. I dig the history of the instrument and I feel there’s something about the loss of moisture over time and the aging process itself that makes old wood resonate differently. As for drum kits, I think the older ones sound great. In fact, some of the large drum companies are trying to capture that retro sound. In my opinion, this is a good thing. You get the sound you’re after without having to deal with some of the hardware and shell challenges of the older instruments.

Sound

Basically, I’m into the Buddy Rich / John Bonham sound: Wide open and ringing like a mother! And by “ringing” I don’t mean the offensive “boinnngggg” of poorly tensioned drums. But rather, great sounding drums where the tone shines through. Consequently, muffling drumheads is something I generally try to avoid. Like guitar strings, drumheads are meant to vibrate. So putting too much tape (or whatever) on the head is, in my opinion, akin to muffling guitar strings. I also dislike putting blankets, foam pads, kitchen sinks, etc. in my bass drums. I look at it this way: If you place a normal size blanket or pillow in a 22” bass drum, you’ve effectively reduced the drum’s resonating chamber to something like that of a 16” or 18” drum. The bass drum is usually the largest drum of the kit. So I like it to sound that way! Thankfully, drum head manufacturers have addressed this by making heads with muffling devices built right into them. So now those that desire can get a controlled sound without sacrificing the resonating chamber of the drum.

With all that being said, I may muffle heads slightly for certain situations, such as in the studio, playing through a large PA and/or working without noise gates. If I absolutely have to muffle, I’ll take a piece of gaffer’s tape and loop it sticky side out and place it on the head. If you tap the drum while lightly moving the tip of your finger around the circumference of the drum, you’ll usually notice a sweet spot where the head is muffled yet has a little more resonance than elsewhere on the head. Place the piece of tape on that spot. This works great for snares and toms. I’d rather start with a drum that is a little too “live” sounding and tone it down a little, rather than stressing out trying to get a dead drum to sound “live”. Tape works great for this because when I’m done, I pull the tape off and I’m back to the sound that I like. By the way, these muffling tips are not my own and have been mentioned numerous times in various books and magazines. But they do work!

Drum Kits

The first kit the guys in the band heard me play was my mismatched Slingerland/Ludwig set. It’s got a ‘30s 28 x 12 Slingerland bass drum, a 60’s 12 x 8 Slingerland rack tom, and a 14 x14 ’63 Ludwig Club Date floor tom. Overall, it’s a big, warm sounding kit. The bass drum is something else. The only muffling I use on the entire kit is a two-inch wide felt strip on the front bass drum head and some of that marching band bass drum foam stuck to the inside of the batter head, very close to the edge. I’ve had my head near the bass drum when someone else has been playing the kit during sound check. Let me tell you, there’s sub-harmonic lows bouncing around down there that will make you sick to your stomach! Seriously though, the guys say they can literally feel that drum each time the beater strikes the head. It’s one of my favorite kits and I’ve had drummers and non-drummers alike come up during shows, wanting to know more about it.

Evans G2 coated heads are on the batter side of the toms with Remo coated Ambassadors on the bottoms. The bass drum has a Remo coated Emperor with a coated Ambassador on the front.

Then there’s the Ludwig Standard kit in a Blue Strata wrapped finish. It’s a beautiful looking kit and is my wife’s favorite. Sizes are 20 x 14, 12 x 8, 14 x 14. It has a matching 14 x 5 snare that sounds great. I use this kit all the time for jazz-oriented gigs or when stage space is limited. The kit has a slightly crisper tone than the bigger Slingerland. That’s probably due to sharper bearing edges and the infamous gray speckled interior (paint) of the drums. Years ago, certain drum companies painted the inside of their drums. Some say the interior paint was to “even out” the sound. I personally feel it was to cover up inadequate finishing of the shells. Maybe it was both! Regardless, this kit not only looks cool, but sounds cool too.

It’s outfitted with single-ply coated heads except for the bass drum which has an Evans premuffled clear head. The rest of the kit has no muffling and is wide open.The toms have Remo coated Ambassadors on the tops and bottoms, while the bass drum has a clear Evans EQ2 on the batter and a heavy Ludwig smooth white head with script logo on the front.

My studio/rock/country kit is a Rogers “Big R” set in New England white wrap. This one is a killer. Without fail I’ve had nothing but positive comments on how this kit sounds – especially the bass drum. This is somewhat surprising being the kit doesn’t have any of the features that many folks feel are necessary to achieve a good sound these days. For instance, the bass drum is standard depth (not the modern 16” or 18” depth), there’s no suspension system for the toms and the mounts themselves are massive pipes that poke into the drum. The lugs are mounted traditionally (not on fancy shell nodal points), and they don’t even have insulating gaskets. I purchased this set because I heard one of these kits on a friend’s recording and was amazed at how good they sounded.

I use Evans G2 clear heads (2-Ply) on the batter side of the toms and Evans G1 clears on the bottoms. The bass drum has an Aquarian Super Kick on the batter side, which really makes the drum sound good. When I'm not miking the bass drum, I'll have a black single ply Evans head on the front with no hole. Otherwise there's a black Evans pre-muffled head with the factory mic cutout. The drum sizes are 22 x 14, 12 x 8, 13 x 9, 14 x 13, 16 x 16.

Snares

I’ve got various wood and metal snares that I use depending on the gig and sometimes my mood. Here they are:

13 x 4 Pearl Piccolo, maple shell in Liquid Amber lacquer finish
13 x 5 Reworked Kent, maple shell w/ Fibes lugs
14 x 6.5 1970’s Tempro steel snare (older Japanese brand)
14 x 4.5 1970’s Ludwig Supraphonic, chrome over aluminum shell
14 x 4 1920’s Ludwig Pioneer(?), two piece shell, nickel over brass
14 x 5 1960-70 Ludwig Standard, maple shell w/Blue Strata wrap
14 x 12 1950s Slingerland/Leedy marching snare, maple with white paint finish

Cymbals

Give me a drum kit, a great ride, a crash, and a set of hats and I’ll be a happy guy! When I started out, I went for more of a high-pitched glassy sound when choosing cymbals. These days, I like ‘em dark. I have adopted a kind of jazz mentality when it comes to cymbals. Heck, I don’t even clean them. I also don’t care how the cymbal is labeled; I crash my rides and ride my crashes all the time. So I choose them accordingly. As a matter of fact, my favorite hi-hat set is a thick, unmarked 15” Italian cymbal for the bottom and my 15” K thin crash for the top. Man, do they sound good!

When selecting rides I intend to use for jazz, I like to hear a “paawww” kind of sound when I crash it with the shoulder of the stick. I don’t like the bell to be too piercing and instead, prefer more of a transparent sound from the bell. When actually riding a jazz cymbal, I want some definition along with a nice subdued wash underneath for support of the band and soloists. When selecting a ride for other styles, I go for a little thicker cymbal with good projection. But I don’t like them too clanky sounding.

For me, thin crash cymbals are what it’s all about. I know some drummers have problems with breakage when using thinner cymbals. But I have yet to break a cymbal in 25 years of playing. I play brushes frequently, so thin crashes that respond to the brushes are critical. As with all my cymbals, I look for crashes that have personality and multi-dimensional qualities to them.

Here they are:

20” Zildjian Mini-Cup (hard to find, cross between a flat ride and normal ride)
20” Bliss Crash/Ride (“paaawww!”)
20” Sabian HH Jazz Ride
18” Zildjian A Crash – Thin
17” Zildjian A Crash – Thin
15” Zildjian K Crash – Thin
15” Old unmarked Italian cymbal (maybe an old UFIP)
13” Paiste Sound Formula Hi-Hats (pair)
10” Sabian B10 Splash
8” Paiste 2002 Splash
6” Zildjian A-Custom Splash

Toys (goodies)

Rather than adding more drums, I’ve generally preferred to add percussion items around the kit instead. Here’s a list of the usual goodies you may find placed around my kit. I also enjoy playing percussion, and will bring these items along on various gigs:

Congas
Bongos
Mini Bongos
LP small cowbell
LP large cowbell
LP Samba bell
LP Agogo bells
Maracas
Pair of Leaf Seed Pod Shakers
Rainstick
Various aspirin bottles filled with rice, elbow macaroni, etc.
Old Ludwig rosewood woodblock
Single row aluminum wind chimes
Roland R8M Rack Mounted Drum Module (includes ethnic percussion card, sound effects, etc.)

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