It feels a bit strange to say that I could happily use cymbals intended for quieter/practice playing on my regular kit, but that’s where I find myself with these Quiet Tone cymbals. Obviously cymbals designed for low volume or practice aren’t exactly new, but I think in these rather more challenging times they’re probably more
I may have said before that I love a drum with a history or a story, and that’s the whole premise of Provenance Drums; the shell material is made from something that has already had a previous life; in this instance, the material was part of a 1944 Rolls Royce Merlin XX V12 engine. Now,
Take one camera... I started playing drums in the 1980s; the time when electronics and drums really started to properly meet each other head on. At that time, the electronic drums available - certainly initially - generally had a hard playing surface which was, shall we say, not that much fun to play
I like 12x7” snare drums. I like them because not only do you get the higher crack from the smaller head size, you still get some body too and I find that much more useful than something in a more shallow depth. This stave shelled drum is made from Red Gum and the rich colour
I do enjoy having my own preconceptions crushed sometimes. Take this snare drum. The shell of Jost Nickel’s drum is made from 14 plies of beech which come in at 9mm thick. To look at visually, the shell thickness is noticeable, and while this isn’t exactly the world’s thickest snare drum shell, it’s not thin
I first recall coming across the HHX line many years ago when someone I knew was playing them. I liked them immediately because of both their sound and their cool look. Sabian recently sent us a few examples of their fairly new Complex line to try out - 14” medium hi hats, 18” thin crash
I’m pretty sure that many many years ago I reviewed the original Perfect Balance pedal. While I can’t really remember that much about doing that review, I obviously liked the pedal itself as I bought one years later and it’s become one of my favourites. That may mean this review is a little less unbiased
I have no problem admitting this is one of my favourite snare drums, but not because of the way it looks. This is, as it turns out, one of the more polarising finishes of recent years it seems, at least in terms of Tama. People seem to either not mind how it looks or hate
So as something a little different, I thought I would look at a few things from the past and do a review on them. This time round, I’m looking at Paiste’s Crystal Thin Crashes and Crystal Hats which came out about 12/13 years ago Now, you may have come across or seen Paiste’s square bell
Alan Van Kleef has quite deservedly made a good name for himself over the last few years with his drums. I first played one of Alan’s drums a few years ago when I got to review one of the Thomas Lang signature snares he made. What struck me about that snare - and what stayed
