If you’re a gigging drummer, be it playing a stadium or your local pub, here’s some bits and pieces you might find helpful. The three items here are not exactly essential, but they are useful all the same and may just make things a little easier.

Gibraltar Deluxe Drinks Holder

Drinks; something we definitely all need when we’re playing.

Now, I’ve always used something that I’ve found at every gig I’ve ever done called ‘the floor’ for my drinks. I’m sure most people have. However, sometimes that free and in-exhaustive option of the floor is actually a little limiting and sometimes just plain awkward, particularly when you knock a drink over.

The only thing ‘wrong’ with using the floor – aside from kicking your drink over – is if you don’t have twenty seconds available between songs, then it’s sometimes a bit difficult to get down, grab your drink, get refreshed and then put it down again. Simple? It sounds it, but sometimes it doesn’t quite work out that way.

I’ve always been a little skeptical of drinks holders because, like anything mounted to a [drum] stand, it has the potential to bounce around or at least be affected in some when that stand is used.

I play in a band which delivers fairly upbeat ska music. It involves lots of eight notes on the hihat and the odd sturdy quarter note with the foot too. All of this is enough to make the hihat stand bounce around a bit sometimes.

The pint glass wasn’t exactly ready to overflow when I put it into the holder. It was fairly full though, and I was not completely convinced I wouldn’t get at least a little damp when I put the drinks holder about mid way up my hihat stand and popped in my pint glass.

With that it mind I have to admit I was quite surprised the glass did not have its contents even slightly relocated to my leg or gear due to spillage. A success then. Drinks holder – 1, me – nil.

This holder is available in two versions, standard and deluxe. The difference between the standard and deluxe versions of this are the way the baskets are made and the clamps.

www.gibraltarhardware.com

Vater Multi Stick Holder

Dropping sticks isn’t something we can avoid. It will happen and having a spare stick to hand is essential.

Traditionally, I have always used a single spare stick holder. However, more recently, I’ve been thinking about something a little more substantial in case I decide to become particularly clumsy during a song and because I also use mallets a few times during the set. Enter the multi stick holder in question.

The holder itself is lightweight and big enough to hold several pairs of sticks. The clamp on the bottom of the holder is adjustable and will fit various stand widths.

The only issue I had with the holder is that because the clamp is on the bottom, and I don’t sit all that high, I had to mount the whole unit low down to get it to a useable height for me. It also didn’t fit my particular hihat stand because of this, so I had to put it on a floor tom leg, which I didn’t really care for. That said though, it did fit my other hihat stand at home with no issues in terms of height or clamping.

This product is solid and holds a good few pair of sticks. However, what you might need to bear in mind before you buy one is whether or not it will fit where you need it to fit.

www.vater.com

Gibraltar Bass Drum Microphone Mount

This item is something maybe not everyone would need, but would have a great practical use for drummers who find themselves in a similar situation to myself.

There are numerous internal microphone mounts available on the market using different design principles, and there are also potential pros and cons with internal mounts too.

The most obvious con I can think of, for this specific type of internal mount, is that vibration from the shell might be carried over into the mic itself. In other words, it’s not a shockproof mount. The pros are that the mic will always be in the same place in the drum, it’s one less thing to carry as opposed to a stand and there’s no chance of it being knocked like an external stand can be.

The mount is fitted into the shell by way of the drum’s own internal screws, or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Having tried the mount in several different kick drums, this was the case with one drum, but not with the other and I had to swap out the original screws with something fractionally longer. Not a big deal but if you’re not prepared, it could be annoying. It’s not a reflection on the product, but just one of those things.

Anyway, with the drum that did have slightly longer screws to begin with, the mount was fitted in a few minutes. There’s nothing more involved than undoing two screws and placing the mount in and doing them back up again.

Sometimes I play – like many of us do – in smaller places where space is tight, especially since there is six of us on stage. Even with an external mic stand tucked in as far as possible, it still gets knocked and moved and sometimes limits where I can actually place the microphone. This mount removes that possibility from happening.

This isn’t the most versatile of microphone mounts in terms of adjustability compared to what’s available on the market, but you can adjust it and I had no problems with it in any way (aside from what I mentioned when fitting it). It’s also quite cheap against some of its rivals, which may well be a selling point. All in all, it worked well for me.

Obviously, I do need to point out, the microphone and attachment aren’t included with the mount itself.

www.gibraltarhardware.com