what drum kit?

[philly]

yeah...s'what i thought.
its interesting cos i have sen many kits where they have used an outer veneer of high quality or exotic timber but used standard ply on the inside where you dont really see it. This flys in the face of veneering practice where you should veneer both faces of a piece even if one is invisible (drawers etc) so the movement on both faces is even.
thanks for your response.

[Roy]

The reasons for using different timbers and and different thicknesses in ply, and the number of ply in the one shell all play part in the overall sound/dynamics.

Birch, Basswood, Maple all have different frequency responses like anything else in this world, but as said, this is only one variant in many. It's a whole science- start reading. :D

[toadmark]

Chris ... I'm glad you had a read of that link. I spent many-a-night trolling through it (and others) before buying my kit. I find it interesting that OzDrum says the same thing about the kick drum in his pearl Masters Studio kit as I do. It is just awesome. Also have a read about the "natural" recording EQ of birch drums (which the Pearl Masters BRX Studio are) compared to the maple and mahogany ... and how the Pearl Reference Series are a mixture of the different types of timber for the different drums. Like I said Masters Series prices dropped big time with the release of the Reference Series so be sure to check em out ... and the wine red finish is very nice!

[mfdu]

as the wife says - anything as long as it's red.

had a bash on the smaller kits (catalina club, i think) - 18" kik, 10"/12"/14" toms and 14" snare/hhats.

need to go back and see how they take tuning, but the concept sat well - compact, tight and punchy but if they can be tuned right down when the song needs it, i may have found a winner.

when i see a 26" kik i mess my pants, but i just don't think it'd play nicely with the other instruments in a project studio environment.

anyone had experience with the smaller kiks?

chris.

[toadmark]

What do you call a smaller kick? The Pearl Masters BRX is 'only' 20" x 22" & sounds like nothin else I've heard, definitely sounds bigger than it looks and I haven't had a customer yet that doesn't want to use it. I consider myself to be a project studio. (using the granny flat under the high set house trick ... main living area is the studio & bedroom is the control room).

[mfdu]

hiya toady

sounds like a nice litle setup you've got.

wife and i are looking at moving on - hoping to find a four car brick garage, or grany flat, or something like that.

the "smaller" kiks i've seen are 18" diameter and 16" deep. but going with odd sizing may cause a problem for me simply due to clients not feeling confident . . .

so many options to consider.

chris.

[Kris]

Sounds like too many options to me. It sounds like you're over analysing it all. You cannot possibly expect to buy a kit that will be all things to all people. Really, my experience is that a good kit will sound good if it's played well and recorded well. Anything in the upper realms by Pearl, Yamaha, DW, or buy Australian and go Brady.

As far as making the client feel comfortable.... a kick drum is not going to do that. That's your job. If you work it right the client will think he's good enough to play Wembley Stadium and won't care if it's an 18", 22" or a 44 gallon drum.

Way too much tyre kicking around here at the moment.

[mfdu]

sigh.

yeah.

[Ausrock]

[quote="Kris"]Sounds like too many options to me. It sounds like you're over analysing it all. You cannot possibly expect to buy a kit that will be all things to all people. Really, my experience is that a good kit will sound good if it's played well and recorded well. Anything in the upper realms by Pearl, Yamaha, DW, or buy Australian and go Brady.

As far as making the client feel comfortable.... a kick drum is not going to do that. That's your job. If you work it right the client will think he's good enough to play Wembley Stadium and won't care if it's an 18", 22" or a 44 gallon drum.

Way too much tyre kicking around here at the moment.[/quote]


[b]WORD[/b]

[mfdu]

sorry guys.

i'll keep it down till i have actually got "the" kit.

didn't mean to bore you with tyre kicking.

(kicks self)

[edit]

but i still think my initial question was valid. i dont have a kit - i want a kit - which kit?

thanks all.

[Ausrock]

Chris,

Don't be sorry...............be wise.

Do your research and try and end up with a small list of kits that you feel may be suitable, then if possible, move mountains to get each of those into YOUR ROOM and listen to and track them there............then and only then you will come close to making a well informed choice.

Personally, if I were to (strongly) recommend a specific brand/model of kit, my recommmendation would only be based on my experience in environments other than yours, hence to do so would be somewhat irresponsible.

[Martinez]

Good advice Ausrock, good advice.

[mfdu]

ok. it's done. got a 5 piece rock kit - 22" kick, 16/13/12 toms, 14" snare. went with one that had nice thick heavy shells, so there's less resonance to deal with.

it's tuned fat and deadened down. no hardware rattles.

have yet to have a proper drummer over, but it is recording nicely already.

i've tuned according to the recommended pitches espoused at http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/
glad to say all drums take pitch quite nicely.

i've never had a kit through which has had such good definition b/w the rack toms - even though there's only one inch difference. a normal drummers kit seems to consist of differing versions of "boing". once i get my tuning skills locked in, i'll be rockin.

the kick is lovely. PZM inside, and B52 just outside the hole and either gives me a great sound. have to try a ribbon next.

cymbals are a bit ugh. but drummers are likely to bring their own.

i'll be needing to pick up a 10" tom, i reckon - just to give me room to play with tunings. and a metal snare. but as it stands, for a $500 kit, i'm as happy as i expected to be.

so thanks all. the tyre kicking is over.

chris.

[Chris H]

Congrats on the new kit. I'd be careful using a ribbon for kick though. One that takes high SPL ?

[mfdu]

the kit is behaving beautifully. i imagine it to be similar to a yamaha recording dustom, in terms of shell thickness. without having had the chance to play with fore mentioned yamaha kit, that is . . .

yeah i started out being ooh so careful with the ribbon (its a shinybox 46) - esp. because its a modded chinese unit.

but now that i've tried it on the F hole of a cello, overheads on another kit, and as an ambient on a bass amp, i reckon i'm ready to try it elsewhere.

i've read much on using large diaphragm condensors on kicks, and figure if i build a cushion-enclosure the ribbon might be the right sound for some purposes . . . i'll try it with my wife playing to start - she doesn't give it much welly.

got a 10" tom coming in, just to give me the ability to change the tuned intervals. for feb, i'll put a birthday order in for a piccollo snare.

thanks again all. its going to be a great '06.

chris.