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Significant new or improved gear over the last 15 years?


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Since Drum Talk has been dormant for a while, I thought a good place to start is to list significant gear changes over the past 15 years - new gear or improved designs.

 

I"ll start: low volume practice cymbals and heads.

 

Man, I wish I had things like Zildjian L80"s, Aquarian Super-Pads and mesh heads when I was learning to play and practicing late into the night. Soooo much better than rubber, carpet, and whatever else was lying around.

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Another thing I see more and more of are cymbal stacks and effects cymbals. A simple way to add some different textures.

I saw this band recently called Chris Dave and the Drumhedz. Chris is the drummer and he has these cymbals that are, well...odd. To me, anyway.

 

dB

 

 

93.jpg.198e77b3083de86abb81e94ac444a65d.jpg

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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I'm surprised every drummer doesn't have an electronic kit just for the practice aspect.

 

dB

 

I thought that, too, until I got one. I never got used to the mesh heads. And I hated the phantom triggering, where the snare would trigger during a tom fill, etc. Theoretically the sensitivity of those things is adjustable, but I could never make it work. (What do I know, I only spent 20 years as a professional software developer...)

 

There is something visceral about hitting real drums with wooden sticks that V-drums can't match. Electronic kits have their place, but my studio isn't one of them. ;)

RecordingHacks.com | MicParts.com | RoswellProAudio.com

 

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Not really new GEAR per se, but one significant new development is the amount and quality of online instruction. There are amazing resources on Youtube, beautifully recorded with great sound, multiple camera angles, transcriptions, etc.

RecordingHacks.com | MicParts.com | RoswellProAudio.com

 

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I had mesh heads years ago in a Hart Dynamics kit with an Alesis DM Pro brain. I loved the feel of those things.

dB

 

I still have a Hart Dynamics kit with a Roland TD-6V that I've had for a decade or so now. Sits in the corner of the garage ready to go at any time. Never given me any problems. :thu:

 

:nopity:
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I've played in 3 different bands that used electric drums. The first one (started around '90) started with the Simmons set with the octagon pads and the analog module, if you remember that. He eventually kept the pads and upgraded to the Alesia D4. Used Acoustic cymbals. The next one (started late 90s) had the Roland mesh v-drum snare, and got the rest of the mesh head pads from pintech, which was a cheaper version. Module stared out D4 and later upgraded to DM pro. Still used acoustic cymbals and hi hat. Third one was an 80s tribute band. To go for the look, he got the old Simmons octagon pads, but used a Roland mesh snare, acoustic cymbals and hat, and one of the Roland TD series brains. As the Simmons pads crapped out, he ended up just sticking Hart triggers to them, which worked just as well as replacing the internal ones.

 

One thing consistent with all of them is they kept the acoustic cymbals. Have there been any improvements over the last 5-10 years?

 

Side note, our method for live mixing worked pretty well and sounded really good out front - better than most electric drums I've heard. He set his module to have 4 outputs to FOH: Kick, Snare, Toms (all toms submixed), FX (one pad, things like hand claps, electronic percussion, etc, depending on song). They would at a minimum, mic the hihat, and depending on the gig, possibly place overheads for the cymbals, though it usually wasn't necessary as there was plenty of bleed in the 4 vocal mics on stage. This allowed the FOH engineer to mix like he would normally and get the sound dialed in just right.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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One thing consistent with all of them is they kept the acoustic cymbals. Have there been any improvements over the last 5-10 years?

There doesn't really appear to be with the exception of Gen16. Jobecky cymbals have that "real" look, but I've never tried them.

 

While I don't mind playing pads and mesh, I've never liked rubber cymbals. When I play electronic, I still use real cymbals. The more I get into the hybrid thing, the more I like it. It really widens the sonic palette.

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Yeah especially with the 80s band I played with, the ability to change the sounds to match the song was really awesome.

 

Here's a compilation of us at a casino that I think pretty well showcases various drum sounds that all work well and don't sound like a track or something processed, but still manage to have a live sound and feel.

 

[video:youtube]igUnF4_9MTc

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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I'm pretty content with current 3-zone rubber cymbals. Heck, you can even grab 'em to mute a crash.

 

But I'm still waiting for actual continuous radial placement and modeling to give a bit more expressiveness. Somebody's gotta be working on that. You listening, Roland?

 

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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