Start with Drums

Ever wonder what to do with a blog. What to write about? Those questions seem to be an obvious sign that the blog is about to die or close to it...like walking the plank.

Well before I take a dive off the proverbial deep-end I am going to just blog about music, art, writing and poetry.

I am going to start with drums because I love them.

Here is a photo of my Pearl drum set. This is at ColorBlind Studios in Concord,CA

I have had this set for a long time and it still sounds awesome. I use Remo coated Ambassadors on the toms and the snare with clears on the bottom. 15" & 17" Zildjian K Dark Crashes, 1 one Sabian 6" splash right by the Hi-hat, one 10" A Splash on the kick drum, a 22" Zildjian Medium Ride, a 22" Zildjian Oriental Trash with a 6" Zildjian EFX #1 Splash above it. Hi-hat are 13" Bellotti's. Super tight and cut really well. Not for metal though. All the hardware on this setup in Pearl except for a few Gibraltar pieces to various percussion instruments. Which are, a 7" LP Cowbell, LP brass chimes, and a rack mount tambourine.
I have played with a lot of sticks over the years and I settled on Vater for a long time. The Manhattan 7A are excellent sticks for fast and intricate work. But now I back with Vic Firth. Love 'em. I know it is easy to

I know it is easy to get sucked into playing this or that brand, and I obviously have my preferences too, but what really matters is playing and continuing to learn and develop so music can be lived and shared.

Honestly I would rather be playing tin cans with pencils than not playing at all.

On the left here is a top down photo of my set. Here you can see the 12" Vater Chop Builder I use, which is mounted on a cymbal stand. This is a totally required piece of kit. It excellent for daily rudiment practice, and good to warm-up before a show. Warm and relaxed hands are good!

Here is me in action