Drum-talk

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Yellowdrums

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Jan 22, 2003
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www.yellowdrums.de
Hey guys!

As I have noticed that there are a couple of drummers around here (yeah!) I thought I open up this special thread...
Maybe the one or another has the one or another question concerning my drums and person - as "the new one".
Do not hesitate do ask - it will be my pleasure to answer.

Andre
 
Hello Andre,
I have few questions so here goes:

What size and brand of kit do you play?
What brand of cymbals do you play?
Who influenced your playing and made you want toplay drums in the first place?
Who is your favorite drummer?

I'm always interested in percusion info, and there's no better person to ask than the source!!!!!!!:D
 
Hey there!

Good questions! Well,...let's see!

Athallus, hello to Mississippi!

I had two kits, a black Pearl, single bd, 10,12,13,16 with a couple of Zildjian A customs (12,16,18,22) an a huge yellow (ah!!!! there we go!) Tama Starclassic. (10,12,13,14,15,16, with two 24 bd)
I love the starclassics, because they are very percussive and they are very flexible. They are easy to tune and cut through all the frequencies!
Unfortunatelly, a lot of it has been stolen - of course the insurance wouldn't cover that! Well...musicians destiny? The very unpleasant thing is, it must have been somebody I know, and who knew that I had the stuff at home at that time...so, I hope it will appear again.

For the cymbals, I had an endorsement with Tosco cymbals. Originally coming from italy, they moved to canada and were made by Sabian. Funny: When Sabian started, it was by the help of Tosco. Because the german distribution of Tosco does not longer exist, I think of changing to another brand. I will have some talks about that on the Frankfurt trade show in march. I will let you know, if the deal took place!

I really started playing, because I just felt I had to. So I went the usual way, we drummer go in most of the cases...tin cans - and all this program. When I first played a real drumkit (in the rehearsal room of my older cousin) I couldn't stop...I guess they had to carry me away ! ;-)
Then- of course- the influences came from the local guys. Mostly, they are not sooooo good as they seem to you in that moment, but...

After a while, I discovered a lot of drummers, really! My main influence surely is Mr. Simon Phillips. What a coincidence, that a couple of years later, I got a kit he played! His approach is really great and what I also love about him is: He plays various musical styles, from heavy to jazz, but he always is recognizable as SP.
So he is still my fave! Allthough there a so many good guys out there!

Andi: The mysterious thing about the double bass is in my opinion, that it gets harder to play, the slower you play it - at least if you have patterns like constant 8th notes.
If it comes to fill ins, that have to be really fast, I tend to tune the heads a little higher. Why: you get more rebound which helps to speed up. and once more, the toms cut better through all the mess of frequencies! (I learned that by Simon, I watched him doing his extended soundcheck - drumsoundcheck for 1 1/2 hour)
What a great lesson!

Ciao for now and thanks for your interest,

Andre
 
Another influence I should mention is a real maniac, his name is Manni von Bohr. He is a great guy and friend - and when it comes to drums, I think there is no one, who knows more about it! He played in Birthcontrol, the british band Message and plays with the amazing Seattle based guitar player Randy Hansen.
Manni also always works on new concepts. So he just built a quad-pedal. That means he plays a double bass kit, with different sized bd's and plays double pedal on both kicks. So when he plays for example a shuffle beat on the four pedals...oh...so mighty...with these flams...wow!
 
Interesting, thanks for the reply :D

I uses Tama & Sabian at the moment. Do you still use your Tama Starclassic despite the missing bits?]

The quad-pedal thing you mention reminds me of a pedal I say called The Duelist. It's a double peddle on one foot so you don't need the 2nd bass drum or a hinged double peddle. :cool:
 
Thanks for the great info Andre!

Have you ever looked into or thought about Meinl cymbals?

They are quite impressive as I have heard them up close and personal. It was several years ago, when they had first come out, and were regarded then as an "off brand".

Since then, they have gotten much more popular and they sound really good. That's what impressed me about them-their quality.

I'm a Zildjian guy all the way, (in my opinion, Sabian is too flat and "bongie" sounding while Paiste is too light and decay WAY too fast for my tastes) but these Meinl cymbals would be my second choice besides Zildjian. They are explosive, but decay pretty quickly. Just thought you might be interested in checking them out.
 
As for the dualist: That's right, you can do two beats in one move. Means: Downstroke is a beat / upstroke is a beat. But that is different to Manni's "invention". This goes more out to the Sonor Giant Step Pedal, but you have different sounds on heel and tap.

Cymbal: Of course I know the good ol' Meinl cymbals - and I totally agree. When we first hit them years ago...oh no! But since than they really got better and now they have a good strategie - they still have the cheaper cymbals for beginners, but the same time they offer high-qualitiy cymbals,e.g. the byzance series.
Additional, they every now and than come up with very innovative ideas, like the tritonal cymbals in the early 90s or now the NuGenerations.

What heads do you like?

Ciao for now,

Andre
 
Hello Andre,

Hail To Germany! :)

Thanks for the reply. I personally like (and use) Remo Clear Black Dot Heads. They have this certain tone quality I just love and that other drum heads seem to lack.
I've tried other heads, including some Remos, such as hydralic heads, black pinstripe batters and even Aquarian. They didn't seem to have the power or punch I was looking for.

I am wondering if you or anyone else use Easton's AHEAD Drumsticks. I do, and they are great!
MANY drummers use them. They cost around $30 American dollars, but they come with a lifetime warranty. IF you EVER break a pair(which is highly unlikely) the company will replace them for free.
The only thing you ever have to replace are the tips and sleeves. No stick breakage!
I personally have owned my same pair for about 10 years and they still play wonderfully. They are lightweight and reduce fatigue and shock to a drummer's hands

Just thought if anyone here would like to know about them if they didn't already.

Later Fellow drummers. :)
 
Hello from good "old europe" ;-) !

Yeah...the cs with dot! They do sound great...indeed, they have punch and attack and as well -ahem- resistance against rude abuse ... I guess you know what I mean! ;-)
What I personally don't like too much about colored heads is: they response more to the tempereature on stage, espacially, when there is a lot light hanging around! Then they get weaker and lose there resistance...Did you make the same experience?

The advantage you mention for the ahead stick that they are better for the wrist is correct, but at the same time, why I don't like them. A wooden stick gives me a better connection to the response and rebound of the head.
What also helps is to switch to a maple stick, if you don't break them too quick. Maple is weaker than hickory, and so the vibration does not bother your hand so much. But again, this is a matter of personal taste.

Ciao for now,

Andre
 
For Heads I use Remo Pinstripe on my toms, a coated Remo Emperor with a dot on the Snare & a Remo power stroke (I think) on the Bass drum. I'm happy with them :)

For Sticks I go for big thick wooden ones, I'll tend to go for cheep ones as well because I find they all play pretty similar & all break about as quickly as each other. These Ahead - life time sticks- are they the ones with a metal core and plastic coating?

I've never experienced the colored head weakening thing :confused:
 
Andi, yes those sticks are the ones with a lightweight metal alloy and plastic coated sleeves.
I have gone through countless drumsticks myself usually by breaking them in half. Once I snapped a stick just from playing a build-up while practicing and was nearly hit in the head by the 90% that had flew up in the air.
So, when I found those Easton AHEADS I had to try them out. I'm glad I did because theyhave saved me a lot of money from continuosly buying wooden sticks. They are a great investment especially if you have an agressive playing style like I do.

The drummers who play these sticks include:
Phil Rudd-AC/DC
Matt Sorenson-Guns & Roses
Tommy Lee-Motley Crue (or at least he used to)
Jukka Nevalainen-Nightwish

Justa bit of info in case you were wonderig. Also, I've gotten some sticks only to find they were warped. With these sticks, that is no longer a problem. :)
 
My expierence with hydralic and colored heads were I was sitting in with a band in a club. I found to my horror that no matter how hard I hit them, I couldn't hear myself over the band! They had a flat dull lifeless tone with no resonation or punch whatsoever.
So I decided then and there that I would stick with my Remo Clear Black Dots for good, or until something better comes along.
 
The sleeves only cost around 3-7 American dollars, which is about what we "yanks" (LOL) pay for really cheap to moderate qualitydrumsticks.

They last around 6 months if you play everyday on them I once had a pair that were band new for around 3 years since I wasn't playing regularly on them.

They are THE BEST investment I ever made besides mycymbals and Gibraltar Rock double pedal. :)
 
Oh yeah...that's why I prefer slightly thinner heads, they feature all the frequencies, so with good eq you get a full tomtom sound, with low end - and you can hear yourself!
Have you ever tried the combination of emperor/diplomat? I figure this is so far my favourite couple! ;-)

Ciao for now

Andre
 
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