ProgPower Drum Kit Question

[MrBuzzcut]

It appears all acts use the same drum kit ... This is understandable given the constraints of time and available backstage space at the venue.

As a drummer, I know how hard it is to play on a kit that isn't yours. You need the toms and cymbals at the right height and angles and all that crap.

My question to Glenn is: How do the drummers and techs for the ten bands adjust for this? I've never seen any PP drummer sound/appear tentative and would love to know how they deal with playing on a "foreign" kit.

 

[Harvester]

I'll have to let Don (my lead drum tech) answer this as we have come along way since the Rullo incident at PP II.

However, I can tell you that we have a "cymbal cage" we have used the past few years that every drummer thinks is fantastic as you can adjust any and everything in minutes.

 

[Burke]

as we have come along way since the Rullo incident at PP II.

Did that have anything to do with the delay after Ark and then Symph X coming on stage?......

I don't believe I ever knew exactly what caused that.....

 

[Braxil]

The "Rullo incident" I believe was when Macaluso beat the hell out of the drum kit during ARK's set and there were no replacement heads for Symphony X to use. I'm not sure if it caused the delay, though.

 

[MeTuLHeD]

It appears all acts use the same drum kit ... This is understandable given the constraints of time and available backstage space at the venue. As a drummer, I know how hard it is to play on a kit that isn't yours. You need the toms and cymbals at the right height and angles and all that crap. How do the drummers and techs for the ten bands adjust for this? I've never seen any PP drummer sound/appear tentative and would love to know how they deal with playing on a "foreign" kit.

Two things.

First, we DO adjust the kit to each drummer's exact specifications between each set. Within reason that is. Unfortunately, it's one of the things which causes the delays between sets. But as we do not have a large enough downstage area to accomodate rolling risers, it's what we have to do. It's one of the constraints of running a festival at Center Stage. We're really doing a festival in a venue not suited to doing a festival. So we're "working in the rain" as they say. But hey, we make it happen.

Second, we use a rack. And trust me when I tell you, it has been a Godsend! It makes cymbal and tom placement in such a complex kit a thing of beauty. All we do is loosen clamps and shift them around to change tom and cymbal arm positions. And it allows us to place things almost anywhere. It turns what used to be a minimum twenty-five minute ordeal into a MUCH more easily manageable setup time. If you've ever used a rack, then you know just how fantastic they can be. And the DW/Pacific racks are THE best on the market at present.

 

[Harvester]

Did that have anything to do with the delay after Ark and then Symph X coming on stage?......

I don't believe I ever knew exactly what caused that.....

That was it exactly and the situation was discussed in detail in the bonus section of behind the scenes dvd we released a couple of years ago.

 

[Burke]

That was it exactly and the situation was discussed in detail in the bonus section of behind the scenes dvd we released a couple of years ago.

Cool - thanks Glenn!

 

[J-Dubya 777]

Two things.

First, we DO adjust the kit to each drummer's exact specifications between each set. Within reason that is.

just ONE millimeter lower please!

J-Dubya

 

[MeTuLHeD]

just ONE millimeter lower please!

Byte moi.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

Byte moi.

When will we see a return of Don, The Insult Drum Tech??????


J-Dubya

 

[Wayniac]

"if you stop making stands come out of your ass...."

 

[urinalcakemix]

Second, we use a rack. And trust me when I tell you, it has been a Godsend! It makes cymbal and tom placement in such a complex kit a thing of beauty. All we do is loosen clamps and shift them around to change tom and cymbal arm positions. And it allows us to place things almost anywhere. It turns what used to be a minimum twenty-five minute ordeal into a MUCH more easily manageable setup time. If you've ever used a rack, then you know just how fantastic they can be. And the DW/Pacific racks are THE best on the market at present.

I just picked up the PEARL Icon 3 Sided rack a few weeks ago, and I love it. Positioning is so much nicer, and lets me come up with setups that are just not possible using just stands. I can have my kit up and running in about 20 minutes, compared to around 50 minutes when I was using all stands (1 kick, 5 toms, 2 snares, 9 cymbals).

One thing, the Pacific/DW racks are NOT the best on the market at all. Their over priced, and the PDP is the exact same rack as the DW with a different logo adn a $100 price difference. The Pearl Icon I believe is the best on the market for one reason: Square tubing. Square tubing leaves no room for slippage on a rack. I remember when I was at PP, seeing a couple cymbal arms break, and a couple instances of slippage mid-set.

I have no doubts its probably a solid rack, but to say THE BEST ON THE MARKET - not so much.