Dave's Drum Geekery - Part 2

So...overall specs on the kit...

​Most of the kit is a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute Nouveau, in blue-purple fade. All of the shells have single point quick release Nouveau lugs, and have the upgraded maple hoops.
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The maple shells give a great warmth to the drum sound with a rounded attack that is enhanced with the addition of the wood hoops. They end up sounding larger than they are which is a big bonus - all the tone, but less volume and easier to carry.

The first two toms are 8” x 7” and 10” x 7.5” mounted just above the snare. Position-wise I have, for a long time, set the kit up with the double pedal and positioned the two first toms as if there was a second bass drum (even when the kit is mounted from stands rather than the rack these are on a double tom stand).

The third rack tom is a 12” x 8” and is mounted to the left of the hi hat.

The two floor toms are 13” x 14” and 14” x 14”, the 13” being a very unusual drum deeper than its diameter, only done on this series and only for a brief time.

All toms have Evans G2 clear batter heads and G1 clear resonant heads, with e-rings on the 10”, 12”, 13” and 14”.
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I have been asked why I use e-rings rather than moon gel, damped heads or just tuning them open. Well, firstly the band I am in is playing mostly 80’s songs so that wet, slappy sound is what I’m after - if I was doing more modern stuff then they’d probably come off.
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Secondly I am really pushing the floor toms to be a bit lower pitched than they would comfortably be so the rings help them sound less flabby. I’ve always loved small drums for the ease of transport, but they need help to sound rocky!

Lastly they do help quieten down the kit a bit - I play a lot of pub venues and always carry mics for bigger gigs, so generally speaking quieter is better.​

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​The main kick is a 20” x 18” (considered extra deep when I bought it!) It is fitted with an Evans EMAD clear batter with a Remo double Falam Slam patch (which I need to replace!), Sonitus kicker and resonant black front head with a custom graphic from the awesome Glenn Grey (pictured below).

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Logo'd front head

You can just see the XLR connector

The reso has a small port fitted, but more for access than anything else, as the drum is internally mic’d with a May system Shure Beta 52 with a shell-mounted non-drill XLR fitting.

Having pre-damped heads AND a kicker is more to reduce onstage volume than tone control, as I always mic the kick.

My second kick is only used for big gigs as a special effect, and I’ll blog about that in a separate geek blog!



My next blog will be the snares...

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