Drum set up: Quarantine Edition

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Do to New York state regulations, I’m not permitted to use my shared rehearsal space. I actually chose to stop going there a few days prior to the government directive because, frankly, it felt like a risk no matter how cautious I or my colleagues were.

I have NEVER practiced drum set in the apartment I’ve been living in (coming up for two years). I had some mesh heads I bought for my set up in my last apartment (Pearl Sound Off) so I threw them on my Yamaha kit. I had to pick up a head for my 20” BD (Remo Silentstroke) and grabbed another Pearl for a 12” tom.

Previously I had only used mutes for my cymbals, and let me tell ya — they’re god awful. Not only is the sound atrocious, but they feel absolutely miserable. After doing a little bit of research I ordered a 13/14/18 Zildjian L80 cymbal pack from Steve Weiss. I am blown away! The feel is great and they sound is pretty good considering. I especially love the open hats. I often play in small spaces around the city so I may try them out on a gig in the future, whenever that may be. The only thing I’m not crazy about is you hear a significant amount of stick contact. I’m not sure if nylon tips would make it better or worse but I’m going to do some troubleshooting here in the coming days.

Gear: Yamaha Hip Gig

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Thanks to the generosity of Jeremiah Fox, I got to play on a Yamaha Rick Marotta Hip Gig Kit for a show this weekend. We had one at Mannes so I was familiar with it, but I had never actually seen it all packed up. I didn’t use the rack tom because the arm mount was a bit stripped and I didn’t use the (very small) snare drum that mounts to the bass drum.

All of the drums fit into the bass drum and all of the hardware fits into the throne. The sound is great if you’re playing a small space and don’t need to produce a lot of acoustic volume. Convenient, yes but heavy as hell! I would still need to put them in a car to get to a gig comfortably. Might be a nice option as a small kit that stays set up in your home, however the price is on the higher end for sure.