Sticks and skins

April 18th, 2007

Ciao!

It’s been a while since we opened the backstage and I thought that it’s about time for me to put out something for you to read too.

All of you readers who have had something to do with music and especially those who make music themselves have most probably stumbled in those questionnaires and web blogs where artists almost fanatically praise the instruments and manufacturers they’ve chosen. My feeling towards those is pretty much on the same level with the feeling when I’ve just stepped to a pile of dog crap. One thing I have to say is that although I’ve chosen Premier’s drums I have still absolutely zero loyalty to the company or the mark. The touch, sound and the feeling of the instrument on are the things that really matter to me. And if I someday find a better set than the current I won’t hesitate to change it.

When I started playing drums I didn’t have a set of my own so I had to play pretty much anything I could get my hands on to. Tama, Linko, Mapex, Ludwic… you name it. My first own set was a set of Swedish Percussion. The bass drum was 24″ and toms were 12″, 14″ and 16″. The snare was made out of steel and it was 14″. A perfect set for a beginner ‘cos you just simply cannot miss the hit with those sizes ;) The set was made somewhere in the early 70’s and I actually still have the set at storage waiting for to be fixed up. Perhaps some day when the time is right I’ll take it out on the stage once more.

Then the next set was already Premier. The model was Apk and that felt just simply great, but there was something still missing from the sounds so I bought another set of premier. This time the model was Resonator. As the name tells those really can be tuned into a long and deep sound. Actually not once or twice have I had problems in making a good sound out of them with mics ‘cos they sound like drums should and not like some sets witch are closer to the sound of a broken tire when you bang it with a half hard dildo. Well some compromises have to be done to make the sounds fit the songs and tuning up drums is a thing that I’m not especially good at so I rather follow the instructions of professionals on that.

Then there is the dilemma between a good sound and the ears of the audience. I used to play with b2 but lately I’ve started playing with a7 sticks. The difference in those is comparable to the difference of a fly and an elephant. With b2 sticks you can really feel the hits but with a7 the touch really isn’t the same. On the other hand with a7-sticks you can play a lot more complicated and faster rhythms. Again there’s a compromise done to be able to serve the common goal, a good but not too loud sound. Perhaps that’s the main thing that I’ve learned with this band. The common goal goes always ahead. The main thing is to find the road between and keep your steps still straight.

Keep on rockin’ hard!

~ Archie ~