Spring/Summer ‘09
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Good Day! BIG props to the amazing Heather for the site redesign. It looks fab, no?
Stay tuned for a separate page devoted solely to my jazz group, the Tough Love Trio. Also, be sure to check the ‘Gigs’ page on this site for all upcoming performances… now organized chiefly by artist first [especially if I’m playing multiple dates with the same artist/band]. Performances will only be listed here on this website, as I’ve completely burned out on entering things twice (like also over on my myspace page.) In fact, my myspace page now serves solely to direct any interested party to this website!
And now, onto my typical business of blathering about drums….
While I’m kind of known for being a dyed-in-the-wool Eames player, I do tend to use some different snare drums from time to time, depending on the musical situation, the venue, my mood, etc. Some of my favourite snare drums in the cache have been cobbled together by a combination of spare parts & TLC from the right technician. And often, I’ve found that some of the more complicated boutique-like snare drums can be a bit more work than they’re worth. In my world, sometimes simpler is better. Even with my #1 Eames snare drum {the Master Model ‘Monster’} I had Joe assemble it with simple tried-and-true parts that work, and are not over-designed.
Recently I came across (rather economically, always a +) an un-drilled acrylic shell, known by its marketing name in the drum world as ‘Vistalite’. I’m told that the manufacturer of this shell is the same company that makes the Vistalite line for Ludwig. Up until this year, I’d had fairly little experience with acrylic drums, and certainly never owned one. Sure, I thought Bonzo’s orange Vistalites were visually outstanding in Led Zeppelin’s concert film The Song Remains The Same – and we all know that Bonzo could make music on any set of drums – but any chance I’d had over the years to sit-in on a kit of acrylic drums had not truly impressed me. This has all changed for a couple of reasons. 1st, my friend Dave Mattacks (who I regard to be Master Yoda of snare drums, in addition to his legendary drumming) let me check out an acrylic snare drum that he’d newly assembled. I was pleasantly surprised with it. It had a darker timbre, as compared to a metal shell, though not as warm as a wood shell. It had a very distinctive and robust bark, and it was very musical. It definitely had its own unique voice that, for the sake of taxonomy, I’d place somewhere between a copper shell & a maple shell. However – and this brings me to the 2nd part of this: as DM stressed in our conversation about this instrument [and snare drums in general], the bearing / beveled edges & the snare beds are critically important elements of a snare drum’s sound & response. This is why one employs somebody who really knows how to deal with these critically important elements!
Enter Michael Ambroszewski, who runs a company called Percussion Technologies, or simply PTech, out of Quincy Massachusetts. When I acquired my own acrylic shell, I immediately contacted Mike for his expertise. Mike took a look at her and quickly determined that her bearing edges needed an ‘outer cut’, and that the snare beds were way too abrupt & short for today’s Mylar drumheads. He made the snare beds more gradual & even, and added a nice outer cut to both bearing edges. As a result, the heads went on & tuned up with ease, and the drum is an absolute pleasure to play. I’m actually shocked that I like it as much as I do. I never thought I’d feel this way about a synthetic shell! Here she is in all her raspberry glitter glory:
5" x 14" acrylic snare drum in raspberry glitter
Oooh… that raspberry snare looks good enough to eat!
Actually, I am writing because I just made a site using the same “sliding door” theme (I saw your link on the theme creator’s site) and I wanted to ask Heather how she got the right sidebar to appear and also how to set up that cool menu on the left side. If she has a moment, could she drop me a line at the email I have put in the post? Would also love to know how to make some drop down menus. Can’t find that info on the theme home page.
Hey… used to live in Boston many years ago. Such a great city.
Many thanks,
Lynn in the UK