my set up with most of my cymbals!

[Freddie Freeloader]

i decided to set up my entire kit today (well most of it) since all i've been practicing on for the last few months has been my bass drum, snare, a pair of hats and a ride.
it felt nice having so much stuff to hit!

i don't usually use a splash, but i thought i'd set up this 8" a custom splash i've had lying around for a while. i beat it up with a hammer and drilled some holes in it and now it sounds, well, very "unique".
hehehe.

cymbals from left to right :
13" zildjian sound lab prototype hats (now sold as K Light Hats)
20" zildjian dry light ride
8" zildjian a custom splash
22" zildjian k custom complex dry ride
18" zildjian sound lab prototype (now sold as A custom efx crash)
14" k custom session hat top / 14" wuhan china bottom
17" custom dark crash
that's not all i own, but its most of my set.
drums are taye proX series.
18" bass, 13" snare, 12" tom, 14" floor.

peace!

[oddrax]

very nice set I love your cymbals man, and you just gave me an idea of what to do with a 14" wuhan china, hehe, I have a question, is the pic taken in a Berklee Practice room? again that is a nice set!

[Freddie Freeloader]

thanks man.
yes, that is a berklee practice room.

[that-guy-plays-drums2112]

i love your cymbals and setup. looks very comfortable.

[joeybeats]

Looks fabulous, FF! I love your finish.

What does the fiberskyn sound like? Would it sound nice with a Black Beauty? For jazz? What is it like with brushes? You a pro with the Dawson's Rudimental Ritual yet? They have you guys practice that at B, correct? enjoy. Joey

[drumbandit]

I really like the left-side ride and the whole arrangement. The hats which are now K-light hats... how did you get then as prototypes? I'm thinking of putting my crash/ride as a left side ride, at the moment I'v got mine next to my main ride on the right, but yours look very comfy to play.

Tom

[Freddie Freeloader]

@joeybeats : thanks man.... the fyberskyn sounds great! i've been playing a lot of brushes lately and the thing sounds just unbelievable.... it's especially good for playing brushes with but you could also lay down a nice back beat and beat the crap out of it and it will sound great like that too.... it's also suprisingly durable. not a dent yet inspite of how hard i play. don't get me wrong, i'm not much of a 'basher', but i have had to practice some harder stuff lately and the head still looks brand new. all in all, it has this beautiful old-school, warm and earthy tone. highly recommended, not just for jazz, but for anything else too.
and the ritual... hahah. it's funny, when i took those pics, i was just taking a break from practicing the ritual! as such at berklee, i've never had anyone ask me to do it. i took a lab with terri lyne carrington and she would run through a little bit of it each week as a warm up but she didn't seem to care that a few people didn't know it very well. i took some time off from school and went back to india and worked on it by myself. it takes some time to get it down and i can do everything right up until the swiss rudiments. i'm taking lessons privately (outside school) with a drummer by the name of ralph peterson jr. (who's on drummerworld) and he's getting me to do it again, and possibly learn the WHOLE thing because he's hoping to introduce me to some new stuff through it. most people use it as a warm up and as a way to learn all the rudiments.... but i'm now learning that there's so much more to it that most people (including a lot of teachers) don't know. ralph explained that tony williams got so many of his ideas from the ritual and you don't see the relation until you start orchestrating the ritual around the drums using very specific concepts related to traditional counterpoint! hahahhaa. i know that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but you'd have to take a lesson with ralph and it will open up your whole world. he's such a great teacher, and he really knows his stuff.

@tomodrum1: i bought the hats and the crash at a promotional sale that zildjian was doing around this time last year when steve gadd was in town doing his cliniic tour. they were seilling a bunch of prototypes and i initially went in there to buy hats and came out with hats AND a new 18" crash that totally blew my mind. the efx crashes they're sellilng now are a TINY bit different from my prototype in the sense that they're a little bit heavier than the prototype. the crash i have is really thin and wobbles a little bit too when you hit it. as a result it has a really low pitch and ROARS when you hit it. it really is LOUD.... the ones in the store are a little tame in comparison.

[joeybeats]

Thanks for the feedback, FF. I will get a Fiberskyn for my snare. I'm using a 5.5 Black Beauty, what should I put on the reso?

By the way, I was recently in India ... a small coastal town called Goa. Ever been there? Not a drum set in site! Even more recently, I visited Macau. The casinos have the usual cover bands and guess what the percussionists are using? A crash and chinese drums. Yes sir, nothing like a little Gnarls Barkley on chinese drums to make a guy smile.

Thanks for the story and comments about your experience with The Ritual. Joey

[Freddie Freeloader]

@joeybeats: try a clear diplomat for a reso head. those work well for pretty much anything really.
oh and goa! hahaha. i went there with my friends the day we were done with high school. spent a good week there, possibly the best time i've ever had in my life.

[d.c.drummer]

I want all of your stuff NOW! (or at least a recording of it)

Im in love with your set up. Its everything i would like mine to be. Really.