My Project Mapex

Alright everyone. I'm at college now! woohoo!!! I finally have a stable high speed internet connection so I'm FINALLY uploading some photos of my two recent updates: my Pearl 12x7" Soprano Snare and my 10x6" Pearl Popcorn snare. I also added a red jam block over the floor toms, 3 granite blocks over the floor toms, and replaced the cowbell on the left foot with a cyclops tambourine. Once I get another pedal (and a better cowbell) it'll go back on the left foot. So without further hesitation, pics!

p.s. sorry about the crappy pics; my good camera was packed for school when I took these so I used my parents'. I think you get the idea though.

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Here you can see my two beautiful snare drums
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This is my 12x7" Soprano Snare. I still have to put some aquarians on it (as well as on the popcorn snare)
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Overhead shot of my current kit setup
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Pedal setup
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The only bad thing about getting these two snares is that I have to reconfigure my future kit diagram to accomodate them along with the piccolo toms that go to the left of the hi hat. It's not that bad though, because it's two more drums, and more drums is a good thing!

Please comment!
 
Whoa!! Your kit is getting to Billy Cobham proportions. I like the small collection of snares available to play and the tom arrangement.
 
ok so here's the deal. This has been on my mind for a few months now and I think it's going to be awesome. Here's the skinny. I went to see the Philadelphia Philharmonic this summer, and they played Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz, who just so happens to be my favorite composer. I'd never heard this piece before, and during the fourth movement I heard something that made me perk up. Back from the percussion section came this dark, intriguing, spooky, unusual bell sound. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before, but it sounded so fantastic! I had to know what it was. View this link to see what I'm talking about! Skip to about 2:55 and you'll see what I mean. click here
Doesn't that sound fantastic!?!? I had to know what it was. I asked one of my teachers at the time if he knew what it was, and he told me that back when Berlioz originally wrote the piece, it called for two church bells cast to C and G below the bass clef. In other words, they're really low pitched. He told me that the bells were originally cast just for the piece, and are now in some museum. They cost well over $10,000 to make, which is way too much money. He told me something about bass chimes, which are a bit more reasonably priced. This really excited me, so I did some research and stumbled across this website. I found what I was looking for!

After some more research, I found some articles on how to make your own chimes. I figured, "hey, I've got the skills and the tools to do this, I'm going for it!" So basically, I'm making a set of these bass chimes and putting them on my drumset! How awesome is that going to be?!?! I'll flip them so the striking end is on the bottom, suspend them with a rack that I'll have to fabricate, and play them with pedals with custom beaters that I'll have to make also. But the general concept I came up with is:

Make 8 bass chimes, 4 on each side of my kit, with double pedals to reach each one. I will tune them to the C# Harmonic Minor scale below the bass clef, so they match the key signature of my toms, and they will be set up like organ pipes on the sides of my kit for an awesome visual effect as well.

The way I figure it, no one else has these, which will pretty much make my kit one of the most unique drumsets in the world! Once I add all the rest of my stuff from my plans, this is going to be one bad a** kit! I'll have some specs and plans up later.

The only bad thing is, since I'm at college now, I won't be able to work on them for a while, but I think it's totally worth the wait. Please let me know what you think about this idea, or if you know of anyone else who uses this concept. Peace out!
 
ok so here's the deal. This has been on my mind for a few months now and I think it's going to be awesome. Here's the skinny. I went to see the Philadelphia Philharmonic this summer, and they played Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz, who just so happens to be my favorite composer. I'd never heard this piece before, and during the fourth movement I heard something that made me perk up. Back from the percussion section came this dark, intriguing, spooky, unusual bell sound. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before, but it sounded so fantastic! I had to know what it was. View this link to see what I'm talking about! Skip to about 2:55 and you'll see what I mean. click here
Doesn't that sound fantastic!?!? I had to know what it was. I asked one of my teachers at the time if he knew what it was, and he told me that back when Berlioz originally wrote the piece, it called for two church bells cast to C and G below the bass clef. In other words, they're really low pitched. He told me that the bells were originally cast just for the piece, and are now in some museum. They cost well over $10,000 to make, which is way too much money. He told me something about bass chimes, which are a bit more reasonably priced. This really excited me, so I did some research and stumbled across this website. I found what I was looking for!

After some more research, I found some articles on how to make your own chimes. I figured, "hey, I've got the skills and the tools to do this, I'm going for it!" So basically, I'm making a set of these bass chimes and putting them on my drumset! How awesome is that going to be?!?! I'll flip them so the striking end is on the bottom, suspend them with a rack that I'll have to fabricate, and play them with pedals with custom beaters that I'll have to make also. But the general concept I came up with is:

Make 8 bass chimes, 4 on each side of my kit, with double pedals to reach each one. I will tune them to the C# Harmonic Minor scale below the bass clef, so they match the key signature of my toms, and they will be set up like organ pipes on the sides of my kit for an awesome visual effect as well.

The way I figure it, no one else has these, which will pretty much make my kit one of the most unique drumsets in the world! Once I add all the rest of my stuff from my plans, this is going to be one bad a** kit! I'll have some specs and plans up later.

The only bad thing is, since I'm at college now, I won't be able to work on them for a while, but I think it's totally worth the wait. Please let me know what you think about this idea, or if you know of anyone else who uses this concept. Peace out!


OK, this idea does sound amazing and I say GO FOR IT...I just read through this entire thread and am totally JAZZED over your enthusiasm and am impressed over your planning on this kit...keep it up and OH, one thing I did not seem to get reading through this thread. You said that you were going to post your tuning and that is something I do not recall reading...did I miss it or have you? Anyway SWEET kit, love to see the work in progress and I am coming back to check up on this one! Thanks for sharing.

Jim
 
OK, this idea does sound amazing and I say GO FOR IT...I just read through this entire thread and am totally JAZZED over your enthusiasm and am impressed over your planning on this kit...keep it up and OH, one thing I did not seem to get reading through this thread. You said that you were going to post your tuning and that is something I do not recall reading...did I miss it or have you? Anyway SWEET kit, love to see the work in progress and I am coming back to check up on this one! Thanks for sharing.

Jim

Thanks! I had said that I would post my tunings earlier in the thread and then totally forgot so here you go. It's a chart of my tunings and states the intervals between each drum. Any questions or comments, feel free to ask.
 

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Thanks! I had said that I would post my tunings earlier in the thread and then totally forgot so here you go. It's a chart of my tunings and states the intervals between each drum. Any questions or comments, feel free to ask.


Thanks, will look it over...leaving to go home and pack so cannot right now...going to Grand Canyon for about 5 days :)
 
I'm going to admit, I think those are absolutely gorgeous drums.

In spite of the fact that I'm a) not a fan of Mapex and b) not a fan of rather big kits, I really do believe that is one of the prettier kits I've seen in my life.

It's rare to see a big kit that is diverse in layout, but still looks unified and also (most likely) a very comfortable kit to play. It looks like this is a very well planned kit, unlike some big kits which look very much like Franken-kits even if they aren't.

You've done a great job in putting together a kit that in every way is aesthetically pleasing, economical and practical, and I wouldn't doubt sonically beautiful.

Mucho props.
 
I'm going to admit, I think those are absolutely gorgeous drums.

In spite of the fact that I'm a) not a fan of Mapex and b) not a fan of rather big kits, I really do believe that is one of the prettier kits I've seen in my life.

It's rare to see a big kit that is diverse in layout, but still looks unified and also (most likely) a very comfortable kit to play. It looks like this is a very well planned kit, unlike some big kits which look very much like Franken-kits even if they aren't.

You've done a great job in putting together a kit that in every way is aesthetically pleasing, economical and practical, and I wouldn't doubt sonically beautiful.

Mucho props.

Thanks so much! It's always great to hear comments like this. Much appreciation
 
great setup. would love to have a play on it. I like what you have done with the china, how does that sound? oh and by the way, is the smallest tom from a set of marching quads? great setup, keep up the good work

- ash
 
great setup. would love to have a play on it. I like what you have done with the china, how does that sound? oh and by the way, is the smallest tom from a set of marching quads? great setup, keep up the good work

- ash

thanks. the china sounds amazing. It has an amazing attack with a really quick decay. It cuts like you wouldn't believe. And yes, the 6" tom is from a set of pearl marching quints. I took the tom, took off the wrap, cut it down in depth, drilled a hole for a mounting arm, sanded it down, polished the hardware, and clearcoated it. With the studio-x on it, it sounds amazing. Thanks for the comment
 
Well, since I'm up at college, it's only fitting that I search for some other musicians to play with. I don't have my kit up here yet, because I still need to fix my truck, but I know a guy from wind ensemble that brought his Gretsch Catalina Maple kit up, and I've been jamming around on that. Right now I've found some really top notch guitarists that want me to join their band if their drummer doesn't last, which it's looking like it is. Of course I was hesitant because I don't randomly accept band invitations. I like to scope 'em out first and make sure they're worth playing with. Well, I did, and I'm totally psyched to be their choice for drummer now, because their band rocks. I would be playing some metal/rock/hardcore, but it's progressive in the sense that I wouldn't be limited to fast double bass and blast beats. I would be able to utilize my entire kit and still fit the musical spectrum of the band. It's what I've been waiting for for a very long time. Hopefully things work out.

So anyway, I have to fix my truck during thanksgiving break, and then I'm bringing that and my drums up :p I'm so excited to be able to finally bring up my babies. I've been without them for over a month now and I'm going CRAZY!!! I went home last weekend to be in my best friend's wedding, and I couldn't play them, because I have my pedals on my practice kit here in new york, and couldn't bring them on the flight. Ugh, imagine staring at your heart and soul and not being able to do anything with 'em. It's terrible let me tell you. So anyway, I'm spilling my guts, and nobody likes these types of posts, so I'm cutting it short. I'll keep you all updated on this whole band situation as it develops. Peace out!
 
Wow, 2900 views! You guys are awesome!

It's almost thanksgiving, so I get to go home and see my babies :) The best part is, I'm bringing them up with me afterwards. I'm so excited!

I'll have some updates once I bring them up here to NY. I bought some more accessories that I'm dying to put on. I got another jamblock for my left foot, a new cowbell which I'm debating where it should go (left foot or right hand), and some jingles from a broken tambourine that I'm going to make into one of those factory metal cross things (the ones that sizzle).

Also, I made that band that I auditioned for. It's called Centuries, and we're in the process of writing some songs right now. We have two so far, and we're still trying to get some more. Once we get them tight we're going to go record at RedBooth Studios here in Rochester and put out a demo. I'm practicing on a Pearl Session 5 piece right now with the band, so I have yet to adapt my parts to a larger kit, but I have some ideas that I think will work well with the musical spectrum of the band.

So even though this isn't an update, I feel I should let everyone know how things are going. Once again, please comment; I love getting feedback from fellow drummers.
 
Sounds like things are going well. Glad to hear you got into that band, must be exciting to be bringing your own kit up to play on. The best thing about getting new gear is seeing how it integrates in a musical situation, bringing an entire kit into the mix will be awesome. Glad to hear you're going to be putting out some demos, make sure you give us all a listen!
 
glad to hear that you and the kit will be back together...that will be sweet and that means we will certainly have an update soon! Keep us posted as the kit grows. Waiting as well to hear some demo music....Have a happy thanksgiving!
 
Did I ever mention that my rack, hi hat stand, and ride stand were previously owned by Matt Greiner of August Burns Red? Yea, Ebay is my friend :-D He lives only an hour away from me, so I went to his house to pick everything up and got to meet him and check out his new kit and everything. What an experience that was! If you look on Youtube for the video "Composure" by ABR, you can see 'em in action. The hi-hat stand and rack legs still had a little dirt on the legs from the dirt road in the video when I got them. I got a few other random pieces of hardware too, and I did the math; turns out I got $900 of equipment for only $300. So yes, Ebay is DEFINITELY my friend. :)
 
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