Pearl Rhythm Traveler

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Looks like the Annual Homeless Alcoholic picnic, and everyone stayed home.
 
Looks like the Annual Homeless Alcoholic picnic, and everyone stayed home.
Larry is a successful Artist, Glass Blower, and sculptor. He throws this 4th of July party every year. There were over 200 people there. Most of them were scattered about the twenty acres of property on his farm. They camp there every year for a few days.
Several bands play over the weekend. There are venders with food. You can't see the most of the people in the vids.
It's a bit to Hippied-out for me so I just show up an hour before the gig and leave a few hours afterward! It is fun though, and I like the people.
I kid these people all the time and I call them Hippies. I love these folks and they love me. We have a lot of fun picking at each other.
 
Wow, those RT's sound great. Whoever did the micing did a great job!
The PA was crap and there were no monitors on stage! It was hard to hear up there!
We used a cheap Nady bass drum mic, A snare mic that was taped to my hat stand, And one other mic that was taped to my Cymbal/Floor tom stand on the right of the bass drum.
 
Here is the RT at a live outdoor party un-mic-ed. It was recorded with a small mp3 recorder placed in the crowd.
 

Attachments

  • MR Charlie.mp3
    6.8 MB · Views: 448
  • Track4.mp3
    6.8 MB · Views: 309
I got a used RT years ago- the original owner had parted out a lot of it. Spurs were gone, hardware gone... and the thing was in pretty bad shape. I cleaned it up a bit, swapped out some heads, and found a few decent uses for it.

Most recently, I use the toms as timbale-type drums and use the bass as a mounted gong drum. I never did put new spurs on the kick, though. Probably should. Instead, though, I've used my Ludwig kick and mounted the short toms super low over the Luddie.

Nifty kit for what it is. Won't work on its own for most of my uses, but the mesh heads are a cool option for practice. I've set the 14" tom up in my living room in front of the TV and used it as a practice pad for (nearly) silent practice.
 
I got a used RT years ago- the original owner had parted out a lot of it. Spurs were gone, hardware gone... and the thing was in pretty bad shape. I cleaned it up a bit, swapped out some heads, and found a few decent uses for it.

Most recently, I use the toms as timbale-type drums and use the bass as a mounted gong drum. I never did put new spurs on the kick, though. Probably should. Instead, though, I've used my Ludwig kick and mounted the short toms super low over the Luddie.

Nifty kit for what it is. Won't work on its own for most of my uses, but the mesh heads are a cool option for practice. I've set the 14" tom up in my living room in front of the TV and used it as a practice pad for (nearly) silent practice.
I also thought of setting the RT toms on a stand and using them as Timbales with my big kit. The snare would be good as a side snare also. I like the idea of the bass as a gong drum! Good ideas!
 
I like that snare almost as much as I like Gruntersdad's avatar :)
 
I like that snare almost as much as I like Gruntersdad's avatar :)
Thanks, It took me some trials to get that little snare with no snare beds and only six lugs to sound like that. It was a challenge!
I wound up using a Remo PS3 and I had to add some dampening to the batter. The drum had a lot of ring and buzz that I had to lose.
 
Hey Bob, I like your band's happy vibe :)

Here's a sample of the RT Gig Kit's kick drum and 13" mounted tom in action (the rest of my kit is a collection of spare parts):

http://www.sangrea.net/rijidij/mp3/bm_thrill_15sep09sando.mp3

It sounds pretty good mic'd up IMO. Our sound guy told me that he's mic'd up RTs in the past and said they really scrub up well. I know I got a pleasant surprise when I heard the difference on the night!
 
Hey Bob, I like your band's happy vibe :)

Here's a sample of the RT Gig Kit's kick drum and 13" mounted tom in action (the rest of my kit is a collection of spare parts):

http://www.sangrea.net/rijidij/mp3/bm_thrill_15sep09sando.mp3

It sounds pretty good mic'd up IMO. Our sound guy told me that he's mic'd up RTs in the past and said they really scrub up well. I know I got a pleasant surprise when I heard the difference on the night!
Thanks Polly, I like your new avatar! Those old Dead Heads that I chill with are loaded with good vibes.
I liked your Thrill is gone! Your kit sounded great. Here Is my Thrill with Samantha Goodman on vocals. I have the privilege of working with her from time to time. Enjoy!
 

Attachments

  • THRILL.mp3
    2.6 MB · Views: 290
Has anybody thought of converting a Rhythm Traveller set into an electronic set? Pretty simple if you have a soldering iron and a spare day - and a spare module lying around. These kits are perfect candidates for e-kit conversion - mesh heads and everything.
 
Has anybody thought of converting a Rhythm Traveller set into an electronic set? Pretty simple if you have a soldering iron and a spare day - and a spare module lying around. These kits are perfect candidates for e-kit conversion - mesh heads and everything.
Go to post #37 in this thread and follow the link.
 
I liked your Thrill is gone! Your kit sounded great. Here Is my Thrill with Samantha Goodman on vocals. I have the privilege of working with her from time to time. Enjoy!

Thanks Bob. That's a sweet version of Thrill. Your restraint and taste were great, soulful vocs, tasty guitar. It sounds like you were playing a different kit.

I found it a bit surreal the way the RTs little drums leapt into life when they were mic'd up. Since I'm looking for the 12" tom to be the baritone voice of the kit, tuning it is like walking on eggshells - just a few mm turn on one tuning rod makes a noticeable difference!
 
Thanks Bob. That's a sweet version of Thrill. Your restraint and taste were great, soulful vocs, tasty guitar. It sounds like you were playing a different kit.

I found it a bit surreal the way the RTs little drums leapt into life when they were mic'd up. Since I'm looking for the 12" tom to be the baritone voice of the kit, tuning it is like walking on eggshells - just a few mm turn on one tuning rod makes a noticeable difference!
It's amazing what mics and EQ can do along with some mixing software. That was a full mic up in a home studio.

Truth Time Polly, That is my vintage Gretsch Kit on that track. I just wanted to see if anyone would call me on it. I couldn't fool you!
Your Smart! Smart! A Smart one you are!
Love Ya! BDD
 
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It's amazing what mics and EQ can do along with some mixing software. That was a full mic up in a home studio.

Truth Time Polly, That is my vintage Gretsch Kit on that track. I just wanted to see if anyone would call me on it. I couldn't fool you!
Your Smart! Smart! A Smart one you are!
Love Ya! BDD

LOL ("Laugh Out Loud" in SMS-speak :p). I was going to give you a darn good spanking for posting your Gretsch on an RT thread but thought I'd tread more carefully. Consider yourself spanked, young man! As I said, though, lovely version of Thrill.

The mounted tom sound gave it away. It had a rich, double-head tone rather than the RT's distinctive bongo-ish(?) sound.

Talking of smart, Bernard freaked me out by listening to Aydee's playing and then asking if he's left-handed (unless he'd seen Aydee's kit posted and was playing a game). How on earth do you hear that someone is a lefty from an MP3??
 
Bernard freaked me out by listening to Aydee's playing and then asking if he's left-handed (unless he'd seen Aydee's kit posted and was playing a game). How on earth do you hear that someone is a lefty from an MP3??

Aydee's a member of the Lefty's group. It's on his DW page. I strongly suspect Bernhard had the inside track on that one. That said, if you're listening through a good system or phones and you've actually bothered to make sure they're the right way around, you can tell if the stereo image is strong enough.

You're off on that spanking thing again aren't you! Polly, put the kettle on.
 
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