Pearl Rhythm Traveler

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!

Polly, I love your band's version of this number. The whole thing is great. Your playing, vocals, guitar, everything. Superb feel with a bit of grit in there too.
 
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.

Ah, I see. I got suckered in lol. I never thought of the headphone thing but it makes sense.

Ta for the comments on Thill, KIS :) I was pretty happy with the stage sound at that gig - and the RT tom and kick (and Premier snare for that matter) scrubbed up a lot better than I expected. I just wish I didn't speed up, but at least it's a clear demo of the RT in action.
 
Man, I love the rhythm traveller, i bought mine back in i think 2000 or '01 just for shiznitzengiggles. I ran down to radio shack and bought a few 1" piezo tranducers and 1/4" panel jacks, along with a soldering iron. The piezo's literally bolted right onto the underside of the wire mesh heads via a pair of micro bolts/ nuts and then i just drilled out holes in the shells to mount the panel jacks in. I even mounted piezo's onto the plastic practice cymbals that came with the kit. It took me a while to dial them into my trusty alesis d4, but it worked!! Then, in 2004, i sold my house in Florida and put my Ludwig kit into storage at my sister's house and packed everything i owned into my fifteen year old honda accord (including the R/T kit) and headed out to stay with my buddy in Denver, Colorado. For 2 years, my little R/T kit was my primary gig and studio (rofl) kit!! The only weakness is the bass drum lacks punch, but hey, slap a trigger on it and of course, you're golden. If you replace the stock tom heads with genera G2's and the snare with a coated ambassador, no one will be able to tell you're playing the lil' runt!! Here's a track i did on pro-tools in my buddy's basement with the R/T kit:

http://www.myspace.com/soundburnband
 
Thanks for the contribution diosdude! I have had my RT for three months now and I still enjoy it! I just removed the crappy stock heads and I put Remo Clear Emperors on the toms yesterday, This was my latest improvement in addition to the improvements that I have already made to the snare and the bass. I love this kit! Im not an electro guy and I've never used the mesh heads. I can see how an electro player would love this kit though!
 
New traveler pic from free concert for city halloween party on the green in Waterbury Ct.
It was a beautiful fall day and I enjoyed every min of it! The kids had a costume parade after The String Band and I played.
 

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Awww, ain't it a cute li'l thing! I like the RTs too :)

Bob, if you put black heads on it (the RTs), it would look amazing.

They really are a cool little kit. When I first got mine I wasn't sure it was a good buy but it grows on you as you get used to the quirky sound work out what sounds right in the toms' narrow sweet spot tuning range.
 
Awww, ain't it a cute li'l thing! I like the RTs too :)

Bob, if you put black heads on it (the RTs), it would look amazing.

They really are a cool little kit. When I first got mine I wasn't sure it was a good buy but it grows on you as you get used to the quirky sound work out what sounds right in the toms' narrow sweet spot tuning range.
Ummm... Dat's a lotta Black! Ya know what Im sayin girl, YO! Maybe I should get some Zildjian Pitch Black Pies too yo! Yea, Thats what Im talkin about.
I may just do that! Thanks for the idea!
 
Here's a track i did on pro-tools in my buddy's basement with the R/T kit:

DiosDude, I really liked that track. It had a heavy kind of vibe but your playing was great with quiet to loud dynamics. You also really pushed that song along with your ride playing very well. Cool!

Somebody in that group likes Big Head Todd and the Monsters.

Am I wrong?
 
I bought a six dollar laundry bag for use as an inexpensive travel bag for the toms and snare for the RT. I thought that it was fit solution given the nature of the RT.
 

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After seeing a Taye "Go Kit" on a 1 1/2" tube rack i got inspired to come up with a rack of my own. I had a couple extra T-leg assemblies from an ICON rack lying around and an extra Gibraltar "V" bar that I wasn't using, so i was in business. I scrounged around for extra clamps and this was the result:

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As always, the bass drum kept wanting to escape, so i ended up mounting the tom arm onto the bass drum and then the other end to the rack to anchor it and it works great. Except for the bass drum and pedals, the only thing that touches the floor are the 4 rack rubber feet (I hate the forrest of tripod legs that i get with multiple stands!!!)
 
After seeing a Taye "Go Kit" on a 1 1/2" tube rack i got inspired to come up with a rack of my own. I had a couple extra T-leg assemblies from an ICON rack lying around and an extra Gibraltar "V" bar that I wasn't using, so i was in business. I scrounged around for extra clamps and this was the result:

pearlRTtraveller003.jpg


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pearlRTtraveller004.jpg


As always, the bass drum kept wanting to escape, so i ended up mounting the tom arm onto the bass drum and then the other end to the rack to anchor it and it works great. Except for the bass drum and pedals, the only thing that touches the floor are the 4 rack rubber feet (I hate the forrest of tripod legs that i get with multiple stands!!!)
Great job on that rack diosdude! talk about overkill! LOL
Being that you already owned most of the stuff, It is a great idea.

Denis, Everyone liked the laundry bag idea. My band mates had a good laugh when I showed up with it at practice.
 
My newest invention with the RT toms.

I put super tightly tuned single ply heads on the RT toms and I put them on a stand.
I use them on the left side of my kit, Or sometimes my conga player plays them.

What should I call them?
We used to call them Tim-Toms back in drum corps.

I also use my RT Bass Drum and Snare Drum with a 7x10 ddrum Rack Tom and a 12x14 ddrum floor tom as seen in the pics at the bottom of this post.
 

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Bob, that's a great name. I might steal that :)
We had a drummer named Tim, and a drummer named Tom that played the triple drums in our drum corps. We called the drums, Tim Toms! LOL!
They were named after the sound of the drums and the players names.
 
I did a very similar thing to what you have done. On my stage customs I tuned the 10 and 12 inch toms tight and put them off to the side like timbales...I don't have any pictures because I've scaled back since then. This picture is about a year old.
dippydrum
 
The RT kit in the home studio.
Fun, Fun, Fun!
 

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The Rt being used as a Jazz kit.
 

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Finally changed from the muffled heads to regular heads to play at a college bball game. Used the laundry bag trick and a handcart and was able to carry the entire kit plus stands by myself! Also, this kit has balls! I was shocked at the volume I could get out of it and the quality of the sound even though it was in a gymnasium! This kit is a great value!
 
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