M
Matt Bo Eder
Guest
Over the years I've owned lots of drums. I've never ventured to more than two rack toms and a floor tom, and more often than not, I'll gig with just two, one rack tom and one floor tom. (I'm not counting the time I tried two bass drums and five toms - that was just an indulgence I didn't plan on ever taking out of the house!). I'm always playing on small stages or I'm transporting them myself and can get everything into the venue with one trip on my Rock n Roller cart!
As some of you have seen, I just acquired a new 4-piece kit and I love it. And the thought occurred to me when I took it out for it's first live spin that it would be cool to have the exact same drum sizes cased up in my garage ready to go whenever I had to play somewhere. So I've been looking into other kits to satisfy that requirement.
But then I thought about having something completely different, thinking it may be good to have two very different kinds of kits depending on what kind of playing I needed to be doing. My requirements, just due to my physical size, would be that if I went with two rack toms on the bass drum, then it would have to be a 20" bass drum so it was comfortable (my current 4-piece is a 16x22 bass drum with a 9x13 rack tom and 16x16 floor tom). One rack tom on a 22" is comfortable. To be comfortable with two rack toms, then a 20" is the biggest I would go.
So I'm thinking a 20 bass drum with 7x10, 8x12, 14x14, and 14x16 toms. Then I figure I can be available for bands that really wanted a Steve Gadd or Vinnie clone. This would be considered the "fusion" set in a solid color (as opposed to the vintage wrap I have on my 4-piece).
I still think its a gamble because who's to say I won't just set-up two toms for it because I didn't need the other two? Most cover bands I play in don't need four toms. They just want good solid time.
But the chance to experiment and see if I can really enjoy two racks and two floors is a strong pull. I know if I just played drum solos all day, at least I'd have a multitude of sonic voices to choose from. And I know I teased Andy about just playing four drums, and he tried it and liked it. I could be doing the opposite. I'll try more drums (like he uses on a regular basis) to see if I like it enough to carry around the extra two drums. If I didn't like it, I could always use it as a smaller 4-piece (12/14/20) I suppose.
What do you think? Just get a second 4-piece kit to live in cases waiting to go out? Or get a two-up and two-down set and be all "fusion-y"? Tony Williams did a very cool multi-tom solo before launching into the tune Sister Cheryl and that would be something very cool to be able to do (he used two rack toms, and three floor toms!) although I wouldn't be anywhere near his proficiency, but just having the extra voices might be fun.
As some of you have seen, I just acquired a new 4-piece kit and I love it. And the thought occurred to me when I took it out for it's first live spin that it would be cool to have the exact same drum sizes cased up in my garage ready to go whenever I had to play somewhere. So I've been looking into other kits to satisfy that requirement.
But then I thought about having something completely different, thinking it may be good to have two very different kinds of kits depending on what kind of playing I needed to be doing. My requirements, just due to my physical size, would be that if I went with two rack toms on the bass drum, then it would have to be a 20" bass drum so it was comfortable (my current 4-piece is a 16x22 bass drum with a 9x13 rack tom and 16x16 floor tom). One rack tom on a 22" is comfortable. To be comfortable with two rack toms, then a 20" is the biggest I would go.
So I'm thinking a 20 bass drum with 7x10, 8x12, 14x14, and 14x16 toms. Then I figure I can be available for bands that really wanted a Steve Gadd or Vinnie clone. This would be considered the "fusion" set in a solid color (as opposed to the vintage wrap I have on my 4-piece).
I still think its a gamble because who's to say I won't just set-up two toms for it because I didn't need the other two? Most cover bands I play in don't need four toms. They just want good solid time.
But the chance to experiment and see if I can really enjoy two racks and two floors is a strong pull. I know if I just played drum solos all day, at least I'd have a multitude of sonic voices to choose from. And I know I teased Andy about just playing four drums, and he tried it and liked it. I could be doing the opposite. I'll try more drums (like he uses on a regular basis) to see if I like it enough to carry around the extra two drums. If I didn't like it, I could always use it as a smaller 4-piece (12/14/20) I suppose.
What do you think? Just get a second 4-piece kit to live in cases waiting to go out? Or get a two-up and two-down set and be all "fusion-y"? Tony Williams did a very cool multi-tom solo before launching into the tune Sister Cheryl and that would be something very cool to be able to do (he used two rack toms, and three floor toms!) although I wouldn't be anywhere near his proficiency, but just having the extra voices might be fun.
