Bo Eder
Platinum Member
I wanted to throw this out and get some opinions. As some of you know, I did a review of my Sonor Bop kit and love it. What I didn't expect was how much I liked that little 18" bass drum once it was mic'd up and recorded. Most of my life has been spent with 22" and 24" bass drums, and I've settled in on the 20" with my pro kit. But this affordable little kit with the 18" bass drum (being used in a rock context no less) has me thinking maybe I could live with smaller.
I love Bernard Purdie's sound on all the hits, and Peter Erskine played an 18" bass drum with the Jaco Pastorius big band on the live album, Invitation years ago that I just loved. And all that great playing Will Kennedy did with the Yellowjackets I believe was when he went small with his Sonors back in the day. Sometimes I wonder if fate has been staring me in the face and I've just been ignoring it? I do love moving alot of air with the bigger bass drums, and it's nice to hear other things rattle when I slam my big bass drums, but I did notice that on a recording, I really couldn't hear a difference between the little 18" and a bigger drum. If I'm at the point now where I go out and mostly mic up all the time anyway, do you guys think it makes sense to carry a larger bass drum just because?
This is, of course, a theoretical debate designed to go on and on, but I'm seriously considering just jettisoning the idea of the larger bass drum on my next high-end kit and trying it. I suppose I could always just add a bigger bass drum later if I'm not happy with it, but I've never played, say, a Sonor SQ2 18" bass drum. Or other high-end little drums. Maybe it's time I found out why Bernard Purdie always played the 18. What do you guys think?
I love Bernard Purdie's sound on all the hits, and Peter Erskine played an 18" bass drum with the Jaco Pastorius big band on the live album, Invitation years ago that I just loved. And all that great playing Will Kennedy did with the Yellowjackets I believe was when he went small with his Sonors back in the day. Sometimes I wonder if fate has been staring me in the face and I've just been ignoring it? I do love moving alot of air with the bigger bass drums, and it's nice to hear other things rattle when I slam my big bass drums, but I did notice that on a recording, I really couldn't hear a difference between the little 18" and a bigger drum. If I'm at the point now where I go out and mostly mic up all the time anyway, do you guys think it makes sense to carry a larger bass drum just because?
This is, of course, a theoretical debate designed to go on and on, but I'm seriously considering just jettisoning the idea of the larger bass drum on my next high-end kit and trying it. I suppose I could always just add a bigger bass drum later if I'm not happy with it, but I've never played, say, a Sonor SQ2 18" bass drum. Or other high-end little drums. Maybe it's time I found out why Bernard Purdie always played the 18. What do you guys think?