Thank you all for your responses guys
Just landed back, so I'll respond to your questions first, then I'll follow with a back story post (with photo's & video) later on.
I'd like to kick off by saying this was always going to be something brave/bordering on suicidal in terms of our reputation. The honest captures leave nowhere to hide. This video is not intended to display a "recommended" kit layout, more an insight into the kind of boundary pushing R&D we get up to. If it has a specific purpose beyond that, it's to show just what can be done with shell design, shell hardware interface, & bearing edge augmentation. If you tried this without the benefit of those elements, the result would be nowhere near as pleasing/musical across such a tuning range.
Yummy yummy yummy, I've got drums in my tummy!
If I was being especially harsh in a bestest friend sort of way, I'd say that's a lot of drums
IMO there's a clear tonal difference between the 10' tom but even when I close my eye's somehow they still sound like 3 10" drums.
Yes they do, & there's no getting away from that, but the melodic progression has a different flavour to the classic increasing diameters approach. Wether that has merit, is a personal preference.
Funny, when I heard the preliminary test video you made Andy, I fell for the floor tom. The same drum in the final version of the video sounded as if it was tuned much higher--a bit too high for my tastes (though it could be these Bose desktop speakers). Anyway, in this "official" video, the snare drum killed. Wow it sounded amazing! As for the concept with the 10" toms, the middle tom in a traditional depth spoke to me the most. I like to tell people that my Reference Pure toms produce such a "pure" sounding note but that Guru middle 10' tom was something to behold. As always, I'm such an admirer of the innovation that comes from your workshops.
Yes, we did raise the tuning of the floor tom, as well as lower tuning on the deepest 10" tom, & raise it on the shallowest tom. This was to deliver a musical progression that we think works. If you listen to David's "hero" fill at the end of his performance piece, I think it works.
The snare was not a feature of this video. Only mic'd from the top, it lacked a touch of wire definition, but it's really difficult to get this snare to sound bad
Thank you for your kind words
Thanks Florian! David has been informing me about your activities & strong skills over the past two days, so I'm humbled by your approving remark.
Crumbs, those sound so good. The 6" is probably the weakest in the selection but gosh, that 11.5 seems to hold its own against the 'typical' depth one! G2s, right?
Yes, G2's over G1's. The 6" deep tom is doing exactly what I'd expect it to do at that tuning. It's tuned as an 8" tom, & to my ears, much more satisfying. It's a shorter note, & deliberately so, but delivering a very clear fundamental. The deep 10" tom is doing the exact opposite. Lots of lower overtones that enable it to push out a satisfying tone at a tuning that's way lower than you'd normally consider for a 10" tom. Great sounding deep drums is all about overtone control. Something that doesn't feature in 80's power toms, & with predictable thin results & lack of tonal clarity.
Those drums sound so full and organic, just wonderful! They both look and sound spectacular.
Congrats to David for being a Guru artist now.
Two weeks ago we've been discussing hand patterns at my home (after meeting up with Florian Alexandru-Zorn and a few fellow drummers/subscribers to his online lessons), and now David is a Guru artist - crazy news! I'm proud of and glad for you, David. You deserve it.
Thank you Arky, both for your approving words on the drum sounds, but especially our welcoming of David to the Guru roster. Both Dean & I are big fans of David's playing, & his professionalism will become clear in my next post describing the crazy time schedule we had to work to.
Curious as to the tamber, it sounds close amongst the three. Are the heads relatively the same tension (which would be a dream job to play)?
Thanks Les, & no, the tuning was completely different on all toms. Depth can both positively & adversely affect timbre, but can't manipulate pitch in a two headed design. In deeper & small concert toms however, the pitch pipe effect is much stronger.
Thanks for sharing. I was surprised to discover this but I thought the deepest one sounded best to my ears.
Cheers!
Thank you. It's great to hear of personal preferences.
Great! I believe I prefer the middle 10" is the most balanced to my ear. I actually prefer the non-processed version, there is way too much reverb on the processed.
Agreed on the middle 10" tom. It's certainly the size to shoot for if you want wide range tuning ability whilst keeping a pleasing tonal balance. The most shallow & deepest toms are limited to performing well in their own register. Neither would work as well if we reversed the tuning.