trickg
Silver Member
So my adult daughter just asked me about a line by Ricardo Montalban in the movie Spy Kids 3-D. He makes a comment about his wheelchair, stating, "And don't touch the wheelchair. It's genuine Corinthian leather." She didn't get it, but I immediately got the inside joke and reference.
For those who may not remember or know, this is a direct reference to the 1970s Chrysler ads for the Cordoba Ricardo Montalban did where he talks about the "fine," "smooth," or "rich" Corinthian leather upholstery. Of course we now know that Corinthian leather isn't a real thing - it was a term the advertising company came up with because they thought it sounded good and worked toward marketing both the Lebaron and the Cordoba. Ultimately it was just leather, and from what I gather, the leather they used was actually sourced in New Jersey. Go figure.
Marketing is an interesting thing, particularly where drums are concerned. Now is our chance to list off and talk about some of the things used in marketing drums that serve to differentiate between amateur or pro level drums, or other options that suggest that something is better than something else. Many of these things do change the sound of drums to varying degrees, but just as often, all of the cool upgrades doesn't make much difference for a kit that's poorly set up and poorly tuned.
I'll start with a couple that immediately come to mind:
Silver paint inside of Gretsch drums.
"Hand Hammered" cymbals. In some cases of hand hammering, the hammer itself is a pneumatic hammer, but the cymbal smith chooses where it strikes, rather than other companies that actually have a guy banging on the cymbal with a real hammer.
For those who may not remember or know, this is a direct reference to the 1970s Chrysler ads for the Cordoba Ricardo Montalban did where he talks about the "fine," "smooth," or "rich" Corinthian leather upholstery. Of course we now know that Corinthian leather isn't a real thing - it was a term the advertising company came up with because they thought it sounded good and worked toward marketing both the Lebaron and the Cordoba. Ultimately it was just leather, and from what I gather, the leather they used was actually sourced in New Jersey. Go figure.
Marketing is an interesting thing, particularly where drums are concerned. Now is our chance to list off and talk about some of the things used in marketing drums that serve to differentiate between amateur or pro level drums, or other options that suggest that something is better than something else. Many of these things do change the sound of drums to varying degrees, but just as often, all of the cool upgrades doesn't make much difference for a kit that's poorly set up and poorly tuned.
I'll start with a couple that immediately come to mind:
Silver paint inside of Gretsch drums.
"Hand Hammered" cymbals. In some cases of hand hammering, the hammer itself is a pneumatic hammer, but the cymbal smith chooses where it strikes, rather than other companies that actually have a guy banging on the cymbal with a real hammer.