PorkPieGuy
Platinum Member
I have a friend who I graduated high school with who went on to music school, moved to LA, landed a major gig, then moved to Nashville where he tours full-time with national acts and has done multiple appearances on the Tonight Show, SNL, the Today Show, Good Morning America, etc. Needless to say, he's "made it" in terms of getting to play drums full time. I was playing a festival with him a little over a year ago, and we were talking about gear a little bit, and at the festival, he had his choice of backline. Even though he is a Gretsch endorsee, he went with DW (they didn't have a Gretsch kit there). I was playing a different stage, and I was curious as to what kind of kit that I would have.
He said something like this: "All of the stages here will have mid-to-upper-grade kits for every stage, so you should be fine with whatever they have for you." Then he said something that really piqued my interest. He said, "I mean, you get the majority of your signature sound from your cymbals and snare anyways." And you know? I think I buy this idea. Now granted, I play kits where the kick drum is muffled and as long as the toms are tuned, don't have much ring, I'm pretty happy with them. I know there are different nuances I like from my kick and toms, but I guess if I wanted to talk about my "signature sound" (good lord, that sounds silly to me), my snare and cymbals would dictate the most of it. I know, I know, I know...your sound comes from your playing. I get that. However, I think there may be a little something to the gear we choose.
What do you think? Do you feel your "sound" comes from primarily your snare and cymbals?
He said something like this: "All of the stages here will have mid-to-upper-grade kits for every stage, so you should be fine with whatever they have for you." Then he said something that really piqued my interest. He said, "I mean, you get the majority of your signature sound from your cymbals and snare anyways." And you know? I think I buy this idea. Now granted, I play kits where the kick drum is muffled and as long as the toms are tuned, don't have much ring, I'm pretty happy with them. I know there are different nuances I like from my kick and toms, but I guess if I wanted to talk about my "signature sound" (good lord, that sounds silly to me), my snare and cymbals would dictate the most of it. I know, I know, I know...your sound comes from your playing. I get that. However, I think there may be a little something to the gear we choose.
What do you think? Do you feel your "sound" comes from primarily your snare and cymbals?