Older players - gear and other changes you've made?

[Stickman]

and bass player proof overhead mic stands

Lol.. does it say that on the packaging?
Love the toppers.. also looking for them on the floor is fun sometimes..

 

[TMe]

I must be old before my time...

I think it's wise to ask "Will I want to be doing this when I'm 70? Or 75?" and make the changes now, rather than wait until it's time - or too late.

I see a lot of younger drummers doing just that. Smaller kits, lighter gear, better technique...

Anything that's a smart choice for a 70-year-old drummer is probably a smart choice for a 20-year-old drummer. There are a lot of impressive power basher drummers who stopped playing in middle age because their bodies couldn't take it anymore. It's easier to make changes when you're still relatively young than wait till later and try to undo a few decades of habit (and possibly damage).

 

[Elvis]

I'm noticing a lot of comments have to do with packing the drums in and out of the gig.
Someone clued me onto something a while back.
The ultimate answer to packing drums around? I wouldn't know, but it seems to be something worth considering anyway.
It's a tom bag, but its big enough to house a complete 18/12/14 kit, possibly with snare drum (depending on depths).
Anyone got any experience with the Protec CP200WL?

 

[B]

Other changes I've made

I have less of an attitude about other people suggesting parts to me. And if I have a question about something I'm playing, I'll ask people what they prefer. It just happened the other day, literally on stage during the line check in Huntsville, Alabama And I asked the bass player what bass drum part he preferred.

And I've started to figure out how to play strong, and how to hold a pocket without playing loudly, or slamming it down someone's throat. I had a lot of youthful exuberance, Intellectually, I knew that hitting too hard changed the feel of the pocket ( and also the sound of the drums ) but that's not something that's easily or quickly overcome on stage. It can take years to figure that out, at least for me it did.

 

[TMe]

Gone are the slackly tuned hydraulic heads, duct tape, and big sticks. I want lots of bounce now, and nice bright attack from the drums. Ring? What ring? I don't hear anything.

 

[Cmdr. Ross]

For me at 52, it's about downsizing my kit. I just learned to do more with less and it's been a great journey finding out how.
Another was being more choosy about what gigs I take. The days of being up until 2am loading up my car are over.

 

[dboomer]

Anyone got any experience with the Protec CP200WL?

I tried one but sent it back. It wasn’t top quality and didn’t really fit my bop kit very well.

 

[TMe]

Hmmm... is it just me, or does a lot of this discussion sound like Rock drummers realizing that Jazz drummers were right after all? It seems we olde Rocke drummers are moving to Jazz kits and Jazz technique. I wonder if this has less to do with age, and more to do with a consensus developing about gear and technique? I keep seeing young drummers doing the same thing, so it isn't just us geezers moving in that direction.

 

[AzHeat]

^^Rock drummers follow what they see on TV. With the exception of a few bands, kits have drastically shrunk over that last decade or so. I remember when I was younger and saw a 4 pc set on stage. My immediate reaction was pfffft that guy’s gonna suck! Today it’s the opposite. More than impressEd when someone can pull off some of those old prog songs with a 4 or 5 piece. I guess some of us grew up. Others of us felt the extreme back pain and stopped gigging till we had rethought everything.

 

[Benthedrummer]

Other than go from Evans back to Remo, no changes.

My hardware bag is heavy, but it's on wheels.

For the first time........I think I have been able to differentiate between equivalent heads between these two companies.

The Emperor clear and the Evans G2 clear...... heavens above.

 

[2 hit wonder]

I never knew jazz drummers played a set with diff sized drums from rock.
I knew jazz technique was more advanced and nuanced, but that's a developmental issue you address with time played.

Wish I had bought a 20" Signia kick in addition to the three 22" ones i have. I'm sure some are around the UK. Too far for me.

 

[Spreggy]

I'm noticing a lot of comments have to do with packing the drums in and out of the gig.
Someone clued me onto something a while back.
The ultimate answer to packing drums around? I wouldn't know, but it seems to be something worth considering anyway.
It's a tom bag, but its big enough to house a complete 18/12/14 kit, possibly with snare drum (depending on depths).
Anyone got any experience with the Protec CP200WL?

Got it, like it so far. For my set it's all drums except the bass, plus throne seat and stick bag. Lots of room in that thing.

 

[TMe]

I never knew jazz drummers played a set with diff sized drums from rock.

I'm thinking of old school Jazz drummers. These days, there are plenty of Rock guys playing on smaller kits, and plenty of Jazz guys on monster kits. I think the Rock drummers are just getting more sensible about matching the kit with the stage size. If all you're playing are local bars, does it really make sense to have a Neil Peart sized kit? If you're moving your gear in a Toyota Corolla, do you really want double 24" kick drums?

 

[2 hit wonder]

I'm thinking of old school Jazz drummers. These days, there are plenty of Rock guys playing on smaller kits, and plenty of Jazz guys on monster kits. I think the Rock drummers are just getting more sensible about matching the kit with the stage size. If all you're playing are local bars, does it really make sense to have a Neil Peart sized kit? If you're moving your gear in a Toyota Corolla, do you really want double 24" kick drums?

No, I don't want to move a big kit for my work. I'm 1 up, 1 dn and don't even have cymbal stands. They're on clamps and boom arms.

I meant that I didn't know until recently jazz guys sometimes play smaller drummed kits.

 

[Living Dead Drummer]

While I'm not over 50 yet, I have made some similar changes in the last year. I tour regularly, sometimes months at a time, and outside of help at a local show, or a larger festival, I don't have a drum tech. Last year I got a nice sized roller cart that allows me to get the whole kit (minus the hardware case) in one trip. Before I what using a dolly and it would take me 3-4 trips for everything. I also got a new trap case for my hardware one with wheels and a pull out handle. Before the case I used had no wheels, hence the dolly.
I also condensed my stands a little. Typically I used 2 Crashes, Ride, & a China, that's 4 cymbal stands. Now I use 3 and either clamp the china to the crash, or use a stand that has multiple spaces to accommodate more than one cymbal arm. When I got my new kit some years back from Yamaha I got a 24" kick, these did not come standard with a tom mount on the bass drum, and in fact the 4 kits I owned prior all had virgin bass drums. Well now I need an extra snare stand or multi stand for my toms... First thing I did was give the 24" back to Yamaha and have them drill a tom mount on it. Lastly I invested in my throne. I was happy using an old round top forever, but once I started getting some lower back pain I got one of those Ahead Spinal-G thrones. My back has been much better now, and I actually bought two! One for the studio and one for the road.
Oh, and I forgot! I got a special pillow that helps with better neck support last year. Between head banging on stage and sleeping on a cramped bus my neck was getting destroyed. The pillow is a staple on the road now.
I downsized greatly for local throw-and-go gigs too. Single braced hardware, and a 20" kick with toms that are 8/10/14. No more big 24" for bar gigs.

 

[TMe]

Last year I got a nice sized roller cart...

I gotta get that. Usually it's not an issue, but last year I played a bar where the nearest parking spot was four blocks away. I didn't have anyone to help with the gear, so that meant a lot of schlepping back and forth.

 

[bermuda]

A cart is de rigueur for anyone who drums and drives.

 

[Winston_Wolf]

The cart is another piece of the puzzle I need to invest in. Getting bags for all of my drums and a rolling hardware bag really makes load in and out a lot easier (and packing everything into the car less stressful) but the roller cart to cut the number of trips is something I hadn't really put much thought into until now.

 

[alparrott]

The cart is another piece of the puzzle I need to invest in. Getting bags for all of my drums and a rolling hardware bag really makes load in and out a lot easier (and packing everything into the car less stressful) but the roller cart to cut the number of trips is something I hadn't really put much thought into until now.

If it weighs more than 20 pounds, it needs wheels or something with wheels to carry it.

 

[Trickroll]

My only recent [though gradual] gear change has been to my cymbal setup. I've been using flat rides for my primary ride and smaller/lighter crash cymbals.

I think it's related to changes in my hearing. Can't really hear passed the overtones and wash of my regular rides anymore.