World's first seamless spun aluminum drum sets

Thanks, Andy!
Here are the tracking notes from Josh:

Kit was 13.16.20 seamless aluminum

13x9- coated ambassador x/clear ambassador
16x14- coated ambassador/clear ambassador
20x14- smooth white emperor batter/coated ambassador reso
14x6.5 Spun Copper- Oriphonic layout- Evans g2/ambassador hazy

Cymbals:
16" k dark medium/a
20" kcon medium thin low
20" k dark thin
24" k light

Mics:

Kick Inside: MD421
Kick Outside: Flea U47
Snare Top: 57
Snare Bottom: 57
Rack Tom: Josephson E22s
Floor Tom: Josephson E22s
Hats: Sm7b
OHs: AA CM414
Room Stereo: AEA r88
Room Mono: Telefunken M80

I didn't put a ton of processing on this one. Mainly just some compression here and there. Very minimal eq...mainly just cleaned up a little recording mud here and there. The huge sound you are hearing is a result of the room we recorded in more than anything...and of course the drums.

Cameras: 2 C100 MK1, C100 MK2, Sony A7s2
 
An interesting concept and those drums looks absolutely great. But I am - sorry- very, very sceptical. I will be very straightforward now: First off, although it is claimed that there is "not a ton of processing" put into it, I'd say, there is a ton of processing put into it.

Come on, you put even TWO mics on a bassdrum (that cost more than twice as much as the shellset) for an optimized recording. The electronic sound-enhancements on bassdrum and toms can be heard by everyone(!) who had to do with mic'd up drums once in his life. Okay, it is a marketing video, granted. You want things to sound as good as possible there. Granted. But the sound in that video is so obviously unnatural, it does not reflect at all how that drumset will sound naturally, unmic'd, I bet. If I want to get an idea of how an exotic, pricey drumset sounds, then I want to hear the natural sound (or at least something that gets very close to it), not a "pimped up" version.

And: In case that you say: It really sounds like that, then I state, that for me, this drumset is way too boomy, toms are projecting much too much too much. Some people might like that "in your face" sound, but for me personally, that is a no-go.

You claim in the video that it has a huge tuning range. But what I hear in that video is three rather low tunings, especially on the bassdrum. High, singing toms, like in the good ol' 60's club-jazz? Not really. Also, what you present as a high tuning does not impress me that much, to be honest. It has an unpleasant metallic decay-ring to it in my humle opinion. But let's not argue about taste. Others will love the sound, for sure.

Is it a good fat sounding set for rock-music? I think so. That kit has a booming sound to it that will probably please anyone who wants a big sound and does not want to haul a 24" bassdrum to every gig. Is it a gentle, an unobstrusive jazzkit, that I'd take to a jazzclub, to a dinner-party? Rather not, I'd say.

One thing that I also worry about is: How will it perform on a stage or in a TV-show, where the lights will burn down on the drummer and his set? Will the drumset get considerably warmer with the heat of stage-lights? (Aluminium heats up faster and much more than wood.) If yes, could it mean that you might need to retune the drums sooner or later during a show? If it really(!) gets hot, then, well, if you are getting hungry during a gig, you can probably fry some eggs on the bassdrum. (That would be somehow pretty funny). ;-)

It is an interesting concept and it is of course a piece of impressive craftmansship - but it's not perfect for everyone (especially jazzers), I guess.

Just my 2 cents...
 
I agree that it's not an intimate jazz kit, although with different heads you could probably use it like that.

The toms sound their best at the mid-range tuning. The bass sounds best at the high tuning (for me).

This is an excellent gigging kit. Super lightweight, dryish tone, and easy to tune (because the shells/edges will always be good). Good for recording too, because they're dry. I'm still waiting on copper and especially brass for a home kit.
 
@Wave Deckel

I certainly can't discuss recording/mixing, as I have very little experience with it.
Josh organized everything about this, so he did it his way. The results are incredible, in my opinion and in opinion of vast majority of people commenting.
Both audio and visually. And I applaud his efforts. Amazing job!
When I said he did it his way, I mean he's a fan of low tuning, so obviously that's where the emphasis would be expected to be.
He's experienced in drum recording/mixing (except here he got a hand from Paul @bigbearstudios with some great mics and advices).

This is one - first - video. There will be more. Probably from Josh's garage/studio. We can probably have a video with minimal mic setup, or just room mics, why not ...
 
And: In case that you say: It really sounds like that, then I state, that for me, this drumset is way too boomy, toms are projecting much too much too much. Some people might like that "in your face" sound, but for me personally, that is a no-go.
I think the very present nature of the toms is more of a recording balance thing than anything else, & the Josephsons bring that further to the fore. It's a big reflective room, & that's mostly responsible for to overly "big stadium" vibe + note extending reverb.

I'm impressed with these drums. I can hear past the processing, & still know there's a much stronger fundamental in the toms than would normally be found on an aluminium shell kit. Aluminium is short voiced - in fact, all metal drums are short voiced, but that doesn't mean to say that they can't be resonant. High overtones are the big difference between metal grades - aluminium being amongst the driest in that regard. These drums are resonant - surprisingly so, & that's a combination of shell thickness, integrity of form due to the shell being seamless, & appropriately low mass shell hardware.

Bottom line is, I'd happily rock a set of these. They're not meant to satisfy every playing style or sonic wishlist. Of their type, these are the best I've heard - & by some margin.

Edit: Agree with latest comments. A simple recording without processing & in a more standard room environment would be helpful to many. I still think these would deliver in that examining context. Would be great to hear them with single ply clear batters on the toms too :)
 
Man, these sound great! I love that deep rumble. If people want to tweak out their toms for jazz, let them. This is a great-sounding set of drums to my ears! Good job.
 
I am very excited to see such a innovative product presented to the drum market. I am very impressed with sound of these, In a large room with professional grade recording equipment and some minimal tweaking I can see how these aluminum drums sound the way they do. I still get amazed at the sound of my drums now that I am getting better at recording and room placement. With the visionary craftsmen we have today in Guru, Inde, Oriollo and many other specialized drum makers. It's exciting to be a Drummer these days, whether your a professional, gigging, or a dedicated hobbyist like myself. I wish Oriollo the best success with there new line.
 
Firstly it's great to see an original kit out.

Ok so I have a really stupid question. we are are all familiar with Ludwig supraphonics spun shell snare which I myself dislike and think is massively over-hyped.

However, I do really like and regularly use a pearl ultracast. So my silly question is can you make a cast aluminium kit. To my ear and feel under the stick, the cast metal drums sound far better than spun. Can you make bigger size cast drums.
 
Impressive drums. Just three finishes-can you or are you going to coat them for more choices later?
 
Excellent! Yes, short voiced, and that's what Im after live, and so are most ppl who use any type of dampening on their heads.


If you're dampening drums to control harmonic overtones, you need to get an accurate tuning devise and learn how to use it. Drums in tune do not have errant harmonics, but what most quality drums do have is too long a note (voice), and this is what I use a little tape for, to shorten the note.

The finish looks great here too, stage light friendly and not an over the top glossy, fine-furniture pretty, one dimensional looking finish. Lite in weight, stage light friendly, shorter voiced, these drums scream gigability.


Great job Vukan!





Its pretty clear even with the best studio gear, the best environment, great tuning, any kit on this planet will not sound the same recorded as it will live. Too many variables to deliver a recorded version of a drum kits actual sound, the biggest being what you're hearing them thru on your end (headphones, comp speakers etc). I know enough about ORIOLLO's quality to feel confident I could easily get a workable sound out of these drums. Since we're all under the the law of 'sound 'is' subjective' its other aspects of construction and performance that will make the difference when you get to the higher levels of craftsmanship in drums.

I've played many gigs on an ORIOLLO aluminum snare and can tell you that hands down its by far the best built, best sounding, most versatile metal snare drum I've ever played. They do nothing to ORIOLLO snares in the build that does not need to be done, everything works together efficiently, flawlessly, so pretty sure these drums will follow suit.
 
They'd be even better if the shells were printed as Schaefer beer cans. Of course I'm kidding although I'd buy those!

Other then that, I like them. Nice work. Always great to see something new.
 
Excellent work. Very impressed. You can really hear the slightly scratchy/warm attack of the coated heads. Are you making 15" shells yet?
 
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