Jeremy Bender
Platinum Member
Back in the late 80's while touring with the US Navy big-band, a teenage drummer and his Dad walked up to me and said "Those are nice drums! But why is your kit so small?" Mind you I was playing an acoustic 4 pc. Yamaha kit with 4 cymbals.
I explained to him that 'if I can't play what's in our songbook (spanning 50 yrs. of American music) with what I have, then I might as well take up fishing instead of drumming.' I went on to explain to him about the rigors of buses and cargo planes, hauling and packing up often for more than one performance at a different location on the same day. He seemed to understand a little better, but this was in the heyday of large kits being the norm in magazines and MTV.
To an extent I think it still holds true in 2015. That the majority of what we do is based around two cymbals and two drums 90% of the song.
It's kinda interesting how a lot of guy's still use Fab-4/ big-band type of set up for their music. Guy's like Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie and Eric Slick of Dr. Dog are just a couple that come to mind.
I explained to him that 'if I can't play what's in our songbook (spanning 50 yrs. of American music) with what I have, then I might as well take up fishing instead of drumming.' I went on to explain to him about the rigors of buses and cargo planes, hauling and packing up often for more than one performance at a different location on the same day. He seemed to understand a little better, but this was in the heyday of large kits being the norm in magazines and MTV.
To an extent I think it still holds true in 2015. That the majority of what we do is based around two cymbals and two drums 90% of the song.
It's kinda interesting how a lot of guy's still use Fab-4/ big-band type of set up for their music. Guy's like Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie and Eric Slick of Dr. Dog are just a couple that come to mind.