Pick The Right Head For your Sound
I have always had trouble picking heads for different situations. Granted it does come down to preference, and to know what you like for certain things, you simply have to experiment. There are some heads though, that I always use as my default, and that I know will sound good in pretty much any situation. I am a Remo fan, but used Evans heads for a long time as well, and have some suggestions for both. I believe that the most versatile head that Remo makes is the coated ambassador. These heads always sound great, tune up well, and consistently allow me to achieve a great balance between attack, and warmth/tone. I use coated ambassadors for an alternative/indie band that I play with, and recently did a reggae/rock session with them the other day. They performed great in both situations. I am also a fan of the clear ambassadors, and the clear emperors. A clear head will give you more sustain, and tends to be brighter, as the lack of coating allows the head to vibrate more.
Remo Coated Ambassador
many people underestimate the importance of the resonant head, but it serves a great purpose than some might think. The resonant head is where most of your tone comes from. I prefer to use a clear head on the bottom, and pick which one depending on the situation. Most head companies make resonant heads specifically. I usually use clear ambassadors as my resonant heads, but a clear emperor will work great as well. I like a thin resonant head as it gives me more sustain to play with. Evans also makes a great resonant head called the Evans Resonant.
Clear Ambassador/Clear Emperor
As far as bass drum heads go, I used to use the Evans Emad head which I still consider a great head. It comes with it’s own dampening ring that fits in a plastic casing on the outside of the head and provides a good amount of dampening when paired with an inside dampening. the only bad thing I noticed about this head is it becomes a bit boingy when tuned high. It is definitely meant to deliver a low, rock punch and tone. The other head I have been using quite a bit recently is the Remo smooth white bass drum head. It also delivers a great deep, punchy attack while maintaining a fair amount of tone.
Remo Smooth White/Evans Emad
The bottom line when picking out a head is experimentation. Find a head that best describes you as a player, and helps define your sound. Its all based on preference, so have fun!
So Many Choices, What to use and When
There was a time early on in my playing when I would not dare go out of my comfort zone in terms of sticks and beaters. I had my Vic Firth (I have since switched to Vater) 5B’s, and my DW felt/hard rubber two way beater (plastic side only of course), and that was it. I was always baffled by other drummers’ stick bags, and honestly never even knew what the different kinds of sticks were, or what they were for. In music school I gained a basic understanding of what the different kinds of sticks could be used for, but this was just the tip of the iceberg for me. Only through experience and experimentation can one gain a deep understanding of the infinite number of textures and tones you can get out of a drum or cymbal simply by varying the type of stick or beater you use. Today my stick bag includes an essential selection of wooden sticks, brushes, mallets, and some other tools that help me to reproduce otherwise difficult tones in a live scenario.
As I have said before I work with a lot of singer songwriters, and they tend to have more texturally based, and even hand percussion based drum parts rather than strictly drum set parts on their records. This forces me to come up with very unconventional grooves to apply to the set, and allows me to get creative in my composition. For different dynamic levels of playing, I always keep at least two sizes of sticks in my bag. I personally use Vater for their durability, weight, and superior quality, but common stick sizes don’t vary much from company to company. For heavier playing I use standard 5B wood tips. I find that a wood tip gives me a greater sense of control, and a much warmer tone than a nylon tip. For lighter playing I use either the Josh Freese H220′s, or the 5A Los Angeles’. These sticks both have a narrower diameter, and allow me to play lighter with the same energy.
As far as texture is concerned, I often use brushes to reproduce soft hi hat tones, or even shaker tones. I find that leading on the snare (vs the hi-hat, ride, floor tom, etc…) with a brush is a great way to support soft vocal/solo guitar parts, and keep the energy. I prefer Vaters Wire Tap brushes, but also use Vic Firth brushes as they tend to have increased stiffness and strength. I also use the Vic Firths for heavier brush playing as they have a hard plastic handle, and the Vaters have a soft rubber handle.
Vater Wire Tap Brushes/Vic Firth Brushes
Another tool I often use to create delicate cymbal swells, and earthy snare tones are mallets. Mallets can be played exactly like wooden sticks, but just provide a much more tone based sound with less attack. I use Regal tip mallets of various softness for this.
Regal Tip Mallets
Another hugely important stick I use very regularly is the blast stick. There are almost as many varieties of blast sticks as there are regular wooden sticks, but I have a few pairs that I use religiously. The pair I use the most is made by Regal Tip and give a soft, full sound with just the right amount of attack so the listener is not overwhelmed by tone and ring. The secret lies in the plastic rods (vs wood rods used in most other blast sticks.) They are simply called wood handle blast sticks.
Regal Tip Wood Handle Blast Stick
The various sticks listed above are, I believe, essential to every drummers arsenal. With this collection, you will have an almost infinite number of combinations you can put together to create a countless array of textures and tones. Don’t restrict yourself to one pair of sticks, but feel free to mismatch them, and maybe even try throwing a shaker in one hand and see where that takes you. The key is experimentation so have fun!
A Discussion On Cajon And It’s Place In Music Today
The cajon is becoming, in my opinion, one of the most versatile instruments on the drumming market. It’s now an essential part of almost every working drummer’s arsenal, and for good reason. With the semi recent emergence of a huge number of singer songwriters, the cajon has taken on a relevancy like never before in modern music.
Traditionally the cajon (pronounced Ka’xon which is the spanish word for box) was used largely in Cuba in the Afro-Cuban song/dance style rumba, and in Peru in several Afro-Peruvian genres. It is theorized that it originated in Coastal Peru in the early 1800′s, when slaves of the west and central African origins would create these box shaped instruments out of shipping crates. Since it’s origin, the cajon has gone through many different designs, and continues to evolve to this day. It’s newfound place in modern music has brought even further design changes and tweaks to the original concept. They now come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and are made by many companies.
The modern cajon now looks simply like a wooden box, and commonly comes with a few differnt bells and whistles. The cajon I use is made by Meinl, and has snares behind the front plate helping me to create convincing snare and bass drum tones.
Meinl Cajon
One of the newest features emerging in the realm of cajon’s is the existence of a pedal either in front of, or behind the face plate. This is usually not used in conjunction with snares, and is controlled with a remote bass drum pedal. This allows the player to free up one of their hands that would normally be used to play bass drum accents on the front plate. This also allows the player to use the cajon in more scenarios that would normally require an entire drum set. I often use cajon, and a series of tambourines, shakers, and other percussion tools, to reproduce drumset tones when playing small venues, or just to play quieter. Pictured below is the cajon/pedal setup.
Cajon with Remote Bass Drum Pedal
The cajon can be played in a million different ways. I usually use a drum-set brush in one or both of my hands, a shaker under my right foot, and a tambourine under my left foot. This allows me to add a shaker texture to different sections of music, and a tambourine under the backbeat for choruses. I also often use a shaker in my right hand for certain songs. I posted video of myself playing my cajon setup in a previous entry. This should give you a good idea of what kinds of situations you can bring a cajon to, and a bit more information on it’s use. Have fun playing you’re own cajon!
Chain Drive vs Direct Drive
If you have played a few different models of pedals, you know that there can be a huge difference from one to the next. You can personalize the feel of your own pedal by adjusting the spring tension, rotating the cam, making the beater shorter or longer, and a few other variables depending on the make of the pedal. Aside from all of this there is one factor that you are stuck with, one way or another, when you buy a pedal, and that is whether it’s direct or chain driven. The decision to go direct or chain drive is one that needs to be thought through carefully before purchasing, as they are typically used in very different styles of music, and have very different feels.
I don’t of course mean to say that you can only play certain styles of music with one or the other, however the difference in feel usually makes both models more appropriate and applicable for certain genres. The difference lies primarily in the weight. Chain driven pedals (I feel) have more weight adjustment capability, and can be tweaked to feel very heavy, to moderately light. Direct drive pedals are very light, and extremely responsive. This makes them great for up tempo music such as Metal, Hardcore, and Punk. They are especially great for ultra fast double bass playing in conjunction with a bass drum trigger. These pedals are so responsive that you can move your feet as fast as you want without the seemingly weightless footboards ever leaving them. Obviously when using triggers you don’t need to worry about dynamics a whole lot, so the direct drives are a great way to minimize motion and impact, and increase speed as needed in this situation. Some of the most popular direct drive pedals out there are the Axis pedals, and trick pedals (as shown below.)
Trick Direct Drive Pedal
Axis Direct Drive Pedal
The most common complaint with these pedals is that they are too light, and so responsive that it becomes difficult to play with power and consistency. Unlike a chain driven pedal, they have no cam, and therefore it’s tough to generate the power and momentum that a cam provides, with the direct drive system. I have found this complaint to be true with certain types of direct drives (such as the ones shown above) but not others. Virtually every company has a direct drive model now, but I believe that Pearl has made some great advances with their Demon Drive series pedals. These pedals have greater spring adjustment than most direct drives allowing you to actually put some weight behind the pedal, which for most drummers helps generate more power. They are still responsive, but not to the point of being obnoxiously light. I would suggest checking these out to anyone purchasing direct drive pedals.
Pearl Demon Drive Pedal
Now on the other side of things is the chain driven models. These were the standard for a long time, and only recently have direct drives made a comeback. Advances are constantly being made on chain drive pedals, as they are still way more popular, and more widely used than their opposer. The main difference of course is the existence of a cam on which the chain rests and rotates, helping to create momentum in the stroke. The spring system, and most of the adjustments are pretty similar between direct and chain drives, but the cam allows for more freedom in these systems. The cam itself is adjustable, and can be rotated forward or backward depending on where you like the beater to rest in relation to the head. The spring system can also be tweaked more, and is able to create the feeling of weight or heaviness behind the pedal. I much prefer chain drives, because I feel I have much greater finesse and control over my playing with them. I also feel they provide a more powerful, and more consistent impact, and a greater freedom of motion. Some of the best chain drives are made by DW. I have found their 7000 and 9000 series’ to be fantastic (especially the 9000 as you can make them feel almost as light as a direct drive if wanted.) These are both pictured below along with some other great pedals including the Tama Iron Cobra, and the Pearl Eliminator.
DW 7000 Series Pedal
DW 9000 Series Pedal
Tama Iron Cobra Pedal
Pearl Eliminator Pedal
I hope this information about direct drive vs chain drive will help you make a more educated decision the next time you are in the market for a new pedal. Go try a few different types of pedals with each system, and determine what feels comfortable for you. After all, it is based on personal preference and comfortability. Thanks for reading!
