Guerrilla Drum Making

This is for those who have always wanted to make their own drum but didn’t know the first thing about drum building. Guerrilla Drum Making is a step by step DVD for the amateur drum builder.  The main points of the DVD are finishes, how to prep the shell and how to do the finishes. 

They include:

Collage

Black satin stain

Veneer

Sunburst

Laminate

Working with acrylic shells

While it talks about drilling the shell and how to align the holes properly, it doesn't go into cutting bearing edges. That is still best left to the professionals, but I will say that on their webpage (www.guerrilladrummaking.com) they have a very comprehensive blog on building with MANY resources listed. They even have a gallery to post pictures of drums made by owners of the DVD! So don't just buy the DVD, utilize the webpage as well!

As a builder myself, I do some of the things in this DVD differently than they do but their methods still work and even with my personal drum building experience, I still managed to glean some new info from it!

So if you ever wanted to build your own drum I suggest that you pick up this DVD, it has a lot of great info and tips in it. I received an email a while back saying that there’s going to be a sequel! I’ll be picking that one up too!

Until next time!

Supernatural Cymbals

Supernatural Cymbals is one of many new cymbal companies that have popped up in the past few years, I had heard of them for a while before I saw their booth at NAMM 2010 and heard MANY good things about them so I thought I’d try them out…Man! Was I surprised with what got! 

For this review I chose the 13” Aura Hats, 22” Impact Power Bell Ride, 18 Aura Crash and 18” Prodigy Pro Crash. I have shot a video of each cymbal as well to check out!

Here are my findings…

13” Aura Hats: These are REALLY bright hats! I love them. To me personally, Sabian’s 13” HH Bright Hats set the standard for bright hats but these Supernatural’s surpass them easily. They are brighter and project very well. They have a very nice slosh to them when opened slightly and a nice sharp, bright “chick” when closed tightly. Score!

Next is the 22” Impact Power Bell Ride. This is a 22” monster with a bell that a blind man could hit with ease. Nice wash, but not too much. A ping that stands out from the wash and the music as well. The tone is perfect to the ear of this writer.

18” Prodigy Pro: This is a nice bright cymbal that cuts through the music very well. Nice tone and resonance, yet there is enough middle frequencies that it won’t get drowned out.  A great sounding cymbal that has the potential to have quite a bit of versatility.

18” Aura: This is a very bright cymbal, especially for an 18” cymbal. While it’s the same size as the Prodigy Pro, it’s noticeably brighter…I love bright cymbals…did I mention that already? It works great in combination with the Prodigy Pro bringing out the higher frequencies.

Overall, Supernatural Cymbals is going to give “The Big Three” a good run for their money. These are Turkish Cymbals in the true sense of the word with their own foundry actually in Turkey! I like these cymbals. They have my official stamp of approval!

There is going to be a giveaway for a Supernatural Splash cymbal! I’m just waiting on a cymbal to be shipped to me. Once it’s in my hands I will post the rules for entering the giveaway! In the meantime, enjoy the videos!

PJ

The Eric Carr Story by Greg Prato

I wasn't planning on reviewing this book but after I finished it I decided that it was worth spreading the word about. The book also hit me for a few other reasons, one, I've been a KISS fan since I was 6, and two, I am the same age Eric was when he passed away and I can't imagine being done with life right now.

This isn't your standard biography book.  Greg Prato uses personal quotes from a wide range of people who knew Eric very well and arranged them chronologically spanning his audition with KISS to his way too early passing. People who include Eric's sister, Eric's girlfriend, Bruce Kulick, Eric's drum tech and members of various bands that toured with KISS and worked for KISS during Eric's tenure in the band.
There is a lot of information about what happened behind the scenes both in normal every day business in KISS and when Eric found out he was sick and the reactions of Gene and Paul...some of which aren't very flattering.

There isn't much distribution for this book, the only place you can get it is at:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-eric-carr-story/15144516.

It's a great read for the KISS fan but it's also a great read about a great drummer who is given too little credit for his technical abilities and giving KISS a kick in the ass when they needed it the most.


Be sure to check it out!

Giveaway coming up!

Just got confirmation from the company!

Stay tuned!

Mr Sawbladehead Designs

Mr Sawblade Head Desgins

Ok, Shawn Lowery a.k.a Mr Sawbladehead, friended me on facebook and I about crapped when I saw his product. Mr Sawbladehead Designs makes custom mic stands, cymbal stands and drum racks and we’re not talking standard tube pipe or making a “custom” rack out of Gibraltar rack pieces, we’re talking TOTAL CUSTOM. Shawn designs and fabricates them himself and his work is AMAZING.

I did not get a chance to try one out in person but I have seen the posts on his facebook from people who seem completely satisfied with his work and if you look at the rack he built for himself, you’ll know why. He can design something for you or you can tell him what you want and he’ll work with you to get you exactly what you want.

The only down side is that his work is expensive, this isn’t for the weekend warrior drummer. Cymbal stands start out at around $300. Not a bank busting price for a singer to put out for a very cool mic stand but most drummers need at least three or four stands for their kit…it adds up quick, and for the rack set up in the picture, you’re looking at about $15k…but NO ONE would ever forget your drum set!

If you can afford it, Shawn can make you a unique rack or hardware that no one will ever forget so check out Mr Sawbladehead Designs and see what he can do for you!

Email: mrsawbladehead@yahoo.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Mr.Sawbladehead

Phone: 727-967-7611

Make sure to tell him PJ sent you!

Ps.

He’s a pretty kick ass drummer too!

Video 1

Zoom Q3 HD Video Camera

OK, I know this isn’t exactly a drum product but with the latest fad being drummers making videos of themselves and uploading them to Youtube I figured why not do a review for a quality video recorder?

I give you the Zoom Q3 HD. This little bugger has two studio quality condenser mics in an XY configuration, it has incredible sound quality. It records in full 1920x1080 HD video (with 4x zoom!) but can also record in lower setting (down to 720) for longer recordings. It also has a built in USB cable (yay! No more looking for the download cable!). 

It has the bundled HandyShare editing and uploading software where you can adjust and normalize the audio, add reverb and a has a mastering effect. There is also a Low-cut filter function on it that reduces unwanted background noise by cutting the low frequency range.

Some added features are an audio input jack so you can use addition mics for more complex recordings! It’s compatible with SDHC cards, it comes with a 2GB card for 30 mins of recording but you can buy a 32GB card that allows for 7 hours and it runs on two AA batteries (included!!!) What more can you ask for? 

I got one of these for Christmas and REALLY like it! There is a non HD version that is about $100 cheaper and works just as well, it’s just not HD. For the HD an extra $100 is worth it. All said and done, the damage is $299 for a very versatile and powerful hand held HD video camera that has REALLY good audio.

For those who want to make quality videos of themselves for youtube but can’t afford much, I highly recommend this camera.

For more info and more detailed specs, go to http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/q3hd/

Until next time!

Update 06/01/2011

Here are  a couple videos I shot with the Q3 HD for a review I did AFTER this one.

Phatfoot Drum Harness

How many drummers here have had to chase their drums around the stage while playing a gig because the bass drum keeps sliding? A show of hands? (raising hand). I introduce to you the Phatfoot Drum Harness. This is a nice little piece of ingenuity.  A drum harness you say? That sounds complicated! Not at all I say! It's a very simple concept. Phatfoot has designed a product that holds your bass drum in place. Here's how it works.

For one, it's comes in stainless steel or durable nylon, the one I am reviewing is the nylon version, very durable. At one end, there is a loop that fits around the leg of your drum stool, on the other end is a piece of velcro, what you do is take the other piece of velcro and stick it to the bottom of your bass drum pedal, put the two pieces together and basically, your weight sitting on the stool holds the bass drum in place! Pretty smart huh?

Why not just go out and buy a mat or rug? You can do that but you're going to spend $40 - $100 for one. The Phatfoot harness is $20, you don't have to roll it up and it's small enough to fit in your gig bag or maybe even your cymbal bag.

This is a pretty cool product and it's affordable. It works. I've been playing with this thing for quote a while and it hasn't let me down once. Either that or I need to go on a diet.

Check out their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/PHATFOOT-Drum-Harness/257038043226

They are also available through Big Bang Distribution at http://www.bigbangdist.com/phat_foot.htm

Until next time!