Cocktail Clutter

[mangorockfish]

Man, I'm having a real problem. I told my wife that my Cocktail Kit is not working out like I really wanted it to. I think I am trying to put too much stuff on it and it is becoming cluttered. However, I feel more comfortable with it when I have all the stuff on it as I'm not sure that I can improvise well enough without it to do well on a gig. I think I would be preoccupied with thinking that I'm not able to do what I would be doing if I were using my regular kit. Has anyone else faced this and if so what did you do about it.
Mangorockfish

[Keith Cronin]

The best way to find out what you do and don't need is to start taking stuff away.

I play a classic cocktail kit, in that I play standing up, the top head is my only snare drum, and I don't have the ability to open and close my hihat. What it forces me to do is rethink my drum parts. Rather than trying to recreate what I'd play on a conventional kit, it makes me look for ways to come up with parts that sound good using whatever sounds I DO have at my disposal. I think this is important - rather than trying to replicate what you can do on a regular kit, look for NEW things to play on this unusual kit.

For one thing, I quickly changed my setup so that my closed hihat is on the right side, not the left. And I began to experiment with different brushes, rods, etc.

If you adopt this approach, treating the cocktail drum as a whole 'nother instrument, I think you may find yourself less concerned with all the little bells and whistles you may be missing. The biggest change for me was the hihat - I never realized how much I use varying degrees of pressure on the pedal to create different dynamic levels. With that ability gone, I had to look for other ways to "shape" the songs I play. Look at it as an adventure, rather than a hassle.

I use a crashable/ridable cymbal, a closed hat, and a pair of bongos. But frankly I could even do most gigs without the bongos. I sometimes add a 8" splash piggybacked on the cymbal, for light crash effects. But I don't need a ton of drums or cymbals - if I do, I simply use a regular kit.

The biggest limitation I find is volume - my cocktail kit is NOT loud. So I never take it to an unmiked gig if I don't already know how loud a room it is, and seldom use the cocktail drum when freelancing with acts I don't know well. But when I know the act, and know the room will be a low-volume setting, I have a blast having to retool my brain and make that little kit sound good.

So give it a try - strip it down to its bare essentials, and get inventive with your PARTS, not your instruments!


KC

[mangorockfish]

Thanks Keith for the reply. I've gone back and looked at all the pics on the site and noticed that most of the 'hats are on the right side. What's up with that? It does seem like an ideal place though through moving stuff around on my kit. Also, you hit the drum, 'er nail, on the head when you mentioned the varying degrees of pressure you use on a regular hihat as opposed to the closed ones. That is what I miss the most. What size 'hats do you use, where is you cymbal located and where are the bongos located?
Take care,
Mangorockfish

[mangorockfish]

Man, went back and looked at your kit and at you cymbal and bongo placement. Pretty cool cymbal holders. Also, am going to try to baffle my drum to day and maybe add a snare to it later.
I know what it is, but where did you get your snare mechanism and about how far down did you mount it from the top edge?
Mango'

[Keith Cronin]

I know what it is, but where did you get your snare mechanism and about how far down did you mount it from the top edge?

I got mine at Resurrection Drums, but I bought out all of the ones they had. You should look around for drum shops that handle Purecussion. Also, I think Marco Minneman uses some single-headed snares from DW, which probably use a similar mechanism. I mounted mine just far enough down from the head to get a lot of snare-to-head contact - don't remember the exact measurement.

Most of my cocktail gigs are pop-oriented, not jazz-oriented, so I play the hihats more - that's why I put them on the right side.



KC

http://www.keithcronin.com/drumkits/cocktail.html