Damn Guys,
I posted to the "Is The Forum Dying" about going to play my first gig on my new cocktail kit last Friday and as of now, noone has replied. Well, we played an "unplugged" gig this past Sat. night and I used my new cocktail kit that I received last Wednesday. Never practiced or anything with it, just went and did the gig. It was so cool!! I really dig it. However, I cheated a little as I put a stool top on top of the bottom part of a cymbal stand for a throne and sat a good part of the gig. I am going to have to ease myself into standing up to play. Also, the "bass drum" sound is not happening for me yet. I haven't found the right head combo and tuning for the main drum. BTW, it is a 14" so that may have something to do with it.
Anyway, just wanted to share the experience with you coctail bros. Oh yeah, got a lot of compliments on the kit's looks and sound. I'm very proud of it and will be using it more and more. As one girl said, "Is that like from the Frank Sinatra days"?
Great to hear about your first cocktail gig. From the description of your throne mods, you're definitely into the cocktail vibe already. I once saw a picture (on the Four Freshmen web site, of all places!) of a drummer using a throne something like you describe to play "sitting tall." He had a conventional set except that the snare was mounted high on the bass drum, sort of like a drum-mounted tom tom. His throne gave him a place to rest his butt and almost stand up while still using both feet. Kinda cool (although I don't know how comfortable it would be).
I don't know if you've posted details about your kit already but, if not, I'd like to hear more. On the subject of bass drum sounds, I too have a 14" drum and I use a Remo pinstripe tuned very low. I use those little plastic lug locks to keep my lugs from falling out and it seems to work well for my style. I know there have been a number of posts in the past on tuning, various types of heads, and damping so browse around the "catacombs" and see what you can find. I seem to remember one excellent post, with photos, explaining how to tune a cocktail drum for good bass sound. It was quite a while ago so don't be afraid to go way, way back.
My kit consists of the main drum (14X24), one tom (10DX8H) and snare (5X12) mounted on main drum. 13" closed New Beats, 16" thin sizzle crash, 10" splash, and 18" Med. ride, and LP Jam Block. Am going to recover three old Pearl fiberglass concert toms (6, 8, & 10") in Bermuda Sand to match the rest of the kit. The main drum has four legs instead of the usual three for more stability. Also am using DW's new Sidekick pedal which I'm not sure if I really like or not. May go with the bracket and reversed pedal. Using Remo Ambassadors on all drums except the batter on the main drum (does it have a name other than Cocktail Drum?) which is an Evans Hydro w/a Remo Muff'l ring under it. My wife picked the color and it really looks good under the lights. I'm very pleased with it. Just got to get used to standing up.
Sounds very cool. I'd be curious to hear more about the DW Sidekick pedal. It looked like a more logical placement than the usual center-mounted bracket (which I have). What are the pros and cons?
Hey Bruce, first, where are you? I'm in Little Rock Arkansas.
The Sidekick is nice, although it takes some adjusting to get it set up initially. It comes with two "legs", a large one and a larger one that stands upright. Have you seen pictures of it yet? Well, it is supposed to replace one of the legs on the main drum, but both are too large to fit the majority of the floor tom leg receivers. They'll work on DWs and on the Gibralter ones. Those are what I used. I got a RythmTech bracket and clamped it to one of the legs instead of inserting it in the receiver. That way I kept my four legs and the pedal is additional support. Works a whole lot better. With the clamp. you can really position it easily to get the beater exactly where you want it. Once I got it set up and adjusted like I wanted it, I didn't take it apart to transport it and it is kinda big and cumbersom, reminds me of a girl I dated in high school, big & cumbersom. Other than that and it is a little pricey it is a good pedal. I just wish the beater arm attached with something other than a piece of nylon cord.
Mango
Bruce you beat me to the punch, I wanted info on the pedal too but my ****en pop up and virused from script computer wouldn't let me post, long story short I reformatted. Anyway. Glad the gig went good and thanks for the pedal info Mangorockfish.
The bass player in our regular band has a side project that does jazz gigs. Piano, sax, upright bass and drums. Well, he used me a about a month ago on a pretty big gig and it really went well. I had never done a straight jazz gig befor in my life. We are playing another one next Friday night and he told me it would really be cool if I used the Cocktail Kit. Man, I'm on Cloud 9. Getting to play jazz and using the new kit. It just don't get any better than that. It took me 40 years to become an overnight success. HAHA
Mango
