I play a 4 piece kit. 24" kick, 14" rack, 18" floor, suprasonic Ludwig 6 1/2 (from 73' all pitted but it sounds great!), and just a 14" or 15" hat, 22 ride, and 2 crashes; 18" and 20". That's all I want and all I need.

Got back on the set tonight for the first time since last Thursday. Felt great as usual, especially now that I'm getting better at the bass pedals. Although being digital, blastbeats don't really sound that good... Not many of the pre-made kits have a second kick, and it seems like the second kick's volume is unusually low. So I can't quite hear the second kick and it messes everything up, but everything else is fine. Still doing coordination routines and various other fun things.

Might be better to get a second kick pad for the electric kit, because the one pad may still be vibrating which will dampen the strike of the second hit. Or, could be that any slight variance in force is amplified in a way that wouldn't be so apparent on an acoustic kit.

Ah, discovered that the pedal wasn't hitting the pad straight. It moved or something, now it sounds a little better. The kid keeps changing the arrangement of everything though, but I guess I'm learning versatility...?

Hey Matt, awesome to hear! It is always a great feeling to have your instrument on the way to sounding the way you want it, and being in writing mode makes it even better!

I just realised why my bass drum sounds like a turd... the frame part of it on the side facing me has a giant crack the width of the frame. I never bothered tuning it because I'm just practicing at the moment and I never noticed how bad it was...

Damn. I'm gonna need a whole new kit to fix this when we record, or DEFINITELY before we start playing live.... faaark.

Here's my setup...

Drums - Pearl
Joey Jordison Signature Snare
Forum Rock 12" tom
Forum Rock 13" tom
Forum Rock 16" tom
Forum Rock 20" bass
All toms have Remo Pinstripe heads, bass has Remo Powerbass 4 and the snare has Remo Coated Ambassador

Cymbals
UFIP 9" Class Splash
Sabian 10" XS20 Splash
Sabian 14" XS20 Hats
Sabian 14" XS20 Medium Thin Crash
Sabian 16" XS20 Medium Thin Crash
UFIP 18" Tiger China
Sabian 20" XS20 Medium Ride

Hardware/Sticks
Gibralter pedals, hardware and Yamaha hardware
Vic Firth 5A American Classic sticks

Hows that China sound?

That tom-setup looks quite weird.

It's fucking incredible my friend. UFIP tiger is certainly the way forward for china cymbals. It was pretty damn cheap too, about £89 or thereabouts.

Nice, I am looking for a new China sound. Here's a pic of my new kit. I moved the other floor tom to my right, I am just not used to playing with one on my left.

[img][img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y130/MattInfernus/newkit01.jpg[/img][/img]

Yo, KyrieEleison...you have a fucking sexy china cymbal. I just have my trusty dusty, trashy as fuck, wuhan china.

I like your kit KyrieEleison, you ever thought of getting a separate tom rack so you can put them behind your snare? I have my kit set-up similarly (bass drum off to the right so my legs form a tripod shape with the snare in the middle), but I find I have to use a tom rack or else I have to stretch slightly to reach them.

my kit.

2xkick drums
4xrack toms
1xfloor tom
1xsabian aax splash 10'
1xsabian b8pro splash 10'
1xziljdian avedis crash
1xsabian aax stage crash
1x ride(the names worn off so im not sure)
1xsabian hihat
1xsabian b8 china

no picture

pearl hardware

Can anyone gravity blast well? I mean, I think I have the right technique of putting my thumb on top of the stick to control its movements, and I'm not moving the stick haphazardly, but I just can't seem to get it right? Any suggestions?

And yes, I've seen some videos of other guys doing it properly, so I know the fundamentals.

For the record, I'm trying to gravity blast with my left hand.

Also, I will take a picture of my kit soon and show you all.

Like anything with drumming/music in general, practice, and in this case, focus on being able to gravity roll before being able to use it in a blast.

I don't actually know, as I'm still working on getting my feet up to blasting speed, but it would seem to be common sense.

Yeah, I can sort of gravity roll. Sort of. I guess I should just give it more time. If I keep working on it with the correct technique, which I'm almost positive I have, then eventually I should get it.

I'm JUST starting to learn how, I pretty much suck at it and am learning the fundamentals. I just never took the time to learn it earlier

The gravity roll goes quite well with my right hand, somwhere around 260 bpm. Left hand is annoying, I can't get it accustomed to the proper technique in my hand. It always slips when I start to blast. :@

WOW, that is super impressive. I can't blast as well with my right as I can do with my left. I can't gravity blast in any way with my right, so for now I'll stick to the left.

My sticks slip out of my hands just by normally playing on occasion because my hands get sweaty. It sucks.

Yeah, I'll keep trying with the gravity blasting. I hope to one day get it and impress someone with it. In fact, my drumming teacher can't do it, so it'll be totally awesome if I could show him. He'll flip.

And after today's left-hand-gravity session I'M LOSING MY FUCKING NERVES.
I can't even roll normally, the thumb should be on the side of the stick, but it jumps everywhere. It won't be long until I start breaking stuff.

Also I tried the flatfoot-technique. I can't imagine how someone can do 200 bpm for 30 minutes with flatfoot and not getting tired, or then I'm doing it wrong. True, it saves energy but I can't even do 200 bpm more than few minutes.

I can blast ... maybe for Sunn.

So what songs did you guys learn when you started to drum? I've had my drumkit for over 7 months yet I can only play two songs (Kings of Metal by Manowar, Rainbow in the Dark by Dio).

I used to drum to metallica's early stuff a lot, songs like 'Fight with fire' and 'The Four Horsemen', I also found In flames' album 'The Jester Race' to be failry easy to drum along too. If you wanna challenge yourself and try something a bit faster I'd suggest drumming to the album 'Banquet in the darkness' by Intestine Baalism, it gets quite fast but overall the songs are quite stright forward, especially the first track, I love drumming to that track!

Start out maybe with some old school AC/DC. straightforward, easy to play, and you start to form a great groove to your drumming after a while...
When I started it was them and alotta Zeppelin...ALOTTA Zeppelin. Good foundation to start on.

I haven't even fathomed doing a gravity roll yet. I'm still working on regular ass blasting. I'm starting to form a mean single pedal blast though...
My second bass drum's head has been busted for a while, and I'm too much of a lazy sack to go order a new one...fuck I actually need new drum heads for EVERYTHING....

I haven't got a good pedal blasting technique yet. I am trying to go a cut-common thrash beat, which will hopefully get my pedal blasting more proficient. And just to clarify: My gravity rolling is far from good. I can only do it for a few seconds and in that time, it's not consistent. I'm just stating that it's getting there, and it's already an improvement on before.

If you need to improve your drums that much, you'll be better off to get a brand new kit for yourself. It's not only better for your playing and passion for the drums, but it's also quite satisfying seeing a new kit than a fixed, old kit. My old kit needed many improvements, including a reskinning of the snare drum (it sounded AWFUL), and reskinning of the bass, plus a whole new hi-hat and bass pedals. I didn't want to waste money on it because I desperately wanted a new one. When I bought my new kit in December, I noticed an immediate improvement. Of course, it all depends on the money, too. No good buying a kit worth thousands of dollars if you don't have the means to pay the money back.

And you have two bass drums?
I hate you.

Ah, I gotcha.
No, I actually have a great kit, (black Pearl Export, two bass drums, two floor toms, 3 regular toms, snare) It's just that all my drum heads are beat to shit (Pearl heads, so not that great in the first place). I had been playing a single bass drum kit for about 2 and a half years, then I got the new kit a while back. BUT, I broke the right bass drum head about 2 months ago, and have yet to get a new head for that, so I've been single bassing it for a while now. (which helped me start to form a better single foot blast)
I have a Sabian stage crash, A Sabian El Sabor crash/ride (which I love to death), and an 80's era Platinum Zildjian ride. I also hade a great set of Zildjian Hihats. (I got all of these from my old drum teacher, he also used to be in a punk band about 10 years ago )

You have a black Pearl Export? So do I! Although I only have one bass drum (but a double pedal) and one floor tom. I should take a picture soon. I love it. Well, compared to my last kit, setting up pots and pans would've been better.

Yeah, I'm going to try and get better with the foot blasting. It'll be nice to have decent kick speed and also using the hi-hat, too. It'll just open more doors for me.

I have a Zildjian ZBT hi-hat and crash, a Zildjian A-Custom crash, Zildjian ZBT ride and a Solar crash (which sucks). Oh, and a Zildjian splash, too. I hope to get a china and maybe another splash soon.

^These are pictures of my drum kit.

^ That kit looks strangely farmiliar...

(I need to get me one of these here 'cameras')

I should take more pictures from further away, but yeah, I love that kit. It probably won't be as good as yours, as you have another bass drum and floor tom, plus probably more cymbals, too.

Nah, they're both pretty much the same. I only really use the two Sabian cymbals I own (Crash and Crash/ride), because that old Zildjian ride I have has WAY too much sustain. I don't use that one too much.

I don't use my Solar one much either because it sounds like shit, and it's too far away (I have to buy a proper stand for it). I definitely need to start buying more cymbals.

Haha!, first post. I've come in kinda late, but meh. Hi all, I've been a drummer for a couple of years now, but my kit is a bloody heap of crap, and I kinda need to upgrade it. Does anyone know of any good and cheap brands?

Best advice: You get what you pay for.
Go to a sale at your local drum store or something (boxing day)

I've got a paiste crash which is pretty good, that and the splash are probably the only things i'll keep. I don't even know what brand the rest of the kit is, except for the ride which is zildjian. Do you guys have a particular brand you reccomend?

Okay, it all depends on the brand of kit you're getting. You're from Australia, like me, so expect everything to be overpriced. I ended up getting a nice Pearl kit (look at the photos above) for around $2000, so if you have a decent price range, then you'll get a decent kit. Buying a kit on the cheap is not only bad for your playing, but also quite unfulfilling for you, as you've spent a great deal of money on a kit that's only temporary. My advice: Save! Keep the kit you have now, and save for the next one. You'll feel so much better in knowing you have worked hard for the new kit and not some piece of junk.

So obviously, I recommend Pearl. But there are lots of others. A nice Tama kit is nothing to sneeze at, either.

Don't be ashamed to not know the brand of your kit. My kit before the Pearl kit was much like yours - old, and becoming an eyesore. I still don't know the brand of it! Starts with M...nothing famous. I'm just glad it's gone.

Good luck with your search, buddy!

I've been recommended a D-Drum kit by my drum teacher. It's the first one they've had in the shop, so it's down to $1000 from $1700.

I'm going to have a look at it tomorrow, so if I like it, that's my next birthday present!

He also said to have a look at pearls, but NOT to get the cymbals.

Yea pearl make some excellent drum sets. But i've never heard the pearl cymbals, what did you hear that were bad about them?

Pearl symbals really are extreme piece of shit. Them lousy clankers are similar to Paiste pst3-5, Sabian b8 and such. Mostly brass. Don't buy.

Yeah, got the D-drum thing, it's pretty cool, the entire kit it matte black, even the snare. I got some Zildjian Planet Z cymbals for $329, and they absolutely rape the old ones. The crash is still on the way, but it should be pretty good, going by the others. I've currently got my new kit and the old one set up in a dodgy double kit, it's pretty fun to play, but I've gotta stop now because it's 8 pm and the neighbours wilo start bitchiong if I keep playing.

I recommend D-drum kits, they're good, but hard to put with other brands, because of the weird mounted tom setup. They hang from the cymbal stands, which is kind of inconvenient, but they sound a lot better.

Here's a old pic of me on my vistalite kit; hence my live setup...



Wow, I just realized that was 4 years ago. Holy shit.