Where do you live? Lakeland, Fl
What are the sizes of the drums you built? 7×10 7×12 12×14 14×16 18×20 (depth x diameter)
What type of shells did you use? Keller maple shells, 10, 12, 14 are 6 ply and 16, 20 are 8 ply Continue Reading....
Jon Cohan is a Boston-based studio drum tech (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dropkick Murphys, Fall Out Boy), drummer, author (Zildjian: A History of the Legendary Cymbal Makers
“I ALWAYS use nylon or metal snare drum cord instead of the Mylar strapping many companies provide. Good cord, such as the products made by Trick, Pure Sound, or Gibraltar , allow the snares much greater response and sensitivity than the straps. Also, be aware that over-tightening your snare wires against the snare-side head will also result in a loss of response. Seems pretty obvious, but you’d be surprised how many drummers make this mistake.”
Name: Justin
Where do you live? Philadelphia, Pa
Snare Drum – 14×8, Bass Drum – 26×16, Floor Tom – 16×16, Rack Tom – 13×8
What type of shells did you use? All shells are 8 ply Keller VSS Maple with reinforcement rings on the snare drum.
What type of drum hardware did you use? All of my hardware is from drummaker.com. I used classic pearl style drum lugs along with the classic style bass drum claws to get a 70s style looking kit.
What type of finish/wrap did you put on your drums? The Wrap is a silver glass glitter.
What was your favorite part of building your drums? My favorite part in building process was putting on the wrap and beginning to see what the drums were actually going to look like.
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Chances are you’ve heard Dale’s drumming recently. Dale’s drumming propels the lilting melody of the hit song and perennial summer favorite “Kiss Me,” by the group Sixpence None the Richer. He has recorded for labels such as Mammoth, Virgin, Almo Sounds, Elektra, Epic, Sony, RCA and played on jingles and commercial projects for Southwest Airlines, Pepsi, Scholastic Books, and Frito-Lay. He’s also performed on numerous television and radio shows in the United States, Europe and Japan, including The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’ Brien, and Top of the Pops (BBC). You can find out more about Dale by visiting his website or taking private lessons from him.
“Learning how to transcribe will not only make you a better drummer, but a better listener as well.
When I’m asked to play for an artist or event, I typically am “subbing” for the regular drummer, and am faced with having to learn a large amount of songs in a short amount of time. Being able to quickly transcribe a song’s arrangement and drum part allows me to create a chart, so that I don’t have to rely on my memory to play the song.
When I have found a song that I enjoy listening to, transcribing helps me to focus on the parts of the song (the song structure, melody, words and the orchestration), that makes the song unique.
When I hear a drum part or fill that I find interesting or something that I wish I could play, I find that transcribing allows me to figure out exactly what the drummer played.
As I’ve transcribed, I’ve noticed how good drummers can structure their drum parts to best serve the song and the musicians they play with. Transcribing has helped me become a better listener, and has helped me become more aware of a song’s arrangement and all the component parts that work together to make a song stand out. The focused and intense listening that is required to transcribe has helped shape and form my drumming and given me real examples of how to “compose” a drum part that supports and interacts with the song and other musicians as well.”
Don’t forget to watch Brian Frasier-Moore at the Super Bowl performing with Madonna! I was able to check out Brian’s kit at NAMM this year, and it is a beast of a drum set. It features a custom rack design by Chris Achzet. Chris has been Brian’s primary drum tech for the past 9 years. Brian was endorsed by TAMA drums for over 10 years but was recently recruited by DrumCraft – A German based drum company. Check out the press release from DrumCraft’s website:
We’re very proud to announce that Brian Frasier Moore has joined the DrumCraft family! Brian resides in Los Angeles and has recorded and/or toured with such artists as Janet Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Usher, Aaliyah, Madonna and many more…
Brian will perform with Madonna at the half time show of the Superbowl on Sunday, Feb. 5th in Indianapolis.
We are honored to have Brian on board as a new DrumCraft artist and look forward to a long-term relationship and are excited to watch his career further develop using DrumCraft products.
I’m excited to see him play today. Make sure to friend him on facebook and/or follow him on Twitter @BrianFrasierM. I’m sure he’ll be posting some behind the scenes updates!
Truth had some great drums at their booth. They just released a Matt Greiner signature production model kit that sounds phenomenal! If your interested in hearing what Truth Drums sound like you can check out their new site that provides high quality audio samples of truth drums.
You can also keep up with Truth by following them on Twitter: @truthcstmdrums
Adding a 15″ maple ring in between the tube lugs adds a very interesting look.
I had the honor to meet Mike Ciprari from SJC Custom drums at Winter NAMM this year.
SJC Custom Drums have always been a drum company that I look to for inspiration. They design some of the most innovative custom drums on the market these days. I’ve been following them ever since I started building drums in 2006. Each year they seem to up the ante. This year was no different. They are great about posting interesting pictures on Twitter. You might want to follow them.
I don’t know much about the exact specs of these drums, so if anyone does, feel free to leave a comment. My commentary on the drums may not correct or give much more input than the picture itself.
1. This snare drum really stood out to me. I have never seen a stitched wrap design on a snare. It looks like it was actually hand stitched by someone!
I just returned from a 4 day trip to Orange County/Anaheim California and I have a ton of good stuff for you. I’ll be adding blogs pretty frequently in the next week so stay tuned for that. NAMM might have just changed my life.
I went with 2 of my drumming brother’s from Austin – Chuck and Mike!
Philip, Chuck, Mike
Both of these guys are amazing drummers and great friends. We had an incredible time drooling over new drum gear, stalking our favorite drummers, and living it up at NAMM!
I got to meet some of my favorite custom drum builders including:
And of course I saw lots and lots of drumming legends, and was able to snag some photos with them!
While I’m working on some of the blog updates, I would highly suggest that you “Like” the Makedrums.com Facebook page, and also subscribe to my Youtube Channel. I have already put lots of pictures and videos on both of those pages!
Check back tomorrow for some more NAMM related content!
Every time I get pictures in an email from someone who has used my eBook as a guide to build their very own custom drums I feel like I was able to make a difference in someone’s life. Today I got some amazing pictures of drums that Niklas Kilenstam built. I highly suggest you check out his custom drum company K-Drums and his band called The Men. Let these pictures inspire you as you think about building your own custom drums!
