Not always. Listen to the Beatles back catalogue in Mono, as most of it was intended, it jumps out of the speakers. Listen to a 70s or 80s vinyl album, even on a fairly cheap Hi-Fi system, and it makes CDs sound dull and over processed. I bought into the CD hype and sold all my vinyl. I have spent the last 18 months replacing all my music on vinyl and when I want to sit down and listen to music properly there is nothing to match the experience. I have an MP3 and a smart phone and on the move its easy to use and the sound is ok, but not for serious listening to favorite music.
Not always. Listen to the Beatles back catalogue in Mono, as most of it was intended, it jumps out of the speakers. Listen to a 70s or 80s vinyl album, even on a fairly cheap Hi-Fi system, and it makes CDs sound dull and over processed. I bought into the CD hype and sold all my vinyl. I have spent the last 18 months replacing all my music on vinyl and when I want to sit down and listen to music properly there is nothing to match the experience. I have an MP3 and a smart phone and on the move its easy to use and the sound is ok, but not for serious listening to favorite music.
Red Menace
Platinum Member
Bo, get me my exorcism stick. Kama has a demon, he is speaking in tongues.
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Matt Bo Eder
Guest
I just don't listen to any formats and go see live bands instead. When you can find good ones
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Matt Bo Eder
Guest
Hahaha! And the 20" floor toms - don't forget those!
I hear you
TBT, I own every Beatles on vinyl, including a thrice-played copy of "Let It Be". I even painstakingly refurbished a 60's era Packard Bell RPC-31 just to have a 60's reference system available. The speakers have been updated with modern components, and it sounds great. It gives a good impression of what people were hearing in 1960.
And with all of that, nothing comes close to the joy my ears give me when I pop the "Yellow Submarine" BlueRay disk into my THX system.
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Matt Bo Eder
Guest
A good impression would've been listening to it on an AM transistor radio
If I want to get the full AM vibe, I'd need to drive under some overpasses while listening ;-)
Holy crap we're old.
Andy
Honorary Member
We're absolutely not so arrogant or high handed as to even hint at that attitude. With our drums, you can have a full range of depths, but only within parameters we know to offer a good sound. The only reason we offer sizes that others don't, is because we believe they present a different yet fully performance credible alternative. It's entirely the customer's choice. We offer all our series with 14" depth bass drums & square size floor toms, but also some specific constructions in more shallow depths if sonically appropriate.
What we absolutely will not do is offer "fashionable" depths we know to be inappropriate in terms of the characteristics we're happy to stand behind. I've lost count of the number of requests we've turned down to produce 22" deep bass drums & similar nonsense.
8Mile
Platinum Member
Sound is obviously a huge element, but ergonomic considerations do matter. Depths obviously affect placement of a tom when you're competing with the bass drum for space. And for me, a snare drum less than 14" in diameter really messes up my sweeping motions with brushes. I've never been too concerned with how the positioning of my drums looks, and the older I get, even moreso. Positioning my drums and cymbals so I can reach things comfortably is good preventative maintenance for injuries.
Right on. I use a 20" bass drum cos I am a little guy and it keeps the toms nice and low. It is also much easier to carry, transport and store a drum that size rather than a 24".
I forget the guys name but a famous drummer, back in the 40s or 50s was asked by a music journalist why he used a small bass drum, was it for a certain sonic nuance? No, he replied, its because it fits in the car easier.
newoldie
Silver Member
A smidgeon. Exactly what I've noticed so far. I have a 20 x 14 Ludwig Club Date bass drum and a Sonor Player Kit 20 x 12. A bit more low end on the CD and a bit punchier on the PK. I recently switched the Emad2 on the CD to a PS3 to give it more punch as the combo of rounded edges, wood construction and Emad's thickness lost some attack which I need for the music I play. The PK imparts a quick, defined beat with plenty of low end.
I try to use an AKG D112 when possible on both bass drums as this makes playing even easier.
It's nice to have 2 choices in this moderately sized bass drum range of 12-14 x 20 and I don't currently desire any larger a drum to play or lug around.
Aeolian
Platinum Member
I think what you're after is the RIAA equalization curve. There was an RCA Orthorphonic curve, a NAB curve and others. Gear from the 50's and 60's often had selector switches for whoever's records you were playing. But the RIAA won out and was the standard from the mid 60's on.
"Fashion is a form of ugliness so bad that we are compelled to change it every three years". Don't know who originally said that but tastes change. There was a time when I thought you had to have deep concert toms with junk taped to them. I've had a kit with the shorter "fast" toms and actually liked the control of the sustain. Not quite ready for the pancake toms though. Still not sure about kick depth. I've played some great 14, 16 and 18" deep kicks and ones that were pretty lackluster. Right now I have a 20x18. I bought that because the entire kit sounded great, including the kick. I have a buddy who's into 15" floor toms and scours the internet looking for them. The early 80's Gretsch kit I'm playing in the avatar pic is his and has a 22x16 kick, 9x12 mounted and 15x15 floor tom. There is certain punchyness to it that no other kit I've played has and a great balance of pitches. For what it does, it's great. Doesn't do that wet attack, or really round warm sound. So when you want to hear that, you need different drums. He also has a Yamaha MCA in the same sizes that I've played. I think if I were to order something where I was picking all the sizes it would be a 1 up, 2 down in 10-13-15 and on the shorter side. While I would either stay with 20x18 or 22x16 down below. But who knows. By the time I get to that point (if ever) my tastes may have changed to something entirely different.
GetAgrippa
Diamond Member
Andy I'm sure you can get plenty of bass from a 22 or 20 by 12 kick, but wouldn't they have a shorter decay with the shorter depth? Which I would like myself- making doubles and triplets sound cleaner with fewer overtones?
DrumEatDrum
Platinum Member
It's OK.
I have it on good authority Bo's next kit will feature extra long bass drums.
I have it on good authority Bo's next kit will feature extra long bass drums.
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Matt Bo Eder
Guest
That's awesome. You could use those to ferry passengers from the terminal to the aircraft.
Is that a fire-extinguisher mount on the right BD?
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Matt Bo Eder
Guest
You must also take into account what Andy said about the drum being built correctly for said dimensions. Most drum manufacturers just take a shell and make it a certain size without giving thought to the acoustic properties of what they've done. As the price goes up, companies like Guru take those into account. We've heard the many Guru videos and there is a difference with those drums. So a Guru 12x20 will sound different from say, the Sonor Player's 12x20, or the DW Frequent Flyer 12x20.
But as I was saying, for me, I like the 14" depth - it's really as narrow as I need, so I only require the drum to sound great within that size range. I don't have a need for a drum to be smaller and narrower, nor do I need it larger and longer. The gentleman I was discussing this all with was in the same boat. Drum fashion encourages and reinforces change, but the requirements of the music haven't, nor has the way we transport around and set-up on cramped bandstands.
So in this way I do kind of look at the drumkit as a set of tools that get used everyday. Other than the occasional crescent wrench with a rubber coating on the handle, the tool itself hasn't changed much, because its' job hasn't changed much. This is probably what we're lamenting about.
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Matt Bo Eder
Guest
It's OK.
I have it on good authority Bo's next kit will feature extra long bass drums.
Yeah. Alex sent me those drums and I've been itching to put them to use on the next wedding gig I get