Guru Drumworks prototype kit, THE VIDEO!

Andy

Honorary Member
Well, here it is folks! The culmination of a year's design & hard work. The sound capture is as honest as we can possibly make it (recording spec's on the video intro). With further construction fine tuning, I recon I can get is sounding better than this, but we are where we are.

BTW, I know I stumbled on the groove outro. I didn't notice it until it was too late. This was recorded second take & the whole thing done on a tight budget & schedule.

Please listen through quality cans, as PC speakers can't hope to replicate the sound. It's bad enough with the horrible Youtube compression. For the audiophiles amongst you, I've uploaded a 16 bit 32.00 wav file too (biggest file I could upload, but still below CD quality, sorry).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-CMAEiJ_os

Hope you enjoy, & feel free to critique as you see fit. Andy.
 

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Will be listening to it in a second, just remembered to say that!
 
Oh my. That really sounds fantastic. The drums have a clear 'note' to each strike and that really makes this a class act. It's not quite a definable pitch; but the larger toms remind me somewhat of tympani with their sound quality. This is a kit I can see getting a lot of use for film soundtracks for that quality of sound it has.

The snare is very dry, but nicely neutral. In fact, that's what I hear on this kit. It's all really great and very neutral, which makes it the perfect kit for a recording environment. Nothing is too over-the-top and it just sounds great.

You should be awfully proud of this. I'll post more feedback when I have some time to digest!
 
I really love the sound of those drums Andy. I can't quite find the words to describe the difference in the sound of those toms compared to a standard drum. Bigger, comes to mind. But the quality of the tone is superior to my ear, a definite pitch that is very pure to me. Like all the overtones are in the same scale or something. They definitely have notes, which I really go for. A lot of drums you hear, have no notes, it's all attack with nothing after it. And the drums that do have notes have these wild overtones. The overtones on your toms are very controlled and seem musically relative to the fundamental. How'd you do dat? I give your tom sound my highest marks. I don't see how it could get much better than that, such a pure tone...

The snare to my ear sounded like a standard snare. Albeit a sweet sounding standard snare. The kick drum sounds powerful too. I have different criteria for the kick than the toms. My impression is that you have to really be in the same room to appreciate the tonalities of the kick. I mean it sounds amazing, but with that low of a note, it's hard to discern resonance through headphones and compression. I can tell it sounds amazing though.

I can say without reserve that that kit has the nicest drums tones I've ever heard. I mean with no processing and to get a tone like that...I imagine they would knock me out hearing them live and miced through a big PA w/ subs.....Holy crap.

WHAT are you going to do with them? Gig them? Studio them? I say gig them. The world needs to see them.
 
Thanks Duncan & Larry,

what pleases me more than anything is you found the sounds to be distinctive. That's really the highest compliment you could pay me. Ok, of course, the recording can't capture the full spendor of the sound in real life, & the Youtube version certainly doesn't even get close, yet the character still shines through. One feature I'd like to highlight, notice how softly I can hit those toms yet still get a full round tone. Larry, the kick has no dedicated mic, just the 3 overheads. To produce that punch with the nearest mic 5 feet away, says a lot I think. & you're right, through a 25k PA, awe man!!!! Such a pity that my band demos were so rushed that we had no time to bring out the stunning sound in the drum tracks.

Duncan, is there a play issue with the wav file? I can always upload a lesser quality mp3, & that would still be 10 x better than the Youtube audio.
 
Yes that's what I forgot to mention...how well the toms speak when just tapped. How could I omit that? That was the first thing that grabbed me. And as you increased the force of the hit, the tone grew almost exponentially, but not really. I was very impressed with the quality of the dynamic range. The tones, to my ear were....unheard prior. And I mean that in the best way possible. I think you've really hit the mark with these Andy. Not only are they the worlds coolest looking drums, they are also the best sounding drums I personally ever heard. What else is there? I bet they even smell good. A lot of prayers were said while sitting on the mahogany in that kit. You've raised the bar in a major way. Duplicate THAT Sonor (or DW ect.)
And the fact that the kick had no dedicated mic, I kinda forgot that point. And it still sounded like a badass kick drum. Would love to hear it in person.
 
Andy, there was no issue with your file. There's an ongoing issue with file uploads on this forum and it always adds a '.html' extension that renders the file unplayable until you manually remove the extra extension. I wouldn't worry about it, once the file ends in '.wav' like it's meant to, it plays properly. Keep the file you uploaded, it's just fine.

The softness of your hitting shone through for we when I watched the video. I listened to the audio first and then watched the video, but I really thought you were hitting much harder than you were. The kit sounds beautifully balanced and that snare - although not the 'selling point' of the kit was much more sensitive than most 7" deep snares I've heard.

I think my suspicion is that you could get 90% of this kit for a lot less; the 'diminishing returns' we always talk about - but that final 10% is what separates the sound of this kit from everything else. It's really something.
 
On further listen, it's the quality of the tone of the drums when tapped lightly that knocks me out. I know when I tap my DW's lightly, it seems like it's not enough to excite the shells the way yours do. Not even close. And the dynamic range just wows me. The drum keeps that great woody tone at any level. WHAT a responsive instrument.

I also noticed that those shells bring out the very best qualities of the drum head. At each dynamic level, you can hear the head change character, in a fantastic way. I'm just listening on YouTube and I am seriously blown away. I MUST play that kit once before I die. Please please please say I can...
 
Yes that's what I forgot to mention...how well the toms speak when just tapped. How could I omit that? That was the first thing that grabbed me. And as you increased the force of the hit, the tone grew almost exponentially, but not really. I was very impressed with the quality of the dynamic range. The tones, to my ear were....unheard prior. And I mean that in the best way possible. I think you've really hit the mark with these Andy. Not only are they the worlds coolest looking drums, they are also the best sounding drums I personally ever heard. What else is there? I bet they even smell good. A lot of prayers were said while sitting on the mahogany in that kit. You've raised the bar in a major way. Duplicate THAT Sonor (or DW ect.)
And the fact that the kick had no dedicated mic, I kinda forgot that point. And it still sounded like a badass kick drum. Would love to hear it in person.
Thanks Larry, I'm blown away by your comments, especially as they're from a player with such a fine ear for sonic detail. Would be great to get together sometime, & I'd be honored to listen to you playing my kit.

OMG, and my old rack... it looks so sexy and stealthy... SUPERB!!!
Cheers Wes, it's thanks to you that I have this rack, & it's working out just fine. I'm glad you take pleasure in seeing it in a second life.

The softness of your hitting shone through for we when I watched the video. I listened to the audio first and then watched the video, but I really thought you were hitting much harder than you were. The kit sounds beautifully balanced and that snare - although not the 'selling point' of the kit was much more sensitive than most 7" deep snares I've heard.

I think my suspicion is that you could get 90% of this kit for a lot less; the 'diminishing returns' we always talk about - but that final 10% is what separates the sound of this kit from everything else. It's really something.
Thanks Duncan, & yes, diminishing returns. You're absolutely right. You could easily get 90% of the sound for 20% of the price, no doubt about that. It's always that damn 10% that costs the money, but I know first hand exactly why that 10% is so difficult to achieve. Maybe, just maybe, some who think that shell construction has little impact on the resultant sound, will think there might be merit in it after all. That said, the biggest difference will always be the player.

With the exception of the symphonic strainer, the snare is standard Guru stave construction. With cast hoops & a high end standard strainer, yours for £500.
 
This is a red letter day in drum tone, I am serious. I defy anybody to come up with a drum that has blasted through through the "tone ceiling" like Andy and Dean have.

August 3, 2011, the day drum tone history changed. I would send this vid to every major drum manufacturer. What if it went viral and you got 100,000 orders? OMG
 
Andy, if I had £500 to spend it would go on a beautiful snare like that. Sadly I don't! £500 is an absolute bargain for something that good.
 
Those sound really good; I am impressed when I really didn't think I was going to be.

What heads and what tuning/philosophy did you use?

Have you considered what the most important parts of that design are for the tone, I.e., what woukd those shells sound like with traditional hardware?
 
Love the sound of the drums, definitely distinctive. Floor tom was my favorite.

But I'm not sure how practical they would be. To me they sound more like something that would be used in a concert or light jazz performance. They sounded a bit too melodic (not a bad thing though) to be used in a heavier style.

That being said, they are still fantastic drums, and could certainly be used as a starter point for future kits of similar design. Really liked the response.
 
Love the sound of the drums, definitely distinctive. Floor tom was my favorite.

But I'm not sure how practical they would be. To me they sound more like something that would be used in a concert or light jazz performance. They sounded a bit too melodic (not a bad thing though) to be used in a heavier style.

That being said, they are still fantastic drums, and could certainly be used as a starter point for future kits of similar design. Really liked the response.
Thanks DD. I'd like to point out a few things from a versatility pov. In this situation, I chose to use coated heads. With clear G2's their character changes according to expectation. Attack is increased, as is presence, but still with that sexy fundamental tone. If anything, they become even more dynamic. Also, the tuning I'm using in this video, is quite high. That may come as a surprise to many, as the fundamental pitch is quite low, especially for such small drums. Those toms are 8, 10, 12, & 14, yet operate at a pitch of a drum at least 2" bigger in diameter. All this means they love going low & fat, plus, tuning them for less sustain (i.e. less melodic) is a breeze. Imagine a set like this but fitted with G1's top & bottom, say 14" mounted tom (same size as the "floor" tom on this set), 16" + 18" floor toms, & a 24" bass. Bonham on steroids!!!

@ Soupy, thanks too. Yes, we have considered how to translate the key features to a more standard construction. We'll be moving as near as possible to that ideal, mainly because of cost considerations, but the drum would still need to be free floating. Mounting hardware on to a 3mm thick stave shell (currently the thinnest stave shell in the world, I believe) would not only kill the shell sound, but would be structurally difficult due to lack of shell strength. A construction using a RIMS style mounting would be a lot cheaper & very doable.

Thanks for your continued interest guys, & Larry, I promise you that play, one way or another.
 
I'm not even sure what else can be said about these drums that hasn't already been stated in this thread... The sensitivity... the HUGE sound from small drums... And you said those were tuned high? Dear god. I want a set myself in sizes I know I'd like to play.

To say you've developed a one of a kind kit is really an understatement... I'm going to have to echo the "those are the nicest drums I've ever heard" statement. If you guys can manage a cheaper design to put out even remotely close to that sort of sound with thin stave shells and such, I'm 100% on board in the future.

I might need to start that custom drum fund alongside my retirement fund a bit sooner than I thought... no, maybe I'll start it BEFORE the retirement fund :p
 
Thanks DD. I'd like to point out a few things from a versatility pov. In this situation, I chose to use coated heads. With clear G2's their character changes according to expectation. Attack is increased, as is presence, but still with that sexy fundamental tone. If anything, they become even more dynamic. Also, the tuning I'm using in this video, is quite high. That may come as a surprise to many, as the fundamental pitch is quite low, especially for such small drums. Those toms are 8, 10, 12, & 14, yet operate at a pitch of a drum at least 2" bigger in diameter. All this means they love going low & fat, plus, tuning them for less sustain (i.e. less melodic) is a breeze. Imagine a set like this but fitted with G1's top & bottom, say 14" mounted tom (same size as the "floor" tom on this set), 16" + 18" floor toms, & a 24" bass. Bonham on steroids!!!

Well then what are you waiting for!? Put up another video and crank those babies down low!
 
It would be educational for me to hear you play the same groove on a DW or Sonor so we can compare the sonic differences. I'm not expert enough yet to fully appreciate these Gurus. That said I loved both the playing and the drums. They look mental. Truly totally unique. Thanks for posting.

Cheers
Davo
 
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