New! Official Guru In-Tense snare comparison video :)

Andy

Honorary Member
Probably the most important video we've made to date, & certainly the one I'm most proud of. As in all Guru videos, absolutely zero processing, no tricks, no effects, just well tuned & played drums in a good room. Even used an SM57 to record the snares, so it doesn't get more real world than that.

Anyhow, 36 performance captures, 24 audio samples (for later studio use), 36 different tuning "pit stops" for me. All in one very long day.

Even if you have no interest in our drums, I'm hoping the recording method, precise tuning ranges for comparison, lug frequency data, etc, will be of some interest to you. I'm not aware of another manufacturer's video done in this way, & certainly not with such tuning control. That control, the use of exactly the same heads, etc, really levels things out, so you can (hopefully) hear the character differences on display here.

Anyhow, here it is, our latest pride & joy, presented with total honesty. Please listen through good headphones. BTW, a couple of low tuning shockers in here. So you didn't think a 13" drum could get that low? Well, an In-Tense can :) :) :) All snares are unvented.


HD link (better audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKMkvmBq3Pw&hd=1

Link for slower connections (reduced audio quality) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKMkvmBq3Pw




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They all sound great Andy, makes it difficult to choose. Tho from the clip Im going to say I like the 14X7 Steam
 

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They all sound great Andy, makes it difficult to choose. Tho from the clip Im going to say I like the 14X7 Steam
Thank you :) Loving that drum too, although both it, & it's 13" counterpart, are not the full deal. We had problems in curing times, & had to rush these out still "wet". Not helpful to their sound :(

Another thing guys - this video will be replaced (hopefully tomorrow). Due to tiredness & gross stupidity on my part, I've incorrectly named George Cook as George Scott. Our latest artist signing, you'd think I'd get that right. I feel suitably stupid right now. Video guy's going to be so impressed to, as he'll have to do a bit of unexpected work to correct it.

Update: Video now replaced. New link below.
 
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The kit just blows me away. . . . . . far, far away! As for the snares, they are all great, but I prefer 14"x5" deep drums personally. Steam bent did it for me.
 
Thank you :)
Another thing guys - this video will be replaced (hopefully tomorrow). Due to tiredness & gross stupidity on my part, I've incorrectly named George Cook as George Scott. Our latest artist signing, you'd think I'd get that right. I feel suitably stupid right now. Video guy's going to be so impressed to, as he'll have to do a bit of unexpected work to correct it.

Here's my tip for editing, anytime the drum is on the screen being demoed, have the description up too. Some of us FFthrough the vid due to time constraints, land on a drum and wonder what we're listening to.
 
The kit just blows me away. . . . . . far, far away! As for the snares, they are all great, but I prefer 14"x5" deep drums personally. Steam bent did it for me.
Thank you :) Hard to believe there's no sound manipulation outside of mic placement. Even harder to believe that bass drum is 20" x 12" deep. I've got a Zoom Q3 capture of the kit with George messing around. I'll upload that as a comparison.

Here's my tip for editing, anytime the drum is on the screen being demoed, have the description up too. Some of us FFthrough the vid due to time constraints, land on a drum and wonder what we're listening to.
Good suggestion, but I daren't ask the video guy to rework it now, I'll get hung, or charged a bucket :( I'm hoping this video is of sufficient interest for viewers to return to it again if they're short of time on the first viewing, or am I just deluded?
 
To think this was produced in just a couple days time--congrats on a wonderful job. Had to get the Bose Quiet Comfort phones for this. Killer snares and it is impossible to pick a fave. I'm partial to the staves and segmented drums. Time for a second listen! Extraordinary musical instruments, and I stress "musical."
 
Sh**, Andy. It's like choosing between a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Bentley, a Bugatti or a Rolls. They're all fantastic.

I cannot believe the super low tuning! I don't think I've heard an unprocessed snare sound like that, ever.

And what a magnificent-sounding kit.

Home run, all the way, my man. You should be very proud and very pleased with the video.
 
Absolutely amazing. It's the 7x14 stave padauk for me. I suspect this will change over the next 1000 I listen to this.
 
Watching now... love these lamps :)

Just finished. Really, really nice video! Very good demos and, of course, gorgeous drums. My favorite was the 13x7" segmented with S Hoops. Of course, though, they were all great. And so were the players!
 
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Thank you :) Hard to believe there's no sound manipulation outside of mic placement. Even harder to believe that bass drum is 20" x 12" deep. I've got a Zoom Q3 capture of the kit with George messing around. I'll upload that as a comparison.

Good suggestion, but I daren't ask the video guy to rework it now, I'll get hung, or charged a bucket :( I'm hoping this video is of sufficient interest for viewers to return to it again if they're short of time on the first viewing, or am I just deluded?

For the time being (or until the next video) you could just have the specs in Youtube annotations, people can turn those off if they find them distracting as well.

I only had a moment to listen to the first few minutes but good lord do I need to hear the other ~10

drool.jpeg

EDIT: About to finish listening. Every single one of these guys are absolutely MONSTROUS players too. The 14" drums sound the best to me because they just seem to have more balls and range, but that's to be expected from a bigger drum regardless of the make.

That aside, I absolutely cannot believe the sound coming from those 13" snares at the lower tunings...

I think one of these snares is going to be a graduation gift to myself... Or maybe a "yay you found a job after graduation" gift haha
 
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Now I have to go knock over a bank, so I can afford one of these honeys. What a gorgeous video. Well done, Andy.
 
amazing snares, truly. but you should forbid all moon gels from touching your drums. they kill everything
 
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Great lamps, Andy!



:))

kidding. everything sounds and feels so great its pointless to even consider one over the other.

Superb instruments, superbly presented.

( I know this is a snare video but the bass drums sound frighteningly good )


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Thank you so much for so many nice comments guys. I'm completely screwed over this morning :(

I cannot believe the super low tuning! I don't think I've heard an unprocessed snare sound like that, ever.

And what a magnificent-sounding kit.
Thank you so much. We wanted to keep the solo snare captures rigidly to precise tunings, but took the opportunity to show just what a vast range these unvented snares can deliver. The low samples are tuned to within an inch of being a flappy mess (i.e. just at the point they start to deliver tone in the shell). This kit was paid almost no attention, as the stars here are meant to be the snares. Sounds great though straight out of the cases from the London drum show!

Extraordinary musical instruments, and I stress "musical."
Such a huge compliment, & exactly what we strive to create with all our drums.

That aside, I absolutely cannot believe the sound coming from those 13" snares at the lower tunings...
Thank you, & remember, zero audio manipulation, & recorded with a humble SM57. Big tone that low is a combination of good tuning skills & shells that really respond.

amazing snares, truly. but you should forbid all moon gels from touching your drums. they kill everything
In almost all circumstances, I agree, but we used one piece of moon gel just to control the extremely slack wires in the ultra low tunings. We would almost always suggest using a heavier head for super low tone. Achieving such low power from a coated G1 head is quite an ask, especially on a 13" snare.

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Great lamps, Andy!

( I know this is a snare video but the bass drums sound frighteningly good )
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Loving the lamps too Abe. They've become a bit of a feature of our videos, so this time, we went over the top with them :)



A few photo's guys - including one of the set up night's epic David vs. Goliath bass drum battle. True to historical myth, guess who won ;)
 

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Good suggestion, but I daren't ask the video guy to rework it now, I'll get hung, or charged a bucket :( I'm hoping this video is of sufficient interest for viewers to return to it again if they're short of time on the first viewing, or am I just deluded?

Next one. Video guy is trying to make a pretty video, you're trying to sell drums, meet somewhere in the middle.

Memories are short too. When Im watching a vid a drum company is putting out, I want to know what drum(s) Im listening too w/o much effort. Rewinding to the beginning of a segment to see which drum it is Im listening too for instance is too much effort.

Keep in mind you know these drums inside out, we've never seen/heard them b/f, so 10 seconds down the road we don't know what we're listening to b/c we forgot.
 
Memories are short too. When Im watching a vid a drum company is putting out, I want to know what drum(s) Im listening too w/o much effort. Rewinding to the beginning of a segment to see which drum it is Im listening too for instance is too much effort.

Keep in mind you know these drums inside out, we've never seen/heard them b/f, so 10 seconds down the road we don't know what we're listening to b/c we forgot.
Point taken on board, & will be incorporated next time out. Trying to do this kind of complexed video in one day (plus just over half a day in edit) is a tough job. There's a lot of detail that can so easily be missed when concentrating on the core elements. I'm tired :(



Guys, just for reference, here's an extra clip for you. The kit recorded on my Zoom camera - late evening after we've finished setting up for the following day's session. New heads on the kit, so hoping to bed them in overnight. Thought we'd try G2 coated batters for the toms this time out. A little less transparent than the G1's we usually fit, but the slightly reduced head sustain helps in the recordings. Thoughts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_vby4bgDHo&feature=youtu.be&hd=1



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Great job all round Andy, great playing, great sounding drums, and great looking drums.

Did I mention great?

One question, I recall a while ago you were using Aquarian heads on some pre production setups, what led you back to Evans heads? Thanks
 
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