Irony?

Yep, say the artist gets a 1% royalty...

1% of a 300 dollar drum is 3 dollars, and 1% of a 1000 dollar drum is 10 dollars, but the sales on the 300 dollar drum is 10 times that of the 1000 dollar drum, and most of the people who want a drum with that artists signature on it are young fan boys who don't have that much money. So for every 1000 dollar drum sold, ten 300 dollar drums are sold. That's 66% more profit in everybody's pocket. It's not an exact duplicate, but it is good enough for the artist to put his name on it. Personally, I would love to have an Omar Hakim signature snare drum with that nice cherry wood sound.
 
mikel said:
Never understood why people pick on the song "Ironic" as not being Ironic. Most of the situations in the song are, but not all.

A man who is terrified of flying, when flying is statistically the safest way to travel, finally bites the bullet and flies, and his plane crashes, Is that not ironic?
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well, irony isn't coincidence. that'd be ironic considering specifically that flying is the safest way to travel, but that's not in the forefront of most people's minds when they think about flying. as for the rest, well...
"An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day"
"It's like rain on your wedding day"
"It's the good advice that you just didn't take"
"A traffic jam when you're already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife"
none of those are really ironic, so much as unfortunate coincidences. that is the great irony of "Ironic"- its very tenuous grasp on irony. i don't really think Alanis intended it, though.

i fully understand that this post may be the dumbest, most off-topic thing to post on a drummer's forum.
 
When they create a signature snare I'm guessing the endorsee (the artist) would get one of the signature snare drums free, with their name on it to use when ever they like.

I'm working on getting Guru to create a Hollywood Jim Signature Snare.

(I don't care how many they sell.) LOL

.
 
keep it simple said:
That's pretty much it. This may sound blunt, but endorsing artists are a marketing resource to be used as deemed appropriate by the drum company. Ok, it's by agreement of course, nobody's forcing anyone to stand by a specific design, but it's not about the artist having an ego stroking drum naming experience, it's about using that artist's appeal/notoriety to sell drums to a target audience. It therefore follows that the drum will be produced at an appropriate price point for that target audience. No doubt, the artist will receive some consideration in respect of sales, but I don't absolutely know that to be the case.

TBH, it's pretty obvious when an artist has truly steered the design of a snare. Gavin's Protean design is a prime recent example. Most others are simply a naming ceremony with some small tweak the artist/marketing department can build a claim around. It's all about as relevant as "celebrity perfume".
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Rest assured, when Andy and Dean build my signature snare, I'll be very much involved in the design process and will absolutely use the drum regularly. Andy, you're free to use my name and I won't ask for a penny of the profits. All I'd demand is that I receive one of the drums as compensation for use of my likeness and name. Let's discuss this off line. :)
 
I want to rid the world of this ''irony'' term for all the confusion it causes.
 
Bo Eder said:
.... I would totally say, "I want my artist snare based off of your new Reference series, with some bits of carbon fiber and gold in it, to make it mine". Pearl would turn around and say "You got it, we can sell it to your fans for $1899".

....
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Drevil_million_dollars.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Evil


I would totally say, I want my artist snare to sound good enough, and be inexpensive enough that every drummer will have one.
 
"An old man turned ninety-eight, He won the lottery and died the next day" = bad luck
"It's like rain on your wedding day" = also bad luck
"It's the good advice that you just didn't take"= stupidity
"A traffic jam when you're already late = (you guessed it) bad luck
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break (can't you just move to another location)??
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife = (I don't even know what this means)
It's meeting the man of my dreams, And then meeting his beautiful wife = well, that's life
none of those are really ironic, so much as unfortunate coincidences. that is the great irony of "Ironic"- its very tenuous grasp on irony. i don't really think Alanis intended it, though.- Maybe she did (she did play God in the movie "Dogma" after all)?

i fully understand that this post may be the dumbest, most off-topic thing to post on a drummer's forum.- I completely agree!
 
I know its off topic but how can rain on your wedding day be a coincidence?

It would only be a coincidence if you had been married before and it also rained on that day.

Not knowing what it means, ie 10000 spoons when all you need is a knife? It means you might have almost every tool ever invented in your tool box, but If you don't have the one you need to do the job you still cant do the job. That is ironic, if you have spent all that money and still dont........oh who cares.
 
The people that emulate him and would want a signature snare drum of his are probably high school age. Most don't have $1899 laying around.
 
OK, this is an example of irony: A guy is extremely afraid of cancer. He understands that certain foods are associated with increased likelihood of cancer so he stops eating them. In fact, he alters his diet in hopes of warding off cancer. It turns out that some new supplements he is using are in fact potent carcinogens and he dies of cancer before the month is out.

Irony is all about an outcome that is the opposite of what was expected.

Back on topic, "signature" items are generally things I avoid. There are several reasons for this. One is that I recognize that the name is, in many cases, a marketing gimmick designed to increase the apparent value of said product. That is, it is likely over-priced. Another is that I don't want to serve as an advertising vehicle for someone else's career.
 
Hewitt2 said:
In the literary context, to be ironic denotes to state one thing while meaning another.
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Isn't that sarcasm?

Hollywood Jim said:
I'm working on getting Guru to create a Hollywood Jim Signature Snare.
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You're clearly not working hard enough ;)

steadypocket said:
Rest assured, when Andy and Dean build my signature snare, I'll be very much involved in the design process and will absolutely use the drum regularly. Andy, you're free to use my name and I won't ask for a penny of the profits. All I'd demand is that I receive one of the drums as compensation for use of my likeness and name. Let's discuss this off line. :)
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You lost it when you used the word "demand" ;) Anyhow, isn't the idea of a signature snare for the manufacturer to realise an increase in sales? ;) ;) ;)

Both yourself & Jim may have stumbled on the next chapter of disgusting sales tactics after "endorsement" deals though. The signature deal! Here's how it goes - we inflate the price by 300%, then offer you a signature deal snare with your name on it, & a whopping 70% discount. Doesn't that sound great!! I'll be jumping all over that (NOT!).

Instead, I've clearly opted for the strategy of mildly insulting potential & existing customers via a forum ;)
 
keep it simple said:
Isn't that sarcasm?
...

The signature deal! Here's how it goes - we inflate the price by 300%, then offer you a signature deal snare with your name on it, & a whopping 70% discount....

Instead, I've clearly opted for the strategy of mildly insulting potential & existing customers via a forum ;)
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Wait, so you're saying that you're going to be making a JimFiore signature snare after all? If I get a 70% discount on something inflated to 300% of the original, then it's roughly the same price as the original but it's now customized to my specs. Sounds pretty good to me.

Or was that sarcasm? Or perhaps a mild insult? Or are you just not that good at math?

Wait, did I just mildly insult you sarcastically on a drum forum? Am I you now? This is getting confusing...
 
keep it simple said:
Instead, I've clearly opted for the strategy of mildly insulting potential & existing customers via a forum ;)
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Hoo boy, we have fun here! :)

My signature snare would be 2 plies of a lightweight fibrous material wrapped very tightly around themselves with an extra-hard "projection boosting" cylinder in the middle. It doesn't have heads or hoops, but the outer material is perforated every few inches for easy tearing, and it's very absorbent.
 
keep it simple said:
but it's not about the artist having an ego stroking drum naming experience, it's about using that artist's appeal/notoriety to sell drums to a target audience.
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Depends on the artist and product.

Many signature items are a result of an artist having a desire to have something, and a company having a desire to make it happen and market it.

Some "signature" items are just the company going to the artist, saying "we want to put your name on an item, chose something".

And some are a result of an artist saying "hey, that guy a signature item, I want one too", or "I have an idea, make it or else I'm leaving for another brand".

And sometimes, it's just politics.

Dave Weckl said straight up in his recent interview in Drumhead magazine part of his decision to leave Zildjian for Sabian was Zildjian refused to pay him royalties for his designs, and Sabian said they would.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
Supportively, when Eddie Van Halen switched from Music Man to Peavy for his signature guitar line, one of the reasons was to make the guitar more widely available for his fans.
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EVH goes nuclear when ANY change is made on his designs... down to pickup wire... he dumped on Peavey as well.

Wiki "After parting with Peavey, Edward Van Halen joined forces with Charvel to produce replicas of various striped guitar models, the Charvel EVH Art Series.

In 2007, a single run of 300 official replicas of his original Frankenstein guitar were made available by Fender under the EVH brand, in strict collaboration with Edward Van Halen. The guitars were priced at $25,000 and had a massive demand.

After the 2007-08 concert tour, the evolution of the Wolfgang became available to the public, with the EVH Wolfgang (in 2008) and the EVH Wolfgang Special (in 2010), as well as an amplifier series and several guitars accessories and merchandise"

I would surmise that EVH is picky and gets pissed at the drop of a hat...
 
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I'm pretty glad that this doesn't happen when it comes to cymbals, though- a lot of my favorite cymbals (or at least some of the most interesting to me, especially in Meinl's catalog) are signature models, i.e. our own Derek Roddy's Serpents ride & hats, Rodney Holmes' Spectrum ride & hats, Mike Johnston's Transition ride, and of course Benny Greb's Sand series. Others that come to mind are Travis Orbin's LTD China (though he's no longer with TRX), and wow, can't believe I forgot to mention Dave Weckl's Evolution and Legacy series. What incredible cymbals.
 
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