Fun with Djembes

Dallin Schoen — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:38:32 +0000

Sorry I have not posted anything this week, or started the song of the week yet, but I was out camping with a bunch of other students this week up in northern Ontario. The past couple of days have been very fulfilling to me as a person as we had time set aside for us to go find spots in the wilderness secluded from everyone else, and to be perfectly quiet for a period of time and just reflect on ourselves and where we are in life. During this time I did a lot of thinking, about the blog, about drums, about religion, and I think that this is something that we should do a lot more often.

But enough with my excuses for not posting, here is what I have to say.

I brought my Toca plastic djembe on the trip, and boy was I glad I brought it. It was perfect for around campfires to play along with a friend who brought his accoustic guitar, and provided a lot of musical relief to some who were struggling with the no iPod rules There were times where some of us were just floating in canoes in the middle of the lake while waiting for others to get started, and boy does a djembe sound amazing on an open lake surrounded by cliffs and trees! There is no better sound then a drum connecting directly with nature. It really brought out the natural rhythm we find in nature, in our selves, and in our lives. I can now see why the drum was used so much by the Native Americans to tell their stories and to connect to each other.

The Toca drum I was using was given to me for my birthday from my brother, and what a good choice it was! This drums low end is sooo deep and rings forever. My friends compared it to a subwoofer in a car from far away. You can get so many different unique sound out of this drum, and its synthetic material was perfect for a canoe trip. It didn’t matter if it got wet, because it’s not going to warp. If anything got ruined it would be the head, and that is replaceable.

All in all, the toca synthetic djembe is a very good quality product for the price. I am not an expert on hand drums, or hand drumming for that matter, but since I’ve owned this drum I’ve had a lot of desire to learn more about hand drums and their culture. I have figured some techniques out on my own, and some from youtube, but I still want to learn more. It is nice to get away from the kit sometimes and focus on different aspects of percussion. It will round your more as a drummer, and give you respect towards other styles of playing.

Props to Toca, my brother, and Mrs. Z for planning the canoe trip.

P.S. there is a song of the week up!

Pearl Joey Jordison Signature Snare

Dallin Schoen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:11:11 +0000

The Joey Jordison signature snare drum is described by Pearl as a “power piccolo” and I believe that this snare drum proves their point. The snare is 13 inches in diameter and 6.5 inches deep with a 1-millimeter steel shell, so when tuned tight, the drum gives a thundering crack. The drum sounds alright tuned to lower ranges, but performs best when the top head is tuned high. The aesthetic aspects of this drum are perfect if you are a Slipknot or Joey fan. The hardware on the drum is black, and the steel shell is black as well. On the shell, in-between all the lugs is a white Slipknot Tribal “S” logo. This snare is great for playing heavy metal, and sounds best when tuned high. This drum is very loud and will be able to cut through loud amps. This snare sounds great overall and is ideal for someone looking to play metal.

Size: 6.5″x13″

Price: ~$299.40

-Logan Coey

I’m sure all you die hard Slipknot and Joey fans have seen this, but here’s his crib!

Sabian HHX Evolution Hi-Hats

Dallin Schoen — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:59:29 +0000

The Sabian HHX Evolution line was introduced a few years ago in partnership with Dave Weckl as the artist behind this series. When I bought these Hi-hats I was actually shopping for the HHX Groove Hats, but when I heard the Evolutions, I was blown away. There was no comparison, the 13″ Evolutions stole my heart. These hi-hats are so crystal clear that you can play them at the quietest of levels and still recieve an amazing sound. It doesn’t matter how hard you hit them, they will sound good. When closed, you can get the tightest “chick”, and when they are open you get a glassy open sound that sounds like the bells of the gods are calling your name. I bought the 13″ hi-hats because of their tightness and higher pitched sound. I may still get the 15″ HHX groove hats later, and use these 13′s as a secondary hi-hat by my ride cymbal. These hi-hats are very versatile. I use them for metal, classic rock, jazz, and everything in between. I would recommend these hi-hats to anyone looking for an intermediate – advanced set of hi-hats. I would recommend them to beginners too, but they are pretty pricey.

Sizes available: 13″, 14″

Price: $379.00 – $429.00 (www.musiciansfriend.com)

Dallin’s rating… 5/5

Dave Weckl showing off his new cymbal lineup.

Ludwig 1960′s Supraphonic Snare

Dallin Schoen — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:55:53 +0000

So as I promised, I will write up a short review on my snare drum. When my uncle purchased his Rogers kit, the kit didn’t come with a snare for whatever reason, so he went out and purchased this snare used. The chrome was cracking, so he got it for a decent price. This snare sounds really good. I am a big fan of metal snare drums to begin with (maybe because it is what I’ve grown up playing) but this is always the snare drum that I compare other snares to. It has many different ranges, and sounds good tuned high, low, or in the middle. It is what you would expect from a Ludwig snare. I have had a bit of problems with the throw-off, but it was an easy fix. Other than the chrome peeling off, this drum is in excellent condition for it’s age. This snare is a nice match for the rest of this Rogers kit, although I will likely end up getting an original Rogers snare to match sometime down the road.

P.S. Does anyone know where you can get drums re-finished/re-chromed, and in what way will it affect their value?

1960′s Rogers Holiday Kit

Dallin Schoen — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:48:35 +0000

So since this is my first real post, I decided to review my own drums. The kit I have (which is still technically my uncles) is a vintage Rogers Holiday kit from the mid 1960′s. This kit was purchased new in the 60′s by my uncle and was lent to me when i turned 12. My grandparents made my uncle practice on a practice pad for a year before he was allowed to buy this kit, and am I ever greatful that he toughed it out and did just that. I wouldn’t trade this kit for any other drum set. We’ve been through a lot together.

Let me give you the numbers.

The kit consists of 13×9 rack tom, 16×16 floor tom, 14×22 bass drum, and a 5 1/2×14 Ludwig snare. Both toms have a Remo Weatherking Pinstripe head on top, and a Remo Weatherking Renaissance head on the bottom. I will go over the snare drum at another time, as well as the vintage cymbals.

The toms are very warm sounding but i find the rack tom is a bit hard to tune. I am not very experienced with different tunings, but it took me a while to get it the way I wanted it to sound. The floor tom on the other hand is AMAZING. It is definitely the best floor tom I have ever played. The floor tom is so deep sounding, that the sound just vibrates through your entire body, and you will want to play it all day. Doing sweet jungle beats on these two toms sounds fantastic especially with the floor tom tuned real low. I can not express how much I love that floor tom. The bass drum fits with both of these toms perfectly. I would recommend having some sort of dampener for this bass drum so the tone doesn’t vibrate on forever. I recommend this because the lugs on this bass drum seem to come loose quite often but since there is a pillow inside it doesn’t really matter all that much. I just have the kick head tuned for how much bounce i want, and the outside head tuned enough to get the wrinkles out of the head

All in all, this drum set is awesome. It has been a nice set to learn on, perform with, and even record. Rogers has a great reputation, and this drumset definitely lives up to it. It is a well rounded kit, and I will never get rid of it (unless my uncles asks for it back ).