Topic: my stave drum experiment

[dizz]

I finally put together a sample http://bobbyvincent.webs.com/Fed%20Bloke.mp3 so we can hear the drum in different ways with no background or effects.  I may need to deepen the snare bed a bit.  I was very conservative cutting it thinking, I could always go back and cut more out.  I tried to play quiet in spots to test sensitivity and loud in others.

This is my practice kit so it's not a snapshot of "my sound".  The kick in this mp3 is a converted 18" floor tom with a regular pinstripe and an ambassador gauge resonant head with no muffling (sometimes Ill drape a felt pad over the reso for a punchier however not as warm sound).  This bass drum tuning is so unforgiving haha. I didn't have my kick mic available so I used a c1000s :/.  But the purpose was for a snare sample anyhow.  Snare has a 57 on it, with a c1000s overhead (in addition to the one in front of the kick.  I also have AKG clip on mics on the toms.   You'll also hear a small bongo here and there.


Got one old zildjian with rivets 18"; One sabian AA crash 18" ; sabian 10"splash; 16" Istanbul crash (this is the cymbal that has bolts holding a crack from spreading.  Still dig the sound of it even with hardware going through it.
The heads on the snare came off the brass piccolo so they are old :/.  Ill buy some new ones next week.  Coated Ambassador on top -reg snareside remo on bottom.  No muffling.  The throw and rims came off that brass pearl piccolo.  Lugs came off cheapo snare.

I want to make a maple bassdrum 20" -not sure on the depth yet.  I wish I had a table this time around.

I really like the drum tho.  Thanks to all who stopped in to check it out. 
   Happy Memorial Day

[Bill Bachman]

Cool, it's a thing of beauty!

[Bob Dias]

Dizz,
Very nice! B.

[dizz]

I have a recording of the snare's maiden voyage.  This was the first gig with the new snare.  Got a clip of a song we started playing last month.  Not too happy with my playing lately but here is a sample of what my snare sounds like in a live situation:

http://bobbyvincent.webs.com/diggin%20on%20James%20Brown.mp3

Here is some Chicago we do (same gig):

http://bobbyvincent.webs.com/Chicago.mp3

Still trying to get a better feel going on the Chicago medley -especially the transition.   I play a couple set up fills that are just not locked in :/  Oh well it's all a work in progress -playing drums   So much fun

[lopan]

The snare sounds great, and so does the band. I wouldn't worry so much about nailing the fills. The fills you did are fine! More importantly, you're nailing the time and feel of these songs very nicely. I love the horn section. Not too many of those around these days.

[dizz]

Thanks for the reply Michael!  Yes it's so fun to play with horns.  We also do some Tower of Power stuff too.  You can hear them here

http://www.drummercafe.com/component/option,com_jfusion/Itemid,2/boardseen,/jfile,/topic,19976.msg291032/#new


Stick weight seems to make a significant difference with this smaller drum


Cheers

[lopan]

Good as well. I'm envious of your musical situation. I'm in a guitar band that's transitioning from mostly blues to hard edged rock (change of singers brings change  ).

[dizz]

Finally got a clip up of the new drum with a fresh head n tune.

 http://www.youtube.com/user/Ismlor#p/u/3/kovZtCPNsFE]http://www.youtube.com/user/Ismlor#p/u/3/kovZtCPNsFE

 http://www.youtube.com/user/Ismlor#p/u/1/BiESHfxKrVo]http://www.youtube.com/user/Ismlor#p/u/1/BiESHfxKrVo

[dizz]

I have what is probably a final update on my stave drums.  Here are some pix of completed shells.  As you can see I am no photographer and am not doing these justice.   Rims will change in time but this is what these drums are going to look like.  It's all red oak with a splash of solid wenge to band the bass hoops.  All shells are not turned on the inside and are about 1.5 inches thick.  These drums are heavy

Sizes are

20" x 14.5" with 2.5" hoops
13 x 4 pic snare
10 x 7.5
12 x 7.5
16 x 12

lugs by Ego

[Bob Dias]

Dizz,

they look fantastic and likely sound even better!  I love the red oak and the chrome tube lugs. I wish the insides were turned down to about 1/2 inch (to ease your back!), but I am sure they give you many years of happy playing...I know mine have/are.  Waiting for the NEXT project!

well done, Bob

[Bob Dias]

One suggestion: Do seal the inside of the drums with a coat or two of poly or some other sealent. It will help protect the drums from big changes in humidity and such.  Again, great work!

[dizz]

One suggestion: Do seal the inside of the drums with a coat or two of poly or some other sealent. It will help protect the drums from big changes in humidity and such.  Again, great work!

Hi Bob

Thanks for the encouragement.  I am very proud of them but I learned a lot on this project and will likely do a much better job on the next one.

Regarding the insides not being turned down,  I can still do that but wanted to give this a chance.  I figured if they sounded like crap I could always turn em down and see if that helped.  As it turns out (no pun intended), they sound pretty good in my opinion.  That's why I didn't seal the insides since I might just turn around and cut all that wood out anyway but will seal them somehow.  I wonder if a linseed rub would be sufficient

I have an unedited link of what they sound like up if you'd like to hear them.  It's 2 songs unfortunately you guys have heard me play on these tracks before but at the time it's the only CD I had available.  It's got mistakes n all on it but you can hear what the drums sound like. 

 http://bobbyvincent.webs.com/Tsunami%20Jazz.mp3]http://bobbyvincent.webs.com/Tsunami%20Jazz.mp3

I still am waiting on spurs so until then my kick is sitting flat on the floor which puts the beater contact point about an inch further away from where I expect it and takes getting used to.

I've already started a maple project which does have the insides turned down.  I'll post when it's done -probably here as not to tie up more bandwidth than needed. 

You're right about years to come.  These shells could roll down a flight of stairs and not come apart.  They will likely outlive me

Cheers!

[Todd Norris]

Very nice!  I'm going to listen to that link right now.  Once you've lived with them unturned for a while, check back in with more thoughts. 

Try tung oil as a sealer. 

[Paicey]

Hey dizz, dude...im really diggin your playing and your sound. I aint no punk..ive been around the block and youve got a special thing goin on. Dont tell me you havent heard this befor. What can i say?....keep on keepin on...im impressed.

[dizz]

Happy 4th to Everyone!

Thanks a lot Paicey.  One of the coolest parts of playing on what I build is the fact that I truly have my own sound right down to the drums themselves.  It's my sound.  good or bad

I have a fresh link up of the oak kit with 2 maple snares I built from the same 13" shell.   I built the maple snares with leopardwood highliting every other seam.  Cut one into a 3.25" piccolo(at my left) and the other into a 5.5" deep that is in the primary position.  I'm kinda of a newb to having 2 snares set up and wasn't completely comfortable with it but wanted to give the 2 a side by side test run.

pardon the lack of a windscreen
 http://www.youtube.com/user/cafemarsvdo#p/a/u/2/4SPoUerW_qU]http://www.youtube.com/user/cafemarsvdo#p/a/u/2/4SPoUerW_qU

I think the drums sound and look great and I am very proud of them.  I can't wait to experiment with different heads but that takes time as I can't go out and try 4-5 different types all at once (I'm sure 99% of us can relate to that)

I've learned a lot about what makes snare drums in particular sound different which has already been valuable to me as a drummer and a builder.

I have a maple bass drum & hoops, the 2snares I mentioned built and playable right now.  I just need to built a floor tom and a couple rack toms for a full maple kit which fwiw I will be turning town the insides of the shells on.  I hope the maple kit becomes the gigging kit as it will be much lighter(weight-wise) than the oak and could look really nice with that maple grain.

[DR]

Dizz, way to go! 

While I cannot see the photos in the earlier posts to this topic, the drums sound great to my ears.  Plus, for my taste, you played great on all five uploaded songs that I heard.  Any chance you could send a PM to me with a link to the pics?

[dizz]

I recorded this loop a few days ago.  AKG mics / Firepod / Zoom q3hd / Cubase / Premeire pro 5.5

Merry Christmas everyone!

 http://youtu.be/JJHBD8DUEGw?hd=1]http://youtu.be/JJHBD8DUEGw?hd=1