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^Akiko Yano's Anniversary
Tour
Here are some photos of the setup
I used on Akiko Yano’s anniversary
tour. This kit was a Yamaha Maple Custom
Absolute. There was a 22” kick drum
as well as an 18” kick drum on the
right hand side. A number of drummers utilize
the option of an open kick off to the side
these days. It really comes in handy and
can completely change the color of a tune
when necessary. I was using the left hand
side (slave) of a double kick pedal to play
it. If you look close at the photo you can
see it in the view from behind the kit. The
toms were all standard sizes. 10”,
12” and 14” on a stand. The Snare
Drum I was using was an Elvin Jones Signature
Drum. My Cymbals were all Zildjians: 21” Custom
dry ride, 20” constantinople K ride,
20” A Flat ride, 16” A crash,
19” A crash, 14” Constantinople
Hi Hats. The “electronic” rig
was VERY simple. I programmed a sequence
for the drum solo using LIVE and Protools.
Then I bounced it to my Ipod and ran it through
a Korg Kaoss Pad. I messed around with sounds
and samples on the pad before the solo and
then played along with it. That is, until
the pad stopped working on the last gig.
I have taken 3 of these Korg pads on the
road over the years and they never last for
more than a few weeks before something goes
out! If you buy one I would suggest that
you get a warranty. Anyway, nothing fancy
here as far as electronics as you can see.
And quite easy to travel with. The rest was
just my Ear Monitor system that I take everywhere. |
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^Quruli Summer Tour
2006
Here is a picture of the setup I
was using for the summer Quruli Festival
tour. It's not too much different than the
setup from last year's Quruli tour, but I
had some e-mails about my Snare Drum change
this year for some reason. For the record,
It was a Manu Katche Snare Drum with Wood
Hoops on Both Sides. Recently for live I've
been experimenting with Wood Hoops on Metal
Drums. I?m really liking the sound and I
seem to get a clear range of pitch when I
tune onstage... (I have a bad habit of obsessively
tuning during most shows). I was changing
snares for one song (Wondervogel) to an Anton
Fig drum with wood hoops. This drum is a
wooden drum that sounds great in all genres,
but especially good when tuned up high. I
would switch for that song and change back
to the Katche drum for the rest of the set.
This seemed to work well aside from the guys
onstage becoming frustrated having to wait
for me to switch! Outside of that the other
difference was that I was using a 24" kick
as opposed to 22". Most of my cymbals were
the same except I was using a 21" Zildjian
Sweet Ride cymbal. This year the band was
going for a bit more of a simple vibe this
time so i scaled a few things down, but aside
from that it wasn't too much different. |
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^Quruli Japan Tour
2005/2006
Here is a Picture of the setup I used
for a Japan tour I recently finished with Quruli.
The setup was a bit more simple as far as the
drum configuration. I once again used Yamaha
Oak Customs for this tour. The Sizes were all
standard: 22” kick, 12” tom, 14” tom,
and 15” tom. For Snares I used a Yamaha
14” Manu Katche Signature Drum to my
left, and as my main Snare I used a 14” Anton
Fig Signature drum. The contrast between the
Metal Drum and the Wood drum came in handy
on a number of Quruli’s Repertoire. My
Cymbals were once again all Zildjians. They
were generally larger in size due to the nature
of the gig. They were: 14” New Beat Hi
Hats, 17” A Crash, 10”K Splash(piggybacked)
19” A Crash Brilliant, 20” K Constantinople
Ride (which I cracked) 18” K Pre Aged
Ride, 17” A Crash, 18” A Crash.
I got some questions about the tiny board I
was using to my left. Not too visible in this
picture, but I was simply sub mixing my monitor
sound. I was using a Shure In-Ear system for
monitors. I had everyone split up so it was
really easy to hear everything. There are some
other pics of this setup on the look+listen
page. |
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| ^Some of
my snare drums. |
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^Hikaru Utada at
Budokan 2004
This is a photo that was taken at
the Budokan Arena in Tokyo Japan. This setup
was from a series of concerts that I did with
Japanese Artist Hikaru Utada. This was a show
that was all to Click and based around a series
of Loops and rather specific part emulation.
That is, most of the tunes had been from loop
or drum machine and the band was instructed
to play the parts quite specifically. I used
a jam block from LP to emulate a rim sound
for most of the show. Also because some of
the Hi Hat Parts were quick and required 2
hands. I didn’t actually have time to
get my left hand to the rim of the snare to
play it, so I cheated by using the block.
This show was recorded for a live
DVD for
release in aug. 2004. This setup required
a bigger kit than I usually use and also some
pads for triggering. It was quite an adventure.
The toughest part is that they wouldn’t
let me read music on stage so I had to use
a tiny little cheat sheet book. Anyone who
sees the dvd can probably spot me thumbing
through it trying to figure out which way
is up. |
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^Akiko
Yano at Tokyo Blue Note 2004
This was my setup with Akiko Yano in august
at the Tokyo Blue Note club. I ended up using
an 18” deep kick drum that we miked
from the back because I wanted a bit more
sustain. The cymbals are all my favorites.
Crash of doom on the left, 21” custom
dry ride on the right, etc. You may notice
that the snare drum has a wood hoop on just
the bottom. I have been asked about this concept
a number of times. The truth is that I broke
the hoop that was on the top and never replaced
it. I have been telling people for years that
it’s for sound reasons... everyone seemed
to buy it. I guess now it’s out of the
bag. |
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^Quruli recording,
Glascow Scotland May 2003
This setup was interesting from the standpoint
that I was trying to emulate a Pink Floyd-ish
type of sound. I ended up using a Noble and
Cooley Snare drum with a towel over it. We
stuck a ribbon mic in front of the kit and
compressed it to death. I also used my Favorite
Zildjian Flat ride for that “us and
them” feel. |
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^Recording at Avatar
Studios Room A NYC 2004
This is not the best of Pictures, but this
was another session where we did some towel
on the snare drum tricks. Ala Let it BE. This
is truly one of my favorite drum rooms in
the world. So many great records in music
have been cut in this room. I wish the picture
was a little more clear! Anyway, not to much
special to see besides the room. |
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^Recording at Avatar
Studios Room B NYC 2004
Again, not the Greatest of pictures, but a
great sound in this room. This session was
for a Canadian project with the great bass
player Victor Wooten from Bela Fleck. It was
an honor to be on a recording with him. I
saw him play live a few nights before and
I was astounded. |
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^Michel Camilo at
Blue Note Tokyo 2004
This was a setup from a week of gigs with
latin pianist Michel Camilo
in Tokyo. I was basically subbing for El Negro
on this gig and had to attempt some of his
crazy parts. The gig is now basically acoustic.
Charles Flores is playing upright bass on
the gig and it requires a bit more of a streight
ahead approach. I cranked the drums up and
did my best to evoke this concept. I really
enjoyed the tone of the yamaha oak customs.
I really got to test them and check out their
range. I had to play really quiet and I was
amazed at the clarity of these drums. |
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^Recording at Carriage
House studios Connecticut 2004
This was a project that required
a “Bonnie Raitt” type sound. I
used a Manu Katche Snare drum for this and
had great results. Also I used a SUB KICK
which is a relatively new product from Yamaha.
It has an NS10 Speaker in it and can really
add alot to the sound of a kick drum in mixdown.
That room at carriage house is great for drums
too. Phil Magnotti was engineering. He’s
a GREAT engineer for drums. I worked with
him with a bunch of different artists. His
site is on my links
page. |
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Yamaha
Oak Customs
.........................
Toms:
10”, 12”, 14”,15”
Kicks:
18”, 20”,22”
Snare Drums:
Various
Cymbals:
Zildjian
Various sizes
Sticks:
Vic Firth 5A Mediums
.........................
I’ve Had the pleasure of endorsing Yamaha Drums
for about 6 or 7 years now.
Years ago I was offered an endorsement with Yamaha when
I first started playing with Michel Camilo.
At the time I went with another company, and although
I was happy with them, I watched Yamaha progress and
develop great products.
I am very happy that they've included me in their roster
of artists.
Thanks Guys!!!
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Setup Notes
Obviously setups can change quite drastically depending on
the gig. My current setup mainly fluctuates between an 18”,20”
or 22” kick drum. Most of my tom sizes remain the same.
I sometimes use a smaller snare on my left side for pop things,
mainly so I have a different color option for sections. I
have a wide range of snares that I use for recording as well.
(see the pics).
There are certain situations where I use percussion instruments,
but it isn’t part of my usual setup. When I am playing
with Michel Camilo, or any other “Latin” based
artist or project I usually use a left foot cowbell, a Block
on my right side, a Mambo Bell mounted on the Bass drum, and
occasionally a smaller bell just to the left of the first
tom.
I’m not great at playing hand percussion. But i can
fake it! Sometimes on pop gigs I use a small block to emulate
a more consistant rim sound. I find this is helpful when having
to play specific loop parts live, or when the pattern calls
for right and left hand parts that are intricate.
My Cymbals are all Zildjians. I have recently fallen in love
with the “Crash of Doom” model.
I have been using it on any number of things and it seems
to work great as a ride or crash.
As Far as Electronics, I generally use programs such as LIVE,
Protools, Reason, etc. when I am recording. Again, depending
on the situation I also periodically bring pieces of hard
gear, (compressors, etc) jst to make sure that I give the
people I’m working with as many options for sound as
possible.
My computer is a 12” G4 laptop. In Addition to my portable
studio rig, I have a home studio in California where I compose
and occasionally do drum tracks and production for various
projects.
In 2001 I recorded my own project called TOPICS.
I had originally planned to mix this record in New York,
but after doing some investigating I realized that I
could do it myself at home and come out with a decent
sound. It ended up being a great learning experience
for me. It certainly taught me alot about protools.
Now that some time has gone by, there are, of course,
alot of things I would have done differently..... But
I'm glad it turned out the way it did.
There are some excerpts of this record on the look
and listen page. I played all the instruments myself
and hired singers to come in for the songs because I cant
sing!
In this studio I use a Yamaha O1V mixer, Yamaha Motif 6 Keyboard,
Presonus Mic Pre's, Protools, Roland JV80 and 880 Synths,
Roland Handsonic, Roland M307, various effects boxes (kaoss
pad, mofx, filter factory, etc) Distressor Compressors, Line
6 Pod Pro, Various Plug-ins including most of the Renaissance
Library, Q2 through 10 Eq's, Reverbs, Supertap, Metaflangers,
Doppler, Enigma, L2 Mastering software, SansAmp, Various
VST Plugins, etc. All of this goes through a Mac G4
Tower.
For Microphones I use: Seinheiser 421's, AKG 414's, AKG D112,
Shure SM81's, Beta52A and SM57's, and Neumann KM184's.
My Acoustic Guitars are Martins, My Electric guitars are A
Fender Stratocaster, and A Jerry Jones Single Cutaway 12 string.
My Basses are an Old Cheap fender P Bass copy, and a Five
String Fender Jazz Bass.
My Drums in this Studio are Yamaha Maple Custom Absolutes,
and Various Snare drums.
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