(no subject)
Okay, so the Big Day came. The Big Day, in this case, was the Day We Got the New Huston Drums Custom Recording Drum Kit at Famous London Recording Studio. That's a long title. It also happened to be last Saturday, or Passover. So we can just refer to it as "Passover" from here on out.
Anyway...on Passover, we got the kit. A crappy photo of the kit is below.
I was trying to be all artistic and get the *grain* of the wood and all...but instead I got a shot that focused inappropriately on Yon's groin. This was unintended.
Still, the basic *idea* comes across pretty clearly: the drums are gorgeous. They're not wrapped, simply sealed with tung oil. There are three toms: 12 inch, 14 inch, and 16 inch. They're relatively shallow and they sound MASSIVE. The 14 and 16 inch toms are floor tom-style, with spurs. The kick drum is 22 inches and is really, really focused. We'll probably take off the front head and put our Super Kick II batter head on it, but for now all four pieces have Fiberskyn heads (it's always good to keep and save heads, anyway, as they're expensive and can create a different sound when used, as with different sticks and cymbals).
We haven't yet had time to actually do any work with the new Famous London Studio kit. Dammit. But hopefully we'll find some time this weekend. With the two shows coming up this week (plus a couple of rehearsals), any studio time has come at a premium. I had to pop over at 8:30 this morning to wrap up a mix of "We Haven't Been to Tunisia" for today's Migrant Song of the Day. It is available, naturally, at www.migrantrecords.com.
The song is coming along really well, by the way. It's not "done", really, but it's very close. Once we get a few more Zombies! songs done, we'll be able to post them on the MySpace page and really start plugging the project. I think there's a lot there for people to grab onto: humor, action, suspense, weirdness, and fun. And good music, in my opinion. We just need to keep plugging away at it.
Justin was in town over the weekend. He was in town to visit rather than to work, so we didn't get any further with "Where You Gonna Go" quite yet. In fact, most people's April seems to be pretty wall-to-wall busy. Several of the guys we're working with are in school (one's getting a masters, another's getting a PhD!), so this time of year's just naturally going to be pretty bad for them. But come May...look out!
Another drum photo, you say? Well, you can just forget it, pal!
That's Huston, setting everything up with Yon. Yes, he's wearing gloves. He takes his work that seriously, and considering the quality of the drums, I can't say I blame him. It makes me feel guilty in advance for most assuredly nicking up the drums at several points in the future. Sigh. But for the moment, they're pristine. Yet, they're made to be hit hard. Something to think about. Zen, and all. Circle of Life, man.
Had a really good Rockwells rehearsal last night. We're gonna be good and ready for Thursday. Thunder Thieves rehearsal tonight. That's gonna make for a great Friday show. We're all pretty darned stoked. Live performance isn't necessarily where my head's at right now, but the other guys love it, and frankly, once I get there and get to *playing*, I have just as much of a blast as they do. Must promote those shows in MySpace.
In other Migrant news, Yon and I started mixing J.D. Reager's upcoming CD last week. It's still in the early stages, and we're kind of slow at it all, so who knows when it'll all get done. But J.D. is unsure as to how he wants to release it regardless...and he wants to try to get a friend of his to do the mastering (we're going to heartily recommend he use our friend Mark Yoshida). So there are a lot of variables in the air. Less pressure for us, which is good. The more time we have to put into the project, the better it will sound. And it's already sounding pretty cool. Work, work, work!
There's more, I'm sure, but I need to post this and get back to work.
Anyway...on Passover, we got the kit. A crappy photo of the kit is below.
I was trying to be all artistic and get the *grain* of the wood and all...but instead I got a shot that focused inappropriately on Yon's groin. This was unintended.
Still, the basic *idea* comes across pretty clearly: the drums are gorgeous. They're not wrapped, simply sealed with tung oil. There are three toms: 12 inch, 14 inch, and 16 inch. They're relatively shallow and they sound MASSIVE. The 14 and 16 inch toms are floor tom-style, with spurs. The kick drum is 22 inches and is really, really focused. We'll probably take off the front head and put our Super Kick II batter head on it, but for now all four pieces have Fiberskyn heads (it's always good to keep and save heads, anyway, as they're expensive and can create a different sound when used, as with different sticks and cymbals).
We haven't yet had time to actually do any work with the new Famous London Studio kit. Dammit. But hopefully we'll find some time this weekend. With the two shows coming up this week (plus a couple of rehearsals), any studio time has come at a premium. I had to pop over at 8:30 this morning to wrap up a mix of "We Haven't Been to Tunisia" for today's Migrant Song of the Day. It is available, naturally, at www.migrantrecords.com.
The song is coming along really well, by the way. It's not "done", really, but it's very close. Once we get a few more Zombies! songs done, we'll be able to post them on the MySpace page and really start plugging the project. I think there's a lot there for people to grab onto: humor, action, suspense, weirdness, and fun. And good music, in my opinion. We just need to keep plugging away at it.
Justin was in town over the weekend. He was in town to visit rather than to work, so we didn't get any further with "Where You Gonna Go" quite yet. In fact, most people's April seems to be pretty wall-to-wall busy. Several of the guys we're working with are in school (one's getting a masters, another's getting a PhD!), so this time of year's just naturally going to be pretty bad for them. But come May...look out!
Another drum photo, you say? Well, you can just forget it, pal!
That's Huston, setting everything up with Yon. Yes, he's wearing gloves. He takes his work that seriously, and considering the quality of the drums, I can't say I blame him. It makes me feel guilty in advance for most assuredly nicking up the drums at several points in the future. Sigh. But for the moment, they're pristine. Yet, they're made to be hit hard. Something to think about. Zen, and all. Circle of Life, man.
Had a really good Rockwells rehearsal last night. We're gonna be good and ready for Thursday. Thunder Thieves rehearsal tonight. That's gonna make for a great Friday show. We're all pretty darned stoked. Live performance isn't necessarily where my head's at right now, but the other guys love it, and frankly, once I get there and get to *playing*, I have just as much of a blast as they do. Must promote those shows in MySpace.
In other Migrant news, Yon and I started mixing J.D. Reager's upcoming CD last week. It's still in the early stages, and we're kind of slow at it all, so who knows when it'll all get done. But J.D. is unsure as to how he wants to release it regardless...and he wants to try to get a friend of his to do the mastering (we're going to heartily recommend he use our friend Mark Yoshida). So there are a lot of variables in the air. Less pressure for us, which is good. The more time we have to put into the project, the better it will sound. And it's already sounding pretty cool. Work, work, work!
There's more, I'm sure, but I need to post this and get back to work.