Drummer Talk » Gear

Does Tama have an electronic kit?

Dave — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:28:26 +0000

Snapped this pick from Ke$ha’s performance on SNL this past Sat. Take a look at the kick. hmmm

Drummer Talk 02/03/2010 – Winter NAMM Gear Review (Part II) (#135)

Dave — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:35:21 +0000

Part II of our look at all the crazy gear coming out at this year’s Winter NAMM in Los Angeles (Anaheim!!). Travis Barker is the drummer of the week, we talk about Tommy Igoe’s new DVD, and no one laughs at Carter’s jokes. Show Notes

Drummer Talk 01/28/2010 – Winter NAMM Gear Review (Part I) (#134)

Dave — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:04:34 +0000

We look at all the crazy gear coming out at this year’s Winter NAMM in Anaheim and Adrian Young is the drummer of the week! Show Notes

Drummer Talk 01/14/2010 – All About Stands

Dave — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:08:02 +0000

We are back from our Christmas break with a show all about stands! Mike tells us all about the drummer of the week, Ed Shaughnessy, we talk about Ramon Samson, the Guitar Center Drum Off Winner, and Carter is late! Show Notes

Drummer Talk 12/17/2009 – Gear You Should Wish For for Christmas!

Dave — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:31:18 +0000

It’s full blown end of the year madness here, so in Dave’s stead, Carter and Mike run things in this final episode of Drummer Talk for 2009. This week’s topic: Gear you shold wish for for Christmas! See everyone in 2010! Show Notes

Drummer Talk 11/05/2009 – What Makes a Good Drum Kit?

Dave — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:18:54 +0000

Today, we examine what makes a drum kit a good kit, and we discuss the differences between top of the line gear. Simon Phillips is the drummer of the week, and we have news including Thomas Pridgen’s departure from The Mars Volta!! Show Notes

Gear Review – Tama Iron Cobra

JABB — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:14:36 +0000

The Tama Iron Cobra is one of the staple pedals of the rock and metal scene. The money Tama has been putting into that marketing has been working; they are one of the most popular pedals because they are fast, smooth, and will survive a nuclear firestorm. Tama has built that fan base and is pretty well happy to stick with the thing they have going on. They haven’t had a major change in design for a while. Ironic, considering the words ” The Legend in Innovation” are etched in the foot board and they’ve been using the same basic model for years. There are 3 basic models that are not designed to be interchangeable though I’ve heard it’s possible if you have enough mechanical knowhow.

The most popular of the three is the power glide pedal, which is the power model… duh. It’s designed for optimum speed and power. Does that mean you can’t play soft on this pedal? Not even close. Does it mean that it will take no effort on your part to get a really powerful earth-shattering stroke? Not that either. If you have a drum hero that’s a Tama endorser then there is a high chance that they will playing one of these babies.

The next variation is the flexi-glide pedal which is my personal favorite and used for several years. It’s designed to give that old fashioned strap drive feel which I would describe as a fast light floating feel. It kinda whips the beater into the head rather then the powerful driving feel that the power glide has. This is the other end of the spectrum from the power glide and would probably suit a jazz player exceptionally well though you can use it for any type of music.

The last variation is the rolling glide pedal which strikes a medium between the two extremes. So basically if Buddha were a Tama endorser then this would be the pedal for him. It’s designed to give a consistent stroke feel all the way through the entire motion.

All the pedals share most of their basic design so from here I can pretty much talk about them as if they were all the same pedal. The current models feature something of interest called the cobra coil which is one of the biggest additions they have made to the line up in a while. The Cobra Coil is an upward facing spring that is housed underneath the footboard and is bolted to the base plate. They aren’t the first to think of this kind of concept. Lots of electronic hi-hat pedals are designed pretty much the same way with the spring pressure under the foot board. Trick’s super pedal, the Pro V-1 is powered with a compression spring like the cobra coil. So this isn’t uncharted territory. Tama might have been the first to ever use a compression spring AND a expansion spring at the same time on one pedal. The other thing is that you can adjust the position of the spring under the foot board to get different feels.

So how does it feel? I’d describe it as giving the pedal a bouncy kind of quality. You kinda need to learn to play catch with the bottom spring and allow it to help carry your foot back up. Once you acclimate your foot to the two spring system it actually feels pretty darn good. The funny thing is that I think this piece of technology would be best combined with a pedal that has a direct drive system and that is the one kind of pedal Tama doesn’t make. With a direct drive pedal there is an unchanging ratio of energy and motion between the foot board and the beater. With straps and chains there can be a snag with can mess with the synchronization. Still I think that I like the pedal with then with out the Cobra Coil. Does it completely change the pedal? no. But it does make it better. Hopefully Tama will take my advice and we will see a direct drive Iron Cobra soon. If they can keep the price of the direct drive model the same as the other models it will probably be the best value for a direct drive pedal on the market.

By the way, the price value ratio of the Iron Cobra series is one of the reasons it’s so freaking popular. People can actually afford to buy one. Single variations of all the models are around 150 – 170 dollar range. The double pedal comes in at a cool 370 dollars. The Iron Cobra is a pretty straight ahead pedal without many bells and whistles which keeps the prices down. There have been updates in the design as time has gone on but still it’s the same dang thing as it’s ever been. If you’ve seen one you’ve seen em all kinda situation. I’m gonna go through some of the other features of the pedal but the exciting part of the review is over.

Aside from the Cobra Coil one of the talking points of the Iron Cobra is the beater. I’ve always liked the idea of this kind of beater; it’s designed to be able to be adjusted so it gets maximum head contact. The beaters are interchangeable with several of the models being made from different materials. The materials include: felt, wood, and hardened rubber. Each of them has unique sonic and rebounding properties.

My favorite is the felt model but you’ll have to figure out which one you like best for yourself. The felt one has a soft striking sound and has less rebound. The wood one has a sharp high sound and a stick like rebound properties. It has the highest propensity of the three to make little beater fart noises so you gotta pay attention to that. The rubber is a sharp low sound and has a bouncy feel; it’s more prone to beater farts then the felt one but less so than the wood one.

Actually that was actually about it for the note worthy feature of the pedal. This is a very basic pedal and not in need of a detailed break down of ever little part like the Pearl Demon Drive.

As a double pedal it kinda has a last generation feel compared to a Demon Drive or a DW 9000. It’s definitely something you can cope with and lots of double bass players swear by it, just look at Tama’s artist roster. All and all it’s the work horse of pedals along with the DW 5000. Though the Cobra Coil might give it an edge over the 5000 because it does help the feel and has been noted by myself and others to help reduce fatigue in the foot and legs.

All in all its one of the best values in the professional range of pedals out there.

I couldn’t have done this review without the cooperation of Fork’s Drum Closet so if my review persuaded you to buy one, give your business to them.

Tell em JABB from drummer talk said “hi!” so they know their relationship with drummertalk.org is worth something.

DVD Review – Steve Gadd: In Session

JABB — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:29:02 +0000

Steve Gadd: In Session should win some kind of prize for honesty and plainspokenness in the category of drum instructional videos over thirty years in age, because that’s all you get with In Session. Steve Gadd giving session advice from in session interviews and just straight up doing session work. That’s it. That’s not a bad thing, but if you were expecting something that isn’t “Steve Gadd giving session advice from in session interviews and just straight up doing session work” then you’re looking in the wrong place. And yes, I did just quote myself and use italics unnecessarily.

Steve (a.k.a. everyones hero) Gadd is a session drummer so well respected, that the world found it necessary to record him playing in a session environment for the sake of all drummers who wish to garner a speck of insight into his musical mastery in his natural habitat, the studio. Steve Gadd is the guy that defines studio musicians so naturally any session drummer with any sense would want to observe how the best in the business does his thing in the studio, just like how any metal drummer would want to learn his double bass skills from the guy with the best double bass chops.

So is rewindable footage of Steve Gadd doing session work with a few interview clips interspersed worth your money? Maybe, maybe not. Is it worth your time? Yes it is.

Content

I wasn’t kidding when I said “Steve Gadd giving session advice from in session interviews and just straight up doing session work” that’s really all you get. There isn’t in-depth analysis of the song he just played; he won’t show you how to play whatever song he ever played on; he won’t show you how to do a really cool stick trick and he for darn sure won’t be doing any gear talk. You’ve got to have a coach mentality when viewing this video to really get anything out of it. Little is explained verbally so you need to have keen powers of observation to really take away knowledge that can be redly applied in a musical context. If you’re good at that sort of thing then you’ll get a lot out of this movie. If you arn’t then it will make for a nice watch on a lazy sunday evening. As far as entertainment value I don’t think this is worth buying. Renting yes, buying no. If you can do the observational learning thing then this is most definitely worth a look, maybe even a buy. There are two PDF’s you can download of some funk beats and a transcript of 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. They seem to be totally devoid of any relationship to what was played in the main feature.

Presentation

This is what I’d call a vintage video. Grainy texture, full screen, clothes, hair, everything about this video screams late 70s early 80s. The camerawork is very good for it’s time period, it’s steps above all the hot licks’ productions of that era which makes it much easier to watch than most of the older instructional videos. Given the age and performance of its contemporaries this isn’t a half bad little video. The menu system is easy to operate which is often not true in videos that were re-released on DVD from VHS Not bad at all for a video of its age.

Extras

There aren’t very many… just some bonus footage, some old urls, and a built in advertisement for a bunch of other really really old Steve Gadd videos.

So there you go. It’s a classic that’s worth viewing once for everyone. You’ll have to figure out on your own if you want to buy it or otherwise obtain it for the long term.

Drummer Talk 10/01/2009 – Cool Music Apps

Dave — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:38:44 +0000

Today, we talk about cool music technology and music apps for the iPhone/iPod Touch. The Flam Accent is the rudiment of the week, we talk about the Zildjian Tour and Sabian Vault Tour, and Bernard Pretty Purdie is the drummer of the week. Show Notes

Zildjian Day at MDS

Dave — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:50:45 +0000

Cool video of Zildjian Day at Memphis Drum Shop! Check out VISIBLE’s own Kyle, Corey, and Dewey!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZogEEIqYFY[/youtube]

Drummer Talk » Gear

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