DRUM KIT

The main beauty of this kit is its dynamic and textural range, from seashell wind chimes to Volkswagen flywheels.  There are so many things all around us that make great sounds, but only so much space within reach.  Pretty much any open space that you see in this older picture is history, but that doesn’t keep me from looking for ways to squeeze more in.

Here’s an ingredients list of the kit as it was when this picture was taken.  It runs approximately from top to bottom, and from left to right :

~ LP fiberglass bongos
~ Colombo Congas (from Argentina)
~ 6″ steel bell
~ Triangle w/ serrated edge
~ Misc. brass bells (7 strands)
~ Ludwig cowbell
~ Woodblock
~ 2 Volkswagen flywheels (great sound & very resonant)
~ Bamboo rainstick
~ Ceremonial didgeridoo by Victor Sandy of Australia.  This went to Badi, because she could play it, circular breathing and all, and I was producing more hyperventilation than tone.  And, because she’s such a sweetie.
~ Straw and steel windchimes
~ Small steel bells
~ Chimes of graduated length brass tubing (41 pcs. from 1 1/8″-11 ¼”) and walnut frame (I made these)
~ Vadan’s collar and tags
~ 6″, 8″ and 10″ Roto Toms
~ 13″ Paiste 602 hi hat cymbal used as a crash
~ 22″ A Zildjian ride cymbal
~ 8″ A Zildjian splash cymbal
~ 15″ K Zildjian(Istanbul) hi hats
~ 15 ½” cast iron bell
~ LP rainstick
~ 17″ Chinese gong (ordered from China by my great grandfather)
~ 12″ descending gong
~ 6″ brass bell (from a ship that sank in one of the Great Lakes about 4 generations ago)
~ 8 ½” ascending gong
~ 18″ & 16″ Roto Toms
~ Basic drum kit is an early 70’s, chrome Slingerland Avante set :
14″ x 5″ snare
12″ x 8″ mounted tom (I keep this tuned up to a timbale-ish range)
6″ x 5″ Slingerland concert tom (not a part of the Avante set)
13″ x 9″ mounted tom
14″ x 10 mounted tom
22″ x 14″ bass drum
16″ x 18″ floor tom
~ 18″ x 16″ Rogers Swiv-o-matic floor tom (obviously, not part of the Avante set)
~ (2) 2″ LP brass bells (from Fito)
~ 7″ Balinese temple gong (flat black, & almost hidden behind chimes)
~ 20″ A Zildjian flat ride cymbal
~ 18″ Zyn crash/ride cymbal w/riveted flip-arm
~ 20″ A Zildjian medium ride cymbal
~ 22″ Paiste 602 ride cymbal (inverted)
~ 12″ Zenjian very thin splash (made by Zildjian many years ago for, I believe, Leedy)
~ 16″ A Zildjian crash cymbal
~ Seashell windchimes
~ Bamboo windchimes