Bumping this thread for an update. The band is starting to gel as far as rehearsals are concerned. We added a second guitar player who is further behind the "8 ball" so I don't feel like such a noob on trying to learn the material.
I've decided to go double bass for now and spent some time looking at different rack set ups and found one that I consider unique. I stole an idea from Brent Barnett who is Gibraltar's rack "guru" on a design he calls "The Chopper". It was originally designed for limp bizkit's drummer, John Otto but I modified the look since I didn't need to go with two tiers up on the side wings.
Barnett's "Chopper":
John Otto's rack:
The center piece of the rack is two curved bars attached to two adjustable right angle clamps that are bolted on two 24" straight bars that are used as feet:
Instead of using curved front bars, I'm using two 36" V-bars that have been flipped around to point back towards the kit:
Last edited by late8; 02-28-2017 at 10:19 AM.
Looks awesome Rich!
Thanks Butch!
Sweet! Do you have a roadie?
That rack / setup is all you, Rich.
Looking really good, brother!!!!
Signature here
Thanks Mark!!
At last week's rehearsal I played my Yamaha ekit at one of the guitar player's single wide mobile home which has been converted into a small office/studio. He lives in an adjacent mobile home right behind it so the entire room is dedicated to playing and mixing music. Due to the cramped workspace, the overall volume level had to be controlled so what do I see being pulled out of a case? A decibel meter!
That's right folks, for the first time in over 30+ years of playing in cover/garage bands, I never had anybody concerned about the volume during rehearsals, but not these guys. They had me play the ekit and adjusted the volume on the PA speakers to 85 dB. According to hearing specialists (audiologist), headphone and earbud levels should NOT exceed 85 dB for more than eight hours. At its loudest, an MP3 player pumps out 105 decibels, that's 100 times more intense than 85 decibels.
Band practice in my garage has always been LOUD and there's no joy in playing on rubber pads so in a few weeks, the guys will be back at my house for practice so anticipation of this, I set up the dreaded drum shield.
It becomes a nightmare to play behind one of these things if you don't have IEM (In Ear Monitor) so I'm in the process of piecing one together for myself. I know there's entire systems available for the multiple wireless IEM hook ups and I know many of you guys use them on a regular bases but I think I'll start out small (cheap).
This li'l puppy is only $29 USD :
I bought a 2 channel audio mixer for $60 which will not only allow me to hook into the monitor out from the main board but it has RCA in/out for CD/MP3 players. My next step is to get custom molded ear buds and I should be set to go.
Last edited by late8; 03-01-2017 at 09:54 AM.
Just wondering.....what was the need for the specialized reso heads if you are a recording band?
all the best...
Knee deep in my research of the drummer I'm supposed to emulate with this new band since the 8 tracks with Appice is quite the departure from the band's last two recorded efforts. Appice's drumming is the foundation of the band's new direction so I'm learning a little bit about the man and his style of drumming. I bought his DVD which unlocks a lot on how he phrases his fills and his approach of tying rudiments together to play a string of cohesive parts which flows like a well-spoken sentence.
Vinny Appice (pronounced: Ap-pa-cee)
Drummer: Vincent Paul "Vinny" Appice
Style: Heavy metal, hard rock
Main Band: Resurrection Kings
Associated acts: Kill Devil Hill, Last In Line, Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, WWIII, Axis, Rick Derringer, John Lennon
Brief Summary: Born September 13, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York City. Appice took up the drums at the age of nine, taking lessons from the same teacher as his brother Carmine Appice (pronounced A’ppice).
When he was sixteen, Appice and his band BOMF met John Lennon at Record Plant Studios, leading to him appearing on several Lennon recordings.
He moved on to record with Rick Derringer on Derringer (1976), Sweet Evil (1977), and Derringer Live (1977), before forming his own band Axis and recording It's A Circus World (1978).
Appice joined Black Sabbath during the tour in support of the Heaven and Hell album in 1980. He was quickly brought in to replace original drummer Bill Ward, who quit the band mid-tour due to personal issues.
Appice arrived for his first show with Black Sabbath at the Aloha Stadium in Hawaii with his entire drum kit packed into the back of a car. He was forced to learn the band's songs on stage, using hastily written crib notes for each unfamiliar song. A sudden rain storm made the ink run on Vinny's notes. According to an interview conducted at NAMM in 2012, Vinny stated that at the end of the show during the bows he tossed the notebook into the crowd. Appice subsequently appeared on the Black Sabbath albums Mob Rules (1981) and Live Evil (1982).
In late 1982 he left Black Sabbath along with vocalist Ronnie James Dio and formed the band Dio. They recorded Holy Diver (1983), The Last in Line (1984), Sacred Heart (1985), Intermission (1986), and Dream Evil (1987). In December 1989 Appice left Dio and briefly teamed up with Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson in the band Flesh & Blood.
On September 30 2015, the new Resurrection Kings band was announced. The band is formed by Appice with former Dio guitarist Craig Goldy, Sean McNabb on bass and Chas West on vocals. On January 29, 2016, the self-titled album will be released featuring its single "Who Did You Run To" and "Livin' Out Loud".
Equipment:
Appice currently endorses ddrum drums, Evans drumheads, Istanbul Mehmet cymbals, and Vic Firth drumsticks. He has, in the past also used Ludwig, Tama, and DW drums, as well as Aquarian drumheads and at one point used Zildjian and then Sabian cymbals.
Drums: ddrum Reflex Powerhouse series: 24"x16" bass drum, (optional) 10"x8" and 13"x10" rack toms, and 16"x16" and 18"x16" floor toms with a 14"x6.5" snare.
Appice frequently alters his drum and cymbal setup depending on the artist he's playing with, but usually favors a setup consisting of a 24"x16" bass drum, 10"x8" and 13"x10" rack toms, and 16"x16" and 18"x16" floor toms with a 14"x6.5" snare.
- Drumheads: Evans:
- Snare: EC1 Reverse Dot
- Toms: G2 Clear or Black Chrome
- Bass: EQ2 Clear
- Cymbals: Istanbul Mehmet:
- Appice usually favors a simple cymbal setup consisting of hi-hats, a ride, two, three, or four crashes, and a china.
- 14" Session hi-hats or 14" Sultan hi-hats
- 17" Sultan crash or 18" Session crash
- 19" Radiant crash
- 20" Realistic Rock crash
- 20" Sultan ride or 20" Radiant ride
- 18" Traditional china
- Drumsticks: Vic Firth:
- Vic Firth 5B drumsticks
Last edited by late8; 03-03-2017 at 12:09 PM.
Dissecting Vinny's phrasing:
In his DVD, Vinny explains that he builds all of his fills off of the 16th note pattern.
He uses the Para-diddle-diddle in many sections:
He also utilizes triplets within the 16th note pattern. After realizing how he's using the 16th note pattern, it's making it easier to figure his style.
Vinny's passed drum set-up configurations:
When I saw Vinny in 1984 with Dio, he was playing a kit with no reso heads on the rack toms. He claimed on his DVD (made in the '80s) that he preferred using rack toms with no reso heads because there was no air to push back and forth inside the shell which made the batter heads respond faster and he was able to play his fills faster.
When he endorsed Tama, his kit was on a rack that went 360 degrees around him and he stood up to play the drums behind him.
With Tama circa mid '80s:
His DW kit in 2009 was configured in the same fashion as his kits in the '80s but he tore a shoulder tendon and had surgery to reattach it back to his rotator cup. Since his surgery, Vinny has given up the "monster set-ups" and keeps everything a low as possible by an off-set rack tom configuration, with his ride sitting low and over his kick. He claims that reaching high for cymbals, especially the two chinas he used up front was the cause of the torn tendon. As he aged, his solos became painful to watch as you catch see him wincing in pain as he attempted to continue his flamboyant style of playing.
2009 with DW:
2016 with ddrum:
Last edited by late8; 03-03-2017 at 12:11 PM.
There are two locations where band practice is held to keep the driving on the weekends fair; my garage near Lodi CA and a small single-wide mobile home in Placerville CA where the guitar player has a small studio. The map below that's highlighted with four red stars represents how spread apart we live from each other.
The Placerville studio:
The ekit is set up in a corner of the room next to the bass players rig, The module is an old DTXpress III with DTXpress IV pads that has a three zone ride and a choke function on crash #1. The IV hihat pad uses a regular hihat stand and the IV snare has the rimshot and cross stick triggers but the snare tension knob doesn't function with the DTXpress III module.
continued...
To keep the ekit bass pedal from creeping up, I'm using a 2x4" block of wood nailed to a 2'x 3' piece of plywood with a small section of carpet laid on top of the plywood to form a bass drum anchor.
The ekit and vocals are run through a small Bose PA system. To my surprise, this thing really puts out a great sound.
The long "pipe" looking thing are the speakers.
continued...
The room is large enough to give each player his own space but with the low ceiling, an acoustic kit, I'm told is too loud for the room.
The guitar players set up:
An Ibanez guitar signed by Joe Satriani
Marshall 1/2 stack:
And a newly constructed pedal board housed in a modified plastic carrying case:
continued...
How it all got started.
Joe Satriani and several others in the music industry decided to put together a "Rock n Roll Fantasy Camp" and broke the camp up into several groups over several days with clinics and jam session with all of the participants taking part on stage to perform with each of their respective instructors.
Satriani and our guitar player (in background).
Vinny waiting for his group of drummers to show up for "class" at camp.
Vinny, our guitar player and bassist Phil Soussan (formerly of Black Sabbath) make up the rhythm section for our guitar player's current CD that is in it's final stages of mixing.
Last edited by late8; 03-06-2017 at 12:46 PM.
continued...
How Vinny ended up on the drum tracks.
Vinny's group "Last In Line" was booked on Def Leopards' inaugural "Hysteria On The High Seas" cruise. On the first day of the cruise, bassist Jimmy Bain was found dead in his cabin. The surviving members of LAST IN LINE have released a statement saying that the official cause of death of their bassist, is lung cancer. He was 68 years old. Vinny's group never played a single note and immediately flew home.
It was after this tragic event, Vinny decided to move on and placed an ad in many music industry magazines soliciting his services to record drum tracks for a price. Our guitar player reached out and emailed him and reintroduced himself and asked if he would be interested in recording some track for him. Vinny agreed and did 8 tracks.
Vinny asked Phil Soussan to do the bass track and together, they were able to hand our guitar player 8 fully tracked songs with guitar, drums and bass.
Producer and engineer John Cuniberti (Joe Satriani) pictured in the middle, mixed the CD:
Last edited by late8; 03-06-2017 at 12:50 PM.
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