Dendy Jarrett

This “phat”-sounding snare boasts a refined British pedigree and attention to detail By Dendy Jarrett Natal isn’t a drum company that pops into the average US drummer's mind when they are discussing drums with their peers, mainly because it's a relatively new brand in the US. However in England, the company has been around for quite some time. Conceived in 1959 but founded in 1965, Natal was the first company to make fiberglass congas. Matter of fact, John Bonham can be seen playing one of their infamous splatter finish congas in pictures while on tour. Their entry in the US market came almost 3 years ago. And slowly but surely, they seem to be gaining traction. The Natal Limited Edition Aged Bronze snare drum is quite a striking drum in appearance. It seems as if the drum has possibly been around since 1965, but indeed it is new. This 14” x 6.5” snare drum is a rolled 1mm solid-steel metal shell drum with a very distinctive bronze finish; it reminds me of a well patina'd copper penny. The drum shell is double-channel beaded to give it a more vintage appearance (i.e., there are two concave grooves that run around the circumference of the shell on the top and bottom right below the top rim and above the bottom rim). Most steel drums I've played in the past are pretty bright, but not this bad boy. The bronze finish leaves a very nice and dark “take that” punch. The drum was well tuned when it arrived, and I had only to adjust it to taste. It tuned up high nicely as well (actually really high, and it even sounded great tuned up), but sounded best in that “sweet spot” midrange punchy rock tuning. The drum features 2.3mm chrome hoops. The lugs are a very sexy oblong round lug with Natal’s Suncrest logo on the face of each. The drum has Natal’s ‘Tru-Tune’ tension-rods that help prevent lugs backing off of their tuning due to vibration. It also incorporates Natal’s well-implemented wire snares, which are attached with a very stout woven black snare ribbon that has the Natal name embroidered on it. But the crème-de-la-crème on this drum (outside of the sound and look) is the throw-off. Natal has a patent on a three-way throw off and it's pretty slick. There are the traditional on and off positions, but a third position offers a "sloppy" snare sound - the result is a "New Orleans shuffle" sound that I really like. The drum’s attention to detail and quality match the way it sounds. It's distinctively British, and obviously assembled with the level of pride one would expect from a proper British Range Rover or Rolls Royce. This drum is available in the 14" x 6.5" version (as reviewed), but is also available in 14" x 5.5", 13" x 5.5", 12" x 5.5", and 10" x 5.5" sizes. Note that sizes below 14" x 6.5" don't have the double channel grooves around the shell. Ironically, despite the level of quality this drum won’t break the bank, thanks to an MSRP of $680 and a street price of $469.99.If you're looking for a solid ‘phat’ snare that will give you a great sound for the investment, the Natal Old World Bronze is hard to beat … no wait … (you know what I mean!). I recommend it highly. Resources http://www.musiciansfriend.com/drums-percussion/natal-drums-limited-edition-series-old-world-bronze-snare-drum Dendy Jarrett is the Editorial Director and Director of Communities for Harmony Central. He has been heavily involved at the executive level in many aspects of the drum and percussion industry for over 25 years and has been a professional player since he was 16. His articles and product reviews have been featured in InTune Monthly, Gig Magazine, DRUM! and Modern Drummer Magazines.

A Drum Instruction book written by Swiss Chris Never To Old To Learn Full disclosure: I know this author. I've had the honor of seeing him in clinics for the past couple of years. If you ever hear he's doing a clinic within a day's drive … GO! While this book was released late in 2012, it is really gaining some traction amongst drummers. Swiss Chris is an extremely technical drummer, but in this book, he takes you back to some real basics. The book presents a slightly different approach by allowing you to create your own grooves using a unique Sticking Matrix. While I am somewhat familiar with the use of “stock” patterns to create songs (we did so in our college drum line because we performed a new show each week), for me this is a new approach to thinking about creating or composing on a kit. And I’ve been around for half a century! Break Down This book is published by the well-known Cherry Lane Music Company, so that foreshadows the quality of the material. The book is 12 Chapters with a great intro on how to apply what is covered. I especially liked three parts of the book: 1) The Warm-Up Exercises (you’re gonna need an Epson salts soak!) 2) The “Making Swiss Cheese” where Swiss explores variations on the paradidle (what can I say, … I’m a “diddle-head”) and 3) In Chapter 3 where Swiss covers “singing” parts in a beatbox style (your family and friends will think you need a therapist!) The book contains a CD that thoroughly covers all aspects of the content and gives great audio examples of every pattern covered. Another aspect I enjoyed was the education and explanation of the origin of the rudiments, which I found appropriate since Swiss Chris hails from Switzerland. It’s About Groove As I mentioned above, this book starts out with the basics, but don’t let that fool you. By the time I got to the ostinato and polyrhythms sections, I was really drawing on my old independence studies I learned and continue to hone from my early days of book study. Given enough time with the book, these later chapters should become much more natural to me. But, ... by in large this book is about learning, by way of patterns, how to lay down a groove. And let’s face it, Swiss Chris didn’t get the drum throne behind the likes of John Legend and others if he couldn’t groove. I highly recommend this book. I aspire to be able to play in that fluid gospel-chop time-shifting manner that seems like it should be so easy, but yet takes years of practice and application. And this book will take you there if utilized in your daily and weekly arsenal of material. I’m on my 3rd copy of both Stone Stick Control and Jim Chapin’s book. I suspect this book will be on the same pace and at a street price of $14.99, it's worth every penny and then some. Note to Swiss: Your next book needs to be a layman's guide to integrating electronic loop triggering and sampling into your live set up! I’ve never seen anyone do that as well as you do. Resources: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/books-sheet-music-media/hal-leonard-modern-drum-set-stickings-book-cd http://www.swisschris777.com Dendy Jarrett is the Editorial Director and Director of Communities for Harmony Central. He has been heavily involved at the executive level in many aspects of the drum and percussion industry for over 25 years and has been a professional player since he was 16. His articles and product reviews have been featured in InTune Monthly, Gig Magazine, DRUM! and Modern Drummer Magazines.

Snare Drum Ring: The Age-Old Problem There are many different ways to dampen your snare drum's sound: gaffer's tape ("duct" tape), strips of sheets, gel dots, and even...yes...feminine pads. But a more common practice for some of us is simply to place our wallet on the snare drum head. This does a good job of controlling the sound, but comes with inherent risks — like bouncing around the drum head as you play, which can also cause your ID and credit cards to fall out. It can bounce off the drum and go flying out of reach, and you even run the risk of someone stealing your wallet if you go on break and forget to take it with you. That's a more serious problem than a ringing snare! The Drum Wallet: A Solution? Enter The Drum Wallet. I'll admit when I first saw it, my initial reaction was: “Just another drum gimmick looking to get into my wallet." But using it caused a serious attitude adjustment. The thing works! If I had anything negative to say about it...it would be...well, I can’t find anything negative to say about it. I did say, however, “Hey, why didn’t I think of this!?!” It was easy to install (less than 20 seconds), and lets you flip it on and off the drum without putting your sticks down. This even allows for a mid-song snare sound change — for example, you might want a more ringy sound in the chorus and a muted sound in the verse. The packaging is a nice, heavy knick-knack-size zip-lock bag, which they encourage you to keep in your stick bag for drum keys, ear plugs, etc. The wallet and straps are made of a tough ballistic cordura-type material and while I don’t know for sure what's in the actual “wallet,” the premise appears to be sort of a sand-filed bean bag. The straps affix to the lugs (accepts a six lug up to a 10 lug snare) with heavy duty Velcro. The Price: Easy on Your Wallet And it is indeed easy on your wallet: $24.95 street price, making it a very affordable and long-lasting solution. Best of all, it holds no money so the risk for someone walking off with your drum wallet is minimal...thus allowing you to hold on to more of your money! And as working musicians, we all need more of that! Resources: http://www.thedrumwallet.com Video: Dendy Jarrett is the Editorial Director and Director of Communities for Harmony Central. He has been heavily involved at the executive level in many aspects of the drum and percussion industry for over 25 years and has been a professional player since he was 16. His articles and product reviews have been featured in InTune Monthly, Gig Magazine, DRUM! and Modern Drummer Magazines.

Some surprises along the way by Dendy Jarrett Hardware. When I was asked to do this review I thought: “Oh, great – reviewing hardware should be about as interesting as watching grass grow!” So, I suspect upon first glance you probably had the same thought. To a drummer, hardware is the goods that anchor a drum kit. It has to be solid or you are faced with components moving around from the constant forces of downward impact and that thing called gravity. We’ve seen many changes since the “real” advent of the double braced stand in the early 1970’s., … some good and some not so good. Pearl is no “pup” in this game. Having been founded in 1946, and building drums since 1950, they have been a major force in the evolution of these things we call drum hardware. 900 SERIES – THE GENESIS The Pearl 900 Hardware Series was first released in 2007 as a mid-range level of hardware for Pearl. It was enough of a hit that it won them the coveted MIPA (Musikmesse International Press Award) Award for Best Drum Hardware of 2007 (A vote cast by 107 world wide magazines). That year saw Pearl’s launch of what they refer to as their Advanced Hardware System — which applied to the revamped lines in 2007. The Advanced Hardware System featured on their hi-end hardware includes things like double strut legs to prevent lateral movement, and hidden nylon bushings within the tubes to prevent metal-to-metal contact thus ending the worry of squeaks or rattles that can be picked up on a mic — or even more-so just worrisome if you are practicing by yourself! And there are also oversized rubber feet to help keep stands from creeping but also act as isolators from the floor or riser as well. 930 SERIES — THE EVOLUTION This year (2013) saw Pearl release the 930 series, which is a new revamped version of the original 900 Series. Some of the changes are subtle and would only matter to us drum geeks. And some are a pretty big part of the evolution. Let’s break it down: C930 Straight Cymbal Stand – This is a three-tier stand that functions as a straight cymbal stand only. The base (on all of these stands), is a tripod base that Pearl calls the Trident-Design Base. It features an all newly designed die-cast pipe joint that stems from their higher end 1030 series and (as Pearl states) provides “super human clamping power.” (I love that terminology) The feet are super-cushy and provide a nice isolation from the floor, which would also negate sympathetic vibration in a recording situation. All of the clamps are “clam-shell” design collars and use Pearl’s “Ultra-grip” wing-nuts —which do make the tightening easy. There are no memory-locks on these stands by design. After polling drummers, Pearl determined that the majority of people remove their memory-locks because they complicate collapsing the stands. I have to admit that I too have found this to be the case with my own set up and tear down. What was a real nice surprise was to determine that this stand at this price point had a toothless tilter mechanism. Pearl refers to this infinity tilter as the Uni-Lock on the 930 series. It’s great because it allows you to get the cymbal in the “sweet spot” with ease. BC-930 Boom Cymbal Stand – The boom stand has all the same features of the straight stand but is a convertible/retractable boom. The boom has a nice reach and isn’t too long … or too short. I liked this stand better than the C930 straight stand but mainly due to personal choice of flexibility. If I were buying this series, I would probably opt for two of the BC-930s for my set up. S-930 Snare Stand – The snare stand has all the Trident Design base features, but also has a few things to point out. There is a new Butterfly basket-tightening nut, which is easy to find without having to get off the drum throne. It also allows you to get a pretty good torque if you really need to tighten the drum basket down. The snare stand also features a new “air suspension” rubber tip for the snare to “ride” on. This special tip allows the snare to essentially float on an isolated rubber strip that stands away from the ends of the snare basket. I noticed my snare was able to “sing” more with this snare basket. NOTE: S-930D – Pearl also makes a version of this snare stand for deep snare drums. It allows the basket to have a longer reach and a lower stance. 930 SERIES PEDALS- THE REVOLUTION and the pleasant surprise along the way — Sometimes your eyes are opened to something by accident. We become set in our ways (especially at my age) and wouldn’t normally be open to change. That is why these new pedals were a pleasant surprise. The bass drum pedal and hi-hat stand were totally re-vamped from the old 900 Series. They are all new from the ground up. P-930 Bass Drum Pedal – Why was this bass drum pedal such a pleasant surprise? The footboard! This pedal features the same type footboard from the Demonator pedal. The pedal is a solid footboard (meaning no heel plate). Well, this old drum geezer plays heel down 95\\% of the time, so I have always had pedals with a heel plate. Seemed natural to me. With the footplate on this pedal only available in a solid plate, I had not choice. What did I find? The pedal really increased the velocity of the beater hence increasing the power and volume. I’ve always considered my bass drum hits to be the weakest part of my personal playing. I always had to focus on adding extra umph to my kick to match up with the power with which my hands are playing. This pedal board made up for any weakness I felt. So, it was really a pleasant surprise for me. It is also (at the present time) the only long board pedal in this price point class on the market. Pearl calls this footboard a Powershifter and they hold a patent on that term. The quick history is that in 2009 Pearl released the Eliminator Demon Drive Pedal. It too won a MIPA award. It was a pretty innovative design on several fronts for Pearl. The Demonator (As they refer to the P-930) incorporates many of the same features of their Demon Chain Drive pedal in that it is a single side post design with an adjustable shaft and an infinitely adjustable beater. The beater is a dual surface beater with a hard side and a soft felt side and has what they call a Control Core technology. [and now I go all drum geek on you — the Control Core technology was inspired by golf clubs that have an elastomer insert inside that isolates the head from the shaft. The same concept of “vibration isolation” is in play here, so that your foot, shin, and lower leg does not feel the shock or impact with striking the bass drum head. This is especially noticeable when you are playing an electronic bass drum or e-pads. They also hold a patent on this.] Can you tell that I was really impressed with this pedal … especially for the price point! H-930 Hi-Hat Stand- The hi-hat features the Trident–Design Base features as mentioned before. It is a three legged hi-hat (and there are some that prefer 3 legs over the two legged hi-hat stands — this seems to be a personal preference thing). The real feature that sets this hi-hat apart is that fact that it has the same Demon-style long footboard. I found this to be a very comfortable footboard and again, I am used to playing a split footboard with a heel plate. I found this hi-hat stand to be rock solid. Both these pedals (bass drum and hi-hat) were very pleasant surprises for me. I did not expect to find the features and the quality for the price point. Both of these were “wins” in my book. THE REVELATION: The pedals are what really set this HWP-930 hardware pack apart from the rest in this price point. The only draw back for me as I mentioned above is the desire to have two convertible booms verses two different cymbal stands, but again, that is simply a matter of opinion. And honestly, given the use of these, I would purchase additional BC-930’s anyway, as I use more than two cymbals — but I digress. Another great point is that it is packaged very nicely in a small compact box (for a hardware pack!). You’ll find that it is also light in the weight class while retaining stability, so it isn’t going to break your back schlepping it around. THE RESOLUTION: All in all this is a well thought out offering and a price point that fits the pocket of a budget minded drummer. And if what I have reported in this review isn't enough to sway your decision — Pearl backs all of their hardware with a Lifetime Warranty! How can you go wrong with that. Note to Pearl: You’ll find the box upon return to be missing one bass drum pedal! Pricing: For the HWP-930 Hardware Pack: Retail: $699.00 Street: $399.00 For the individual components: C-930: Retail: $139.00 Street: $ 83.00 BC-930: Retail: $159.00 Street: $ 95.00 S-930: Retail: $119.00 Street: $ 69.00 H-930: Retail: $219.00 Street: $129.00 P-930: Retail: $149.00 Street: $ 83.00 Special Note: S-930D: Retail: $139.00 Street: $ 83.00 References: NAMM 2013 Launch Video: Available for purchase: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/drums-percussion/pearl-930-hardware-pack Dendy Jarrett is the Editorial Director and Director of Communities for Harmony Central. He has been heavily involved at the executive level in many aspects of the drum and percussion industry for over 25 years and has been a professional player since he was 16. His articles and product reviews have been featured in InTune Monthly, Gig Magazine, DRUM! and Modern Drummer Magazines.

Next-Generation Direct Source Pickup Adds Versatility by Dendy Jarrett Cymbals. Most drummers are fascinated by them—the variety of sounds that different lathing and hammering can produce. The advantage of electronic cymbals is that they’re quieter than standard cymbals, which opens up more possible venues for playing but also makes it easy to process the cymbal sound and record it. Yet many electronic cymbals provide a less-than-satisfactory playing experience; so naturally, I was skeptical when asked to review “an electronic cymbal.” My first foray into telectronic drums came in the early 1980s when touring with a major act. I was “forced” to use an electronic kit in the latter part of the tour in order to cut down on volume (both deciBel and size). Perhaps my negativity came from being “forced”—but in the early days of electronic drums, the technology was far from perfect. That has all changed, and for the better FIRST IMPRESSIONS I first viewed the Gen16 cymbals almost two years ago when they released and was more than impressed, so I was very curious as to what the “new and improved” version would bring. When the cymbals arrived and I broke into the box, I really loved the packaging. It was compact with little wasted space, and the graphics were both striking and informative. The package contained an 18” crash/ride, 13” hi-hats, DCP (digital cymbal processor) with mount and power supply, cable snake, two Direct Source Pickups, and all mounting accessories in a single, lightweight package. This particular collection is called the G16AEBS3DS or Gen16 AE Cymbal Box Set 38DS, and is exclusive to Guitar Center and Musician’s Friend. NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT The next surprise—they’re real cymbals, not the electronic “pads” you’ve grown accustomed to with electronic kits. These feel, look, play, and sound like cymbals because that’s what they are. What’s more, the articulation is fantastic. These are real cymbals, with thousands of holes drilled in a hole pattern that is found throughout nature in plants and insects which removes mass, while keeping the tone signature intact. The removal of the mass also reduces the overall sound level. So while they sound like cymbals, they also sound like they’re off in the distance. UNPLUGGED AND PLUGGED While technically these are not designed for playing “unplugged,” I play a lot of unplugged sets in small venues. I would not hesitate to use these cymbals without the electronics, as these would be perfect for that application. But plug them in—and prepare to be amazed. This is not some sort of electronic gizmo that adds lots of distortion and compression in an attempt to give an electronic “resemblance” of a cymbal. Rather, these are real cymbals that are processed with real effects that allow for a huge palette of tonal possibilities. NON-INTIMIDATING AND INTUITIVE I am not an electronic gear-head wizard, and am intimidated when dealing with studio or P.A. gear. So, I was dreading the thought of putting all the parts together to make these things work. “Take a deep breath, Dendy...” These kits come with their own cymbal felts that are somewhat softer than real felts. You simply drop the AE Cymbal Light Ring on the stand first, add the sleeve and felt (provided), drop on the cymbals, and you’re ready to play (much like mounting regular cymbals.) The pickup is designed to be pretty universal; however, with the cymbal stands I use, I had a small challenge with all pieces fitting on the stand. You may need to be a little industrious depending on the brand of stand you use, but ultimately I was able to make it work with little fuss. The directions and assembly are very intuitive, and there’s a helpful web site as well as YouTube tutorials. The DCP (Digital Cymbal Processor) unit is a small, five-channel processor with an aux in, headphone jack, five-channel snake (included), color-coded ports for easy hookup, a USB 2.0 port, and two input channels for mixing in your electronic drums. I was up and running in ten minutes (quicker the second time). Also note that Mac/Windows DCP editing software is available which can check for updates, upgrade the DCP firmware, and even lets you upload new cymbal and reverb presets. The DCP has a magnetic mount that’s useble with most multi clamps, and is simple and fast to set up. Just be careful where you mount it, so that accidentally bumping the DCP forcefully on an upswing doesn’t dislodge it from the mount. I have been informed that while this unit was a prototype board that the new units will ship with two thumb screws to secure this magnetic plate to prevent it from being knocked off the mount. When powered-on, the pickups have a whitish-blue LED light band around them that cast an attention-getting yet eerie glow under the cymbals. This furthers the cool quotient! And you can also set it to stay constant, strobe when struck, or strobe constantly—that raises the lighting to über-cool. THE GIST OF IT So what happens when you “plug” them in? Let’s just focus on what the system does to one cymbal. The DCP allows you to take the regular (if you will) cymbal and pitch-shift its tonal quality. You can make the 18” crash/ride sound like a Dark Hand-Hammered Crash, or an A Custom or even get something bordering on an electronic sound by simply changing the presets. There are 20 preset tone changes. You can also add reverb if you’re playing a huge ballad and need that big-bucket crash sound. The DCP makes your cymbals become transformers in no uncertain terms, allowing wide tonal choices. The stereo pan places the cymbal anywhere in the stereo field—stage left, right, or stereo. THE DIRECT SOURCE PICKUP The original pickup was housed in the “light ring.” These worked great when the cymbals were used with electronic drums, but as the popularity of these hybrid cymbals have grown, drummers are integrating them with acoustic cymbals on acoustic sets (or replacing their acoustic cymbals altogether on an acoustic setup). This created a problem with live sound applications due to bleeding. This new direct source pickup is designed with live sound close monitoring situations in mind, and yes, they work great. The mic screws through one of the holes on the cymbals and has small isolation “o”-rings that keep that pickup isolated from the cymbals themselves. That mic has a small short cable that plugs into the light ring. The snake runs from the light ring back to the DCP—a clean, tidy setup. They also give you an option for a light show! The new Direct Source Pickup has 11 different color options with 6 different light patterns and a "strike burst" option that changes the light color when you strike the cymbal. You can also choose to run the system without the lights. OPEN YOUR MIND It’s true—things are changing with electronics these days. If you think about the development of the Hybrid Electric automobile in our everyday lives, you can see where the Gen16 will have its place for us drummers. The possibilities are limitless. These cymbals are tremendous plugged-in in any setting where volume is a consideration, and as mentioned before, are even useable “unplugged.” They allow you choices whether used as a complete set of cymbals with your typical gig setup, added into a regular acoustic cymbal setup to provide a useful element of effects, or as a tremendous alternative with your electronic drum set. If I may quote Russ Miller: “Once you play these—you’ll never go back to an electric pad cymbal again!” I should point out that I reviewed these on our church drum set. The church Music Director loved these so much, that we had to have them. Gen16 and Zildjian have done an outstanding job of merging the two technologies of acoustic and electronics, so now I’m convinced—the hybrid world is not just reality, but a better reality. Gen 16: AE Cymbals/Box Set 38DS (G16AEBS3DS) Features and Specs 13” AE hi-hats 18” AE crash/ride DCP AE Controller with mount and power supply Cable snake Two Direct Source pickups with special O rings Cymbal and hi-hat mounting accessories (includes three felts, three sleeves, and three washers per cymbal) Retail $999 MAP $699 www.gen-16.com Resources: WWBW's Review of the Band and Orchestra Perspective of the Gen 16 Close Up of the Direct Souce Pickup: Dendy Jarrett is the Editorial Director and Director of Communities for Harmony Central. He has been heavily involved at the executive level in many aspects of the drum and percussion industry for over 25 years and has been a professional player since he was 16. His articles and product reviews have been featured in InTune Monthly, Gig Magazine, DRUM! and Modern Drummer Magazines.