Possibly related posts:

• January 27, 2012 -- Size and equality matter when it comes to band stage set-ups
• November 14, 2011 -- Cool Things from Gibraltar
• September 12, 2011 -- 4600 Hardware Series Standing On Its Own

Custom Drum Hardware Blog, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: clamps accessories, drum hardware, drum rack, drum racks, high hat stands

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My new Gretsch Catalina and vintage Rodgers drum kits rest in a dark studio shed and directly next to a warm boiler in a dimly lighted garage. These are not exactly the most ideal storage locations to bring out the best in your shells’ tones or lifespan, but they serve as a beginning point in our discussion.

Exposed long-term to either temperature extremes below 32 degrees Farenheit or above 90 could spell disaster for your drum shells, not to mention chronic problems with tuning. Your comfort zone temperature wise for free standing or stored drums, cymbals and hardware hovers around 65 degrees with low humidity – like the preferred climate inside your own home.

First, don’t stack drums from smallest diameter to largest on top of each other like they do in some music stores. While many drummers use this stacking method as a space saver – and it does work well while breaking down gear on stage – over time the weight of the drums will begin a waterfall of bearing edge and drum head warping issues.

The best accessory product you could ever invest in for your drums are hard or soft cases to help protect them in storage and in transport. They are many different case styles and price ranges – I’ve found success with relatively cheap soft bags – including a whole line of products offered here at Gibraltar Hardware as discussed in this archive blog post last August.

Locations such as unventilated attics or beside campfires, woodstoves, direct sunlight, over heater vents, or other extreme temperature areas are not so good for drum storage and even active set-ups. Notice a trend? Heat causes your shell’s wood to expand, ultimately affecting its ply construction and outer wrap laminate. Attics in particular can reach 110 degrees during the summer so unless you want bubble wrap instead of your beautiful green glitter laminate, it would be best to avoid them. Dry sheds can work well, too, only if they have insulated inner walls with sheetrock like mine does.

When my wife doesn’t hide the extension cord, my studio shed’s space heater is actually the perfect way to regulate temperature, so long as it is set on medium low and actively monitored to avoid potential for fires. And the other kit in my basement works fine, too, because I use a dehumidifier during damp times to avoid excessive mold and mildew build-up.

Use of car and truck tow trailers for your drums and band equipment are wise investments as well, so long as the trailer is not a permanent storage location. The same temperature and humidity tips above apply to trailers. Strive for storage at about 50-60 percent humidity. And if you have to leave drums, hardware and cymbals in either real cold or hot, humid areas, be sure to clean and inspect them regularly.

If you don’t own cases, the best long-term storage location is a dry walk-in closet with your drums wrapped in heavy moving blankets and then sheet plastic. I do not recommend taking the actual wrap covering off of your drum shells before storing them for long period of time, however. The wrap acts as a layer of protection for your shells and in most cases requires a heat gun to remove, which is best left to a professional.

- Tim Kane is a freelance drummer, instructor and writer living in Massachusetts. He writes a regular blog for Gibraltar Hardware.

Possibly related posts:

• January 27, 2012 -- Size and equality matter when it comes to band stage set-ups
• November 17, 2011 -- Getting The Biggest Bang Out Of Your Bass Drum Pedal
• November 4, 2011 -- Fuel your drumming technique instead of failing it

Custom Drum Hardware Blog, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: accessories, drum hardware, drum kit, gigs, hardware, storage, tips

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Younger drummers are playing louder and more intricate kick drum/pedal patterns than ever before in today’s age of speed metal-driven music. Even the older players are rediscovering the wanders of double kick playing versus the traditional bass drum-hi-hat pairings. First, though most of us should already know this, it is imperative that drummers never take their feet off the pedal board while playing. I recommend a heel-up on pedal board approach for younger players, using only the ball and toes of their feet to power pedal strikes. More advanced drummers tend to use both heel down and up methods to achieve a full range of different dynamic stylings. Heel up for younger drummers, at least in my opinion, allows for more volume and ability to develop long-term muscle memory.

I primarily play flat-footed, and go heel up for speed. But there are subtle differences to the heel up style that drummers should also understand. Heel up with leg thrust strikes creates maximum sound while pedal pivots powered by your ankles are more reserved for faster patterns. Generally, the after strike goal is to get a good bounce off of the bass drum head as the beater positions back to its original resting place – unless of course when you are going for that extra punch enabled by pushing the beater into the head with no initial rebound. A good tip I give my students is to play paradiddles with both their feet. They don’t like it because it’s hard to do RLRR-LRLL with only two feet for five minutes straight at 110 BPM tempo, but the reward is quicker development of bass drum pedal skills.

The main three problems I see with bass drum pedal spring tensioning is my students want to position the beater too close to the head for some odd reason; turn the beater sideways for a heavier punch; and don’t have the beater’s height set in the most efficient location to realize the full tone and resonance of their bass drum. Here’s what I recommend as do most professionals: your beater should be about halfway between your leg shin and the bass drum head when the pedal is not pressed down; use only the front felt side of the beater or its back hard plastic end to strike the drum head – not the sides; and beaters when pressed against the bass drum should hit the exact center of the batter side head. Your pedal board also requires adjusting. Too low a height off the floor and you will lack agility; too high a setting and your beater will be too far back for any type of solid foot control.

A good trick to use when it comes to learning and further developing your bass drum technique is to use a pillow, blanket or damper system inside your shell or head so it is not too boomy and loud. That way, you can closely analyze all the above-mentioned tips on technique.

- Tim Kane is a freelance drummer, instructor and writer living in Massachusetts. He writes a regular blog for Gibraltar Hardware.

Possibly related posts:

• January 27, 2012 -- Size and equality matter when it comes to band stage set-ups
• November 14, 2011 -- Cool Things from Gibraltar
• November 4, 2011 -- Fuel your drumming technique instead of failing it

Custom Drum Hardware Blog, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: clamps accessories, drum hardware, drum rack, drummer, drummers, drums, hardware, pedals, tips

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Gibraltar Hardware is continuously innovating new products and upgrading current ones. These short videos highlight some of the products that can help drummers customize their set ups to achieve their own unique sound and style.

Possibly related posts:

• November 17, 2011 -- Getting The Biggest Bang Out Of Your Bass Drum Pedal
• August 12, 2011 -- It’s In The Bag
• January 27, 2012 -- Size and equality matter when it comes to band stage set-ups

Custom Drum Hardware Blog, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: clamps accessories, drum hardware, drum rack, drummers, hardware, high hat stands, parts, video

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LEARN STICK CONTROL

If you as a drummer play your skins too loudly or softly, there are some practice techniques you can use to begin mastering stick control. First, the legendary instructional book “Stick Control” by George Lawrence Stone is a must-have for any serious drummer. I still practice from that book 30 years after hitting my first head. If teaching books don’t float your snare wires, try learning – or re-learning – traditional rudiments and paradiddles from a plethora of online resources until you can consistently accent each stick strike with both your left and right hands and feet fluently. Once mastered, you will be able to easily control your sound levels and become a much better drummer in the process.

RUN DIRECT INTO YOUR PA

If your guitarist and bassist are still cranking the volume, stick control mastery is a mute point. If you don’t have a sound guy hired to keep levels consistent without blowing eardrums, there are some techniques you can employ to get a good EQ. If your PA system allows, try miking all guitar and bass amps and running those signals through a pre-amp direct into your board. You will still use your on-stage amps at lower levels, but they will serve more as monitors than the only amplification devices for your stringed instruments. At larger venue gigs, the same theory really applies to miking at least your kick and snare drum – and one or two ambient overhead mics – if you are lucky. I know many bands that run everything through the PA – even at rehearsals – and “hide” their own amps on stage by pointing them inward or at different angles toward the band to reduce overall stage volume.
The PA system is your friend if you use it correctly and purchase one with at least 8 channels and proper wattage for your musical needs. If your guitar amp isn’t able to run directly into the PA, I have been in bands where the guitarist will use a smaller wattage amp, mic it through the PA and then run it at lower volume.
It all starts and ends with the amp’s volume knobs, however. More often than not, there is not enough PA gear to go around at gigs, so it usually results in a mix of amps running direct in and ones that are self amplified. My advice: Guitarists and bassists who play the loudest should run direct in and use on-stage monitors to control sound output.
Another option is to both mic and line out your amp into the PA. Beware of running too many things into on stage floor monitors, however, as they tend to muddy up the entire sound and confuse the overall leveling process. Another option is to try using in-ear monitors or headphones to beat the floor monitor balancing challenges. Bass carries more than any other instrument in a band so if you continue to have issues with volume, try EQing the bass amp so it is more mid-range highlighting attack and punch than its low end.

VOCALISTS SHOULD EAT THE MIC

Vocal levels also play a crucial role in your band’s overall sound integration. Whether your singer screams or whispers, vocals should have the low end rolled off quite a bit on the board. And technique plays a vital role, too. Vocalists should almost be eating the microphone while singing, thus reducing how much gain you apply to that channel and prevent leakage from other instruments to reduce feedback problems.

GET SOFTER

The other tip bands regularly employ is just to not play so darn loud all the time. Dynamics are a fundamental ingredient of overall musicality and composition. You should talk regularly about dynamics as they apply to each song. Levels should rise and fall several times in any given tune to express and accentuate the different parts. If you find your ears ringing at the end of rehearsals or gigs, your band played too loudly all night.
Drum and guitar Plexiglas shields, which Gibraltar Hardware just released new products for, are also another good tool to use live to control on stage volume and capture the true essence of your drum shell and guitar amp sounds.
If all else fails, buy a decibel meter if your stage – and practice – volume continues to be an issue, and live by your desired settings – preferably 10db lower than your current maximum levels. Mount the meter so all bandmates can see it while playing.
Ultimately, if you as a drummer can’t hear the vocals or other instruments clearly, YOU are the one playing too loudly.

- Tim Kane is an independent drummer, instructor and writer living in Massachusetts. He writes a regular blog for Gibraltar Hardware.

Possibly related posts:

• November 14, 2011 -- Cool Things from Gibraltar
• October 5, 2011 -- New Drum and Amplifier Sound Shields From Gibraltar
• August 12, 2011 -- It’s In The Bag

Custom Drum Hardware Blog, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: clamps accessories, drum hardware, parts, technique

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Possibly related posts:

• November 14, 2011 -- Cool Things from Gibraltar
• November 17, 2011 -- Getting The Biggest Bang Out Of Your Bass Drum Pedal
• October 17, 2011 -- How Drummers and Bands Can Manage Stage Volume

Custom Drum Hardware Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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In this video we are starting with the basic rack structure for a two tiered keyboard set up and from there you can build custom keyboard stands to suit your style. With our hardware you can customize to fit any style or set up you’re looking for. The rack is very sturdy offering maximum stability while still being extremely light weight. It also makes those fast stage changes easier as it’s quick to set up and break down as it’s just three parts.
Plus there are many accessories you can use to add a laptop, a mic or another rack for additional keyboards.

Possibly related posts:

• November 14, 2011 -- Cool Things from Gibraltar
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• December 20, 2011 -- Rack it up with NO LEG hi-hat and cymbal boom stands

Custom Drum Hardware Blog, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: clamps accessories, drum hardware, drum rack, Kevin Hastings, keyboards keyboardist, video

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We spent a good deal of time at Gibraltar Hardware packaging our 4600 series hardware together exclusively as a sweet bundle deal with our sister company, Gretsch Drums, for obvious reasons. Because of the 4600 series line’s ever growing popularity, however, we have decided to offer them individually for the first time.

The 4600 series hardware includes a hi-hat stand, snare stand, 1 boom rod and 1 straight cymbal stand, and a kick drum pedal. It was originally designed to give Gretsch drum customers instant kit playability leaving the retail store or delivery truck at a reasonable price, but with the same high quality as our other individual lines. While the Gretsch/Gibraltar hardware packs are no longer Gretsch specific, they still very much pack a punch.

This gear solves several problems for the both the practicing and gigging drummer, especially for those who either are new to the drumming community or looking to upgrade their outdated equipment. First, it’s the perfect way to upgrade to great, low mass double braced hardware to expand your current gear offerings, have back-ups in case of emergency, or to finish off a shell kit purchase. If you don’t place your cymbal positions well above head level or love to thrash hard all the time, then the 4600 cymbal stands (boom stand extension ranges from 30-57 inches tall) are perfect for you. That said, the 4600 series cymbal stands are designed to hold virtually any cymbal weight. It is just a matter of how hard you rock them.

Because the 4600 series cymbal stand bases are a double braced tripod design with hinged height adjustment, drummers can also envision alternative set-up treatments as yet another advantage to owning such components. We’ve seen skinners mounting a tom-tom, cowbell, tambourine, and other percussive devices on these babies with no problems.

As for the 4600 series hi-hat stand, drummers can find an advantage in that the top height extension of 36 inches will certainly make it easier to fit the stand in a standard drum hardware bag without having to collapse it. And its rotating base tripod leg certainly helps provide more foot space for double bass drum players and those fitting a drum kit in tight stage or practice spaces.

The 4600 series snare stand gives drummers the same quality all cast adjustment points, but without the added weight. This may not be the best option for drummers with heavy 6.5-inch deep snare shells, but for smaller piccolo-like snare players and as secondary snare stand option, you can’t beat the price or quality.

And as for the 4600 series bass drum pedal, it is one of the better packaged deal pedals on the market today as a simple and fast pedal, styled with the Wave pedal board and hammer dual surface beater that delivers speed and ease of use. It is the perfect pedal for those learning how to play kick drum, or for old drummers who want a more efficient and transportable piece of gear.

You can see from the product description advantages above why we have decided to break this series out as separate Gibraltar Hardware options. We think you will find the series offering as the perfect individual addition or replacement, or complete line.

Possibly related posts:

• December 20, 2011 -- Rack it up with NO LEG hi-hat and cymbal boom stands
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• August 12, 2011 -- It’s In The Bag

Custom Drum Hardware Blog, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: clamps accessories, cymbal stands, drum hardware, drum rack, high hat stands, splash

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Our Turning Point hardware features light weight aluminum based stands. It’s double braced just like our traditional 9606 brake tilter stands and just as solid but much lighter. The stand still has memory locks for fast set ups including a memory lock for the base to memorize leg height.
Included in the innovative design of the Turning Point is our Swing Nut technology. The Swing Nut offers drummers a faster set up and eliminates losing your nuts before, during or after the gig!

Possibly related posts:

• January 27, 2012 -- Size and equality matter when it comes to band stage set-ups
• November 17, 2011 -- Getting The Biggest Bang Out Of Your Bass Drum Pedal
• November 4, 2011 -- Fuel your drumming technique instead of failing it

Custom Drum Hardware Blog, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cymbal stands, drum hardware, drums, Swing Nuts, Turning Point

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Gibraltar carries six different models of hardware bags and because we are experts in the hardware-making business, our bags are specially designed for not only cymbal and hi-hat stands, but also rack systems.

I personally own a hardware bag on wheels and can say it has saved my back – and probably a few arm ligaments – huffing up to 100 pounds of stuff down a club’s back alley stairs and across a dark, uneven parking lot.

Our newest bag does just that. The GHLTB bag is built for the gigging drummer in mind. At 44-inches long – taller than most collapsed stands on the market today – and 11-inches by 11-inches of breathing room inside, drummers can fit an average full-sized kit of hardware in this baby and more. This ain’t no plastic piece of crap either. We made this model out of high-test nylon, and yes, we know one of the very first things that break on hardware bags is the zipper. So we made ours from heavy-duty stock with ABS perimeter reinforcements. And if you are playing a small club and don’t have time to throw your empty bags back in the car, this bag has rails on the back panel with fold up side panels making for easy empty storage and stability when full. Did I mention she’s on wheels, too? We added inline skate wheels, which by the way look very cool to admiring fans after a long show. The bag’s two end panel carry straps and long middle one make towing a snap.

How many of you hate unscrewing your hi-hat pull rod and seat arm at the end of a long practice or performance? I sure could do without the hassle and enjoy a nice beverage instead. Or do you have extra long stands that you’d rather not take a pipe cutter to at 2 a.m.? We designed our GHB-M bag with all of that in mind. Though it’s the perfect bag for all types of stands, the GHB-M is 48-inches long to accommodate extra length gear and it fits all Gibraltar racks except for our GRS 400C and 100C models. And if that is not long enough for you skinners, we also carry a sister GHB-L bag that will fit curved and v-style rack bars. Heck, a baby giraffe could almost fit inside this model at 52-inches long. Both of these bags also have a cool top zipper compartment for all those extra felt pads, hi-hat clutches, sleeves and empty beverage cans.

One of the main challenges in packing and unpacking drum hardware is smaller items becoming accidentally bent, scratched or loosened to the point where you simply lose stuff at totally the wrong time. At 32-inches long, our GHB-S bag is specially designed to fit smaller stands, pedals, throne bases, and stand and rack attachments. It also has a side zipper compartment for some of those empty beverage cans that club owners despise, etc. This model would also work great for XLR and quarter-inch patch cords, mics and gig towels. On that same size parameter, we added wheels to our 32-inch-long GHTB bag that works great with our four different Gibraltar Stealth Rack rigs. And it has inset wheels as well for those gigs where walking home is best.

Our final model, the GRB bag, is the best option for storing and transporting rack systems and no wonder it’s one of Gibraltar’s most popular products. At 54-inches long with ABS insert, our team here designed this to fit most manufacturers’ straight and curved bar rack systems. The bag is round in shape to accommodate the unique rack dimensions out there – not to mention ease in navigating through thick crowds and tight corners – and it has heavy duty centered carrying handles and zipper.

Some drum hardware manufacturers make cases that simply force drummers to just chuck everything in and call it a day. Gibraltar has designed our sleek, heavy-duty bags with distinct specificity and organization in mind to give you the storage options necessary for successful playing opportunities.

- Tim Kane is a freelance drummer, instructor and writer living in Massachusetts. He writes a regular blog for Gibraltar Hardware.

Possibly related posts:

• November 14, 2011 -- Cool Things from Gibraltar
• December 20, 2011 -- Rack it up with NO LEG hi-hat and cymbal boom stands
• September 12, 2011 -- 4600 Hardware Series Standing On Its Own

Custom Drum Hardware Blog, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: clamps accessories, drum hardware, drum rack, Gig Bags, high hat stands, parts

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