The word of God

[robhaerr]

That was really cool day for drummers in Dallas...I was there, still have the t-shirt.

The talk that day was that Tony was wearing scrubs because he was sick, came from the hospital.

[matthughen]

The talk that day was that Tony was wearing scrubs because he was sick, came from the hospital.

Awesome that you remember that!
So, I am going to go totaly gay (nothing wrong with that) for Tony Williams. Those were not scrubs, IMHO. Tony had a habit of finding a particular clothing style and sticking with that for a certain period. Its easy to see in the late 70's till about 83ish when Tony was exclusively rocking the colored jumpsuits. I have affectionately dubbed this era Jumpsuit Tony. I have seen green, red, yellow, black and blue and all during this mid 70's till 82ish. The next most identifiable fashion choice of Tony was his later choice of solid color button-up short sleeve shirts, usually red or black. He wore this almost exclusively during ladder 80s until his death in 97. A little less identifiable is the period between these twon I just mentioned; the mid 80s. That wouldhave Tony wearing shortsleeve solid shirts more often than not the blue-green one that looked like a hospital smock.
And now to back-up my totally gay (nothing wrong with that) analysis of Tony's wardrobe selection I will post too many video clips displaying his fashion style!

Jumpsuit Tony!
Red Jumpsuit from 83

Blue Jumpsuit from 1979

Green from 1981

Yellow (and matching yellow shoes) from 82:


T-shirt/medical scrubs Tony:
One night with another scrubs shirt 1986?

1985 Texas


Solid color button-ups
black from 1989

red 1992

White 1995


If you are trying to judge when a picture was taken of Tony one of the clues is in his clothing choices! All that just to say I dont think Tony was sick or fresh out of the hospital in that 85 zildjian clinic video. I have watched a LOT of Tony video. This may be my most ridiculous post, ever. [/gay] (nothing wrong with that)

[gretsch-o-rama]

Ha DSOP dude definitely post pics when the dots arrive!
Tony plays great on here! Don't really agree with his "not playing trad grip = not playing the black keys on the piano". WillyZ this is the vid you brought to the first HoD hang at Dannys I believe.

Hi Steve! I think what Tony is talking about here is the history of traditional grip. In that sense it is like not playing the black keys on the piano because there is a history there that was previously

established. With the piano, it was the well tempered clavier. With the drums, it was traditional grip. He's just talking about having your education current so you don't think you've come up with something

new when it's been played by many other drummers already. Almost like adhering to a standard.

[matthughen]

The upgrade I spoke about on the first page is up at DIME now instead of youtube. Its also got some Steve Smith magic and Simon footage!

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-deta ... ?id=376695

[DSOP]

I just ordered black dots for my entire set - top and bottom - snare - bass drum.

This experiment resulted in a big FAIL.

I tried the black dot on my 12" batter side first. It sounded okay - a bit more bottom end, shorter decay. Then I replaced the resonant side (which had a clear ambassador) with a black dot. The drum sounded like complete shit (both heads tuned to the same pitch). My other toms (white suede batter & clear ambassador resonant) sounded a million times better. I couldn't replace the black dots fast enough. Oh well, now I know. I'm returning the black dots and exchanging them for clear ambassadors for now.

From here on out I'm going to rotate between clear ambassadors, coated ambassadors and white suede for the batter side, and always clear ambassadors on the resonant side.

I should have known better than to try and steal some Tony juju...

[electrizer]

I just ordered black dots for my entire set - top and bottom - snare - bass drum.

This experiment resulted in a big FAIL.

I tried the black dot on my 12" batter side first. It sounded okay - a bit more bottom end, shorter decay. Then I replaced the resonant side (which had a clear ambassador) with a black dot. The drum sounded like complete shit (both heads tuned to the same pitch). My other toms (white suede batter & clear ambassador resonant) sounded a million times better. I couldn't replace the black dots fast enough. Oh well, now I know. I'm returning the black dots and exchanging them for clear ambassadors for now.

From here on out I'm going to rotate between clear ambassadors, coated ambassadors and white suede for the batter side, and always clear ambassadors on the resonant side.

I should have known better than to try and steal some Tony juju...

Dont want to sound like a smartass but wont the soundwaves neutralise themselves if you tune both heads to the same tone? Also I wouldnt think dotted heads are good as resonants because of the dot, and anything that hinders the head to resonate fully, whether it's a dot, a dampening ring or another layer will give you that effect. Try leaving your one-layered head on the bottom and tuning the top one a certain interval lower to the bottom one. For me it's five half-tones on all my toms and it works like a charm.

[DSOP]

Dont want to sound like a smartass but wont the soundwaves neutralise themselves if you tune both heads to the same tone? Also I wouldnt think dotted heads are good as resonants because of the dot, and anything that hinders the head to resonate fully, whether it's a dot, a dampening ring or another layer will give you that effect. Try leaving your one-layered head on the bottom and tuning the top one a certain interval lower to the bottom one. For me it's five half-tones on all my toms and it works like a charm.

I think you've missed the whole point. I was trying to go full Tony Williams.

As for the tuning relationship between the top and bottom heads, I prefer to have both the same, or have the batter head slightly lower (not even a full semi-tone). I have heard that Tony tuned his batter heads very tightly, and his resonant heads VERY loosely, as strange as that would seem. I didn't bother experimenting with different tuning approaches because the black dot seemed so wrong in it's tone. I will say that it sounded best tuned VERY tightly, but at that tension the snare buzz was a bit much for me. Regardless, it didn't sound anywhere near as good (to me) as my other drums.

[electrizer]

I think you've missed the whole point. I was trying to go full Tony Williams.

I know, I just wanted to help you get a better sound withouth dropping the dots.

[old_K_ride]

seriously ?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Rare-Grets ... 45f06ccead

[circh bustom]

^^^ figures, those sticks are from Jersey. Tony would have had to violate those sticks for me to even consider paying close to 1000$.