Quarantine Chatty!

[Tom Reschke]

I just bought a pdp double pedal for a hundred bucks and I fucking LOVE it. I haven't owned a double pedal in 20 + years because I never liked how I had to move my hi hat to accommodate it and I had a snobbish kind of attitude towards double bass. I considered it "cheating" in a way because even though I loved struff with prominent double bass drum stuff when I was a kid (Rush, Metallica, Pantera) I could always play those parts with one foot and some orchestration with floor toms. But what a fool I was. After just one day with this thing I am hooked. It's like having a nitro boost to just crush a shit ton of notes with a ton of power that you (well, I) just cant do with one pedal. It's so fun to do the more common cliche stuff like quads and double bass shuffles. And this thing plays great for just a hundred dollars, I'm very impressed and super happy about it. I feel like a kid again!

[Rodge]

Good for you brother !!!
I'm thinking about getting one me too, we'll see...
PS : I sold mine 2/3 years ago, an old Yamaha.

[Paul Marangoni]

Good for you brother !!!
I'm thinking about getting one me too, we'll see...
PS : I sold mine 2/3 years ago, an old Yamaha.

I did the same thing. I stopped using a double pedal a few years ago because I felt like I was playing the same stupid crap with them all the time.
But I played two bass drums for over a dozen years, and then started using the double pedal when they were released in the mid-80s, up until a few years ago.
I decided that it's dumb to ignore something I spent so much time doing. Also, I felt that, if Gary Husband is okay with double pedals, I should be too.
I'm getting a new Yamaha DFP-9500C this week.

Vinnie was even using his double pedals on his 18" bass drum when he did that live stream a couple years ago.

[Matus]

It's been a while, but I've been busy re-inventing some stuff in my life. Sometimes, moving forward means making big changes.
The biggest news, I guess it's that I signed as an international Mapex artist a few months ago. Not many people saw this one coming, but it was something in the making for months already and the only logical consequence of a long process. My relationship with Yamaha really got to a point where it made no sense for me to stay there. After 15 years it felt like being stuck in the bench forever and it was more of a loyalty thing than anything else. Then, over the past year or so, some things happened one way, some things didn't happen MY way, and I felt that loyalty was gone for good.
Meanwhile, I had started working with Balbex Drumsticks on my signature stick. The national dealer for them is the same as Mapex and working with them is just pure joy. They went out of their way to make sure the stick was exactly what I was looking for and they really delivered. Then, I tried some of the newer Mapex material (I had to actually TRY the sticks and compare sizes and tips on real kits) and was really impressed. So it was just the right step to take.
For starters, we're re-starting the engines with a Black Panther snare drum tour, using the whole line (14 snares) plus the artist series (5 more of them) on the same set. At the same time -think more Terry Bozzio than Steve Jordan here. We're doing the first setup tomorrow to see if my initial idea was too crazy. I hope not.
I'll post some pics/vids if you guys feel like it. Here or on some other topic. Your choice, I'm not gonna spam you

[Merrill Conn]

Carlos --

Yeah...count me in for wanting to see you do your thing.

Congrats on the new relationship with Mapex. I've heard form other people that their customer service is really good, too. It 's about time something good happened to a really good guy.

BTW--what are the specs on the drumsticks (if you don't mind sharing)? Just curious.

[Matus]

Carlos --

Yeah...count me in for wanting to see you do your thing.

Congrats on the new relationship with Mapex. I've heard form other people that their customer service is really good, too. It 's about time something good happened to a really good guy.

BTW--what are the specs on the drumsticks (if you don't mind sharing)? Just curious.

Thanks man! It's a relatively fat hickory stick. 413mm long and 16,5mm thick with a small, kinda round diamond tip (they custom made this tip for me). The magic is in making the neck of the drumstick begin later than most models to make it heavier on the front and having an amazing balance. It almost plays itself and has this great cymbal definition. Also articulates multi strokes like crazy.

[Merrill Conn]

Carlos --
Thanks for the info. Nice sticks...and even better hands!!! I went to Dalbex's website last night. Looks like they have some interesting sticks. Too bad they aren't available here in the U.S.A (yet). Another brand that I found interesting is Siop. They're made in Austria, and they have an interesting concept. They don't use computers/machines for pair matching. The sticks are actually paired by humans so that each stick sounds/feels exactly like its mate within each pair. Again...not available here.

That pad looks interesting. How does it feel? I'm assuming that it's just good for pre-show warm-up...not meant as a "main" practice pad?

[Matus]

Carlos --
Thanks for the info. Nice sticks...and even better hands!!! I went to Dalbex's website last night. Looks like they have some interesting sticks. Too bad they aren't available here in the U.S.A (yet). Another brand that I found interesting is Siop. They're made in Austria, and they have an interesting concept. They don't use computers/machines for pair matching. The sticks are actually paired by humans so that each stick sounds/feels exactly like its mate within each pair. Again...not available here.

That pad looks interesting. How does it feel? I'm assuming that it's just good for pre-show warm-up...not meant as a "main" practice pad?

It has two different rubber surfaces. The narrow side is harder and the wide one has a bit more “give” to it. The main thing is the idea of using a stick to hold it between your legs. I still prefer a small pad with a stand, but this one is a great option to carry on a backpack or something.
The hands are in pandemic shape. I started practicing at least a couple times a week during lockdown but afterwardsnI had to concentrate on life things and they’ve drastically gone out of shape.

[Matus]

Holy crap, we actually did it! Two hours of setting up and tuning this thing after having all the material ready to go. Now it's all marked for a quicker set up but this was a total trip and it's too much fun to play. Everything is tuned from low to high (the deeper snare drums sound almost like mid toms with snares off) and intended to play with sticks, mallets or brushes. We're carrying all my mics and gear to record the whole thing so I hope we can get some quality material.

[Merrill Conn]

Man...that IS quite the arrangement!!!

You mentioned that they are tuned from high-to-low, which makes sense. Do the snares actually have that kind of range without being muddy at the low-end and choked at the high-end even accounting for shell depth? If the sound is clear at all tuning ranges, they must be great drums.

Are you going to have a set routine for playing the "Bozzio-Lite" set-up, or are you going to just play and see what happens? I'm looking forward to see/hear the outcome.
Again...congrats on the Mapex deal, and thanks for posting.

Me: Does anybody have a road map?