Yamaha C-200 - Not Your Average MIJ Stencil Drum Kit

U.S. Mercury. Apollo. Majestic. Zim-Gar. Lido Supreme. Whitehall. You may have never heard of 1960s or 1970s drum companies. But you may have heard of the companies who massed produced them — Pearl and Tama.

They looked great. Some dressed in beautiful wraps like fantasia pearl, tiger eye and other attractive and wild wraps. Some even copied Slingerland lugs to the T. One of the faults of these “copy cat” mass produced stencil kit was quality control. Unlike the popular drums which were made of maple and mahogany…these kits where made with cheap vertical grain wood called Luan. That’s one of the most accurate ways to identify Made in Japan drums. The hardware was also cheap. Easy to rust. Easy to break.

Not all MIJs were created equal though.

In 1967, Yamaha introduced their first drum set - the D20 and D30. From their first conception, these drums were made from birch. The ends of the master ply are cut diagonally, ran through the glue machine and then put into the mold. Once they overlap the diagonal unto itself they hit the joints so they are locked in. Each seam is staggered 120 degrees so that the tension of the shell is evenly spaced. Once this is done, they stick an airbag in the middle of the shell so the glue is evenly spread throughout the drum. This method doesn't require the wood and glue to be put under high temperatures to create a bond.

This process is still used today.

These D series kits came in 8 beautiful wraps and cost around $400 compared to a brand new Ludwig which were around $700. The C series kits cost around $250. You could see why the flood of MIJ kits flooding the states put pressure on Ludwig to create the “Standard” (cheaper hardware and less manpower) line which cost around $350 in 1968.

My C-200 are dressed in blue thunder. Shell construction are birch shells with mahogany inner core and beech re-rings. 14x20 bass drum (9 ply), 5x14 snare (6 ply), 8x12 tom (6 ply) and 14x14 floor tom (6 ply). This kit also came with their special Yamaha plastic heads.

The video below is a very good friend of mine, Eric Berringer, who lives here in Nashville, TN. I asked him to come over and take this Yamaha C-200 for a spin. The kit is equipped with Evans Calftone drum heads and no muffling in or on any drum. Snare and toms are in medium to high tuning and the bass drum is medium to low tuning. This vintage Yamaha kit is available for rent. Click on this link to see more info : 3rd & 4th Drum - Nashville Drum Rentals.

The cymbals are the Heartbeat Jazz line. From left to right they are: 17” Jazz hats. 20” medium Jazz crash, 24” medium Jazz crash and 22” light Jazz crash.

The snare and tom are being lightly suspended w/ TnR Little Booty Shakers and the floor tom w/ Big Booty Shakers.

Please enjoy these videos with headphones.

Mistakes & Glory

“Grace means that all of your mistakes now serve a purpose …" - unknown.

Last week a friend of mine asked me if I had anything which I needed prayer for. I quickly replied:

“Showing myself grace when I make a mistake.”

I’ve been playing camps for about 7 weeks now and I don’t think there has been a set we’ve played where I haven’t messed up. They have ranged from small mistakes (“that’s the wrong bass drum pattern, Edwin”) to big mistakes (counting in a song in the wrong tempo and trying to play it off) For you musicians reading this: I was off by 30 bpms. That’s a big gap. It’s hard to recover from something like that.

I over apologized to the dudes even if they didn’t notice it. I beat myself up. I dwell on a mistake for days and with each new one that I make, the gut wrenching knot in my stomach intensifies. It’s like I was punching a punching bag except that bag I put up on a chain is me. I am like this because I know my mistakes can be attached to the band. My weakness is their weakness.

I’ve been doing this to myself for about a year or so. On and off the stage. Constantly punching myself until my knuckles bleed and in turn, bruising my body because I am letting people down. It’s a sickening feeling. I didn’t know if I was going to make the summer.

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What’s the resolution? I don’t know.

I think the first step would be to unclench my fist.

I would take a moment to breathe in and breathe out.

I’d reach up and untie myself from the chains I put myself in.

I’d tell myself that grace covers all mistakes & that we are not the hero of our story.

“Glory means something magnificent is going on.” - Jamie George.

I wish I knew how to end this entry. Maybe there is no resolve to these feelings. Maybe they are there as constant reminders that I have to trust in something higher than myself.

Hear Me Now - Drum Cam

I had the honor & privilege of tracking a song for one of my very good friends, Bill Cornelius, of Halangarde Pictures.

Lyrically I pulled from the experiences of those vulnerable enough to share their stories for the documentary “Hear Me Now”.

Thank you to Bill & Steve for visually capturing the session & for believing in a few dudes to rock out a song for you guys!

YUGE thank you to Brook for sonically capturing the soul of this track. Thanks for putting up w/ my mistakes & dancing skills.

Personal gear used are my 80’s MIJ TAMA Kingbeat snare, 16" istanbul Agop traditional light hi-hats, 18” Sabian AAXplosion crash & 20” Meinl Byzance sand ride.

Below is video of my time in The Studio in Nashville, TN recording the title track “Hear Me Now”.

Olivia Baker at Americanafest

What happens when you combine a little bit of Joss Stone, Norah Jones and sprinkle some folk into the mix? You get Olivia Baker. She is an artist who you can feel in every song she writes. It makes her rather special and unique.

This was my second time playing live with Olivia. And just like the first, I enjoyed every minute of it. Her songs are catchy and, as a drummer, you just feel comfortable playing back in the pocket. I look forward to sharing the stage with her again.

Please check her out on her website and Spotify.

Olivia, keep writing from the heart. We need more music like it nowadays.

Band mates are - Nathan Harbor - bass and Brian Emmons - guitar/acoustic/bgvs.

Stick Bags Need Love Too

It seems like all the love goes to drums, cymbals, drums heads and cool designs with tape on our snares. But what about our stick bags? Why don't they get any love? Well. This blog is dedicated to my stick bag.

I am currently using the Transport Deluxe Stick Bag from ProMark. The leather handles are kept from falling because they are secured with magnets. The front pocket, while large enough to hold many things, is where I keep my Shure SE315 in-ears, one container of MoonGel and an egg shaker.

 Inside the bag is where the magic lives.

The metal key is what holds my ear plugs for when the music is a bit much for the ears. The interior zippered pocket keeps my Evans torque key and a small snack to hold me over for playing 3 church services or those 45 mins to 2 hour gigs. The leather pocket kindly caresses my wallet and cell phone. I keep a twin tip Sharpie (fine point/ultra fine point) for taking notes. There is a place for a business card but I just slid of piece of paper in there with my name, website and phone number. 

This wouldn't be a stick bag without the sticks. I am currently enjoying a mixed pair of forward and rebound 7As and FireGrain 5As (rebound on my right and forward on my left). I keep a pair of Mike Portnoy sticks because of their nylon tips for when I need my cymbals to be brighter. The mallets are for those perfect cymbals swells. When I am trying to keep the drum shields away I call upon the hot rods. The jazz brushes come out to play when I want the audience to hear the ocean shores.

I wanted to allot a paragraph to one of the most secret weapons out there - the broomsticks. Honestly, they are perfect for low volume settings and give your drums a very unique sound when you lay into them. I highly encourage all drummers to try a pair.

#stickbagsmatter

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Drumming While Tired

You know the moment your body is telling you to go to bed but you decide to do anything else but sleep?

On the night of June 2nd around 11pm or so, I thought I'd sit behind the kit with no idea for a groove, no click and no sleep.

What came out of it? A bunch of random stuff. I threw my BFSD on my ride. My keys on the snare. My hat on a crash. Stuck a stick in between my hi hats. Even threw my Apple Watch on my floor tom.

Here it is. Drumming while Tired (DWT)

In this video I am using:

14" Istanbul XIST hats. 16" Sabian AAX Metal crash. 18" Sabian AAXplosion crash. 20" Sabian Hand Hammered Rock ride.

3rd and 4th Drums maple. 9x13. 16x16. 14x24. 6.5x14 black brass.

The Early Reset at Exit/In

I'm surrounded by incredibly talented artist in this town. Steven Arthur is easily on top of the list. So when he asked me to play drums for this show...the answer was simple.

Steven is the man behind everything for his band The Early Reset. I'm pretty sure there is always a song being crafted in his head 24/7. And I would put money on it that every one of them could be a single.

It was a pleasure sharing the stage with him and some good friends of mine.

Here are a couple of songs from our "PopOff Nashville" show in at Exit/In.

Please check out The Early Reset on Spotify and Band Camp!

Steven, you inspire me to create. I think you have that genuine affect with everyone you come in contact with.

Band mates are - Austin Field - guitar. Tim Skipper - bass. Kamber Kigin - pianist.