Terry Bozzio’s DW Drum Kit

Drum Solo by TERRY BOZZIO on his Massive DW Drum Kit

A Drum Kit Rising to the Heavens…

New Nintendo Wii ROCK STAR Drum Kit

Nintendo Wii Rock Band:  Mushroom Drum Pads

“If thine enemy wrong thee, buy each of his children a drum.”
(Ancient Chinese proverb on revenge)

Super Mario Bros. Mushroom drum pads for Nintendo Wii

 

Scheduled Release Date:  June 22, 2008

Customized pads designed to improve durability and stick response may be here:

RockBandDrumSoft.com

RockBandDrumPads.com

Drum Pad Comparison Chart

 

7	8	9	10
Average	Fair	Good	Best

Product	Protection	Sound	Sensitivity	Appearance	Rebound
Closed Cell Foam
Dual Neoprene
Single Neoprene
Gum Rubber Composite
SingleGum Rubber
Micro-Cellular Urethane (Thick/Full)
Micro-Cellular Urethane (Thin)
Micro-Cellular Urethane Dual

http://www.rockbanddrumsoft.com/chart.html

Available Drum Pad Materials & Features:

• Gum rubber:  dampens extraneous stick noise, improved sensitivity, improved durability (dual-layer pads dampen more and are less sensitive)
• Closed-Cell Foam:  soft feel, dampens stick noise, less sensitive,
• Single-Layer Micro-Cellular Polyurethane Pads:  highest sensitivity, best stick response, less noise dampening, more likely to trigger false hits 
• Dual-Layer Neoprene/Micro-Cellular Polyurethane:  polyurethane layered over a harder neoprene layer for improved durability, higher sensitivity, improved sensitivity over stock pads

 

The Nintendo Wii Rock Star game allows groups of Wii gamers to:

• Sing through a wireless microphone
• Play a wireless guitar
• Play on the newly designed white or mushroom-themed drum kit. 

 

Nintendo Wii vs. Playstation 3 and XBox 360 versions:

• Cheaper price for entire system
• Drum kit playability may (possibly) be improved
• The Wii version has no online mode
• Incapable of downloading new songs
• Users also cannot create their own characters
• No Guitar Hero 3 controller compatibility

Ludwig Vistalite “Jelly Bean” and “Tequila Sunrise” Acrylic Drum Kits

Click Here for “John Bonham Dominates New Drum Poll: Top 50 Albums / Influential Drummers”

The restored Ludwig Vistalite “Jelly Bean” drum kit in the first picture is the rarest of the Vistalite Acrylic kits made in the ’60’s and ’70’s.  The 2nd picture shows a beautiful Ludwig Vistalite “Tequila Sunrise” kit.  I am personally a fan of acrylic drums because of their incredible projection and great tone.  Acrylic snares have the crack of wood drums and even more projection than brass snares.  I typically use a Pork Pie maple snare, but acrylic drums are perfect for louder playing situations with or without mics.

John Bonham made Ludwig Vistalite drums hugely popular when he used an orange double bass Vistalite kit on tour with Led Zeppelin.  He combined acrylic shell bass and toms with a 6.5″ X 14″ Ludwig Supraphonic snare drum. 

Original Black Beauty snares now cost an arm and a leg, but the Black Beauty is still the snare of choice for many touring and studio drummers.  The Pork Pie BOB “Big Black Brass” snare drum is a much more reasonably priced alternative, and they are hand-built by master drum crafter Bill Detamore.  Pork Pie drums also offers a nice line of clear and orange “Pig Lite” acrylic snares based on the original Ludwig Vistalites.

The last two pictures are of a restored clear Ludwig Vistalite site with Roland electronics (notice the Animal doll on the bass drum).

 

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“We All Live in a Yellow Drum Machine… A Yellow Drum Machine… A Yellow Drum Machine…”

Drumming Meets Animatronics Engineering – This Robot Drummer searches for a flat surface to play on, taps the object to determine if it produces a suitable sound through its microphone, and begins playing a rhythm. The robot will also play a beat along after detecting the rhythm of someone clapping their hands or stomping their foot, transmitting sound through its top-mounted speaker.  Videos of the Yellow Drum Machine in action may be found at letsmakerobots.com.

Click this link for a discussion of the design and programing details by the robot’s builder.
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Click HERE for an informative article about the Robot Drummer (letsmakerobots.com)
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What does the Yellow Drum Machine Do? 

•  The Yellow Drum Machine navigates its territory, moving with the aid of object sensors and its yellow tracks.
• The YDM collects data as it is travelling so that it avoids obstacles in the future.
• It finds “a single isolated object or a wide flat surface that it can find an angle onto” to use as a playing surface.
• The YDM navigates into place so that it can reach it’s playing surface. It then plays some beats on the surface, while taking audio samples.
• After determining if it has found a suitable playing surface (using the sound sample), the YDM composes a rhythm and plays along with the recorded sample.
• If someone near the robot makes a loud sound (such as shouting or clapping), the robot replays the sampled sound through its speaker and plays a rhythm along to the sound.

Cost to build:
$120
Time to build:
20 hours
Actuators / output devices: 6 geared motors in total, 2 speakers, sound sampler
Control method: Autonomous
CPU: Picaxe 28
Operating system: Picaxe basic
Power source: 4 AA batteries
Programming language: Picaxe basic
Sensors / input devices: SRF05, microphone
Target environment: anywhere there is something to play on

Terry Bozzio’s drum kit

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Street Bucket Drumming