I had just returned from a recording session Korea and I had some serious jet lag. The next morning I rose early, rushed off to my storage locker in Hamburg Germany and set to work on my new project of designing my new hardware rig in time for the cover shot on Drums & Percussion Magazine (Germany).
This was a task easier said than done. This new hardware set-up took me three solid days of work. I was working about 10 hours per/day to finish on time.
The first task was to unwrap and sort out all of the hardware, which included an array of booms, arms, clamps and ball joint tom holders.
Once all the hardware was laid out, I began to get an idea for my basic hardware design. I was basically trying to get the new Gibraltar hardware to emulate my previous set up. This was challenging because, I had many new & different parts from which to work with. So after some head scratching, lots of trail and error, playing and experimentation, I was able to come up with what I thought was a new ascetically appealing and functional hardware rig for the upcoming Drums & Percussion photo shoot and the Eastern European leg of the upcoming Tarja tour.
I use the word functional the same as playable… meaning, its nice to have something looking cool and symmetrical in terms of pleasing the eye, but it must be comfortable to play on. This is where I spent a lot of my time, making sure that things were in the right place and felt good before the final lock down and application of the memory locks.
I must say that I am very impressed with the new Gibraltar series Ball Joint hardware. It is functional, easy to work with and very road worthy. I think it was a nice improvement to my current set up.
Perhaps some of you find these photos boring, but this something I really love to do. I really enjoy spending time alone either playing or designing my kits. Drumming is my hobby, my passion and my life. I always find it amusing and challenging to make something new to play on!
Cheers,
Mike
2009
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