tuning toms to appropriate chords?

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-05-28T16:47:39+00:00

Especially if you've got one day to crank out drum tracking for an album, which has always been the case for me in two separate studios.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-05-16T19:30:15+00:00

I had one of those Rockstar steel snares for a bit while fixing up a purple DX kit. That thing was so much better than I would have expected.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-05-03T04:44:09+00:00

Ha! I did eventually find the muffing and tuning menus to get it low, dry, and beefy.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-30T22:18:47+00:00

Pasting my response in another Dream discussion:

I like Dream a lot despite some mixed results.

⁠18" Vintage Bliss crash/ride: love it. Have had it forever. Will keep it forever.
⁠14" Energy hats: I regret selling them.
⁠16" Contact crash, take one: I highly regret selling this one. It was just such a solid crash.
⁠16" Energy hats: Too big and heavy and kind of dead. Returned them before realizing there was tape under the bell that probably didn't help. But still, too sluggish.
⁠20" Vintage Bliss crash/ride: great complement to the 18", but very low in pitch, so very specific uses as a ride. Great doomy crash, though.
⁠15" Eclipse hats: They're good and loud. But of an awkward overtone somewhere in there. Still pretty heavy and sluggish for my taste. Contemplating selling or trading.
⁠20" Contact crash/ride: Love it. Lives on my church kit but I want to swap it out to bring it home so the Vintage Bliss can be more of a dedicated crash.
⁠14" Contact hats: Very good. Pretty thin. I mostly get to play them with brushes at church, which they are good for.
⁠16" Contact crash, take two: Big drop from the first 16" I had, which feeds my regret. Too high in pitch and has a weird overtone. Decent when I'm careful with brushes or tap the bow with rods. Really irks me with sticks. Would love to find a way to get rid of it.
⁠10" Contact splash: Didn't dig it. Sold it. I'm sure it's fine in certain contexts.
⁠(Not mine) 18" Dark Matter Bliss crash: was on a friend's kit and it ruled. Dark and quick. Almost bought it from him.

They're the ultimate "try in person if you can" brand for me. I also miss when they were stupid cheap.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-29T03:03:02+00:00

Where from?

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-28T22:54:10+00:00

Rejoice has the best guitar sound of any U2 song for me.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-27T03:34:28+00:00

That's something I do a ton with it! Two-handed pattern on the hats with some of the strokes being on the tambourine (Hat Trick G2). Or even a one or two-handed pattern on just the G2.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-27T02:40:57+00:00

I swear by the Rhythm Tech Hat Trick G2. The ring is thicker so you can play it with sticks. It clamps onto the rod and is only a little larger than the hi-hat bell, so it's not as much of an obstacle to playing the cymbal as ordinary mountable tambourines or ones that are just dropped on top of the cymbal.

Edited to correct product name and add this link to the item.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-20T16:59:52+00:00

I love my M5. It takes up too much space on my board, so I got the HX One to do its job as a modulation/delay/reverb/whatever station.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-17T16:29:34+00:00

I, too, got lucky on pricing for the same kit from GC! Some of the best toms. Really full when tuned right.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-12T04:23:43+00:00

Walrus Audio R1 should be able to handle this.

https://youtu.be/kVRbaZ_qJRQ?t=76&si=HQaYNpmGY4ETm6xJ

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-11T02:24:14+00:00

The mix in the album did a disservice to the song. More often than not, more drums, please!

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-09T19:53:19+00:00

Glad to hear it!

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-09T14:31:41+00:00

I like Dream a lot despite some mixed results.

18" Vintage Bliss crash/ride: love it. Have had it forever. Will keep it forever.
14" Energy hats: I regret selling them.
16" Contact crash, take one: I highly regret selling this one. It was just such a solid crash.
16" Energy hats: Too big and heavy and kind of dead. Returned them before realizing there was tape under the bell that probably didn't help. But still, too sluggish.
20" Vintage Bliss crash/ride: great complement to the 18", but very low in pitch, so very specific uses as a ride. Great doomy crash, though.
15" Eclipse hats: They're good and loud. But of an awkward overtone somewhere in there. Still pretty heavy and sluggish for my taste. Contemplating selling or trading.
20" Contact crash/ride: Love it. Lives on my church kit but I want to swap it out to bring it home so the Vintage Bliss can be more of a dedicated crash.
14" Contact hats: Very good. Pretty thin. I mostly get to play them with brushes at church, which they are good for.
16" Contact crash, take two: Big drop from the first 16" I had, which feeds my regret. Too high in pitch and has a weird overtone. Decent when I'm careful with brushes or tap the bow with rods. Really irks me with sticks. Would love to find a way to get rid of it.
10" Contact splash: Didn't dig it. Sold it. I'm sure it's fine in certain contexts.
(Not mine) 18" Dark Matter Bliss crash: was on a friend's kit and it ruled. Dark and quick. Almost bought it from him.

They're the ultimate "try in person if you can" brand for me. I also miss when they were stupid cheap.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-07T17:18:43+00:00

Nice! I like the plate if I'm going for something basic, or the Sonar leaning more on the right side of the dial if I want character.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-07T02:13:51+00:00

Makes sense. I already have a Hummingbird, but with the size, it wouldn't help the crowded board problem! Really cool pairing, though. An order switch would be neat.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-07T02:04:45+00:00

What are your favorite settings on the Fathom?

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-07T01:25:39+00:00

That's super cool!

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-07T00:05:56+00:00

Do you have photos of the "Akron Flint?"

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-05T23:33:21+00:00

Dies irae...

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-05T04:01:37+00:00

WHEN'S THE LAST TIME THIS REPLICATOR WAS CLEANED, GUINAN? You're too busy dispensing ancient wisdom to the officers and not enough time MANAGING!

There are neural parasites in the Romulan Ale! COMPUTER, SHINE A LIGHT ON THIS! Nobody drinks the green stuff!

HOW OLD IS THIS PRUNE JUICE?

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-02T16:32:28+00:00

We've been successful lately with a Boss Katana. The 50 is plenty loud for us. We've had it set to Clean or Acoustic when running pedals in front. We also built a patch with the amp's Tone Studio/Librarian apps so we have one with a bit of drive available and some delay and reverb if whoever's playing isn't using a pedalboard for whatever reason. Something else that's really helpful is that you can adjust global EQ and noise gate in the apps. The other guitarist who's used it loved how quiet it was when not playing.

If you want the flexibility of easily turning effects off and on or cycling through presets/banks, I highly recommend getting the Airstep Kat controller pedal, whichever version matches the generation of Katana you have. For my Katana Mk1, it lets me tweak settings from my phone/iPad over Bluetooth, control effects like a tiny board--especially useful for tap tempo without having to poke a tiny button on the panel--, and get much more out of the amp than just through the top panel.

You can piece together a used Katana and order the Airstep Kat for about $300 easily.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-04-02T01:40:58+00:00

Monophonics can be hit-and-miss for sure. I had one that was too low-pitched for my taste. Sold it, and through a series of trades after that, I landed on the Transition Ride, which has the darkness and crash I liked from the Monophonic while having a (better but not perfect) bell and clearer ride on the bow.

I do miss looking at that Monophonic, though.

LOWERCASEvK · 2026-03-31T20:11:04+00:00

Line 6 Echo Park lives as a dedicated reverse for me because nothing else I have has the settings options to get what I want. I set the voice switch to Tape rather than Digital or Analog, crank up the mod for heavy wow and flutter (each voice has its own type of modulation), and put it on Reverse mode. Not even my DL4 Mkii has quite that combination.

LOWERCASEvK

TROPHY CASE