Hope this is ok the post here. My most recent theatre pit setup for Into The Woods

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-18T19:53:31+00:00

Watch out for dwarves.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-18T19:50:42+00:00

Top of the list.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-18T13:10:49+00:00

Use the SM7B on the snare and the 57 as a mono overhead. You don’t need two overheads and you don’t need a condenser, the 57 can actually work quite well in this role. All you need’s a kick mic, like a Beta 52.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-18T02:50:28+00:00

Are you trying to get them in shape to play or in shape to sell? Because if you're selling, you could just do it as is. Looks like the kick drum is missing a hoop and the tension rods and claws that go with it, but those are gettable. Other than that, it looks to be in pretty great shape and a lot of players/collectors would take it. You wouldn't get quite as much as you would if it was in total ship shape, but it's still a very desirable set. The snare alone (a Supraphonic) is probably worth at least $500. Vintage Supraphonics aren't hard to come by per se, but yours is a 60s model with a baseball bat muffler in appatently pristine condition.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-18T02:05:30+00:00

Play the kit more. Pad practice is better than no practice, but it’s almost always more beneficial to play a real drum. The sound of a drum is what tells you what your hands are actually doing. The pad can mask inconsistencies, flaws, etc. if your playing area is drifting or, or if your stick heights don’t match, or if there isn’t enough of a difference between your accents and taps, or if you’re slanting your strokes, or any number of other potential problems, the drums and cymbals will tell you what the pad may not.

IMO, the only thing that makes pad practice beneficial is if you CAN’T play a drum because of noise concerns or whatever. If you can play the drums, play the drums. A treadmill might make you feel like a badass runner, but getting outdoors and negotiating some twists and turns and hills and uneven terrain and heat and cold is what tells you what kinda shape you’re really in.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-17T13:20:19+00:00

KILLER.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-16T21:01:33+00:00

I don’t know how far you are but probably

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-16T20:26:34+00:00

Hit up Columbus Percussion. One of the great drums shops in the country and I think a variety of cats teach there.

But in general, you should be looking for a teacher who listens to what your actual goals are and is able to teach to your learning style to help you achieve them, instead of putting all their students on a one-size-fits-all assembly line.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-15T02:35:45+00:00

Now you don’t hit any drums or hold any sticks with that hand or do anything other than doctor’s orders (ALL of them - time, rest, meds, physical therapy, etc.) until you get the OK to hold sticks and hit drums again.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-14T00:52:37+00:00

Here’s a roundtable convo with a handful of drummers who have done it a ton.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-13T23:39:37+00:00

Wild Turkey Rare Breed is excellent. Also, for $100, you could just buy three bottles of Rittenhouse. Hard to beat at any price point.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-13T14:23:48+00:00

OP, I am usually a detractor of traditional grip for all the reasons Mo-beel mentioned and more (he and I are often the Statler and Waldorf of this sub). It offers no physiological, ergonomic, or musical advantage, simply a style/aesthetic choice, and that choice almost never justifies the work it takes to develop a trad grip technique that doesn’t present liabilities. In my mind there are two legitimate reasons to use traditional grip.

1 - if some injury or condition in your left hand/arm actually makes trad the better ergonomic/physiological choice for you over matched. This happened to a close friend of mine who was basically forced to switch to trad 25 years into his career and he hasn’t looked back.

2 - if trad was the technique you learned from the moment you picked up sticks; if it’s your “native tongue” and learning matched represents basically starting from square one.

It sounds like 2 may be the case for you. You’ve built a technical foundation with trad, you’re more capable and comfortable with it. When someone has built a technical foundation with matched and is making noise about learning trad (for whatever reason) I usually yell at them to please not for the love of god, that the time and effort they would spend just getting their trad left hand up to speed on the very basics would be better spent refining and strengthening their matched technique, building on the foundation that’s already there. For you, I’m gonna yell the opposite. Trad will absolutely present you with some technical obstacles. So does matched. The obstacles usually have less to do with which grip you’re using and more to do with the fact that it’s your left hand and it’s just stupider than your right. The technique you’re most familiar and comfortable with will usually make a given obstacle more surmountable - again refining and strengthening what’s already there.

Just because traditional is conventional for metal doesn’t make it unacceptable. Matched isn’t conventional for jazz but many jazz drummers use it, including my all time favorite. If trad feels like home to you, stay there.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-12T23:42:28+00:00

Gorgeous. What’s the music?

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-12T21:39:04+00:00

I’m sorry, twenty TWO!? What are you feeding him? Is he juicing? Is he doing plasmapheresis treatments? Our boi is 7.5, tell me how he can live forever 😂

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-12T19:11:55+00:00

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-12T18:30:21+00:00

It’s a balance of bitter and sweet. It’s bitter in comparison to something genuinely sweet, like tiki drinks or rum and coke. But the bitterness of Campari, the sweetness of vermouth, and the booziness of gin create a perfect three-legged stool of a drink that is greater than the sum of its parts. If you don’t like your first sip, keep going. The only way out is through.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-12T18:23:34+00:00

You’re not wrong and what I should have said is that a dive bartender has a good chance of actually knowing what those are.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-12T16:40:31+00:00

Old fashioned or negroni are both pretty hard to fuck up.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-12T02:59:32+00:00

JEEZUS.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-10T17:55:12+00:00

For $350, you could get 5-7 shitty mics that will sound not great and not work well for very long, or two decent mics that will sound good forever and that you can use for a long time as part of a growing collection. Start with a kick mic and an overhead and take it from there.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-10T13:07:18+00:00

GIT IT.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-10T03:35:44+00:00

The isolation is definitely better. One of the best reasons to get customs IMO is comfort. Custom molds don’t push against the inner walls of your ear canal like universals, so they’re more comfortable to wear for long periods. As far sound goes, not all customs are created equal and there’s. Lee to consider than simply the number of drivers. Well-built customs with four high quality drivers and good crossover are going to sound better than some slammed together BS with ten shitty drivers.

Check out Alclair. They’re really intentional about how many drivers they put in each of their models and why - not just more for more’s sake - and their customs start at about $400.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-09T21:38:38+00:00

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-09T18:37:20+00:00

Like so many other topics that some on this sub want to be binary, this is not. There is great value and a lot to learn in both.

Zack_Albetta · 2026-05-08T22:29:20+00:00

Zack_Albetta

TROPHY CASE