Building the Hybrid Acoustic-Electronic Kit

After completing the work on my Indian Subsonic Bass Sound Kit, and refining my technique on the Zendrum EXP, it was time to turn my attention to my latest project: building an acoustic-electronic hybrid drum kit, based on the kits of Billy Cobham. I'd been a fan of Cobham since the early '70s and learned to play using his "open-handed" technique via my teacher, drummer Paul Sears. My first kit was actually a 6 piece, double bass drum, Ludwig clear Vistalite kit that my Mom helped me buy back in '75 from the now defunct Veneman's Music store in Silver Spring, Maryland. As soon as I'd saved up enough money, I went to Chuck Levin's, aka Washington Music Center in nearby Wheaton to buy two more rack toms and another floor tom to create a replica of Cobham's clear Fibes set with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. I eventually sold that kit, traveled to Europe in '77, and after I returned to the States, I bought an identical Gretsch kit, thanks to my Dad.

Admission to the Corcoran School of Art and a move to New York City in '80, sadly required selling that kit too. Still needing to play percussion, I soon fell in love with Bill Bruford's use of the Remo Roto toms in bands UK, Bruford, and later his Simmons Electronic drums in King Crimson. Before I knew it, I was thrust into the world of New York's music and art scene; CBGBs; playing with Madonna, The Breakfast Club, The Same & Brian Eno; parties with the Andy Warhol crowd, and a thirst for the new music of fusion, rock, jazz and punk. The rest is history as they say. With the exception of another bass drum, it would be another thirty years before I would be able to replace that beloved Gretsch kit.

After buying a used 7 piece Gretsch kit from Sam Adato's Drum Shop in SF, I quickly realized that it would be extremely expensive to duplicate all the drums from that 1980s Gretsch kit today; the bass drum alone would cost at least $1000! Nevertheless, I longed for the day when I could once again roll down an array of toms as I once did. The solution to that problem came when I came across an inexpensive, 5 piece set of Ddrum d2 drums online for only $300. Purchasing two more of their "d2 Add-on" toms, allowed me to be able to duplicate my all-acoustic Gretsch kit, drum for drum.

My first thought was to turn the Ddrums in to an all-electronic kit. My 10 piece Simmons SDS 9 kit still worked, even when mated to my new MacBook, BFD2 and an Alesis Trigger I/O, but their 1980's design looked dated, the piezoes were over 20 years old and compared to the newer mesh drum heads of the modern V-Drums, they simply were no longer something I could imagine playing live, or anywhere other than the comfort of my home studio.

So armed with all of the electronic equipment I needed, (including a compliment of Ddrum Red Shot triggers and Hart Dynamics mesh drum heads), I set out to obtain the rest of the Ddrum kit on ebay. Ddrum doesn't sell individual drums for their "d" Series, so I had to spend some time searching for partial or suitable kits in the same black color, extra lugs and matching chrome rims. I was fortunate to find a 14" x 14" floor tom, however I was unable to find any other matching Ddrums, so I resorted to buying two Sound Percussion drums; an 18" x  22" kick to match the bass drum I already had and a 9" x 13" rack tom. The SP drums were very similar to the Ddrums, so I stripped them of their hardware and replaced them with the extra chrome lugs I had from two, cannibalized "d" series drums that I found on ebay for less than $50.

Although I began with the idea of an all-electronic kit, I soon realized that I would be missing out on the acoustic side by using only mesh heads; I also wanted the ability to play them live, without the use of any electronics; leaving the mixer, Mackies and laptops at home.

So with the arrival of all of the drums, and rims, I paused and bought a few more Remo Muffl' Rings and Evans 360 heads. The Muffl' Rings would help with both controlling the unwanted overtones and helped with triggering; something I learned from playing with them on my Gretsch kit, which were superior in tone and quality in every way. I already had all the hardware, stands and cymbals, however building this kit led me back to researching rack and stand alternatives, and Billy Cobham.

 I'd read an interview with Cobham where he'd talked about using Yamaha's Hex-Rack system; how easy it was to set up his kit quickly, and in the same way every time. I had used my Ultimate Support rack with my Simmons kit and knew exactly what he was talking about. As the plastic Ultimate Support clamps faded over the decades, I eventually had to replace them all with Gibraltar T-clamps and tom clamps. Cobham, Bruford and others were now using the ergonomic curved bars, so I added 2 of Gibratar's 36" curved chrome bars to mount the rack toms, and 3 horizontal tubes and cymbal tube clamps...

Next came the addition of my Zildjian cymbals; 18" China, 20" Ride, 14" Hi-hats, two 16" Crashes and a 20" Crash; a 14" x 6.5" Tama snare; a Gibraltar Kick drum/Hi-hat clamp; a pair of DW 5000 Kick pedals, installing the ten Ddrum Red Shot triggers, and mounting the Alesis Trigger I/O MIDI interface. Voila, the kit was reborn! It was like riding a bicycle, or hanging out with an old friend I hadn't seen in years. "Catching up" was almost like picking up where we'd left off! A month or so earlier, I'd seen and met drummer Simon Phillips at both his SF Jazz Center performance with Hiromi and her Trio Project, and a few weeks later at Yoshi's in support of his wonderful "Protocol II" album. Phillips talked about the influence the open handed drummers like Lenny White and Cobham had on him and I nodded in affirmation.
 

Having seen Cobham dozens of times in DC and NYC since '72, my freshest memories of him were from the Ram's Head in Annapolis in '98 (with "Jazz is Dead"), and most recently, at Yoshi's Jazz Club in both SF and Oakland, ("Fruit From the Loom", "Spectrum 40th Anniversary" and "Palindrome" tours), I was struck by what he described as his "tonal array" of toms. In the old days, Cobham arranged his toms like everyone else did, in the usual high tom-to-low tom order. However in the 1990s, he radically changed his rack tom arrangement, as his lowest rack replaced the normal placement of the high rack tom, and the mid toms were interrupted by the placement of the mid-low tom. Sometimes Cobham would even place the highest tom in the middle of the other, alternating toms. His rationale for doing this was two fold; it eliminated the cliched descending tom fills; and created interesting new tonal possibilities using the same fill patterns...

They say "fortune favors the bold", so I tried it. I was immediately surprised at how well it worked; having the low tom near my left side was wonderful, something I'd experienced playing a symmetrical set up ala Bruford; rolling on the rack toms from lowest, to high, to highest, to lower, to low, was like opening a new world of tonal possibilities.

I couldn't believe how much fun I was having playing them that way! I next tried them out on a new tune I'd been working on that featured a cascading tom fill almost from the beginning and the low, high, low, high pattern breathed new life into a part that was originally your classic tom fill. Once I hooked up the Red Shot triggers to the Alesis interface, I was off to the races, triggering my BFD2 library of sampled drum sounds and samples.

As fate would have it, I also came across the new Ken Scott/Billy Cobham samples for BFD2; Ken Scott was the engineer for some of Cobham's greatest albums, including his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Scott recorded Cobham on a combination of clear Fibes and Ludwig Vistalite drums in his New England studio, especially for this project. I purchased the collection from Sonic Reality, and after a brief call to tech support, I had it up and running; I'm already using it with the Zendrum EXP now, and so I'm really looking forward to playing the hybrid kit with them! At long last, the hybrid Ddrum acoustic/electronic kit, with Zildjian cymbals, and Red Shot triggers is now, "operational and fully functioning". I'll have more details and updates after my first sessions with it in Mid-July, with keyboardist Steve McQuarry and his own hybrid quartet, featuring electric violin and electric bass.

In the meantime, I'll be tweaking the triggers, shedding more new material and generally having fun with my latest kit. Eventually, I'll mount some of my Pintech triggers on a wooden bar with "L" brackets inside each of the drums, just as I did with the Indian Subsonic Bass kit. Now I'm not going to kid myself; considering the venues and nightclubs that I play in, bringing this new "beast" out isn't going to be as easy as it is when I'm traveling with the Zendrum EXP, a rack and a pair of Mackies to be sure, but with the Gibraltar rack and only a few stands, it really isn't much harder than bringing out my Gretsch kit; a kit by the way, that is twice as heavy as the lightweight wood from China, used in the Ddrum d2 series. That being said, this kit will most certainly be in action for a special acoustic/electric duo concert with the aforementioned Mr. McQuarry at the Cadillac Hotel this coming September, so stay tuned!

Billy Cobham's "Tales from the Skeleton Coast"

Today marks the 70th birthday of one of the greatest drummers of this, or any generation; the remarkable Billy Cobham. From his earliest recordings with Horace Silver, Miles Davis and Milt Jackson, to his scintillating and seminal work with John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, keyboardist George Duke, and his own groups, like Culture Mix, Asere and the Spectrum 40; Cobham has thrilled audiences around the world by bringing his incomparable talents as a composer, drummer, and producer to the forefront of jazz, rock, fusion and world music. His latest effort is the eagerly awaited "Tales from the Skeleton Coast", part 3 of a series dedicated to his Panamanian parents.

"Ever since his breakthrough in the early 1970’s, as a founding member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra and as a drummer/band leader whose recordings such as Spectrum, with a powerful, complex style of play exerted a strong influence on the course of jazz and jazz-fusion, Billy Cobham has remained a tireless musical explorer.

Panamanian by birth, a New Yorker by upbringing, and a resident of Switzerland for the past 30 years, Cobham has pursued an ever-broadening, ever deepening engagement with the world not only as a master drummer and percussionist but as a composer, producer, educator and clinician who gives service through music even as he constantly expands his personal creative horizons.

Cobham’s newest recording “Tales From The Skeleton Coast” on his personal recording label, Creative Multimedia Concepts, provides credence to his ever-deepening exploration of his life experiences as reflected through his musical compositions. “Tales From The Skeleton Coast” is yet another way stop on a journey through the life of a musical traveler in search of total enlightenment.

“Tales From The Skeleton Coast” is also the third installment in a four volume series of media presentations that Billy Cobham has committed to creating in celebration of the lives of his parents William Emanuel and Ivy Leotta. The previous two volumes are entitled “Fruit From The Loom” and “Palindrome”.

As a sonic package the music within the “grooves” provides vision and direction for the imaginative journey that transports the listener from points within the region once known as Southwestern Africa (now Namibia), to the social influences emanating from Panama, central America and the afro-Caribbean community..."

Here's a clip of Cobham and his European band, featuring his long time percussionist Junior Gill, performing a cut from his upcoming album…

Mark Egan's “About”

Bassist Mark Egan is a well known commodity in the world of jazz, and first came to my attention in those halcyon days with guitarist Pat Matheny’s earliest group, featuring keyboardist Lyle Mays and drummer Danny Gottlieb. Egan returns anew with his longtime bandmate Gottlieb and keyboardist Mitchel Forman, (last seen at Yoshi’s in SF, backing up vocalist Sussan Deyhim), and well known for their work with the legendary guitarist John McLaughlin. “About Now” is is Egan’s latest effort on the Wavetone Record label, and another fine addition to his ever growing catalog.


Abstract Logix describes the new album, stating that “Over the past 30 years, Mark Egan’s ability to groove, perfectly complement the music in any situation and solo expressively has made him one of the most in-demand bass players on the international music scene. While racking up credits with the likes of the Pat Metheny Group, saxophonists Steve Grossman, Dave Liebman, Stan Getz, Sonny Fortune and Bill Evans, vocalist Michael Franks, guitarists Pat Martino, Larry Coryell, John McLaughlin, Alex De Grassi, John Abercrombie, Chuck Loeb and Vic Juris, the Duran Duran off-shoot group Arcadia, the Gil Evans Orchestra as well as pop stars Sting, Joan Osborne, Sophie B. Hawkins, Marc Cohn and Roger Daltry, Egan also went about documenting his singular fretless bass guitar voice in a series of recordings as a leader beginning with his 1985 bass manifesto, Mosaic.


Following on the heels of 2010’s Truth Be Told (his quartet recording with saxophonist Bill Evans, keyboardist Mitch Forman and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta) and 2013’s trio offering Unit 1 (with guitarist John Hart and drummer Karl Latham), Egan reconnects with his Pat Metheny Group/Elements bandmate, drummer Danny Gottlieb, and keyboardist Forman for an invigorating program that highlights the bassist’s signature singing fretless 5-string tones in both funk and impressionistic settings. The 20th album on his own Wavetone label, About Now is a stunning trio outing that has Forman alternating between piano and Fender Rhodes and the telepathic rhythm tandem of Egan and Gottlieb holding down the fort while also contributing potent solos and highly interactive playing throughout.


“I wanted to do an intimate trio project that used both electric and acoustic piano with both groove and open playing that would feature the interplay between us,” says Egan in describing the highly interactive nature of this trio project. “So there’s a few open and impressionistic compositions, and others that are groove tunes that allow us all to really experiment. This recording features my fretless playing in an intimate trio setting in a different way than any of my other recordings.”


The title track, which has Gottlieb underscoring on brushes, features the trio playing at a interactive dynamic while Egan sings away on the 5-string fretless. “On this album I wanted to feature the sound of the 5-string fretless Pedulla bass. On some of the melodies I also overdubbed with the 8-string fretless, as on ‘Sailing,’ using harmonics on my double-neck. It’s been a while since I’ve recorded with the double-neck and it felt great to be playing it again.”


Egan calls the About Now session an exposed open trio feel, which prevails on the groove-oriented “Slinky,” and carries a dark Miles Davis kind of “Tutu” vibe. “Graceful Branch” is a seductive ballad with singing fretless lines while “Little Pagoda” is cast in the vein of Hermeto Pascoal’s “Little Church” (which appears on Miles Davis’ Live-Evil). “Danny is playing double time on the cymbals and Mitch and I are playing a free tone poem. I wanted to create a trance like vibe on this song and was picturing a pagoda somewhere in Bali with a drummer playing a hypnotic cymbal rhythm and musicians playing a meditative tone poem around it. Essentially, it’s a free ballad that Mitchel embellishes with his beautiful statements.”


“McKenzie Portage” is a groove-oriented number that Egan wrote about the fishing expeditions that he’s made in the remote sections of Ontario, Canada with saxophonist Bill Evans. “My first expedition was in 1989,” says the bassist, “and it was the most fantastic and rigorous trip that I had ever made in my life. We had to portage for 30 miles with full packs and canoes en route to a pristine and virgin lake where we eventually had amazing fishing. I always wanted to name a tune after that adventure and this song describes the impressions from that trip 25 years ago.”


Elsewhere on About Now, Egan has based the composition “Tea in Tiananmen Square,” on a tour he made to China with the George Gruntz concert band in 2000. His tune “Cabarete” is named for a town in the Dominican Republic that has become identified as an international wind surfing capitol. “We played a New Year’s concert there with Elements and the Latin tune ‘Cabarete seemed to fit the feeling.” “Puerto Plata,” named for a town near Cabarete, where the airport is located, and is a companion piece that closes out the collection.


Born in Brockton, Massachusetts, Egan began his musical studies on trumpet at the age of 10, mainly through the influence of his father who was an avid player in the Navy Band. He continued to play the trumpet through high school in jazz bands, R&B groups and the high school orchestra before picking up the electric bass at age 16. Mark subsequently enrolled at the University of Miami School of Music, under the direction of Jerry Coker, and studied privately with the late, great Jaco Pastorius, whose influence remains with him to this day. “When I heard Jaco play it made me aware of what could be done on the electric bass,” says Egan. “Jaco was an innovator and to be in his presence was uplifting and inspiring during those early years.”


While in Florida, Mark formed a band with fellow University of Miami students Clifford Carter (keyboards), Hiram Bullock (guitar), Billy Bowker (drums) and Phyllis Hyman (vocals). They came to New York in 1976 and soon afterward Egan hooked up with the Pointer Sisters, Deodato and David Sanborn before joining Pat Metheny in 1977 along with drummer Danny Gottlieb and Lyle Mays. Together they recorded the influential Metheny albums Pat Metheny Group (1978) and American Garage (1980). It was through this association that Mark would later team up with Gottlieb to form the band Elements, an uncompromising, genre-bending group that has 10 recordings to date and has toured in over 27 countries. “This is a reunion of the spirits to get back together with Danny and Mitchel and record some fresh music,” says Egan.


These days, Danny Gottlieb lives in Nashville and teaches at the University of Florida at Jacksonville. Keyboardist Mitchel Forman is currently living in Los Angeles. And Egan lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, where this recording was made in his home studio that was recently designed by Francis Manzella from FM Design. “This is the first recording from the new studio, Electric Fields, and it’s been a real labor of love,” says Mark. “Sonically, it has a master quality control room. The drum room has great acoustics and the main studio room has a gorgeous Steinway B from 1920 that was recently rebuilt. We also have a fine collection of vintage studio electronics and microphones. I feel that this studio design and recording was ‘mission accomplished.’ I love recording in the fine studios in New York City as well as having the luxury and creativity of being at home.”


Egan intends to use Electric Fields studio for a follow up recording by his Unit 1 trio and also another recording with his longstanding colleagues Gottlieb and Forman. Until then, enjoy their appealing and versatile chemistry on About Now…”