Re: The Official JJ Johnson Thread

[InSight.]

Oh! And there was a Pro-Mark 50th Anniversary snare on display. One of my all time favourite snares, if only I had a spare $3,500 It's so aesthetically and audibly beautiful, made by Stanbridge drums (makes some of the most beautiful snares I've ever seen, seriously).

[Ali G]

Those Pro-Mark snares are indeed amazing. I'd love me one of those. Heh, if SJC can make anything, you'd think people would ask for a kit looking like that snare rather than pink stars and blue hardware.

[InSight.]

I doubt SJC could ever match such quality. His hoops alone are known to be the best wood hoops available in the world. It's a shame they're only available on his own snares, which go for about $1,500 USD for a custom one.

[Levi.]

Hey guys, I haven’t been on much lately. Been pretty busy with things honestly. But here’s some updates. On Saturday I attended Australia’s Ultimate Drummers Weekend. Artists such as Dom Famularo, Virgil Donati, Ronald Bruner Jr., Thomas Pridgen, Pete Locket, plus a number of other names which are most likely better known here, within Australia attended. I attended both Dom’s and Virgils’s workshops [small clinics] in the morning. Unfortunately Dom only actually played the kit for a few minutes, those minutes obviously being amazing. His dynamics never cease to amaze me. He spent the majority of his time discussing books that every drummer must have, but also covering a number of other areas. Virgil demonstrated (along with some hand-outs) some crazy Rhythmic Phrasing’s, most of which required crazy coordination. He demonstrated and went through them all, some grooved incredibly well. Most of it wasn’t my cup-of-tea, but it was definitely very eye-opening and amazing to watch and read. Other artists throughout the day also blew my mind, Ronald Bruner Jr. largely standing out. He reminded me somewhat of John Blackwell, hence his amazing drumming. He had everything packed in, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him.
Onto the expo: I didn’t get any pictures for everybody as I had no idea where exactly our camera was. What stood out however; I tried out and was mainly intrigued by the cymbals. I found many throughout the day that sounded lovely, though as you can imagine, 200 people walking around tapping things, it’s hard to hear anything proper about any of the cymbals. There was a Meinl Byzance Jazz Series Club Ride (Flat ride with 4 rivets). I can’t remember the size, but boy was this a beautiful cymbal. The rivets really finish it very well; I love the Jazz Series, though it was a tad too quick for my liking, hence probably the rivets to linger the tone. They had a massive selection of Bosphorus cymbals, along with Gretsch Drums. The turk series looked (and I think sounded, ha-ha) amazing. Visually they had such an amazing appearance, and the hats especially stood out to me. Artisan Light Ride also stood out, but no way do I have a spare $1,400. The Artisan hats also sounded amazing, but they sounded somewhat hollow to me. Though my opinion on these change ever time I hear them, even during yesterday I went from not enjoying them of the morning to later enjoying them. Unfortunately Zildjian was mostly just displaying the Z3’s. Yay, a whole wall of what appeared to be every damn model. Though I did find some K Light hats and a K ride tucked away on a kit in a different room, boy were these hats nice. Definitely a contender for my next hats. There was a really, really nice small kit, a pink stain finish, an 18” Kick (from appearance). Boy did it look amazing. There was also a display of a large amount of exotic Australian snares. All were visually beautiful. I also found a Blackwood snare by Sleishman, Levi, though I didn’t hear it all too well, it was beautiful. There was a large amount of Paiste Twenty cymbals, also which I couldn’t hear all too well. I also purchased MD Fest 2005 DVD and Stick Control. I have more to say, but really can’t be bother typing more, if anybody even reads this any way.

And Ali, buy it. K.

Wow Ash, that sounds amazing. I would love to go to something like that. Did you hear many of the exotic Australian snares? Where they just Sleishman, or other brands? What ideas did you get for your hats?

I haven't been on here at all lately, mainly cause of you Ash. Normally I'll get on and have a few conversations with you, and since you haven't been on, I haven't bothered posting.

We've got the recording setup going. We've done a few test recordings of drums and guitar, and we recorded a few bits of our practice today. We're still waiting on some isolation headphones, then we'll start doing some serious recording, and get everything sounding good. The program we're using is called Reason, I think you might have asked what we were using a while ago, have you heard of it?

Yesterday I changed my setup, just a tiny little bit though. I moved my Vintage Bliss up higher, so it's in a crash position, instead of a ride. I found myself crashing it alot more than I was riding it, so I decided to put it somewhere where it's easier to crash it. The VB is sounding really good. It blends with the rest of my cymbals amazingly. I also went and got two new snare heads yesterday, a G1 for the Zebrawood, and an Attack Old School Jeff Ocheltree head for the Brass. The Attack is just a single ply head, but the coating is sprayed on lighter than normal, it looks normal in the middle, but it starts getting clearer about 2cm from the edge. I still have to play around with them to get them sounding good. I like the Attack with the Brass, but I think the Fiberskyn might have had something special that the G1 might not have. We'll have to wait and see though.

Also, I think I might start hammering my Pearl hats soon. I've been playing around with them on my crappy kit, and I gotta say, they don't sound all that bad, not something I'd want on my good kit, but still better than my B8 hats. I think I'll do a fairly light, even pattern on the top hat, and I'm not gonna change the profile. On the bottom one, I might do a light patern, then do a heavier ring of dense hammering, a few inches wide, around the middle. And I also think I'll put maybe four rivets in the bottom hat. I'm looking forward to seeing how they'll turn out.

And Ali, I like the way most flat rides sound, but like you said, it'd be hard to fit them into most genres that aren't soft jazz. But they do sound very good.

[Ali G]

I doubt SJC could ever match such quality. His hoops alone are known to be the best wood hoops available in the world. It's a shame they're only available on his own snares, which go for about $1,500 USD for a custom one.

yeah, I agree. That snare is definitely on my top 5 snares to own. heh

Also on my list would be a Ludwig Black Beauty. Just sayin'

[InSight.]

They had about 6 or 8 black beauty snares on display I think. It's all still a blur :p

[Ali G]

Oh man, ever since I laid my eyes on a Black Beauty, I knew. That's the snare for me.

[InSight.]

Hey guys, I haven’t been on much lately. Been pretty busy with things honestly. But here’s some updates. On Saturday I attended Australia’s Ultimate Drummers Weekend. Artists such as Dom Famularo, Virgil Donati, Ronald Bruner Jr., Thomas Pridgen, Pete Locket, plus a number of other names which are most likely better known here, within Australia attended. I attended both Dom’s and Virgils’s workshops [small clinics] in the morning. Unfortunately Dom only actually played the kit for a few minutes, those minutes obviously being amazing. His dynamics never cease to amaze me. He spent the majority of his time discussing books that every drummer must have, but also covering a number of other areas. Virgil demonstrated (along with some hand-outs) some crazy Rhythmic Phrasing’s, most of which required crazy coordination. He demonstrated and went through them all, some grooved incredibly well. Most of it wasn’t my cup-of-tea, but it was definitely very eye-opening and amazing to watch and read. Other artists throughout the day also blew my mind, Ronald Bruner Jr. largely standing out. He reminded me somewhat of John Blackwell, hence his amazing drumming. He had everything packed in, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him.
Onto the expo: I didn’t get any pictures for everybody as I had no idea where exactly our camera was. What stood out however; I tried out and was mainly intrigued by the cymbals. I found many throughout the day that sounded lovely, though as you can imagine, 200 people walking around tapping things, it’s hard to hear anything proper about any of the cymbals. There was a Meinl Byzance Jazz Series Club Ride (Flat ride with 4 rivets). I can’t remember the size, but boy was this a beautiful cymbal. The rivets really finish it very well; I love the Jazz Series, though it was a tad too quick for my liking, hence probably the rivets to linger the tone. They had a massive selection of Bosphorus cymbals, along with Gretsch Drums. The turk series looked (and I think sounded, ha-ha) amazing. Visually they had such an amazing appearance, and the hats especially stood out to me. Artisan Light Ride also stood out, but no way do I have a spare $1,400. The Artisan hats also sounded amazing, but they sounded somewhat hollow to me. Though my opinion on these change ever time I hear them, even during yesterday I went from not enjoying them of the morning to later enjoying them. Unfortunately Zildjian was mostly just displaying the Z3’s. Yay, a whole wall of what appeared to be every damn model. Though I did find some K Light hats and a K ride tucked away on a kit in a different room, boy were these hats nice. Definitely a contender for my next hats. There was a really, really nice small kit, a pink stain finish, an 18” Kick (from appearance). Boy did it look amazing. There was also a display of a large amount of exotic Australian snares. All were visually beautiful. I also found a Blackwood snare by Sleishman, Levi, though I didn’t hear it all too well, it was beautiful. There was a large amount of Paiste Twenty cymbals, also which I couldn’t hear all too well. I also purchased MD Fest 2005 DVD and Stick Control. I have more to say, but really can’t be bother typing more, if anybody even reads this any way.

And Ali, buy it. K.

Wow Ash, that sounds amazing. I would love to go to something like that. Did you hear many of the exotic Australian snares? Where they just Sleishman, or other brands? What ideas did you get for your hats?

I haven't been on here at all lately, mainly cause of you Ash. Normally I'll get on and have a few conversations with you, and since you haven't been on, I haven't bothered posting.

We've got the recording setup going. We've done a few test recordings of drums and guitar, and we recorded a few bits of our practice today. We're still waiting on some isolation headphones, then we'll start doing some serious recording, and get everything sounding good. The program we're using is called Reason, I think you might have asked what we were using a while ago, have you heard of it?

Yesterday I changed my setup, just a tiny little bit though. I moved my Vintage Bliss up higher, so it's in a crash position, instead of a ride. I found myself crashing it alot more than I was riding it, so I decided to put it somewhere where it's easier to crash it. The VB is sounding really good. It blends with the rest of my cymbals amazingly. I also went and got two new snare heads yesterday, a G1 for the Zebrawood, and an Attack Old School Jeff Ocheltree head for the Brass. The Attack is just a single ply head, but the coating is sprayed on lighter than normal, it looks normal in the middle, but it starts getting clearer about 2cm from the edge. I still have to play around with them to get them sounding good. I like the Attack with the Brass, but I think the Fiberskyn might have had something special that the G1 might not have. We'll have to wait and see though.

Also, I think I might start hammering my Pearl hats soon. I've been playing around with them on my crappy kit, and I gotta say, they don't sound all that bad, not something I'd want on my good kit, but still better than my B8 hats. I think I'll do a fairly light, even pattern on the top hat, and I'm not gonna change the profile. On the bottom one, I might do a light patern, then do a heavier ring of dense hammering, a few inches wide, around the middle. And I also think I'll put maybe four rivets in the bottom hat. I'm looking forward to seeing how they'll turn out.

And Ali, I like the way most flat rides sound, but like you said, it'd be hard to fit them into most genres that aren't soft jazz. But they do sound very good.

As I mentioned, it's all a blur. I can't really differentiate everything from one another, and also as I mentioned, it was too noisy to hear all that much. AND they were high up on display, but there was a product demo with some included. But I can't remember the exact company, they're Australian I'm pretty sure. And (IMO) had some of the most beautiful drums in the show.

Yeah, I really got into practicing last week, doing 3+ hours a day (both theoretical and practical), and when I was online I was just roughly browsing the PDF.

Congratulations, Levi! At last, I bet you're glad. No, I don't believe I've heard of 'Reason', I'll have a look at it, however.

Nice head combo's, very interesting. I'd be interested to hear that head on the brass snare. Nothing beats a G1, though. I really love that head on my snare.

I may hammer my Pearl's one day. Which reminds me, I was going to try a weird little set-up. 16" Kick, 8" tom and 10" floor. Simply because these drums are not currently in use. I also just set-up my PST5 Rock Ride on a pedal. Its down on the floor, and after AUDW where I saw one artist use one at the beginning of his solo I have been intrigued. It was slightly like a Mallet roll, just more defined and deep. I haven't played it tonight, but I most definitely will get stuck into it tomorrow.

Also, if you haven't already disappeared, get onto MSN for 5 Levi.

[Matt]

- Fork's has one of those Pro-Mark snares, it's so beautiful, like gorgeous.

- Ali, even though it's a sick cymbal, if you aren't going to use it much, i'd save the money and spend it on something you'd be more likely to use.

- Ash, sounds like a sick festival, or whatever. I would have had to gone to Pridgen's set. He blows my mind.

- I've been using Pandora a lot lately, I've been on "The Roots Radio" station, I've heard a lot of stuff by the roots, and a lot of stuff by comparable artists that I really like.

- I'm craving some new cymbals. I'm kind of digging the K Custom Hybrid Line. Specifically the 20" Ride, to be used as a crash, it's a medium weight, but it's got a pretty nice crash. And also, the 19" Hybrid China, I think it's been entered into the running for my China purchase...

[Ali G]

Yeah, I almost got the K Hybrid over my Evolution ride. Both have great crash capabilities and amazing bells.

It was ThisMercifulFates advice that made me choose the Evolution. I don't remember exactly what he said, and I emptied my PMs already on PDF, so I dont remember what he said, but whatever it was, it convinced me to get it. heh

[J.]

woo hoo I leave for camp today. see you guys in a week!

[Ali G]

Have fun, Jeffrey!

[J.]

yeah thanks!!

[Ali G]

Oh man, I was just thinking back to the cymbals on my first drum class at school. The set had a full set of Stagg cymbals (which were actually very pleasant)

And the ride was a DH heavy ride with a raw bell. And it was a great ride!

It had a good ping, and a piercing bell, made of B20 obviously and hand hammered. It reminded me alot of the HH Raw Bell Dry Ride.

Now that my tastes have changed, I'd like to try that ride again, and see if I still like it.

[Matt]

J -- band camp, do you all actually go away to a camp? We never went anywhere, we'd just have camp at the school all day everyday for a few weeks...


I think I'm going to keep my eyes peeled on eBay and craigslist for a good deal on some other cymbals, I want to replace my 19" Dream, I really like it, but I don't LOVE it, like i love my 22" and my hats. It's weight isn't proportioned properly so it always leans toward one side of the cymbal and it's frustrated me since the day I got the cymbal. I asked Chris (from virtualcymbals) about it, and he said it was common among Dream cymbals...

[Taylor.]

Dang, I guess I didn't realize how little I've been on here the last few days. Spent the last 15 minutes catching up on the thread. Anyway...

I got home today and noticed my dad bought a new digital camera, a Sony Cybershot something, and it's pretty awesome. So I'm excited because even if I can't borrow my brothers camcorder, I can use this. Expect a few videos very very soon.

Oh, and I finally got myself a PureVolume account if you guys would like to hear a few recordings. The main page will only list 4 songs, but if you click on the album it's got about 10 tracks total. A few different things from my band, labeled as DEMO or LIVE, and the rest are just a few studio tracks I've done recently.


www.purevolume.com/taylorashley

[Taylor.]

Oh yeah, and for whatever reason, PureVolume absolutely refuses to let me loadthis track, so I went to Supload instead.

It's a recording I've edited together from a rehearsal/jam
session I had with my dad and some friends a couple weeks ago. We played for about 3 hours, and I picked out a few of my favorite parts and put em together into one. It's about 9 minutes long. haha. Excuse some of the generic 'party' tunes, we were actually rehearsing for a gig we had scheduled to play at a huge birthday party that was later canceled. Oh well, at least I got the recording of the jam, which was a lot of fun regardless.


http://www.supload.com/listen?s=eCHtR5

Interesting thing is, nobody except for my dad knew that we were recording, so there are a few goofs here and there. Recorded in stereo with 2 overhead mics out in the main recording room, my dad playing guitar and some friends on bass, keys, and sax, everybody running through amps... with the door into the drum room left open so I could hear the other guys, and inadvertantly allow myself to be recorded as well. hahaha. Considering the setup and the fact that we didn't check anything, it sounds surprisingly awesome.

I'm playing with brushes pretty much the whole time to keep the volume low so I could hear the other guys, but the kit still sounds pretty good.

Check it out if you like. I hope you guys enjoy it.

[Matt]

Tay -- I'm listening to the PureVolume stuff right now... I did notice, under members, we both have Matt/Taylor & friends.... ironic?

I'm listening to "One Night Stand" right now, I dig it.



hopefully jamming tomorrow, I'm not taking the camera or the macbook, it will be the first time we will just be able to jam without trying to pressure ourselves into recording something, i expect it to be quite fulfilling.... that being said, I think i may put the 12" snare in the main spot for the jam. I've been listening to The Roots, Talib Kweli, A Tribe Called Quest, and Common a lot lately, and I'm really digging that poppy snare sound me 12" gives me... but we'll see where the music leads me tomorrow, and see if i actually do put the 12" in the main spot or not....

[Barrett]

I am about to order the Gretsch...it will probably be here in the next 2 weeks.
I am stoked!

I put my 18" floor tom in the bass drum position and it just makes me crave it even more...

also take a look at the Bands seen live thread...I think I beat everyone!!!
Matt-I have seen the Roots like 3 times live

[Matt]

I hate you Barrett.

I've just gotten into them in the past few months, and I think I'm finally going to buy a few of their CDs instead of just listening to them on myspace.

I think I'm going to get Phrenology, Rising Down, and maybe one other, any recommendations? I was kind of leaning towards Game Theory.

[Barrett]

haha they are def. a fantastic band. One of the best live I have seen.
Actually I saw them last year with my Freshman History Teacher...haha he has been to some of my bands shows too.

I would say Game Theory is prob my favorite album. Also Tipping Point is great...

[Matt]

Yeah, I'll get more of their CDs eventually, I just don't have loads of extra money right now, once i start working later this week, i'll be looking forward to that first payday!!

[Barrett]

Hell yeah. I am excited about this week because I covered all of this guys shifts because he went out of town so I made like 3x as much money as I normally make

[Matt]

sick.

where do you work?

[Barrett]

I work as a security guard at a church. However I want to get a job at mds we I turn 18.

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