Marimba: Custom-made Five-Octave “Marimba One” made by Ron Samuels. You can see his website at www.marimbaone.com.
This Marimba was built in 1993 and was one of the first marimbas that Ron built for his new company at the time, Marimba One. I flew out to Arcata CA to pick out the bars and watched it being built. It has a Walnut frame with heavy brass resonators coated in black. It’s the Stradivarius of marimbas.
Back View
Vibraphones
Musser Pro Traveler Vibraphone
This is a great sounding vibe that breaks down easily.
Here it is in the setup for the Broadway show The Producers
Vibe Rebuild-Deagan Aurora
I rebuilt this 1955 Deagan vibraphone in my shop and returned it to its original glory. Below you can see the before and after pictures. This is the same vibe Milt Jackson and many other great Vibraphonists played on in the 1950’s-1960’s. The bars have a beautiful sound.
Before: The vibe needed lots of TLC. I rebuilt the frame and pedal mechanism.
After: Here is my good friend, the late, great drummer Jim Lackey taking a test run of the finished product.
Xylophones: Deagan Artist Special
This is considered by many percussionists to be the greatest xylophone ever created. This particular instrument is from 1919. It was famously played by the great George Hamilton Green. It is all original and in great shape for being 100 years old. The sound is bright, cutting and dry as a bone. The bars are rounded on the ends.
Musser 3 Octave Kelon pit xylophone
I also own a 3 octave Musser Kelon Xylophone that I use for pit work. This instrument fits anywhere and you can hit it with any type of mallet without fear of ruining the bars. You will often find yourself having to use bell mallets on the xylophone during these shows and you would not want to do that on a Rosewood Instrument.
Timpani
I have several sets of timpani which I use for playing gigs, teaching and recording.
My Studio Drums: Adams Professional Hammered Copper 32,29,26,23,20Yamaha Timps in the set up for the revival of the Sound of Music
Adams Portable Timpani 28 and 26A back View of the Adams Professional drums
Glockenspiels
I have several Glockenspiels (orchestra bells). These include 3 sets of Deagan Roundtops and a few sets of standard Musser Bells
I own several sets of Timbales, but my favorite set are the J.C.R’s seen below in this video
Mallet Kat
I also use an Alternate Modes Mallet Kat and various synth modules for gigging, composing and recording.
Here you see the Mallet Kat in the setup for the Broadway show Shrek. It covered, Xylophone, Timpani, Marimba and Vibraphone as well as some other percussion. It was used in this situation because of space constraints.
The Mallet Kat at Home where it is used as a composing tool.
Drum Sets
I own 15 drum sets (and yes, I use them all) including a Gretsch Centennial Jazz Kit, a Gretsch 125th Anniversary kit, a Gretsch Catilina Elite 16″ BD kit, a Doc Sweeny Stave Olivewood Kit, a Sonor Rosewood Jazz Kit, a Sonor Safari Kit a Craviotto Private Reserve kit, a Pork Pie kit, a Peavey Radial 1000 kit, a Yamaha Maple Custom Jazz Kit, a Tama Maple Star Classic Kit, a Tama Exotix Bubinga kit, Two Drummers World Nesting Kits, and a Yamaha Hip-Gig Kit.
Here are some pictures:
A 1982 Gretsch Centennial Kit 18″x 14″ BD, 14″x 6.5″ SD,10″x 8″, 12″x 8″ toms and a 14″x14″ floor tom. The finish is Carpathian Elm Burl.This kit had a rare Gretsch badge only available for the year these drums were constructed. It is called the Centennial badge.
An early 1980’s Sonor Rosewood Phonic kit: 18″x 14″ BD, 14″x 7″ Snare, 10″x 8″ tom and 14″x 14″ floor tom. I also have a 22″ bass drum and 12″x 8″ tom for this kit making it very versatile.
You can also see this kit and several other jazz kits I own in action in this video.
Tama Starclassic Maple from 2002. Sizes are 22″x 14″ BD, 14″x 6.5″ snare, 8″ x 8″, 10″x 8″, 12″x 8″ 14″x14″ Floor Tom
Yamaha Rick Marotta Nesting Kit. 16″ x 20″ Bass Drum with Riser 10″ x 6″, 13″ x 7″ Toms 12″ x 5″ snare with Cannister Throne
I use this Starclassic maple kit quite often for symphony pops gigs.
Drummers World Nesting Kits
These are my primary gigging kits. The drums nest inside each other for maximum portability. It is very easy to cart around these kits and they sound great. I have 2 of these kits, one for jazz gigs and the other for heavier gigs. The Jazz kit has a 18″ bass drums and 10″ & 14″ toms. The other one has a 20″ Bass Drum and 12″ & 15 ” toms.
You can see these drums in action with the video link below
These drums are an enigma. Although they look like giant cable reels, are heavy and oversized and were marketed by a company better known for making cheap amplifiers they sound incredible. The drums never caught on and didn’t make it out of the early 2000’s but they still have dedicated fans and I count myself as one of them. Too much of a pain in the neck to gig with I use these drums for session work in the rock realm and they always deliver a huge resonant sound. You can see these drums in action here:
My first drum set, a Ludwig 1976 Big Beat outfit. I was 12 years old here playing a gig with the band SWEET REVENGE! Gotta love the roto toms.
Snare Drums
It’s a little bit embarrassing but I own over 120 snare drums. Please don’t ask me why but It’s pretty much the only thing I still buy except for food and toilet paper. Here is a small sample as well as some links to some videos I have done.
Canopus Zelkova 14″x 6.5″ Snare. I also have the 14″ x 5″ Version
Som Pearl Philharmonic Field drums and a 1860 Civil War Drum
A Gretsch 4160 snare Top with a Slingerland Brass Snare below it.
A Pile of Snares
A quartet of Snares
Brass and Copper Snares
1920’s Ludwig 14″x 4″Pioneer SnareYamaha David Garabaldi Snare 14″ x 3.5″GMS Snare 12″ x 6″GMS Bell Brass Snare 12″x 6″GMS Orchestra Snare 14″x 6.5″Grover Soprano Snare 10″ x 4″
Cymbals
I am a confessed cymbalaholic own hundreds of them. Crashes, Splashes, Rides Hi hats, you name it. My favorites are the old Zildjian K’s and A’s from the 1940’s 50’s and 60’s but there are some modern cymbals that sound fantastic. Here is a small sampling of my collection.
Vintage Rides and Crashes
The Holy Grail: a 1940’s K Zildjian 21.5″ ride
Some other K’s L to R 18″ 1950’s K, 21″ 1950’s K,
Some old A Zildjians from the 50’s: L to R 18″ A, 20″ A, 24″ A, 16″ A
Although I have a Paiste endorsement, I also love cymbals from several other manufacturers including Sabian, Bosphorus, Istanbul and Zildjian. Here are some pictures of some of my favorite modern cymbals
Flat Rides
Flat rides and mini cup rides have no bell or a very small bell. This gives these cymbals a very articulate sound, great for jazz and other types of acoustic music
Frpm L to R: Bosphorus 24″ Flat Ride, Sabian Ed Thigpen 20″Crystal Ride, Dream 20″ Darl Matter Flat Ride
From L to R: Paiste Sound Formula 16″ Flat Ride, Paiste 18″ 602 Flat Ride, Paiste 18″ Traditional Flat Ride
from Left To R: Paiste 20″ Traditional Flat Ride, Paiste 20″ Traditional Flat Ride with Rivets, Paiste 18″ Flat Ride with Rivets
Here is a video in which I display and perform on 23 of my jazz ride cymbals including a 30″ monster at the end.
Other Percussion
I also own a huge variety of ethnic percussion from Africa, Brazil, and Cuba as well as many out-of-the-ordinary percussion instruments such as these waterphones, Udu drums, and clay drums.
Here are some videos on unusual Percussion instruments
