Drum Adventures

 Yesterday I stopped by Good Hands Drum Shop in Midtown Manhattan and they were kind enough to let me film a video there. The shop is a cozy space, but nearly every inch of space is packed with drum gear.  They have a huge selection of new and vintage drums, and an even larger selection of snare drums that range from $100 all the way up to $8000! There's a huge selection of vintage Zildjian cymbals, as well as the largest collection of handmade boutique cymbal-smith cymbals in the country.  If you are a drummer or just like music stores that sell vintage gear, Good Hands drum shop is a must see!  Check out my full video tour below!

 I love my Tama Club-Jam Flyer, it is basically my desert island drum kit. For a while there I had it converted to electronic to play at home. But quite honestly, I missed playing it acoustically. So today I converted it back. I'm going to try to get outside somewhere with it this week to record a Drum Aventure! I originally got this kit in 2020 during the pandemic, and since then it has been my most played and recorded drum kit that I own.

Is busking on drums worth it? Well, this largely depends on your goal. If you are only busking for tips, in my opinion, no it isn't worth it. My experience in New York City busking for tips was probably about 7 or 8 years ago. At that time I would try to find the most crowded areas, and take my portable drum setup, set out a tip bucket and play. Some days I would make fairly decent money at around $150 for about 2 or 3 hours, yet other days the same time would pass and I'd only make $20. The problem is that is is very inconsistent. You really can't predict how people will tip and what their moods will be. Another problem with only trying to pick the most crowded areas where you think you'll make the most money is these are the spots you tend to run into the most trouble as well. I was harassed by crazy people as well as law enforcement officers. Playing drums in public and city owned places like subways and parks is perfectly legal in NYC, but there is a surprising a...

 This Condenser microphone cost less than a drink in a NYC bar and it's actually pretty good.  The BM700 and BM800 large diaphragm condenser microphones have been sold under many brand names in various colors and package deals and prices. At only $12 this Pyle version of the BM700 is one of the cheapest iterations I have ever seen ! You can't even buy lunch for as cheap as this microphone in most cities in the United States. The crazy thing is that these mics are actually very decent. I had made some reviews on them that I would post here if my YouTube channel of 15 years hadn't been taken down back hackers . Anyway, I had done a lot with these mics. I recorded everything from acoustic guitar, to drums, vocals, and room mics. They always worked well! Honestly I got some incredible sounds using only two of these mics on a drum kit in the past.  It's almost hilarious that you can buy a 24 pack of these mics for $229 , lol. I'm not sure why you would need 24 large diap...

 This cart can carry a whole minimal drum kit with hardware and cymbals!   People often ask me about the cart I drag my drums around on. Welp, this is it. It's only $50 on amazon and is a solid metal build, but not too heavy. It folds easily and will slide in my trunk along with most or all of my drums (depending on which kit I'm playing).    If I'm using my 2 piece Ludwig kit, I can fit the kick, snare, cymbals, and hardware canister throne all on the cart and one extra bag if needed. I lay the kick down horizontally and stack the rest on top.    If I'm using my little Tama Club Jam Flyer , I can fit the entire 4 piece kit with hardware, then usually carry the cymbals on my back.    I do not recommend collapsible dolly style carts that you have to lean back to move because the drums can easily fall off unless you have them secured to the dolly. This one I almost never need to use a bungee chord if I stack things carefully. Though sometimes I wi...

5 Awesome Portable Electronic Tabletop Drum Kits All Under $400! Tabletop or multi-pad type drum kits are very convenient and fun. Drums are usually very large and difficult to move. All of the drum sets in this list can fit in a single bag and are perfect for home practice if you do not have a lot of space, or for portable gigging. I have personally tested every drum kit on this list, and can vouch for all of them. Here is my list from most expensive to least.  1. Avatar PD705 (stand and pedal bundle) $369 The Avatar PD705 is my personal go-to portable e-kit. This is the most professional piece of gear on this list. This bundle comes with the offical stand and bass drum pedal. You can buy an additional pedal for another $40. It is very worth having. This drum kit comes with great sounds out of the box, but you can also load your own samples, create loops, trigger loops and samples. It also features 4 additoinal trigger inputs for connecting additional drums. The pedal feels good a...

In recent years I have been recording drums outside in various places around New York City. I've been at parks, under bridges, in the forest, on piers, at abandoned sea plane hangers, and even civil war era forts! I usually take either an iPad or a Laptop with backing tracks and record with only a couple of microphones. I'm always recording video simultaneously so many times I also blend camera audio into my recordings. I have even used only iPad and iPhone microphones with good results. People often ask me how I get such good recordings outside using such little equipment, but it's not really as mysterious as one might think. Recording outside one worries much less about reflections from walls and ceilings, so it has a much drier sound naturally. Though some areas I recorded closer to walls and structures offer some sound reflection. I also usually play very minimal drum sets outside since they are much easier to move around. Often I wil...