The "Prove it kit"

[Bostic]

Couple things.

Can you play Jesus Christ Pose on the kit authentically? Nope, ok so it's not a groove kit as that song can get any one to dance.

Tama will never sell a 6' banner of a kick and snare floating on a lake.

Even in the Stray Cats heyday I don't think a Slim Jim Phantom poster would have helped to sell kits. It might have helped to get someone on their start down the drumming and music path.

[sticks4drums]

Couple things.

Can you play Jesus Christ Pose on the kit authentically? Nope, ok so it's not a groove kit as that song can get any one to dance.

Tama will never sell a 6' banner of a kick and snare floating on a lake.

Even in the Stray Cats heyday I don't think a Slim Jim Phantom poster would have helped to sell kits. It might have helped to get someone on their start down the drumming and music path.

I hear ya!

[Drumming-4-Life]

https://youtu.be/8P-y0mD442I

I'm really liking all of this music. Thanks for sharing it with us. I like both the drummers in the live video, and Nate Smith... all great drummers.

[TMdrums]

They call this a "Prove it kit". Perfect description.

https://youtu.be/dDL5k9LpZ9w

Thanks for sharing this j kuhl! Awesome grooves! My take on small vs. large kits is, if it gets the job done and the listener is pleased, so be it! Me personally, I'm a fan of both! I always thought of drummers such as Neil Peart or Simon Phillips as artists with a palette of colors and choicess of sounds which they used so creatively and then you have drummers like Bill Bruford who used a very small kit when he recorded Yes Fragile! I challenge any drummer to listen to this album and not appreciate what Bill did with so little! Just my two sence!

[malamikigo]

Still angry? Thought you got over that?

Angry? No. You're just still a pretentious ****.

[j kuhl]

This isnt a "little kit good big kit bad" thread at all. The point here to me is, it's pretty easy to tell how capable a player is when you really strip things down to the bare minimum. A guy like Nate Smith, Brian Blade, Richard Spaven or Mark Guiliana, can take a snare kick and hat and totally keep my interest as a drummer due to their sheer chops/vocabulary, their unique sense of playing and first and foremost, their ability to play with the song and group in mind.

I love watching Vinnie play the snot out of his largish kit with Jeff Beck, or a guy like Jack Dejohnette who also plays a big kit but with a far more loose and nuanced approach than a guy like Billy Cobham or Chris Coleman. Each one of those guys however, would hardly struggle in making a kick,snare, hat or prove it kit, sound fantastic. Start taking drums away from me and my kit and listeners in the know, would quickly see pretty much my whole vocabulary and the limitations that it brings. Miles said it perfectly, in that having more drums does nothing to make you a better player as you still have to play something cool on them.

Keep in mind, that my favorite and most comfortable set up goes 8 10 12 14 16 with a single kick and snare, not huge compared to some, but certainly not a prove it kit. I do play kits like the ones in the video fairly frequently and the biggest thing I take away from these sessions are that I need to practice more hahaha.

[j kuhl]

I'm really liking all of this music. Thanks for sharing it with us. I like both the drummers in the live video, and Nate Smith... all great drummers.

Awesome, it's hard to watch Vulfpeck and not feel like they are having just about as much fun as anyone who has ever taken a stage. They're phenomenal players and put together a really well thought out performance. Just a fun band with a fairly diverse catalog and great sense for entertaining their audience. Glad you're enjoying them and the Fearless Flyers too.

[sticks4drums]

Angry? No. You're just still a pretentious ****.

The only time you post on here is to act like a tough guy towards me you jealous *****. Say it to my face or keep it to yourself keyboard warrior.

Instead of deleting what I typed up above, I will just say sorry for posting that. I am really mad right now. I don't expect to come on these sites and be attacked for my opinion. These drum sites should be safe places, but most times they aren't any better than twitter. Thanks for sharing your musical tastes with us. I will just stay out of it. It isn't worth feeling like this.

[j kuhl]

https://www.nonesuch.com/journal/wat...gon-2014-01-15

To me, it's hard to come away from watching this and thinking anything other than Mark Guiliana is a total BOSS. You have to scroll down to see the video.

[marknu1]

https://www.nonesuch.com/journal/wat...gon-2014-01-15

To me, it's hard to come away from watching this and thinking anything other than Mark Guiliana is a total BOSS.

Guiliana might just be my favorite drummer these days. Freakin' amazing!

[MilesAway]

Couple things.

Can you play Jesus Christ Pose on the kit authentically? Nope, ok so it's not a groove kit as that song can get any one to dance.

Tama will never sell a 6' banner of a kick and snare floating on a lake.

Even in the Stray Cats heyday I don't think a Slim Jim Phantom poster would have helped to sell kits. It might have helped to get someone on their start down the drumming and music path.

I guess what I was trying to express in my post is that you could, in fact, play something like "Jesus Christ Pose" on a kit with just a floor tom. It might require a little more ingenuity and deftness in terms of stickings and motions, but I think that this tom groove could translate down to just one floor tom and still sound great... but that depends on your concept of authenticity. If the pitches need to stay intact, sure, it won't be authentic. The feel and groove could be translated, and in my opinion, that would preserve the "essence" of this part.

That said, a lot of Tool stuff wouldn't translate because of the layering in a lot of tom grooves, with overlapping pitches and whatnot - a lot of Danny Carey's stuff is more melodic, and (in my opinion) necessitates the extra toms, for the pitch differentials. Danny Carey would still sound like a BAMF on a small kit, but I think he writes stuff that necessitates it.

Or, in other words, someone with a lot of technical facility could play something as convincing and groovy as Matt Cameron's part on just a floor tom. I think Matt Cameron would sound great playing this song on one floor tom. He'd also make it sound badass on four floor toms and four rack toms.

At the end of the day, I still think the whole point is that we should focus more on what the drummer is DOING, rather than what he is doing it ON. The "prove it" kit just kind of, uh, proves this ha ha.

But like I said, I'm so down with drummers who like to play big kits. Every once in a while, I have a hankering to bring out all four of my toms to the same gig, and a side snare, and two crashes, splashes and a china... but then I realize I've gotta pick up the bass player and his gear in my hatchback, and I've gotta leave room on the stage for the keyboard player and horn section ha ha...

[j kuhl]

Guiliana might just be my favorite drummer these days. Freakin' amazing!

So inventive and seemingly on the edge of a total disaster, love his playing.