July - September Kit of The Quarter Winner:  James Walker

Forum member James Walker has taken the last quarters award and recieves a $35.00 gift cert ot his favorite place to shop for music gearz!  James is a regular member who visits often even when we're as slow as we are now, which is ALWAYS appreciated!  We asked him a few questions and he was more than willing to answer!  Read on!  We're saving the photo's for after the read this time around....

Drumrock:  Tell us all about your various kits?

James Walker:  I've got several drum sets.  The first is one I've had since the late 70s, a Ludwig kit that was featured here as "Kit Of The Month" back in March, 2006.  That set hasn't really changed since then, so I'll refer anyone interested in reading about it to the original thread,  and focus here on my other drum sets.

A few years ago, the "Do It Yourself" drum building bug bit me.  I started off by crafting a number of snare drums over the course of a few years, and eventually, I decided to try my hand at building an entire set.  That project became my purple kit.  It started out as a sort of "bop" kit, with 10", 12", and 14" toms, an 18" bass drum, and a matching 14" snare drum.  I later added on a few more drums:  an 8" tom, a 20" bass drum, and a 16x11 "micro bass," a fun little drum which gets used for rehearsals and very low volume gigs.

The original idea with the purple kit was to have a set of drums that I could adapt to a variety of situations, primarily by switching out different snare drums and cymbals (and eventually, different bass drums), with the tuning of the toms adjusted appropriately.  The same set that might get used with a steel drum band one day might, with a bit of tweaking, be adapted for an acoustic jazz gig the next day.  Eventually, however, I got the itch to build a kit specifically for jazz work.  I wanted to do something different from the purple kit,  though - what point is there in duplicating drums I already have?  There has to be something new involved, for me to justify spending the time and money.

The thing that got the "bop" kit rolling was the idea of playing a 16" bass drum.  I've known for years that many drummers use small bass drums (often, converted floor toms), simply as a matter of convenience - making the load-in easier, saving set-up time, taking up less space on stage, etc.  I understand the logic of that sort of thing, but it wasn't enough to inspire me to build more drums.  Instead, what really piqued my interest was learning that a fair number of jazz drummers (including, as I understand it, Billy Higgins, Jack DeJohnette, and Brian Blade) have used 16" bass drums - not simply as a matter of convenience, but because they liked the 
sound and feel of such a small bass drum.  After a few experiments using the 16x16 floor tom from my Ludwig kit, I was hooked, and I started gathering shells and hardware to build the bop kit.  I scaled down the sizes of the tom toms accordingly, and ended up with a kit that I've taken to calling "Li'l Bop."  (I'm not big on naming my instruments, but in this case, the nickname stuck.)

DR:  Do you mix and match them depending on situation?

JW:  Absolutely.  My drum set work is freelance in nature, ranging from a duo with a singer/pianist, to steel bands, to pit orchestras for musicals, to symphony "pops" concerts.  I like to adapt my setup to suit the needs of each gig.  Usually, my setup du jour is very straightforward and traditional, but occasionally, I'll do something 
unusual, such as using a 16" snare drum, or combining concert toms and small percussion with the core components of one of my sets.  I'll even mix and match components from different sets if need be; for instance, it's not uncommon to see the toms from my purple kit matched up with my old 22" Ludwig bass drum.

I'll vary my cymbal setups as well, with no regard to brands - it's all about the sound.  In fact, one of my favorite jazz cymbal setups combines cymbals from four different makers:

14" Zildjian New Beats (1970s vintage)
22" Agop '06LE
24" pre-serial Paiste 602
20" Matt Bettis reverse china

DR:  What motivates you to do it yourself (you seem to do it a lot!)

JW: Curiosity is a big factor.  When I first started building snare drums, I wanted to explore different options (different shell materials, hardware choices, dimensions, bearing edge shapes, etc.), in an attempt to understand what makes a drum sound and play the way it does.  For a time, I even thought that if I tried enough different combinations, I'd discover what for me is a "perfect" snare drum - or at least, one favorite that stands out from the rest.  That hasn't really happened - I've got a few favorites, but no one single favorite has presented itself.

I've always enjoyed tinkering with my instruments, which I think grows out of my background as a percussionist - searching for sounds from a variety of sources.  I've even branched out into making or modifying other percussion instruments - building a set of wind chimes for a friend, and recently, even trying my hand at rehammering a cymbal.

DR:  Do you have any new projects in work (if so include a photo or two)

JW:  I've got a number of snare drum shells on a shelf next to my workbench, waiting patiently for me to save up the coin for some hardware.  One is a 12x6 shell, that I'm looking to build with a combination of brass- and chrome-finished hardware.  Another is an aluminum shell, which I hope to build into a drum specifically for 
orchestral work.  Yet another is a 13" Tempus fibreglass shell - pink glitter, actually.  If Tony Levin gets to play a pink bass, then I get to play a pink snare drum.  :)

DR:  Whats a project you'd like to start but haven't yet?

JW:  Because I build drums only for my own use, and not to sell, my DIY activities have slowed down a bit in the past year.  I'll only initiate a project if the end result will be distinct from the drums I already have - I'll only build a drum if it's something that I will play on a gig sooner or later.  However, there are two projects that as a builder, I find extremely intriguing, even though I don't have much call for either on any of my gigs.

One is a cocktail kit - a setup designed to be played standing up, with small drums and cymbals attached to a tall drum that combines as a bass drum and a tom (or snare).  I've never had the need for such a kit, but I'm sure that designing and building one would be a lot of fun.  If I do build one, I may make it more percussion-oriented in nature, perhaps something designed with Brazilian music in mind, with various small samba instruments incorporated into the design.

The other project I'm considering is a nesting kit - drums with shells which come apart, allowing the different drums to be stored and transported one inside another, basically fitting all the drums of an entire kit into the space of a single bass drum.  This one may actually happen at some point, but first, I need to decide what size 
drums would be involved.  I'm tempted to build a nesting kit with very small drums - a 15" bass drum, 12" floor, and 8" rack, for instance.  That kind of set would be limited in its applications, but part of me loves the idea of being able to show up for a gig or rehearsal with only a trap/hardware case, a cymbal bag, and with my 
drums all contained within a single floor tom case.  If I lived in a major city, and took cabs and subways to gigs, I'm sure I would have crafted just such a set already.

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PHOTOS/SPECS:

"Li'l Bop" (Keller maple shells)

16x14
13x12
10x8
8x8

14x6.5" ash stave snare (shell by Joshua Tree Percussion)

14" A Zildjian New Beat hi-hats
22" Istanbul Agop '06LE ride
24" pre-serial Paiste 602 ride
20" Matt Bettis reverse china

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Purple kit (Keller maple shells):

"traditional bop kit"

18x14
14x14
12x8
14x6.5 ash stave snare

15" A Zildjian New Beat hi-hats
22" pre-serial Paiste 602 ride
22" Ibrahim Diril jazz ride
20" Istanbul Agop Sultan ride

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"steel band kit"

20x16
14x14
10x7
8x7

6x2 "drum set tamborim" - Gold-N-Times acrylic shell

14x4.5 bubinga stave snare (shell by Joshua Tree Percussion)

13" Paiste Signature Dark Crisp hi-hats
17" Paiste Dark Energy Mk. 1 crash
20" prototype Paiste Signature Dry Dark ride
18" Paiste Dimensions thin china

cowbells by Toca and LP

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"micro kit"

16x11 bass drum (with Pearl lift)
8x7 tom
4x14 snare drum (Keller maple shell)

13" Paiste Dark Crisp hats
16" Paiste Traditionals thin crash
20" Paiste Signature prototype ride

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Shells for next DIY projects:

12x6 Keller maple
13x4.25 Tempus fibreglass
6x14 aluminum shell (crafted by Tim McKenzie)