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 Show Setup for Assassins

At Assassins (the last Sondheim/John Weidman show I did), I went with the good old Recording Customs.  Sondheim wanted a controlled tone coming from the drums (since I was up in the air, built right into the roller coaster that was the set!) and a more "traditional" look (piano black with the long lugs) and they were the perfect choice.

Drums:  ALL YAMAHA

14 x 5.5   Yamaha Steel Shell Snare drum
10 x 8      Yamaha Recording Custom Tom
14 x 14    Yamaha Recording Custom Floor Tom
20 x 16    Yamaha Beech Custom Bass drum

Heads:  All Remo

Coated Ambassadors on top of snare and 10" tom.  Coated Emperor on 14" tom.  Clear Ambassadors on resonant side of all toms.  Coated Pinstripe on kick batter.  Smooth white Ambassador (Yamaha Logo) on resonant side of kick drum.  Hazy Ambassador snare side.  Fiberskyn 3 Ambassadors on Concert Bass Drum.  Renaissance Ambassadors on marching snare and timpani.

Concert Percussion:  ALL YAMAHA

13 x 10     Yamaha Powerlite Marching Snare drum
29"          Yamaha Hammered Timpani
28 x 16    Yamaha Concert Bass drum

Latin Percussion

 LP Bell Tree, LP Red Jam Block, LP Blue Jam Block, LP Rock Cowbell, LP Granite Blocks, LP 24 double row bar chimes (not pictured), LP Cyclops Tamborine.

Other:

Roc N Soc Drum Throne (round nitro model with back rest), Puresound Custom 20 snare wires.  All hardware by Yamaha including the chain drive Flying Dragon Foot Pedal  FP-9310.  Vic Firth PAD12 12" practice pad for warming up.  ACME police whistles and siren.

Cymbals:  ALL SABIAN 

(From Left to Right on the Kit). ---           Sabian Light & Heavy Finger Cymbals
---           Sabian 4" HH triangle
---           Sabian 6" HH triangle
14"         Sabian HHX Evolution HiHats
10"         Sabian HH Splash
15"         Sabian HH Sound Control Crash
20"         Sabian Artisan Medium Ride
16"         Sabian HHX Crash
18"         Sabian HH Duo Ride (not pictured)
28"         Sabian Chinese Gong

Sticks:  Vic Firth

S American Custom SD9 maple wood tip sticks, SD6 Swizzle malletsticks, HB Heritage wire brushes, M25 Gary Burton Mallets.  T1 General Timpani mallets.  Vic Firth SBAG2 Stick bag.

I will sometimes make slight adjustments based on a variety of issues.  For instance, when it's really humid in the theatre and the sound isn't moving through the air very well, I will sometimes use a Yamaha Manu Katche Brass snare for a bit of extra projection.  Also, at times when I know that I will be in playing the show a lot, I will use Remo Suede Ambassadors on the tom batters, simply because I love the mellow tone that they produce.  They are reminiscent of skin heads of the era, yet with modern day projection, durability, and consistency.  But when I am out of the show a lot, I put the coated Ambassadors back on, simply because they are more durable, and are easier for all of my different drum subs to come in and get a consistent tone, which is important for the sound department.

Take note of the creative use of multi-clamps throughout the setup.  LP Mount All Brackets are INDISPENSABLE in the pit!  They allow me to get many different types of percussion mounted all around my kit, in the smallest and most convenient places.