Carter Beauford - Tripping Billies in the studio. There is a possibility that you may have to click and go onto YouTube to watch this because of something to do with the Sony Music Corp
Yamaha make drums?
They certainly do and have been since the 1960's.
Their drums are used by some of the most noteworthy percussionists of rock, jazz and other genres.
With such luminaries as Manu Katché - Peter Gabriel, Cozy Powell, Carter Beauford - Dave Matthews Band, Billy Cobham, Dave Weckl, it's not surprising that the name of Yamaha has transcended simply being motorcycle designers and manufacturers, to being at the forefront of the music field too.
I can remember using Yamaha's DX7 keyboard during my time in recording studios and ruing not having the time to truly find out what they could do. I've also seen other pianos used by various bands, but I honestly didn't know about the drums until much later on.
The DTXpress II. My first electronic kit
So what has any of that to do with Yamaha's electronic kits?
I'm getting to that.
I just wanted to show how good these things are since most people have heard of DG, Premier, Pearl, Ludwig, Tama etc, but I needed to make sure you were all aware of how serious these kits are.
The DTXpress II
I first saw these kits a few years ago and having some money that was burning a seriously large hole in my pocket, my better half agreed to let me buy a drum kit. Now that's trust for you!
I had enough to get a pretty serious acoustic kit, certainly more than those silly entry-level kits you can pick up for next to nothing, but I had a bit of a problem with where I was supposed to play.
There was also the thought that when practicing with the band, I didn't want to spend half the evening putting the damned things together at the beginning of the evening and taking them apart to squeeze them into the back of my car at the end.
So practicing with the band wasn't such a problem if I could just limit myself to a smaller kit, but then there was home practice. I mean, they were going to go into the summer house (that's a fancy name for the shed that was at the top of the garden), which was only thirty feet from our house and the neighbours too.
Not having the money to afford the Roland V-Drum kit that was also in the shop (at several thousands of pounds), I settled for the above kit - though I had reservations.
Of course, I hammered the life out of it, making the mistake of listening to Tony Royster Jr, who said to use heavier sticks would build up the muscles and the abilities with sticks that had perhaps slightly less bounce.
So using size five rock sticks, I beat the ever-living crap out of my kit, breaking the two cymbals and one of the snare's side zones, which lost me the wood block. I was able to repair the cymbals, but I'm running on two thirds with the snare still and don't have the readies to replace it yet.
Nevertheless, it's still going strong some five or six years down the line - despite the misuse.
I can't say that the style ever appealed though and my kit's got many a strange look from people with its triangular cymbals and an odd-looking tower that serves as the kick drum, but disappointed I am not.
One cymbal's actually two, with two 'zones', so I can have a ride cymbal or bell and splash on the same one, where the other is a dedicated splash. The snare has three 'zones' - rim shot, snare and woodblock (yes I know, mine's broke), three toms and about as many adaptable sounds pre-recorded in the brain to make a vast array of kits.
The first one I copied was a Phil Collins kit, followed closely by a couple of reggae-oriented kits. With the two or three rock kits I have, the three jazz set-ups and the others I have already mentioned, I'm one happy bunny.
I have the ability (if not the techniques yet) to play along to pretty much any song I choose, which since it has the facility for external input and an output for headphones, I can sit in the garage and bash away to whatever takes my fancy using my iPod.
Every now and again, I look on the web to see what else is out there and you can imagine how much I want to swap out my old kit for something a little more modern and up to date, but for now, this will do.
The Yamaha DTXpress III Special
The DTXpress III special
You can't blame a guy for looking can you?
Look at the newer model. It has circular cymbals, a more realistic hi-hat that isn't sitting on the same frame as everything else and therefore reduces cross-talk, but if I couldn't afford to replace the broken and threadbare bits on my kit, what hope was there of me getting a bright sparkly new one?
Nevertheless, it's still a fraction of the price of one of the more expensive counterparts from say Roland. A kit with this number of cymbals and toms would be several thousand pounds from Roland and whilst those kits have replaceable mesh covers, I don't think for many it would be worth the extra outlay. I think you'd have to give it a try and find out for yourselves.
DTXpress IV Special
This kit is now two steps up from mine and not only does it feature the upgraded cymbals and hi-hat, but also the same snare as was found on the DTXtreme III.
Many swear by putting the snare on a snare stand which virtually eliminates cross talk altogether, but if you look, you'll see that they have even replaced the brain with a much newer model which contains samples of some very famous Yamaha kits as well as the ability the previous versions gave you to assemble your own kits.
Shown on the left here, you can immediately see the difference with the snare, which features a built-in knob for adjusting the snare itself and removing the 'springs', which are what give that drum its distinctive 'crack' sound.
As the video on the right will show, although this kit still looks a little odd - I mean, it's not as impressive as an acoustic kit, but I don't think that anyone can complain about the sounds.
Of course I want one, but then we haven't even got to the kits that are really the source of dreams...
The Yamaha DTXpress IV Special
Gigi Morello plays the DTXtreme III Special
The DTXTreme III Special
The Yamaha DTXtreme III Special
Now we're starting to talk sensible.
I'm not one who's taken with the looks of the DTXpress, although the newer models are very nice, however, the DTXtreme III special does have a few tricks up its sleeves that the DTXpress doesn't.
To start with, the special comes on a hex-rack with special fittings that are rubber mounted to reduce cross talk and of course, the expanded files for a more realistic percussion sound.
The kick drum is also much more solid looking and probably won't slide forwards as the tower one does.
The brain has been up-dated and has more realistic drum sounds together with other percussion and electronic sounds that can easily be assigned to any of the toms or cymbals.
The cymbals themselves have better stick response, more manoeuvrability to get them into that perfect position no matter what your playing style.
The note that each of the toms plays can be adjusted on each pad itself, so there's no need to go through the rigmarole of adjusting each tom on the brain - which on the DTXpress kits is a little time consuming.
The hex rack is more space-hungry, but looks cool, is more rigid than the little sister kit's support structure and eliminates movement that can be associated again with the less expensive kits.
Altogether, this kit is the business and as the video above showed, has extreme (pardon the pun) playability compared the lesser models.
The only downside I can see is that they have used the same rubber compound as on the Xplorer and Xpress kits, which have a tendency to wear, and whether that affects the stick control unduly is a matter for debate.
However, when I looked into the possibility of upgrading to one of these, I was told that it wasn't such a good idea, as the kit was being upgraded.
The Yamaha DTX 950K
When I saw the new kit, I was dumbstruck.
This one had taken the practice pad mentality of the older versions and thrown them out of the window, using instead, a silicone foam with two densities - one for the snare; harder and more like a conventional snare and one for the toms, softer and again, mirroring more closely the feel and play of acoustic toms.
There is also a 950 version, which reduces the kit by one tom, but would be more appropriate for those with less space available. Personally, I would take the full 950K and make space, rather than ruining the look and availability of the extra tom.
The flagship kit of Yamaha's electronic drum range - the DTX 950K
The brain is extra cool with inputs for your iPod or whatever, an input for sampling so that you can sample sounds to play on the fly and best of all, whilst the forerunners had MIDI input, this one is equipped with USB to make it even more compatible with today's technology.
The horizontal user interface first seen in the DTXtreme is also more easily accessible with quick use, but the multi-layering availabilities, make this system even more usable, as you can programme the system to change sounds either from a cue - hitting a particular drum or by wherever you are in a particular song. Altogether, this beats the other kits - as good as they are into a cocked hat.
This does however come at a price. This is about five times the price of the DTXpress, but then you have to look at what you're getting for that.
The larger files make for more complete and realistic drum sounds, the pads are much nearer to the real thing, which means that in studios, the drummer has less to adapt to as compared to an acoustic kit. The hex racking originally designed for the acoustic kits
The brain that accompanies this delicious new kit...
Zach Bond at the 2010 Winter NAMM demo with the DTX 950K
Drummer Zach Bond demonstrated the Yamaha DTX 950K at the 2010 Winter NAMM demo and the video to the left is what he had to say. Thankfully, his demo means I don't have to try and type out everything this kit has going for it.
All things considered, I think I'd rather wait and save up for one of these, rather than upgrading my little DTXpress. The money I think would be more wisely spent and whilst I haven't actually had the pleasure of being able to play one, I'm sure if those nice people at Yamaha were prepared to lend me this kit for a while, I could do a much better job of describing its myriad functions and, the general usability. I don't know whether they'd get it back however and that's probably enough to put them off. Still, there's no harm in asking is there?
