Stuff I Hit
I'm going to start by talking about what I use to hit all of my percussion instruments. Until the company folded, I was an artist endorser with Rich Sticks. With them, I worked on a couple of designs that bear my name; one is a multi-purpose stick that does almost everything I need, and the other is a slightly shorter design with a different tip that I use when I'm in a low-volume situation.
After Rich Sticks closed their doors, I went with Cappella sticks (with whom I developed a Heavy model) until they announced that they were not going to be able to produce sticks for an extended time - and I wasn't looking forward to compromising and finding existing other models to replace what I'd gotten so used to, but fortunately I found models in the Vater Percussion catalog that so closely matched my custom stick specs that it was easy to transition to their models. I now use their 5A Acorn, 55AA (a 5A Acorn with an extra 1/2-inch length) and 55BB (a 5B Acorn with an extra 1/2-inch length).
I have one collection of acoustic drums that covers a great deal of ground. It's a collection of Drum Workshop Performance Series drums (8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16 & 18 toms, 20, 22, and 24 bass drums) in Silver Sparkle. This is a great-sounding maple kit that I can use for pretty much anything; their tuning flexibility is remarkable, and with all the sizes I have, I'm covered for any kind of gig. A DW Pancake Drum rounds out the set.
My snare drum collection covers quite a bit of range. I have a few DW snare drums, including two 6.5x14 snare drums. One is a Black Nickel over Brass shell, and the other is Cherry/Spruce with a gloss lacquer finish ... these are my go-to drums. They're flexible and powerful, just great to play. The third DW snare is a Performance Series 5.5x14 in matching Silver Sparkle, which is autographed on the inside of the shell by DW's John Good and session legend Russ Kunkel. I also have a Pearl Dennis Chambers signature snare (maple 6.5x14) that the man himself played during a clinic at The Drum Shop - a great all-around drum. There are two Ludwig snares, both 6.5x14; one is a Supra-Phonic - I always wanted a John Bonham snare! - and the other is a Universal Mahogany. For the fat/heavy stuff, I have a kit snare that's 8x14 black nickel over brass. Rounding out the collection is a Yamaha Musashi 6x12 snare (oak shell) with a Russ Miller Groove Wedge on it.
Most of my snare drums use Creative Percussion's Drum Taco for tone control when it's called for. Kevin Feeney is a really talented designer and drummer who has created a whole slew of fascinating percussion instruments - you should really check out his designs. Aside from the Drum Tacos, I also have a 34" Hexagong, some Baseball Shakers and a Crescent Jingle, but that doesn't even scratch the surface of what Kevin and Creative Percussion offer.
Honestly, I get bored talking about pedals and hardware at this point, but for the sake of completeness, I have both a DW 9000 double and Pearl Eliminator Redline double and single pedals, and most of my hardware is a mix of DW 9000, 3000, 5000, and 7000 series. I sit on Roc 'n' Soc thrones, which last a really long time, even under a big guy like me. For Twyce Shy gigs on larger stages, I have a Pearl Icon rack to really give an 80's flair to the setup.
My cymbal collection is made up of a few brands, and covers a lot of ground. For the past few years I've "returned home" and have been grooving on Paiste. The collection includes 14" Traditionals Medium-Light Hats, 15" Dark Energy Hi-Hats, 16" and 18" 602 Modern Essentials Crashes, an 18" Masters Dark Crash, 18" and 20" 602 Classic Thin Crashes, a 20" Traditionals Medium-Light Ride, a 22" 602 M.E. Ride, and a 22" 602 Classic Medium Ride, . Then there are the 2002 cymbals ... a great vintage pair of 15" Heavy Hi-hats from 1978, 15" Sound Edge Hats, 10" Splash, 18", 19", and 20" Big Beat (black label), 14, 18, 19, and 20" Crashes, a 16": Thin Crash, an 18" Medium, 18" and 20" Chinas, a 22" Heavy Ride, and 24" Ride. (Bonham!) Lastly, there are two Giant Beat multi-use cymbal, in 20" and 24", and an Alpha 16" Reflector China. Finally, I've realized a dream since boyhood, and gotten a 38" Symphonic Gong.
Others in the collection: a Sabian 21" SR2 Medium-weight ride, a 10" B8Pro China Splash, a couple of Paiste Cup Chimes, and a 10" Meinl Johnny Rabb Drumbal.
For electronics, I have Roland products: SPD-S and SPD-SX sampling pads, a couple of additional PD8 trigger pads, and a TD-11K kit.
Hand percussion: There's a couple of Toca products - a 14" djembe and an 11" doumbek. From Sakae: a cajon. From LP: Mambo, Black Beauty, and Rock Ridge Rider cowbells, a Jam Block (high) and a Gajate bracket. Meinl: a Percussion Block (low), a Large Studio Shaker, and a Luis Conte Live Signature shaker. There are also some tambourines; a classic Rhythm Tech, a Meinl, and a Pearl mounted.
I've been a big fan of Evans heads since 1999; I found my sound through them. I was lucky enough to be invited to tour the factory and be part of a focus group in 2004, and it was absolutely fascinating. I'll never forget it. I typically favor Power Center Reverse Dot heads on my snares, although the DW Collectors brass snare sounds really great with the UV2 (2-ply) head as well; I'll have either UV2 or clear G2's or EC2's on the tom batters. (For Jazz gigs I like the Evans Calftone heads.) For the toms' resonant heads: depending on how bright or how full I want to color the tone, I'll use Genera Resonant (10mil) for a full, powerful sound, Resonant Glass (7 mil) for a sharp, bright attack, or clear G1 (10mil) for a warmer, darker sound. The bass drums have either EQ3 or EQ4 clear batters and EQ3 black resonant heads most of the time, but EQ4 Resonant when I need a rounder, fuller, livelier sound.
Stuff I Tap
At The Sinclair, Cambridge MA 4/7/24
I've been fascinated by the Chaman Stick ever since I, like so many others, first heard Tony Levin using one with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel when I was still in high school. (See www.stick.com for more info!) I finally got the chance to get my first Stick, a 1983 model that had been refurbished by inventor Emmett Chapman, in 2012. Exactly two years later, I got their newest model, The Railboard, which is CNC machined from a single block of aluminum, and had its own pickup made for it, which can be active or passive, and stereo or mono. I requested what was a new option at the time, linear fret markers, and had gold inlay tape put in to go with the brass tuners. Strings are Stick Enterprises' Medium gauge. It gives an incredible tone, even dry and all by itself, and it's a very comfortable model for me to play; the finger spacing suits my hands more than the regular string spacing does. Learning to play it has been one of the biggest challenges of my musical life, but well worth it.
My wife Jen got herself a maple Stick in 2015, and if I ever need that classic "Stickup" Tony Levin-esque sound, I borrow it. ;)
Left: My first Stick, s/n 1170. Right: My Railboard, s/n 6453
Other Stuff
Main drum microphones: Audix D-Series for drums (D2's on rack toms, D4's on floor toms, D6 for bass drum), an Audix i5 (a good dynamic percussion mic' that also sees duty on snare drum), two ADX-51 condensers, and two AKG Perception P420's for overheads. I've also recently begun to research other microphones, and have a Shure Beta 52 kick mic, which sounds incredible, especially when blended with the internally-mounted D6.
My vocal mic' is an Audix OM-7.
Also in the group are an Audix D1 (discontinued), AKG Perception 120 large diaphragm condenser, two Audix F series fusion condensers, and a Shure SM57.
My Railboard goes through either a Line 6 Spider 4 combo amp and an SWR SM-500 bass head into a Carvin BR15 cabinet, or straight into a mixer.
Miscellaneous: there's a Behringer XAir18 mixer, a QSC K12 speaker, a QSC C12 speaker, and a Roland Juno-D keyboard.
I use Cubase software to record with.