Las Vegas Drum Show – Full Clinic Performance and Q&A
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My full performance and Q&A from the Las Vegas Drum Show on March 30th 2025.
I play a couple of songs to kick-off & then take some questions!
Gear:
Cymbals L to R:
18″ prototype crash with rivets
20″ Foundry Reserve ride
22″ Vintage Pure Medium ride
18″ prototype crash
20″ Extra Hammered Thin crash
Drums:
Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple
22×16 kick, 12×8, 13×9 racks, 14×13 & 16×15 floor toms…10×7 on right side
14×5.5 Recording Custom Aluminum snare for main – 14×5 Akira Jimbo steel side snare
Heads:
Evans coated G12 on toms, clear G1 underneath. UV1 on snares. EQ4 frosted on kick.
ProMark Marco Minneman sticks
Flex Beaters
Porter & Davies BC2
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10 Comments. Leave new
Hi Louie! Great show! I have a drum question, regarding a snare drum choice. I play a Pearl Maple Gum kit (which I love) but I have been unable to get the matching snare drum for my kit. I have the chance to get a Gretsch Maple Gum snare in the same finish (white marine Pearl) to match my kit so knowing that you were a Gretsch and Pearl guy in previous years do you think its a good match? (the Pearl drum has been on backorder for close to 9 months now and I am looking for a possible other option…Thanks Louie, James
Yes, will be a great match. Shells are very, very similar…and with a snare, that matters less anyway. Will sound great!
Thanks Louie! Looking forward to the next Lick of The Month!!
Hey Louie, just to follow up on my last comment, I finally got the Pearl MG 14 x 6 and a half snare drum(after a long wait) . But my question now is about drumheads as I have always been a 2 ply drum head guy as I played mostly hard Rock(metal) and liked the durability aspect. On your video you mentioned that you use Evans G2 0n the snare batter side? I have never used a single ply head … Are there advantages in feel and sound using a single ply head? At this point in my drumming I dont hit quite as hard and I aim to play with more feel and touch (dynamics).. I would appreciate your insight as always.. Thx Louie.. James
It depends on what music I’m playing. If I can get away with it then I like single ply heads…they feel nicer under the stick to me, but that’s partly a traditional grip thing…it’s harder work to play thick heads with traditional. But, 2-ply heads do offer a fatter sound when you’re tuning lower. So if I want a deeper, fatter tone then I go single ply…and that kind of music will often mean I’m not playing anything intricate so the feel thing is less of an issue. These days I’ve been using G12’s which are single ply but slightly thicker than a G1 or Ambassador…it gets close to getting the best of both worlds. But for snare I always go single ply..I don’t hit hard so the durability thing is never a factor for me.
Hope that helps!
Louie
Hey Louie , one last question regarding drum heads.. I understand for recording purposes you may change heads depending on the type of music but for a gig would you change the drum heads? Say you had a Jazz gig followed by a Blues/Rock show? Would you stay with the UV1’s on the snare or go to a thicker batter head? I assume the Tom heads would stay as is(the G12’s)… also would the G12’s sound good on my Pearl MG snare? Thanks for your help Louie! James
No, I wouldn’t change heads for a particular gig…unless it was a big departure from what I normally do, or was just very important/high stakes. You can do any gig with single ply heads…it’s all just a matter of preference. There are no rules. Simon Phillips played super loud rock n roll with clear ambassadors. Recordings can be different, effort-wise, because they live forever. So if I was doing a recording that really called for a certain sound then I would swap out the heads. As for snare drum, this is even more based on preference. Just experiment…try the G12 or a single ply with the dot underneath…there are lots of options depending on the sound you want!
Great video and clinic Louie. Tracks and your playing are great. Thanks for sharing. Any plans to come to the UK Drum Show? I know you had to cancel through injury last time. Cheers, Matt.
Thanks! No luck with UK show unfortunately…they barely respond to me now. Bummer! Let them know on socials that you want me to play there!
Oh wow.. that’s rubbish, yes I will do!