Triangle

Finger Cymbal

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Horizontal

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Triangle Arm

Body

Finger Cym Arm

Plus Body

Horizontal Mount

All pieces interchangeable. Mix and match.

Beater Upgrade Kit

Extra Plastic Ties

Finger Cymbal Mount

Triangle Suspension Mount

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Brown/Gold

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Side Show - Mike Drake

Mike Drake's set up for Side Show at the Casa Mañana Theater, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Mike Drake's set up for Side Show at the Casa Mañana Theater, in Fort Worth, Texas.Mike Drake's set up for Side Show at the Casa Mañana Theater, in Fort Worth, Texas.Mike Drake's set up for Side Show at the Casa Mañana Theater, in Fort Worth, Texas.Mike Drake's set up for Side Show at the Casa Mañana Theater, in Fort Worth, Texas.Mike Drake's set up for Side Show at the Casa Mañana Theater, in Fort Worth, Texas.Mike Drake's set up for Side Show at the Casa Mañana Theater, in Fort Worth, Texas.Mike Drake's set up for Side Show at the Casa Mañana Theater, in Fort Worth, Texas.

"The yellow piece of foam? The book called for one, and only one, anvil strike in the middle of a tune, and it was a last minute decision. I do not own an anvil, so I had to find one that day! I found a piece of galvanized pipe that is about 6" long and 2" in diameter in my ‘stash’ of things on my workbench. I also grabbed a 1/2 inch wrench extension about 12" long to use to hit the pipe (you can see it on the bottom left of the foam), which ended up sounding great! I then needed something to suspend the pipe. I grabbed a foam sponge that I use to wash my dogs, cut out the inside with a utility knife, so that the pipe would resonate more (don't worry, I have since bought a new sponge for the dogs!) and suspended the pipe in the sponge. I had to play the note in the middle of a groove, so I would keep the groove going with the right hand, put down the left stick, pick up the extension rod and play the ‘anvil’ strike with the left hand, put the rod back down and pick up the stick and keep playing the groove. My improvised anvil sounded really good, and the Musical Director was happy, so, a good decision!

I attached both the (plastic) wood block and tambourine to the music stand, the ratchet to the hi-hat stand, and The Miller Machine to the left cymbal stand. I use my trap case with a towel over it to hold my sticks, brushes, mallets, ‘anvil’, wallet, sweets, junk, etc.

The book calls for a lot of mallets on cymbals, as well as grooves, so what to do? I got a pair of Vic Firth sticks/mallets (I don't remember what model number, I sanded it off), however, the balls were too hard for what I needed so I wrapped the balls in two layers of felt, and tied them off with Trilene XL 12lb fishing line. This threw the balance of the sticks off, so I locked the beads of the sticks in a drill chuck, and holding the drill in one hand and sand paper in the other, I sanded down the shoulders on the sticks to make a great pair of well-balanced stick/mallets, QED! I initially made these mallets to play 42nd Street as I had to play a lot of tympani and kit groove stuff without the luxury of being able to switch between sticks and tympani mallets quickly enough. I then found that they were perfect for Side Show so I used them.

One thing I've learned over the years of playing shows, is that there is no right or wrong way to do a set-up, just better ways, and I am constantly challenged to find new and better set-ups for every show I play. It keeps things interesting, and it never gets boring.

The drums are a Yamaha Custom Recording kit with 12", 14", 15" Toms, a 14" Snare, a 20" Bass Drum, and a mixture of Zildjian and Sabian cymbals.

Shows typically don't have much room for drums, so I always use smaller dimension drums and when miked they sound great!"

Mike is a proud endorser of Yamaha Drums and is one of the drum instructors at the University of North Texas, in Denton, Texas.

Side Show - Regional - Mike Drake
August 2013

Mike Drake's set up for Side Show at the Casa Mañana Theater, in Fort Worth, Texas.

"Conducting a National Tour is incredibly challenging, but so rewarding. Stepping on to the podium with a new orchestra every few weeks really keeps you on your toes. Every player responds differently so you are constantly adjusting to get the desired result. I would compare it to playing a multi-percussion piece where the instruments are constantly moving."
"After a grueling four years at SUNY I still had one theory class left to finish. I was really depressed. A classmate of mine recommended me for a tour of a Broadway show. This completely changed the course of my life."
"When I first got the call to start working on Ain’t Too Proud - The Life And Times Of The Temptations, I was curious about which era the show was going to focus on. Their career began in the early 1960’s and they’re still releasing albums today."
"The timpani tunings are the real challenge of The Little Mermaid. Changing pitches must be done by feel, that was my biggest challenge. Memorizing the mallet parts was also very necessary."
"As you can see in the pictures, I prefer to have as much 'stuff' right in front of me, as close as possible. Because there are so many instruments close in, I have mounted a music stand off of the tom mount.
"Different from the tour, the original Broadway production had acoustic drums, an acoustic set of timbales, and an acoustic tambourine - the tambourine is now programmed in the SPD-SX."
  • 2 min read

Gene Krupa's drum solo from "Gene's Blues" from the album Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich released November 1955.

Steve Jordan's drum solo from the title track of the album Casa Loco.
Robbie Ameen's drum solo from the track "Spring Fling".

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