GOSSIP

I spent my first months practicing on the church drum kit and then eventually got my own. After about 18 months I got together with Barry Dalchow and Dave Wheeler to form

we played a few gigs and started a jam in Carshalton which ran successfully for 18 months. Then there was "Turtle Recoil"!  Artwork courtesy of the fabulous Nicolette Van Gendt.

"Oh wad some Power the giftie gie us, to see oursel's as others see us!"          (R Burns)

Apart from this I've depped on occasions for a few bands; B-Mused, Fit to Drop, and The Joe King Band which turned from dep into full time band member and which also introduced me to my wonderful husband Rik Martin. 

was a four piece outfit with Rik and his brother Wayne on guitar and Hannah Cope on bass.

We still have opportunity to play with Wayne when we visit and play gigs in and around Shropshire.  Wayne is also a fabulous guitarist.

At this point I must credit my predecessor, who to my good fortune was unavailable to drum the gigs due to other commitments.  And here he is, Fabio Iacono, making my kit look and sound very cool:

Rik and I put together "The Rik Martin Band" which has been my main project ever since. 

Hmmn what else?  Oh yeah I love recording - some of the fruits of that on my myspace.

GEAR

DRUMS & CYMBALS

At home I use ROLAND TD10 V-DRUMS for practice and rehearsal.  This kit is a fantastic practice tool and is really handy to preserve my relationships with those living nearby, especially if it's 1am when I get the urge to play!  As it happens I have fantastic neighbours and I do practice with my acoustic kits but for shorter periods and during more sociable hours.

I also use the TD10 hooked up through a Mackie desk both for audio recording and midi recording into Cubase.

My first acoustic kit is a YAMAHA STAGE CUSTOM ADVANTAGE (BLUE FADE) which I bought new in December 2003.   It's fusion size; 10x9", 12x10", 14x12" mounted toms, 14x5.5" wood snare and 22x17" bass drum. 

The cymbals I use with this kit are: Sabian HHX Evolution 14" Hi-Hats, 10" Splash,  16" & 18" Crashes, 20" Ride, Sabian AAX 15" & 19" Extreme Chinas.  I also have a 21" Sabian HH Raw Bell Dry Ride Cymbal that I switch into this set up from time to time. 

I mostly leave the stage custom wood snare at home in favour of my Gretsch 70's Reissue 14" x 6" Brass Snare (Black with Gold hardware).  However when I'm incredibly rich and famous and get my drum tech roadie I'll probably take everything!!  What no applicants for the job ?

Got a fabulous Christmas present from Rik in the shape of a Gretsch 12x6" Maple Snare - Mmmn - sounds absolutely yummy; tight and funky.

I have a second, YAMAHA STAGE CUSTOM ADVANTAGE (CRANBERRY RED) acoustic kit.  In the same fusion sizes, this is a slightly older version.  I bought this kit secondhand for use when I'm hosting jam nights and the rest of the time I leave it set up at home for practice.  I have a separate set of cymbals I use with this kit:  Sabian AAX 14" Hi-Hats & 16" Crash and Sabian AA 20" Ride.

PEDALS & HARDWARE

    I've got quite a collection of pedals; for gigs I use my first choice, Pearl Eliminator double pedal.  I picked up a second-hand Tama double pedal that I leave set up with the electronic kit and the Cranberry Kit came with a Pacific double pedal so I leave that set up for acoustic practice!  However the acquisition of all these pedals left my Pearl Eliminator single pedal redundant so I just bought a cowbell mount for it - but don't hold your breath for the left foot clave it could be sometime....!  

Both kits came with Yamaha hardware and whilst my experience of other hardware is limited in the extreme I can't imagine there is anything else much sturdier or more flexible for set up. 

Something about me and hi-hats - they do their level best to run away from me or come to pieces - they're clearly terrified of what I'm gonna do to them!  After two or three experiences of the clutch coming undone through the course of a gig I took remedial action;  DW make a locking hi-hat clutch - I would never use anything else now - it has never happened since. 

HEADS

I'm more of a Remo girl.   I've tried out lots of different head combos and am currently using Clear Emperors with Clear Ambassadors on my toms, powerstroke 4 on the bass and Coated Emperor Snare with hazy diplomat under the wood snare.  I think this is a good combination and I like it the best so far although I use clear ambassador under the brass snare.   Apart from the coated snare head I've put all clear ambassadors on the jam/practice kit and that's sounding pretty cool right now.

CASES & CARPET!

I use Hardcase for all my drums although I have a Protection Racket case for the brass snare and a pearl soft case for the maple Gretsch.  I also use Protection Racket cases for my cymbals & hardware. I think both are really great cases.  I think I prefer a soft case for the hardware just coz it's easier to get it all in.  Absolutely protection racket for the cymbals tho; gotta have them in that nice soft cozy case although I have to say I got the one with wheels and was rather disappointed once I got it in action.  Actually wheeling the thing is fine but when you're setting up and you want to lean it against the wall next to you it falls over because of the wheels.  This is unless you turn it back to front and all the zippers are next to the wall which isn't the quickest way to get your cymbals out.  Not only that but the plastic bracket for the wheels broke after six months - I did manage to fix it with a cable tie - but even so.  Great case, great idea to have wheels - shame about the design. 

If I set up on a wooden floor, before the end of the first song I have to chase my hi-hat stand across the floor trying to hook it back into play with my left foot - probably poor foot technique or something but it literally ends up completely out of reach.  It wasn't long before I realised carpet of some description is a vital part of my kit.  I got a protection racket one - they look nicer than Granny's old living room carpet and have a handy built in tie-strap (although I still got Granny's cushions (minus covers) in my bass drum much to my hubby's dismay!).

STICKS

I use Vic Firth.  Mostly 5B & 5BN - but I do occasionally pull any of the following from my stick bag; 5A, 5AN, AS5A, S5A

VOCAL MICROPHONES

I use an AKG WMS 400 Wireless microphone system with headset for use when I drum and have a trusty old SM58  (Rik's got his own rusty trusty version! - mmn yummy :-O ) for use either up front vocally or in the bass drum as required.  I use an AKG C3000 Condenser Mic as part of set up for recording.

DRUM MICROPHONES

I'd been wanting to invest for some time and after much deliberation and review reading I finally settled on a set from Red 5 Audio (RVK7) - really good value for money - they sell cased sets and occasionally chuck in an offer for £50 off an already good price.  They only sell online - check out my links page.  The other thing I like about this set is the RV4 condensers can be powered with regular AA batteries - so no problem if you're short of phantom power.  The clamps are easy enough to fit and the case is of sound construction.  As far as budget mics go these are good.

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PIANO / KEYBOARDS

I use a Clavinova CVP79A at home and for portable requirements have an Alesis QS8 synth which I use with a Roland KC300 amp.  Both instruments are midi compatible and can be linked into Cubase for midi-recording.

GUITARS / AMP

I've got a cherry red Mexican Strat and a second hand semi-acoustic Vintage guitar. 

Guitar playing has definitely taken a back seat since I took up the drums, so these guitars and the Line 6 amp don't get much of a work out unless Rik Martin is playing them and he's a tube amp kinda fella -  Line 6 aka "Spare"!

RECORDING

I have a Roland VS1680 24-bit digital studio workstation which I've used for recording gigs .  The MP3s recorded at the Jolly Farmers were done on this with just a couple of overhead condensers an SM58 on the kik and a separate vocal feed from the foldback which works to give a reasonable idea of what's going on.  Ideally tho' I'd like to record gigs when I'm not playing so I can mic up all the amps and drums individually - it's too time consuming tho to set up the drums and vocals as well as all the recording gear.   If I want to record at home I use Cubase SX on a PC running Windows XP.

I've recently found another excellent piece of equipment in terms of value for money; The Alesis IO/26 firewire interface.  It's got 8 analog and 18 digital inputs but the best bit is the analog inputs are combi jacks with phantom power assignable in groups of two.  Every other piece of kit in the same price range has maybe 2 pre-amps or 4 inputs at most and then are either only XLR OR only ¼" inputs or maybe two of each.  Yeah man this is cool kit AND another excellent value for money add on is the Behringer "Ultragain pro-8 digital ADA8000" which has 8 inputs of XLR or ¼", so connected by firewire to the Alesis I have 16 channels of whichever connection type I require - enough for all the drum mics, 3 vocals, guitar, bass and a few spare.

I'm just itching to get more time with this gear.

PA

Since my husband is pretty strong he didn't have a problem lugging round his pair of Peavey HiSys2XT, but one in each hand is a bit much!  Not so now - we invested in a new Mackie PA system.  The C300Z passive speakers are just over half the weight of the HiSys and Rik looks quite comfy with one in each hand!  (But then that's him - one's enough for me). 

We were a bit fed up trying to dial in the old PA which was probably just too small for the speakers, so we bought the speakers and the mixer together to match.  I like Mackie, it might be top end pricewise but it is quality gear and it does what it says on the tin.  In addition, the manuals are the best I've come across - clear and concise with pictures that actually relate to the text (unlike Roland - sorry Roland, cool gear but your VS1680 manual is not helpful!). 

Well with all this lot there is one more vital piece of equipment:

Our Trusty Tranny

Right, time to go load the van.... see y'all at the gig x