Vic Firth Peter Erskine Signature "Ride" Stick Product Review

Length- 16"
Diameter- .575"
Wood- Hickory
Extremely small tear drop tip


After the success of Peter Erskine's original signature stick, the guys at Vic Firth decided to give him another signature stick to reflect the evolution in his playing. While his first model was a smaller 7a with a tiny round bead, his "Ride" model is a solid 5a size with a smooth taper towards the extremely small teardrop. This size provides more durability and a better throw for the faster ride patterns. Lets check these bad boys out...

As soon as I picked up a pair of these, I immediately noticed how light they felt in my hands. Due to its long taper, they are weighted slightly towards the bottom while remaining well balanced. The shoulder of the stick begins a gradual taper roughly 5 inches from the tip. The taper makes for a great rebound and allows ride patterns to seem effortless. The feature that really sealed the deal for me was the stick's small teardrop tip. It gave each ride AND crash cymbal I played a great jazz sound. The cymbals were articulate and had just the right mix of "woody" stick sound and a slight ping. I could easily use a number of my crashes as a crash-ride for lower volume gigs with a pair of these babies.
Due to their light feel, these probably wouldnt be the best choice for someone who hits hard. Although the teardrop brings out amazing tones out of cymbals at lower to mid volumes, the small tip lost its articulation at a higher dynamic range. Its thinner shoulder is also very vulnerable in the hihat-zone or for anyone wailing away on their 20" china. Also, be warned that the small tip would likely destroy a batter head at higher volumes as well. But for the drummer who is needing a great stick with an incredible sensitivity to dynamics, you owe it to yourself to check these out. They have become somewhat of a go-to stick for jazzbos across the country and from what I can see, for good reason...

Sabian 22" AAX Omni Product Review

22" Sabian AAX Omni developed with JoJo Mayer

Raw unlathed bell
Raw unlathed and hand-hammered inner 1/2
Lathed outer 1/2 with brilliant finish



22" Sabian Omni developed with JoJo Mayer

List price-$524

Have you ever felt like you had to bring way too many cymbals with you to a gig to cover all the sounds you needed? The Omni line of cymbals from Sabian was designed to tackle this problem. If you are at all familiar with JoJo Mayer, throughout his career, he has always had a wide selection of cymbal choices on any of his kits. But with the development of the Omni cymbals to be added to the already popular AAX line, he now utilizes these as the bulk of his arsenal. So far, the line only includes an 18" and 22" models and are designed to pull double duty as crash/rides. I recently had the opportunity to peep the 22" model.
At first glance, the Omni are striking with a raw and unlathed bell and bow with a brilliant finished edge. This a beautiful cymbal. Sabian has done an excellent job in the visual design of this cymbal. So now lets get a little deeper and see if its sound is as beautiful as its appearance.
Since the Omni are marketed as an all-around crash/ride, Im gonna review it as a crash and as a ride individually.
As a crash, it has a wide spread and speaks when crashed along the shoulder. The  spread was a medium to high wash that would be better suited to blend than cut. To me, its crashing capabilities sound a bit closer to a thicker 18" or 19" than a massive 22" cymbal. I'd describe its tone as glassy. If you use it purely as a crash, I would pick your spots because this cymbal can get loud. The edge may speak quickly but you cant forget the unlathed and thicker middle of the cymbal. With the two different sections, you could easily get some interesting voices from this cymbal  as a crash. If your guitarist is getting a little too comfortable turning up his Marshal stack, crashing on this bad boy would definitely let your presence be known.
With all rides, the stick size and tip have almost as much to do with the sound as the cymbal itself. Since its my stick of choice, I started off with a Vic Firth X5b with a wood tip. Playing a light jazz "spang-a-lang'' pattern on the brilliant edge, I noticed how much give there was with the stick. In other words, very limited rebound. Next, I switched to a 5a wood tip and repeated the same pattern. Rebound and clarity improved slightly but still felt inhibited. Although I NEVER play a 7a size stick, I tried the Vic Firth Steve Jordan signature which is 16.5'' in length and an extremely thin .525 diameter with a barrel tip. Normally, there isn't enough beef in smaller sticks for me to get the tones I need, but to me, your best bet for the outer-edge washy ride pattern was best served with a smaller diameter stick. Although I didn't have a pair of the Jojo Mayer signature models on hand, his stick is just a slightly shorter and thicker version of their regular 5a wood tip. I used the Vic Firth 5a for the bulk of my testing outside of outer edge rebound. On to the unlathed section and the super important bell tone.
I was blown away by the night and day difference in the tone when I went from the brilliant to non-lathed section. As far as im concerned, the "ride" part of the cymbal IS the hand-hammered, unlathed section. Its thickness added to its ride sound and brought in a sense of articulation to it. It has a nice warm spread that keeps controlled. I wouldn't worry about it "washing-out" while playing this section. Every stroke came through clearly and was pleasing to my ear. Since it is a medium pitched cymbal, it did have some overtones to it. BUT, once the band comes in, bye-bye overtones and hello to warm spread and cushion. It fills up the negative space without going overboard and getting out of control. The bell was interesting. I  honestly expected it to be a lot higher in pitch and louder than it was. It was much more of a mid pitched sound that lended itself to very precise playing. This may however be what Sabian and JoJo were going for since drum & bass lends itself to needing many different sonic options. You need to be able to finesse the bell to fully explore its sonic capabilities. And its not very loud so even when you really lay into it, its sound peaks after a certain point. Personally, its sound inspired me to play some David Garibaldi style patterns. This ride sound is best suited for more ambient styles where blending tone is preferred.
Long story short, I wouldn't try using this ride to kickoff your band's cover of Korn's "Blind". If you're needing a bell that sounds like a train is crossing the street, this ain't the ride for you.  Its better suited to blend than cut/project. When needing more of a wash, you should focus your playing on the brilliant outer edge. When needing more precision and clarity, the unlathed portion is right there for ya. Although this may not be the main ride of choice you'd pick for your variety show, overall, this is a solid multi-use cymbal that could take the place of two or three cymbals. This is a double edged sword for Sabian in that although its sure to sell well, players may not find the need to buy any more cymbals for their setup. Woops... : )

Zildjian 10" Trashformer Product Review

Developed with Mike Mangini as a stacking cymbal
B8 bronze
10" with a bent profile
Short sustain
Multi-colored ranging from regular golden color to blue and purple


List price- $108

Have you ever wished that your splash was a bit trashier? Or that your could find a sound that splits the difference between a splash and a china? If so, Zildjian has you covered! This joker is sick. When Zildjian got with Mike Mangini to help design this cymbal, he envisioned this as a cymbal to to be  piggybacked with another to add a trashy effect. He started with a 14" size and because of its success, Zildjian wisely decided to expand on the line to include more traditional splash sizes. I decided to test out and review this cymbal without a second cymbal and by itself. At first glance, you cant help but double take at seeing this cymbal. Because its unique appearance stemming from the B8 bronze used, its colors can vary from golden to purple. Definitely a conversation starter. Also, you'll notice how unlike 99.9% of the cymbals out there, the profile of this cymbal is uneven in a wavy pattern. This is deliberate which adds to the unique quality that this cymbal has. When you factor in the color variations and the different shapes that these cymbals can come in, each one you get is 100% unique.
This cymbal has a beautiful tone with a pretty quick decay to it. Its very thin and could easily be hand bent. Normally, B8 bronze isn't known to be the most musical alloy for cymbals. BUT, the normally thin or sometimes "gongy" sound really isn't present in this cymbal. Unlike most of the ZXT line which is meant to be more of a lower level series for students and budget minded players, this cymbal has been employed in many pro drummers setups. This would also be a great cymbal for a timbalero/conguero due to its sensitivity and hand crashability.  This is in my opinion, a very useful and musical cymbal. Unlike most china type or trashy cymbals, the sound isn't harsh or biting. It would easily fit in any situation where the player needed colors. No lie, im probably gonna buy this cymbal. (I recently purchased the 8" model.) Remember, this is definitely not meant for super loud volume playing. If you want a loud quick accent for your extreme metal band, this would be better suited as a stack. Well that or get you a freakin $30 Wuhan and call it a day. haha. This has a complex sound to it and let me tell ya, the Trashformer is surprisingly musical. I could see myself reaching in my cymbal case for this baby a lot. Although this could be used in higher volume applications, im thinking this would really shine in close mic'd/lower volume situations. I wish i would have had this when I was playing in the pit for theater gigs. Its an amazing cymbal by itself and probably could "trashform" just about any cymbal into a killer stack sound. And for your favorite cymbal with a crack in and you cant let it go off, put one of these on top of it and it'll give it a new lease on life. This isn't a "classic" splash tone by any stretch but im sure that all you splash aficionados out there would gladly add this beauty to your setup. Nicely done Mr. Mangini… Oh, and congrats on landing the monster gig with Dream Theater.

LP 8" Micro Snare Product Review

3.5x8'' steel shell

Quick-Release on-off snare lever
Triple-flanged hoops
4 mini tube-style lugs
Ebony LP drum head
Mounts on either a 3/8'' to 1/2'' rod

List price-$170


Have you ever done a percussion gig where you wish you had a freaking tiny timbale that doubles as a snare? The folks at Latin Percussion have heard your cries and answered them! They already have a long standing history with innovation in the percussion and drum community. Their best selling Black Beauty cowbell is the most recorded cowbell in history. (cue "Don't Fear The Reaper" and Christopher Walken joke) They basically took on of their already popular mini timbales and added a small snare throwoff connected to a braid of snare wire approximately 5'' long that is pushed against the underside of the ebony heads. Its a pretty smart idea in my opinion and allows for a ton of really neat texture possibilities. So lets see how this joker sounds.
At first glance, it looks like a mini timbale with a thin ebony head. Upon further examination(which means at least hitting it with a stick) you notice a fairly dry snare sound. Disclaimer: this snare is not meant to replace your main axe of choice. This is meant as an alternative sound soursce on your kit or percussion rig. At lower tunings with the snares in the off position, the timbale tone was pronounced. It could easily be incorporated on any drummers kit as a unique sound for a super long Neil Peart-style roll. I did however notice that at tensions north of medium, the drum quickly began to choke. I don't blame this on LP but on the size of the drum. Theres a reason why the legendary timbaleros relied on drums normally ranging in the 13" to 15" range. The larger sizes are very versatile. Also, when playing most timbale patterns, your aiming more for edge and rimshot strokes so the small 8" diameter makes the target area very small. And you aren't gonna be able to be able to get the traditional cascara sound on this little guy. Even with the low profile tube-style lugs, it would take some seriously skilled and well aimed strokes to hit what little of the shell is exposed. BUT, this drum does offer some great tones that could easily fit in most percussion settings. So in my opinion, when left purely as a timbale, keep the tension low to mid. OK, on to the snare sound.
When i first played it with the snares engaged, the sound reminded me of when ive played the snareside of my snare drum goofing around. Super articulate and very dry. My personal preference for snare wire tension is mid loose because i do a LOT of ghost notes. I feel that an overly tightened set of snares completely chokes the natural sound of a snare. And if I had to compare the only ON snare setting this drum offers, the snares would be mid-tight. Because of its size and the relatively thin head that comes with it, this is best suited for a softer touch. I would also like to mention that the fairly lightweight throw-off mechanism can be locked in either an on or off position. With a simple turn of the wrist, you can go from 808 to timbale or visa-versa.  Finesse is the best way of fully enjoying what this snare has to offer. In other words, heavy-hitters would have a hard time not choking this drum out. The dead-center hits sounded pretty flat so i'd focus more on off-center and edge strokes.
 I wouldn't suggest this snare for styles outside of Hip-hop, Gospel, Fusion, Drum & Bass, and Jazz. Oh, and an unplugged gig like at a coffee shop or a small room. If you do decide to use one of these on your kit in a normal amplified situation, try and get a mic on it or else it would get lost in the mix. The provided head does hold up but I could see it needing to be replaced after a few months of steady usage. Its thinner than average thickness would pit up something fierce over time. BUT, I would be cautious when changing the head. The thickness of the head they provided was closer to a snare-side head than a batter so im sure that the snare sensitivity would greatly decrease with say, a two-ply head. The sensitivity was definitely a factor when LP decided on the thin head they used. So if you decided to change out the head, i'd stick with a one-ply head. And since a clear head would make the snares visible, a coated or ebony head would be more visually pleasing.
I mean, its not often that you see an 8" snare these days. Even in the Keller companies out there, most would be hesitant to make one. With its neutral steel shell and low profile tube-style lugs, its at home with pretty much any setup.  LP has made a very interesting percussion instrument that im glad i got to try out. I could easily see myself finding places to incorporate it into one of my lower volume/unplugged setups.