Hi David I'm a big fan of your Ludwig kit and have used nothing else since you posted it up - Its easily the most realistic sounding kit so-far. I'm looking forward to the next build and have one item on my wish list. Could you do a left and right shake of the tambourine please? Its so you can essentially sound like someone shaking the tambourine along in time with the drums even if you change the tempo. I've done something similar in the past , but your tambourine sounds better. Also some more on the toms would be good. Much praise too for the hi-hat variations especially the 'sizzle' hi hat- I think that those along with the snare sounds is what gives it that real feel. Have you recorded anything with the kit and db btw? All the best Sion Morris

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it. It was sure fun to put together. I agree with you about the levels on the bass drum. I'm planning to sort out the levels a bit better with it. The drum itself is a 15x22 with a Aquarian Superkick on the batter side and an Evens black resonant head with a small mic hole. There's no additional muffling. I have a double-bass pedal so when I want a very muffled sound I've been trying to train my left foot to mute the drum on the fly. I should probably make a recording of that and throw it in. The drum was miked with an SM-57 and a Beta-52 to try and capture the low end punch as well as some overtones.

I have a small splash cymbal and just picked up a super trashy 18" crash that is bent up and has rivets all through it. Those'd be fun to include. When I re-do the cymbal sounds I'll definitely include more dynamics and a "choked" sound seems useful too. I've been trying to use more chokes in my playing these days.

On the ride, one thing that occurred to me as useful is a quick double stroke. I've been listening to a lot of jazz lately and those jazz guys seem to be cheating a bit on the "ah-1"/"ah-3" by using a quick double at really fast (bop) tempos.

Thanks for the feedback.

Cheers, David.