Tenor Players Opinions

[jonnyboy]

I aged out in 90 but don't remember those Madison drums! I love doing things differently.

Since this thread is populated with tenor drummers reminiscing, does anyone know the set up for Star of Indiana's tenors that had a snare? I think it was a ten inch snare (where the spok drum goes) with toms around it. Did the snare have a bottom head or snares under the top head? How did they attach the snares? This has been eating at me for years!

[TAFL]

Steve and I spent one Saturday afternoon at his machine shop designing the prototype hardware. A week or so later, we used shop assembly tables that were near perfect in layout to drill & assemble the drums (rims removed). We made sure that the angles were as close to perfect from set to set and from drum to drum the rim heights were near-perfect too, which makes it easier to move from drum to drum at higher speeds. We were not trying to change the world with our design that year, we were changing things up a little give everyone in the line a chance to do something a little different. Lesson: if you're going to design your own tenor layout, be sure to have a machinist friend!

Bingo!

We got in new drums sans carriers during the winter of '79-'80. Fred owned a commercial shop and had all the equipment necessary to make the racks and yokes. The percussion staff sat down and worked out the layout, then Fred made the racks, so when they presented them to us, the drums were set up with playing surfaces close together to enable speedy runs. At the time, I figured that's how most quads were set up. It was only after that that I began to pay attention to other quad setups and noticed that ours was different than most.

The major difference it makes is how the book gets written. There won't be any of the really nifty runs that I enjoyed so much years ago using the standard configuration.

And I'm happy to meet other folk who have played with a different setup. Makes me feel less alone.

[sday88]

I aged out in 90 but don't remember those Madison drums! I love doing things differently.

Since this thread is populated with tenor drummers reminiscing, does anyone know the set up for Star of Indiana's tenors that had a snare? I think it was a ten inch snare (where the spok drum goes) with toms around it. Did the snare have a bottom head or snares under the top head? How did they attach the snares? This has been eating at me for years!

I used those drums in the '88 All Star Corps Orange Bowl parade. If I recall correctly, it was a 10" drum, no bottom head, and it had metal snares (like from a concert snare) taped on the bottom of the head. I could be wrong though, it was 20 years ago, and I only used them for like three days. By the way, they were freakin' heavy!! And now for a little venting. I remember that parade being pretty long and everytime they came around to give us water they started with the snareline and by the time the water got back to us, there was none left. At one point I yelled to the snareline that we weren't getting any water.

[GGarrett]

/quote]

wow... John looks like he's about 14 years old there. And check out Dale there in the back... nyuk nyuk!

Here's Scott Pearson's first prototype tenor drum set up in his original effort to eliminate snare drummers all together:

Edited September 26, 2008 by GGarrett

[KiltieBD3]

Please do - I haven't seen Bass Logic yet, so I'm curious to hear a review.

Mike

I found tenor logic more informative then bass logic. I suppose seeing I am bass drummer I knew a lot of the stuff all ready in the book. He does have some good insight on tuning for different configurations (4 man line, 5 man line, etc...) and what type of player should be on each drum (assuming physical stature is constant of course ;) ) Bass Logic is good for those foreign to basic Bass Drumming Techniques. I more or less bought the book for my kids in my line to read so they had a better understanding of stuff I was talking about in rehearsals.

I think tenor logic just gives a tad bit more info. That being said, bass logic is probably the best bass druming book out right now for the more "modern" style of bass drumming. It has a couple REALLY good timing exercises as well.

[pearlsnaredrummer77]

Wow, those look heavy-the guys in the pic almost look like they are straining at that moment, lol.

Very similar set-up to what the Brass Factory was doing. Creativity is what makes for innovation. :)

[S. Pearson]

wow... John looks like he's about 14 years old there. And check out Dale there in the back... nyuk nyuk!

Here's Scott Pearson's first prototype tenor drum set up in his original effort to eliminate snare drummers all together:

Hey, you forgot the beer holder & wheels on the stand!

pearlsnaredrummer77: Wow, those look heavy-the guys in the pic almost look like they are straining at that moment, lol.

They were heavy (60lbs), but we didn't think about the weight or mosquitoes or heat... It was all in our minds... (that's what we were told anyway...)