The fate of drummers

Perhaps, of course, I will say something stupid now, but it seems that the history of musical instruments is sometimes no less interesting than the history of musicians. As soon as the tool leaves the hands of the master, it begins to take on a life of its own. And this life is as unpredictable as the life of a performer is unpredictable. The spontaneous alternation of ups and downs, successes and failures creates a fascinating history of the instrument. Happy moments of unity between the instrument and the performer are replaced by years of oblivion, when yesterday the instrument full of life suddenly turns out to be abandoned somewhere in the attic, where after many years it is found by a new inspired enthusiast who is able to breathe new life into strings, decks and leather that have already despaired of waiting. History is replete with examples of the life of stringed instruments made many centuries ago by great masters. What happened to the violins of Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati. Today, the best instruments belong to the best performers or rest in well-deserved rest in the collections of connoisseurs. Professional percussion instruments are relatively young - most are not yet a century old. But many of them also have a very remarkable history. It is not as pompous and significant as the history of the same strings, and probably a very small number of interested people have tried to track the creative fate of the drums, but even here in Russia there are very remarkable instruments. The Machine has a snare drum that, according to unverified reports, belonged to the previously famous Mel Lewis. The drums that Billy Cobham played in Moscow were immediately acquired by the head of a very famous band. The rig that Jeff Watts used to play in Moscow is now owned by one of our guys. Moscow drummers periodically buy cymbals from visiting stars. In the store of our compatriot Nodar Rode in New York, I saw Connie Kay drums from the legendary Modern Jazz Quartet, which were unimaginably expensive. I have two sets from the sixties that belonged to I don't know who, but they obviously have a rich history, but my current cymbal case was with Lenny White five years ago, until he gave it to me.

So what's the point of all this? And here's what: Premier Signia Marquis drums, about which I wrote so warmly in the previous issue of the magazine, those on which everyone played at the jazz festival in the Hermitage, having received such a wonderful start, continue their victorious march across Russia. This set was purchased from O.K.&Co. musical 42nd Street. And it was purchased not just like that, but at the request of the American drummer Edward Fast who came to take away the work from us. This guy immediately understood what was happening, and, describing the sound of the instrument as perfect, ordered the management to buy it. You can see this with your own eyes (or with your own eyes) by visiting the show at the Youth Palace. I don’t know what the future of these drums will be, but there is every reason to believe that a great future awaits them.

To replace these drums in Moscow, by order of the same O.K. & Co., to participate in the Music-Moscow exhibition, a fair amount of all kinds of drums from Premier were granted. There were also the most simple Cabria models, Signia Marquis drums, but already equipped with Ginger Fish (from the Marilyn Manson team), Artist Maple series instruments, Sex Pistols personalized set (which withstood a multi-day concert marathon under the snow in the open air and powerful blows of many drummers, including such monsters as Sergey Efimov), drums lined with the pattern of the English flag, and many other interesting things, including the wonderful Club Kit. And above all this diverse disgrace, on a special platform erected at the O.K. & Co. stand, towered a set of drums from the Artist Heritage series called Jazz 18. It was these drums that I chose for the live mini-concerts that were successfully held at the stand every day. These are birch drums (10??, 12??, 14?? ft, 18?? bd, snare) without reinforcement hoops. Even though they are significantly cheaper than the Signia Marquis, they sound very, very good. To some, they seemed not sonorous enough, but this kind of “dullness”, for example, is very close to me. This tool, as I said, was immediately put to the test. I completed the drums with Istanbul cymbals, which were in abundance on the stand. I immediately liked 20 ?? Agop Ride, 14?? hat of the same series and 19?? Mel Lewis Crash Ride, which fell a bit out of this muted range, but unfortunately Istanbul doesn't release Crash cymbals of this series. And on the right, I hung a plate of China to periodically break through the unimaginable hubbub that reigned all these days at the exhibition. I want to say right away that I took the 20-inch Ride and play it almost daily. This is one of the best cymbals I have ever heard. And I heard a lot! It immediately received a bunch of names from my colleagues (mainly due to the characteristic dirty forged design): Istanbul special forces, raw smoked, etc.

So, these are the drums and cymbals I played all these days at the exhibition together with guitarist Pavel Chekmakovsky, bass player Igor Kondur (one day he was replaced by Vitaly Solomonov) and saxophonist Alexander Dovgopoly who came to the light. Despite the inhumane conditions (noise and all), we played quite nicely in the presence of a decent amount of the audience, who came running to the sounds of jazz. However, it should be noted that the visitors at the O.K.&Co. there was always a lot. I highly appreciate the management's move towards advertising drums - it was allowed to play on everything that was on the stand. And this is about 8-9 installations. And now everyone who is not lazy was sausage on them around the clock. This has never happened anywhere and never! Are all firms that sell drums terribly afraid that unbridled thugs will break plastics, break something? O.K.&Co. showed a real understanding of the processes for the implementation of this specific product and are now reaping the fruits of their far-sighted policy. I think if someone damaged a couple of heads or screws, these little things paid off a long time ago with a sharply increased level of sales, and the aforementioned neat people still admire in their salons the virgin cleanliness of unplayed heads of unsold drums. Of course, there was a danger of serious damage, but Pavel Chinyakov (ex-ALLIANCE, Hellraiser, MAVRIK), the Premier brand manager, periodically reasoned with presumptuous peppers. And there were such guys! We were ready to break everything!!!

Well, anyway, back to our rams (I mean drums). I was just delighted with the sound of the set I assembled. And, as it soon became clear, not only me. A record number of drummers visited the stand, and everyone unanimously admired the sound of this and not only this instrument. And right at the exhibition, the conclusion of deals began. Our drum veteran Boris Savelyev caught fire instantly. He decided to purchase Jazz 18 drums and a set of Istanbul Mel Lewis cymbals, which he subsequently did. He, like the vast majority of drummers, was convinced that the best instruments are maple, and even began to probe the question of the possibility of buying a Jazz 18 maple set (a service that, by the way, Premier provides to its customers), but I dissuaded him . The arguments were extremely simple. I said that now you have birch drums in front of you, and they sound good. They are conceived as birch. What will happen in the maple version - no one knows. Clen is not a panacea. I immediately took Boris to the maple set of the Artist Maple series (12??, 13??, 16?? ft, 22?? bd) and demonstrated the surprisingly modest capabilities of these drums. True, the size of this set did not correspond to the musical tasks that Boris had to solve, but nevertheless, we agreed that it was rather difficult to set them up. Zizak was literally stunned by the sound of the Signia Marquis snare drum (from the set sold for the musical) that finally arrived in Moscow and immediately took it away. And that was just the beginning. Wonderful instruments have taken on a life of their own. No one knows how their future career will turn out, but one thing is safe to say: today they are in good hands.

So, Premier, who is experiencing his rebirth today, has begun his victorious march across Russia. And we have the most serious plans for this. In the very near future, the country will shudder from new actions. I will not announce now what is planned to be done according to the brand promotion plan, let it be a surprise. But I'm sure of one thing: you'll love it. It remains to be added that Istanbul, which is already in the stage of serious development, is following the Premier. And I am absolutely sure of success!
Material prepared by: Eugene RIABOI