My Favourite Records

Where does anyone start when compiling a list of favourites?  What is the criteria?  Our tastes evolve constantly and we move through different emotional states throughout our lives, all of which re-define what we listen and respond to.

I've been thinking over the last few weeks about the recording which have been significant to me in one way or another, either because they gave me the inspiration I needed at a particular point in time, or they struck a nerve which complimented what I was feeling, or they just kicked my ass. 

Here are those recordings.  Funny thing is that I listen to all of them from time to time still, as I'm from a generation which played a record from start to finish, scoured the artwork and tried to imagine what it was like to be a fly-on-the-wall for the performance.

In no particular order:

Live Recordings

1. Live at the Regal B.B. King (1964)

2. Live at the Five Spot Eric Dolphy (1961)

3. Live at the Lightouse Lee Morgan (1972)

4. No Cover No Minimum Billy Ecstine (1960)

5. One Night Stand! Live At the Harlem Square Club Sam Cooke (1963)

6. Swiss Movement Les McCann and Eddie Harris (1969)

7. Live at the Fillmore West Aretha Franklin/King Curtis (1971)

8. Live at the Sex Machine Kool and the Gang  (1971)

9. Doin’ the Thing Horace Silver Quintet (1961)

10. All the World’s a Stage Rush (1977)

11. Live at the Blackhawk Shelly Manne and His Men (1959)

12. Sunday at the Village Vanguard/Waltz for Debbie Bill Evans Trio (1961)

13. Four and More/My Funny Valentine Miles Davis (1964)

14. Live! Lou Rawls (1966)

15. In Concert Peter, Paul & Mary (1966)

Studio Recordings

1. Winelight Grover Washington Jr. (1982)

2. Backlash Freddie Hubbard (1966)

3. Free to Be Donald Harrison (1998)

4. Black Codes from the Underground Wynton Marsalis (1982)

5. Far East Suite Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn (1967)

6. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band The Beatles (1967)

7. Just In Time Larry Willis (1989)

8. A Love Supreme John Coltrane (1965)

9. Workin’, Steamin’, Cookin’ and Relaxin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (4 albums in 2 1956 sessions)

10. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Charles Mingus (1963)

11.  Ellington Uptown Duke Ellington (1951)

12. Clifford Brown & Max Roach Clifford Brown & Max Roach Quintet (1954)

13. Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley (1961)

14. Someday My Prince Will Come Wynton Kelly (1961)

15. Roll Call Hank Mobley (1960)

16. With the Tenors of Our Time Roy Hargrove (1995)

17. John Coltrane and Johnny  Hartman (1963) 

18. Live at The Senator Brian Dickinson (1995)

19. Stardust Willie Nelson (1978)

20. Voodoo D’Angello (2000)

21. Nefertiti Miles Davis (1968)

22. Blue Soul Blue Mitchell (1959)

23. Wanton Spirit Kenny Baron, Roy Haynes, Charlie Haden (1994)

24. Getz/Gilberto Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto (1964)

25. To My Queen Walt Dickerson (1962)

26. Blue Serge Serge Chaloff (1956)

27. The Vibe Roy Hargrove (1992)

Modifying the Gibraltar GBDP Bass Drum Pad

I've been trying for a while to perfect my practice setup.  I've got challenges, with precious little space.  Also, I have a curious 3-year old who loves to innocently topple things.

I had a proper electronic kit, but when the room became my daughter's, there just wasn't the space.  So, I decided to focus on the basics.  I set up a snare pad (my trusty old HQ Real Feel Cartridge Pad) and purchased the Gibraltar GBDP bass drum pad.  

Both worked well.  I've had my HQ Real Feel for years, probably 10-12 years at least, and it's travelled around the world with me.  However, I've always noticed the difference between the practice and acoustic kits, not to mention the affect on my joints of playing on rubber surfaces.

It was while I was watching JoJo Mayer's bass drum video where I noticed he has what looked like an 18 or 22" bass drum practice pad with what appeared to be a mesh head.  

I began researching and I came to the conclusion that whatever he had was not commercially available, that it was likely a customisation based on the Sabian Quiet Tone mesh practice pad.  I studied the video, as there are quite a few good views of the construction.  I drew up plans based on vertically mounting the pad (which I did not yet purchase) and constructing a base and truss system.

I figured I would order the pad first then examine it to be sure I could design something and have it built.  So, I ordered the 12 and 14" pads.

As I was waiting for the pads to arrive, I had a thought, that perhaps I could utilise the foundation of the Gibraltar GBDP for my design.  As I pulled it apart to better understand it, I observed that it's design was both simple and solid.  In other words it would be logical to reuse it.  It was only the soft rubber beater surface which I wanted to change, the chassis itself was well built and would suit my purpose, I'd just end up building something similar anyways.   

Gibraltar GBDP pad before modification

 The design of the GBDP consists of a circular beater surface with a hollow rubber striking pad, filled with formed styrofoam.  It's actually quite an inefficient system for managing impact, and provides almost no rebound.  This transfers quite a bit of the energy to the knees which, over time, could cause issues. The pad itself is secured to the GBDP frame by a single bolt dead centre, which allows you to simply spin the pad counter-clockwise to remove it. 

Centre tread for GBDP pad, which will be used to secure new back plate

With the basic design of the GBDP understood, my pads arrived.  I decided to use the 14" as my snare pad, and to repurpose the 12 as my new bass drum pad.  In examining the Quiet Tone pads, I observed that they are quite simple, a standard 6 lug hoop with equidistant (obviously) holes, tensioned by pressure exerted by the tension rods securing the pad frame (which consists of 4 flat aluminium bars), against a simple collar which sits where a standard drum rim would be.  

I had the idea of replacing the aluminium bars with a circular piece of Perspex, with holes drilled for the lugs and the centre mounting bolt. The tensioning of the lugs would tension the head using the same principle as the original design, therefore allowing accurate tensioning.

Adobe Illustrator mock-up of practice pad backing perspex.

I drew up the design after measuring, and allowed for the Perspex to be about 6cm larger (35cm diameter) than the Quiet Tone pad to create a solid backing.

 I looked on line for a company which could make it, and found AB Plastics in Hallam. I sent in my plans and waited for the disk to be completed.

Perspex disk cut and drilled to my specifications

When the disk arrived it worked perfectly.  The holes were exactly where they needed to be and it was solid. I made one more switch, I replaced the standard heads of the Quiet Tone with Remo Silentstroke heads.  It plays like a real drum, and I couldn't be happier. I can play for hours with no noticeable knee or leg fatigue.

Below are a few images of the process, feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you'd like the Illustrator vector file, or a PDF.

Disk mounted to GBDP frame

Centre bolt to hold perspex to frame

Sabian Quiet Tone practice pad with Remo Silentstroke head, which I slightly preferred and used to replace the default head on the Sabian

Final mounted design, before I remembered to remove the protective coating from the Perspex :)

Final design prepared for practice

And finally with my Vector pedal