I'm proud to say that one of the most consistent comments I get from sound engineers and fellow musicians is how good my kit sounds, it's taken a long time and many drum kits and lots of frustrating hours spent learning how to tune the drums properly to get there, but I believe a great sounding instrument is just as important as being able to play it. Below is the setup I'm very happy to have ended up with.

My main setup for live and studio work is a 5 piece Pearl masters custom kit with platinum mist finish in the following sizes:

10"  x 8" hi tom tom
12" x 8" mid tom tom
14" x 12" low tom tom
14" x 5" snare drum
12" x 4" Piccolo snare drum
22" x 18" un drilled bass drum with mic porthole

All of these drums are made of multi ply maple and give a lovely warm sound and great punch when tuned properly. Please click here for some great tips on tuning drums; it really is an art form! It takes experience and a good ear to tune drums properly. I now offer a mobile drum tuning and set up service. Please email or call me for more info.

My drums are all mounted independently to increase resonance and cross talk using top of the line Pearl hardware.

Like most drummers I like to experiment with different gear and new sounds and it's taken many years of sweat and toil and a large pile of cash to end up with a setup that I'm truly happy with!

Cymbals are a very personal thing and it can make or break your sound, I must have gone through at least 50 cymbals before finally settling, I'm not obsessed, no really, I'm not.

My cymbal setup: (configuration depends on the type of gig)

1 x pair of 14" Zildjian K custom session Hi hats
1 x 20" Istanbul Mel Lewis 1982 Ride cymbal with 2 rivets (left hand side)
1 x 20" Istanbul Traditional Ride cymbal
1 x 18" Zildjian K custom Fast crash
1 x 16" Zildjian Paper thin crash
1x 10" Zildjian A Custom splash

I carry a full set of microphones including Sennheiser 605's for the toms, Shure SM 57 for the snare and Audio technical condensers for overheads and bass drum. I prefer not to mic the drums unless absolutely necessary (which it is for most gigs I do!), it's so difficult to get a true sound across unless you've got top sound equipment and engineers which unfortunately isn't always the case!

For teaching I am using Roland V drums TD 9 SX Series. I can't say I'm a great lover of electronic drums but these really are the business, they look,sound and feel a lot more like an acoustic kit and you can have tons of fun without being prosecuted.

Whatever gear you've got you need the know how to make it sound the way you
want, the more you learn it seems the more there is to learn. Lessons can be a
great kick start for your interest in drumming whether a beginner or more
experienced. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding
gear, tuning drums or private lessons with me even if you don't have drums and
just fancy giving it a try before splashing out on your own set.