February 2009 Jazz Instrument News
Friday, January 30, 2009
Protection Racket drum mat Why has nobody thought of this before? After all, it’s hardly rocket science. Put together a tough plasticised backing with a rough nylon pile and bind up the edging with heavy duty ribbed, rubberised tape . . . and there you have it. But then Protection Racket have been one of the most innovative UK music product companies over the past dozen years, padding and protecting anything from cymbals to snares and most recently – guitars. The drum mat comes in two different sizes, one for double bass set-ups at 107” x 52”, the other for the less power crazed at 78” x 48”. Laid out, our kit sat securely and there was no movement whatsoever. But beware tripping up over turned up corners. Both mats roll up and are kept in place by a heavy nylon band and clip-lock. They can then be packed into fitted bags with nylon webbed grab handles and a specially reserved spot for yours truly ‘this mat belongs to’. Big bags invariably carry balance problems and the larger of these two definitely needs the grab handles moving a few inches towards the bottom of the bag, so you’re not left dragging the bottom end along the floor! For more go to www.protectionracket.com
Kinsman cymbal case
This solid cymbal case is made from ABS plastic and comes in two sections – a top and a bottom. The top section is attached to the bottom section by means of a central screw spindle and heavy duty locking nut, together with four clip-catches. The central spindle feeds through the hole in the cymbals with felt spacers to separate the surfaces. There is a solid hard nylon grab handle to the top of the case which is secured by two riveted, hinged plates. The base of the case carries recessed heavy duty nylon castors and there is an extendable arm for easy transport. There is also a raised profile to the base of the case to allow the unit to sit flat for packing etc. The case takes cymbals up to 22”/56cm in diameter and is a must for any tour bus/air freight, although I would worry about the handles and clip-catches getting caught up with other luggage – with obvious consequences.
For more go to www.jhs.co.uk
Sibelius Photoscore Ultimate
The notion of relaxing on a sun-kissed beach with some manuscript sheets and writing a rhapsody has always appealed to me . . . dream on! The only problem is the amount of work involved writing out the individual parts. Photoscore seeks to get around this labourious task, by reading hand written scores through a scanner and then transferring the information to your computer. Well, that’s the idea anyway. My ‘long hand’ has always had some legibility problems and clarity and clean lines have never been my strong point, which is where I hit a problem with Photoscore. You have to be precise. It won’t read oval notes that have slipped slightly off or over a bar line, marginalising a minim is not a good idea and recognition of triplets seems a particular problem. Not only that, but you have to space your notation very carefully and it’s certainly best to leave writing ‘f’’s and other dynamic directions around the staves to the editing process after the score has been scanned. Give Sibelius their due, the clarity issue is made crystal clear in the instructional leaflet. But it does leave you wondering what Photoscore might make of an original manuscript of Beethoven’s 5th! When it comes to copying standard scores with not too many added markings, Photoscore Ultimate does a good job. And there are obvious benefits on copyright issues, where you can lawfully copy original rather than copyrighted material.
For more go to www.sibelius.com
Aquarian DeJohnette Drum Heads
Endorsed by one of the jazz world’s finest, you’d expect these black coated heads from Aquarian to stand out both in style and sound – and you won’t be disappointed. We fitted our sample set to a Pearl kit with a brass, nickel plated Sensitone snare – black on black really does look the business with the coating running right over the rim, rather than just across the top. The single ply snare head has a very rough texture and works particularly well with brushes, giving greater volume than a standard head, and offering a lovely relaxed, clear, well defined sound. By contrast, the heavily textured head dulls the stick sound – there’s no need for any extra external dampening here. We found that the best results were achieved by tuning the heads of both the snare and toms to a higher tension, which gave greater clarity and more projection to their inherent dry and funky character. Given the extra volume of the brush wires on the snare, we reckon that these DeJohnette heads would be perfect for acoustic sessions. And they’ll also make a great teaching tool, as the brush wires and sticks clearly stand out against the black skins.
For more go to www.musicshipping.co.uk