A few years ago when I was looking into purchasing some kind of melodic hand percussion instrument, I checked out many different types before deciding on an Original HAPI Drum (and later purchasing a second in a different key).  The HAPI drum is sturdy and well made, not too heavy, with an optional soft case for travel.  The tone is what really sold me on this drum.  It has a warm, full sound, with a very solid, precise, and focused pitch – it doesn’t sound like you’re banging on a propane tank – and will never need to be re-tuned like other brands do.  The overtones are very controlled, and because of the way the notes are arranged on the drum, when one note is struck the others ring sympathetically with it, adding to the texture for an overall “colorful” sound, with many percussive as well as melodic qualities.  The drum can be played with hands/fingers or mallets.  The pricing is also very reasonable for this type of drum.  With Hang/Halo Drums being difficult and pricey to get a hold of and even selling on ebay for thousands more, I quickly narrowed down my options to the HAPI Drum and maybe one or two other brands.  But with the scale options, ease of ordering, and especially being able to hear and see demos of it, the HAPI Drum ended up on the top of my list.

The way the notes are arranged on the HAPI Drum is another interesting feature, as I briefly mentioned before.  By placing a higher pitch next to a lower pitch all around the drum, this helps the sympathetic ringing to create the overall tone.  The scale (ascending and descending) is arranged to be very easy to play, too.  The Original and Slim HAPI Drums have eight notes of a pentatonic scale, which is great for non-musicians or hobbyists to be able to take it right out of the box and make some beautiful music without spending years practicing technique.  That being said, I have composed a few pieces on my HAPI Drums using techniques borrowed from tabla and latin percussion playing, with more musical concepts involved, meaning that any level of player will instantly feel right at home with the HAPI Drum and enjoy what it has to offer for many years.  It also sounds great with any other instrument, and comes across sounding great on a recording!

The HAPI UFO is a different take on the other two styles, as it only comes in a C Major diatonic scale in the Hammered Copper Finish, with 11 notes instead of eight.  The Original HAPI Drum is available in E and D, Major and minor pentatonic scales with the Aqua Teal Finish (Indigo Blue and Deep Purple available by request at no extra cost).  The HAPI Slim Drums are available in C Major, A Major, A minor, F Major, F# minor, G Major and G minor pentatonic scales, with a Black Finish only.  All HAPI Drums come with a pair of HAPI Drum mallets and 3 (removable) rubber feet attached the bottom of the drum so it doesn’t slide around on certain surfaces.  Soft cases sold separately (recommended!).  The HAPI Drum has become one of my favorite instruments to write for and jam with in many musical settings, and I look forward to hearing more of it through Steve Weiss Music.

We recently received a large shipment for UFIP Cymbals.  UFIP is an Italian Cymbal maker, well-known for creating great sounding cymbals using their patented rotocasting technique.  The rotation uses centrifugal force to push the impurities, which are present during the casting process, towards the outer edge of the cymbal, and are then eliminated during the turning process.

Our cymbal vault now include Bosphorus, Dream, Paiste, Sabian, UFIP, Steve Weiss and Zildjian, resulting in one of the highest quality selections of cymbals in the country.

Dream Cymbals Factory

We recently received a large shipment of Dream Cymbals.  The Dream Line of Cymbals, while new to the U. S., are among the best hand-crafted western style (sounding) cymbals to come on the market in many years!  Their foundry is located in Wuhan China, a region well known for the gongs and lion/china type cymbals that are so much a part of Western music now.  In fact, this region has been the source for the world famous Steve Weiss gongs and china cymbals for many years.

Through extensive design study Dream Cymbals has fused their traditional Chinese alloy with Western designs to put Western sounding rides, crashes, hi-hats along with orchestral quality pairs and suspended cymbals on the market and on the map! Many drum set players and orchestral artists who have used or endorsed the traditional makers have begun exploring these cymbals and incorporating them into their arsenal of sounds. In fact, notable player and educator Gordon Stout has recently begun endorsing the Dream Orchestral Cymbals, part of which added support to our idea of carrying their orchestral items.

Dream Craftsman

This recent shipment from them includes the Bliss and Vintage Bliss series designed primarily for drum set applications, along with their lines of orchestral cymbals. In the future, we will look into expanding into their Contact and Energy series for drum set.  For your reference we’ve included a brief description of the lines we offer below. If you would like further clarification on the models we encourage you to call us and we’ll be happy to help you find your Dream cymbal!

Dream Bliss Series
Features traditional Western shape for the bells and profiles of this disc.  This is the series that has turned heads among players in the Jazz community as they offer a strong stick sound, the dark shimmer qualities and buttery feel often found in those now legendary Turkish Jazz cymbals of the 50′s & 60′s.

Dream Vintage Bliss Series
This series pays homage to the Turkish cymbals of the early 20th century by featuring an antique Flat bell and profile shape. This series offers the player a very complex and dark wash sound. The stick sound can be minimized in leu of wash. Their flat bells bring complexity to the bell sound making them great as crash/ride Jazz cymbals. We also found some of these to make extraordinary Orchestral suspended cymbals.

Dream Contact Series
This series has brighter overall sound qualities when compared to the both the Bliss and Vintage Bliss lines and with these qualities, they are a great choice for a wide variety of playing situations, pop, country, big band, gospel. These
cymbals have less complex wash characteristics yet they retain all the richness of sound associated with a hand hammered cymbal.

Dream Energy Series
This series features heavier weights and unfinished “raw” bells resulting in more volume potential. They are best suited to louder playing situations when considering them for drum set use. The line is also used very effectively to create
the orchestral hand cymbal pairs. Of course they are hand hammered as are all the Dream cymbals.

Recently I was asked to test out two of Evan’s drumheads newest marching heads: the Evans Hybrid-S Marching Snare Drum Head and the Evans System Blue Tenor Drum Heads.  Now, I’m fairly particular about my drum heads, as any serious player would be, and I definitely have my ‘brand of choice’.  In my mind, the test drive of these new heads would serve only to reinforce the worthy-ness of ‘my brand’.  It’s my pleasure to report however, that this was not the case.

The first head I tried was the Hybrid-S snare head. I had heard that the Hybrid heads in general were fantastic, but again, I was skeptical. My skepticism disappeared though after the very first stroke I played and all I could think about was how good it felt. The head really responded well and made playing several more continuous passages seem effortless. It has a slight give to it when struck by the stick that both absorbs my energy and produces a very full sound that was pleasantly warm.  The drum seemed to come alive with this Hybrid head. Even when playing out on the edge, the head still returned exceptional snare response. I actually loved it! Even better still, this head sounds big. Currently teaching a smaller line, I couldn’t help but wish I had had this head for marching band season.  Up close or far away the Hybrid-S head maintained sensitivity, clarity, dynamic control, and projection. To seal the deal, I played it several more times after the initial test and the head faithfully retained its tuning.  The bottom line here is that Evans new Hybrid-S head not only met expectations, it raised them.

Excited from my Hybrid-S experience, I was anxious to try out the new Evans System Blue tenor heads. Being primarily a tenor player, I was very eager to get the heads on and tuned up. Before I even put the heads on I was intrigued by the look of this head. A blue to clear fade that not only looked cool but serves a purpose:  it allow players to recognize proper playing zones.  Once the heads were on it was obvious that like the Hybrid-S, the System Blue heads wouldn’t disappoint.  The first thing I noticed with these heads was the tonal clarity from drum to drum. Each drum really spoke well both by itself and when played during around patterns. These heads provided a dark sound with real projection that allows for the tenor voice to be heard within an ensemble.  As with the Hybrid-S, the System Blue Tenor heads beautifully maintained their tuning.  Most complaints I have with tenor heads is that they either don’t blend well or they don’t have a full sound. The Evans System Blue tenor heads accomplish both. In my opinion, it’s the sound that the marching percussion world has been waiting for.

No doubt that Evans has definitely brought Christmas to the marching percussion world early this year with the addition of these two great heads.  As for “my brand of choice”. . . . well, I never said I wouldn’t “make the switch“.

Vic Firth has recently introduced some new products, and we thought it would be a good time to feature some of the new Corpsmaster® sticks.

Scott Johnson recently parted ways with Vic Firth and his popular signature models, SSJ Snare Drumsticks, SSJ2 Indoor Snare Drumsticks (Scooters), SSJ3 Practice Sticks, SSJTS Vega Tenor Sticks, and SSJTSW Vega Tenor Swizzle Sticks have all been discontinued. However, the same sticks are still available from Vic Firth, only without Scott Johnson’s name attached.

• SSJ Scott Johnson Snare Drumsticks are now Vic Firth MS5 Corpsmaster® Snare Drumsticks
• SSJ3 Practice Sticks are now Vic Firth MS6CO Chop-Out Drumsticks
• SSJTS Vega Tenor Sticks are now Vic Firth MTS1 Tenor Sticks
• SSJTSW Vega Tenor Swizzle Sticks are now Vic Firth MTS1SW Tenor Swizzle Sticks

Two other recent new products in the Vic Firth Corpsmaster® line are the Vic Firth SBBTS Bill Bachman “Billy Club” Tenor Stick and Vic Firth Lee Beddis Snare Drumsticks.

The OffWorld Percussion Invader V3 Practice Pad has been taking the percussion world by storm since its introduction. The OffWorld Invader V3 features the most realistic feel to a marching snare on any pad that we’ve tried. The Darkmatter™ playing surface and realistic rim make this pad a must-have.

The OffWorld Invader is the only snare drum practice pad that we know of that features a realistic, marching style rim. The rim is made of high pitched plastic to accurately replicate the sound of a rim shot. We believe that this pad will help you develop your hands more then traditional gum rubber pads, because of the lower amount of rebound from the playing surface.

This is a fairly loud pad, so we wouldn’t suggest it for silent practice. However, it is very articulate and allows you to really hear what your playing. Placing the pad on top of a marching snare drum allows your drum line to practice at lower volumes, while still developing their hands as they would on a kevlar style drum head. A great pad that is definitely worth the price.