Drums

Hover your mouse over the drum names to see a pop-up photo of that drum

Snare Drum

Premier HTS 700

As it's where my drumming all began, I better put the Snare Drum at the top of my list, if only to keep the burst skin karma on my side! Snare Drum technology has come a long was from the days of rope-tension and calf skin, led mainly by Jim Kilpatrick MBE. These days the drums are produced to high specifications with internal snares on the top, and externam snares on the bottoms. The top skins are made with a similar technology to bullet proof vests, and can be tensioned to extreme pitches - in many cases too far so that the drum loses it's depth of sound. The bottom skins are a thinner plastic, but can play a huge part in the overall tone of the drum. The sticks are much thicker than those used on the drum kit to provide the volume needed, and cope with the tension. Snare drum scores are made up of many rudiments, including rolls, flams, paradiddles, drags, single stroke movements, and are written to accompany the Bagpipe melody along with the rest of the Drum Corps, the Bass and Tenor drums.

Drum Kit

Tama Rockstar

I bought my Drum Kit as part of my continual development in playing percussion for Celtacad at school. While I can't profess to be a great kit player, I can hold a decent rhythm, and make a fair job of backing up folk-rock music. It's set up with 2 rack toms, 1 floor tom, 1 bass and 1 snare and Sabian cymbals.

Congas

Toca Sheila E signature Congas

These are the 2nd incarnation of my Congas-Bongos rack set, the first set being destroyed after that dopey American jazz kid knocked it off a kerb in Crown Street during our first foray in the Aberdeen International Youth Festival in 2001. They have light blue carbon fibre shells, and Toca hide skins, and incorporate a rack to hold the Bongos above the Congas to give the full effect of 4 tones.

Djembe / Derbouka

Authentic Togo Djembe

I bought my Djembe at the SIVO 2003 Dance Festival in Holland. A group from Togo couldn't afford to transport their instruments back home, so were selling them at a fraction of the price that a poor quality version would cost at home. Even thought they mistakenly took it back form me later in the day thinking they had left it lying around, it's a great addition to my collection, with a fantastic mellow tone that goes well with the pipes, even in the car park of the Marine Court hotel in Bangor.

Cajon

Schlagwerk Cajon 2inOne

This ace present from Eileen, looks to some like a wooden box. Basically it is. It is played by sitting on top of it, and hitting the centre of the playing side to produce bass tones, and then close to the edge for higher tones. With the internal snare, the Cajon can produce some amazing effects, and can almost sound like a complete Drum Kit when played well.

Tablas

Silver & Wooden Tabla

Tablas produce that sound so associated with India and South-East Asia. Played in pairs, with the larger silver Tabla producing the bass sound, and wooden Tabla the higher pitch, fast fingerwork is the key to top class Tabla playing. The skins have a circular patch of resin on them, which can be hit to produce a harder sound, while the rest of the skin can make a more mellow tone.

Steel Drum

Steel Pan

In this case, I can't profess to be a much of a drummer - too many notes!! My Steel Drum has been used with Celtacad, and provided a unique and interesting backing rhythm to the fiddles and keyboard. The steel drum came about in the Carribbean after oil drums washed up on the shore line were hammered into different tones and used to create create intricately rhythmical tunes.