Love this kit! Gretsch Catalina Club in Jazz sizes: 18” kick 14” 12” toms. *long reflection alert*

Warm yet versatile, really easy to transport and such a beautiful finish. Love it in recording situations, but reflecting on experiences, it has made me learn a lot. When playing such a small kit, a drummer has to be careful to not make the mistake of playing harder, which would ‘choke’ the drum and kill the sound of it, ruining the warmth and depth that it would otherwise produce if it was played lightly.

In live and recording situations, I have learned to play at a lower dynamic and have a conversation with the sound or recording engineer and ask him to put the faders up and let the mics do the work. Heard that @clivedeamer (Portishead, Get The Blessing, Radiohead) records in such a low volume (partly I think to avoid bleed and wash between parts of the instrument, getting a more defined sound which can be boosted through volume and compression) that you can still keep a conversation in the room whilst he is playing. This, and the fact that my instrument requires me to play lighter than I would on a bigger kit, has shaped my practice and been digging playing along to songs I already knew but in the lightest way possible of going through David Garibaldi’s Future Sounds playing at ‘ppp’. Hope you enjoyed reading this!

Let me know if you found my reflection helpful in any way :)

Photo from a gig I really enjoyed playing, session drumming with @sinclairofficial 🖤