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S.S. Professor Drum Kit Tour
Close encounter with Neil's drums - Page 4
Bill was a stocky, affable man, with a thick Boston accent.
He told everyone the story about convincing Neil to let them take his kit on the
road.
Bill: "Neil, we want to take out your 30th
Anniversary kit on the road."
Neil: "Why?"
Bill: "Because you played it, and it's beautiful."
But Neil still didn't like the idea. So Bill said, "What if you
could go see the most famous motorcycle rider's motorcycle? What if you could
see Valentino Rossi's cycle at a show? Would you go?"
Neil finally understood.
Bill also talked about how Neil started playing Sabian, some
of which I'd heard, but a lot I hadn't. He talked about the sales dilemma after
getting Neil Peart on board with Sabian: "Now I've got Neil Peart,
but he doesn't like logos on his cymbals. How are people going to know he's
playing Sabian cymbals?"
Fortunately, one of the Sabian folks came up with the gold ink
logo that now tastefully adorns all Paragon cymbals. It is very cool.
Bill introduced Mr. Chris "Christian" Stankee. Chris was
fundamental in working with Neil on the new Paragon cymbal line. He talked about working
with Neil in the Meductic, New Brunswick, Sabian factory for an entire day. He
said the biggest surprise was how hard Neil played.
He walked through some technical details of
cymbal making, most
of which I found fascinating. I'd never really understood how they got
particular
cymbal sounds. Chris hit all the
Paragons, demonstrating the different sounds (the two 16" crashes sounded a
little different, which Chris attributed to the cymbals being handmade).
He also talked about the Paragon "crown jewel,"
the 19" China. I was particularly interested because I'd bought a 20" Paragon
china, and it didn't have the Neil Peart trashy sound you hear in songs like
Mystic Rhythms. But the 19" definitely had that sound--if not a more
full-bodied trashy sound.
Then Chris introduced Lorne, Neil Peart's drum
tech.
Page Updated
09/14/2019 08:35:09 PM |
