1st off good to have you with us. I myself have played since I was 6 years old. My 3 favorite drummers Rock wise are

John Henry Bonham Led Zeppelin,

Kenny Jones the faces,

and Jerry Shirley Humble Pie. So I sort of took a combination of all their sounds and came up with my sound, My favorite drumset is a Ludwig Stainless steel kit which Bonham used, but the sizes are in common with the three drummers I just listed. also so are the Heads that I use, the cymbal sound I loved most was also Bonham's so I use the exact 2002 paiste cymbals, my original cymbal set was and is Paiste 602's which is what was used by Doug Clifford of CCR . I have always been a Paiste guy. with that said I've owned well over 700 cymbals, I bought out a pro music stores cymbal inventory, so with that said all the pro cymbal companies have some incredible cymbals that they make, So to get to the skinny of all this I myself came to the sound I wanted or like from my heroes sounds. Same way with the guitars and basses and amps that I own and play, hope this was of help to you,

Welcome to VDF!

> how you guys go about finding your sound.

Good question with an easy answer... you don't have to look for it!

Take any two drummers and have them play the exact same groove and fills and they will -never- sound exactly alike. It really all depends on what is going onto your internal hard-drive. You'll 'sound like' the drummers that you study, but never 'exactly' like them. But regardless of what goes in, what comes out will always sound like -you-.

A lot contributes to that phenomenon. Your individual ability, muscle control and coordination, brain wiring, reaction time, all very different and in different combinations from individual to individual. The truth is; you can't help but sound like you, and nobody else can sound like you either. They will sound like 'themselves.'

Just absorb as much as you can from as many different sources/drummers as possible. It'll all get mixed and mushed around inside your head, and it'll come out recombined, altered slightly, and colored by your own personal stamp. It will be what you can call, 'your style.'

Who knows, if you get good enough, maybe one day some young whipper-snapper will be trying to copy you and integrate -your sound- into his/her playing!

John

Glad to be here, great advice from both of you! I'd love to hear from other members too.

I always go by my gut when choosing an intrument, but it's really hard to explain (to myself or somebody else) actions/choices which are based on instincts.

A few years ago I attended a jazz concert, and when I heard the drummer's ride cymbal, I was like "that's THE ride cymbal", for me at least. Later I found out it's a Sabian Fierce ride, Jojo Mayer's signature cymbal, so I looked into his work, started studying his technique and so on. Same kind of story goes for my snaredrum, it's a Pearl Free Floating brass, based on Gene Hoglan's choice.

I really like contrast in my setup, different sounds, but finding each piece - one by one - is starting to feel like it's going to take a lifetime, or until I have my style all "worked out" to complete my kit. That's a looong run...

Is that how it goes?

Man I feel silly writing about all this...

Welcome,

all I can say is..

LISTEN,LISTEN,LISTEN...

do you like high pitch cymbals/low pitch?

You zeroed in on the Sabian cymbal.......do the same thing with songs you hear....after a while......those notes should stick in your head.....

Did for me anyway......now,when I go to buy cymbals in a store,chances are I am going to get some pretty sweet sounds by listening to them so much on records/cd's/radio/concerts.

If you want to learn jazz tunings/cymbal sounds..listen to old Blue Note records/Verve etc..

Good luck/have fun!D' Drummer

Thanks for your reply blairn!

Listening is tricky in my opinion, one day I hear something, the next day the same thing sounds completely different. It must have something to do with the mood I'm in, or how clear my mind can stay in that particular moment when I'm listening.

I'm currently on the hunt for hihats, something dark and warm, something you can go crazy on, but keeping it groovy in the meantime. From listening to old records I know I love vintage K's, but I'll have to look for an alternative, and I already have something in mind.

Cheers!