Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
  • Guitars
  • Amps
  • Pedals
  • Drums
  • Synths
  • Software
  • Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Recording
  • Buyer’s guides
  • Live
  • DJ
  • Advice
  • Acoustic
  • Bass
  • About Us
  • More
    • Reviews
Magazines
  • Computer Music
  • Electronic Musician
  • Future Music
  • Keyboard Magazine
  • Guitarist
  • Guitar Techniques
  • Total Guitar
  • Bass Player
More
  • Take our survey to win a £300/$350 Ticketmaster gift card
  • Type beats
  • 86000+ free music samples
  • How to make an AI cover song
  • Three-chord trick

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. News

Session Drumming Month: Essential Gear

By Rich Chamberlain
published 23 April 2011

The pros pick their must-have gear

Session Month: Essential Gear
The gear the pros cannot live without

Session Month: Essential Gear

We all have our favourite pieces of kit that seem to work in just about any situation, and it seems star session players are no different.

Page 1 of 7
Page 1 of 7
Session Month: Essential Gear
The gear the pros cannot live without

Session Month: Essential Gear

Neal Wilkinson: “I’ve had a really good working relationship with Simon at LDC, I literally just send him a six-word text and he’ll say, yep, see you there and it’s always perfect. I might just say to him, if it’s an older thing I might need a double-headed bass drum or a smaller bass drum, I might be a little specific but generally I just say something to him like, normal Yamaha kit, three or four snare drums, which I might list, then I might say my bag of Constantinoples plus the bag of Armands. Sometimes I might say, oh, it’s just a jingle, throw in a wood snare, a metal snare, 22”, 12”, 16”, a bag of cymbals and it’s always great. I’ve got an early 60s Ludwig kit so I might take that along if somebody wants that sound. It depends on the session.”

Page 2 of 7
Page 2 of 7
Session Month: Essential Gear
The gear the pros cannot live without

Session Month: Essential Gear

Ian Thomas: “The snare I take with my foolproof kit is a Ludwig 402 and I can get more or less any sound out of that. I can crank it up and make it really high pitched or make it into a big, fat ballad snare drum. To be able to do that quickly and to have the knowledge of how to do that is really useful. The music dictates it so if somebody has got something specific I’ll say, ‘Can you send me a reference track?’ then I’ll decide on what I take after that. If it’s a jazz thing then obviously I’ll use a different kit, something that has Ambassadors on it, I’ll use different cymbals. If it’s a rock thing I’ll take one of my bigger kits and use a big, wide open sound, whatever the music dictates.”

Page 3 of 7
Page 3 of 7
Session Month: Essential Gear
The gear the pros cannot live without

Session Month: Essential Gear

Dean Butterworth: “I like to have a few choices of Snare drums usually i will have a brass Tama starphonic 14"x6", a Brass Tama Starclassic 14"x5.5" and a Tama Bubinga/Birch 14"x7.5" depending on the producer they usually have a few snares they like to work with too. I always have a wide selection of Paiste cymbals with 3 or 4 set of hi hats and crashes and rides. If the producer does not have a kit he uses I like to play Tama Bubinga/Birch toms floor and kick. I always have my sticks, mallets, bushes & rods in my stick bag.”

Page 4 of 7
Page 4 of 7
Session Month: Essential Gear
The gear the pros cannot live without

Session Month: Essential Gear

Paul Clarvis: “A big pair of ears and an open mind. Plus high sounds, medium sounds and low sounds.”

Page 5 of 7
Page 5 of 7
Session Month: Essential Gear
The gear the pros cannot live without

Session Month: Essential Gear

Ralph Salmins: “My drums are delivered and teched by London Drum Company. I take a kit that will work for most things: Gretsch 22, 12, 16 with a selection of snares: Gretsch New Classic Black Brass is my current favourite. Spare heads are important and I change them frequently. I'm using Remo coated ambassadors all round. A selection of sticks is important for me and I use different stick models for different approaches: Vic firth SG for groove playing, DW Evolution for heavier hitting, AJ3 for big band/jazz and the magical AJ6 for quiet music that needs greater cymbal definition.”

Page 6 of 7
Page 6 of 7
Session Month: Essential Gear
The gear the pros cannot live without

Session Month: Essential Gear

Abe Laboriel Jr: “A drum key, a drum set (kick and two to three toms), a secondary kick, about 10 to 15 snare drums, around six or seven cymbal bags, sticks, brushes, bundled rods, mallets, hardware for two kits (the second being for either a secondary loop setup or in case anything breaks), spare drum heads for everything, gaffer tape, moon gel, snare wire and lug locks.”

For more session hints, tips and secrets pick up the latest issue of Rhythm and check out our online Session Month.

Page 7 of 7
Page 7 of 7
Rich Chamberlain
Rich Chamberlain
Social Links Navigation

Rich is a teacher, one time Rhythm staff writer and experienced freelance journalist who has interviewed countless revered musicians, engineers, producers and stars for the our world-leading music making portfolio, including such titles as Rhythm, Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, and MusicRadar. His victims include such luminaries as Ice T, Mark Guilani and Jamie Oliver (the drumming one).

More about drums
Close-up of music keyboard

Yamaha, Korg, Roland and Casio face legal action from customers seeking compensation after all four companies were found to have engaged in price fixing in the UK

Zildjian 400th anniversary logo

Zildjian is celebrating its 400th anniversary in London this October, and you won’t want to miss it!

Latest
Atmospheric space shot with sunrise

Modern life getting you down? Here are 10 atmospheric DnB tracks that keep the ‘90s dream alive

See more latest ►
Most Popular
Gaia 2: Roland revives its 2010 synth with a new hybrid wavetable and virtual analogue sound engine

By Ben Rogerson28 September 2023

The Vaporizer 2 wavetable synth plugin is now free and open-source: a commercial-quality instrument you can download for nothing?

By Ben Rogerson27 September 2023

Best guitar tuner apps 2023: keep in tune for free with our top picks

By Connor Godfrey27 September 2023

Yamaha, Korg, Roland and Casio face legal action from customers seeking compensation after all four companies were found to have engaged in price fixing in the UK

By Ben Rogerson27 September 2023

"I get emotional when I think about Cliff and when we're together we think about Cliff": Memories of Metallica's lost bass titan Cliff Burton from Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield

By Will Groves27 September 2023

Roland’s Juno-60 synth plugin hits version 2: a new GUI, a better browser and control over the ‘analogue’ circuits

By Ben Rogerson27 September 2023

“When I finished the solo to this one, Mustaine came into the studio, listened to it once, turned around and, without saying a word, shook my hand" – the story of Megadeth's Tornado Of Souls

By Rob Laing27 September 2023

Venus Theory sampled $50k of gear at a synth convention to make this free plugin

By Matt Mullen27 September 2023

"Everybody around me kept saying, 'Norm, you can't carry on like this'": Fatboy Slim's career in gear, from tape to Atari to Ableton

By Andy Jones27 September 2023

Zildjian is celebrating its 400th anniversary in London this October, and you won’t want to miss it!

By Stuart Williams27 September 2023

The missing piece for your ultimate pedalboard rig? Universal Audio announces the OX Stomp Dynamic Speaker Emulator pedal

By Rob Laing26 September 2023

  1. DAWproject
    1
    Bitwig and PreSonus’s new open file format enables you to save projects in one DAW and open them in another, but will other developers support it?
  2. 2
    Summer's cooling down, but Sweetwater's deals are hot as ever
  3. 3
    The Loog Piano looks like a gorgeous beginner keyboard, but is it too simple for its own good?
  4. 4
    7 effects pedals that synth players need to try
  5. 5
    The missing piece for your ultimate pedalboard rig? Universal Audio announces the OX Stomp Dynamic Speaker Emulator pedal
  1. hologram microcosm pedal
    1
    7 effects pedals that synth players need to try
  2. 2
    Yamaha, Korg, Roland and Casio face legal action from customers seeking compensation after all four companies were found to have engaged in price fixing in the UK
  3. 3
    Harley Benton Fusion-T 25th review
  4. 4
    The Vaporizer 2 wavetable synth plugin is now free and open-source: a commercial-quality instrument you can download for nothing?
  5. 5
    “For pianists, it's a magical feature”: StaffPad can now generate sheet music just by ‘listening’ to your acoustic piano playing, which sounds like an AI-powered tool we could get on board with

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.