OSAKA, JAPAN "BIG CAT"
14/11/2008

Arriving with great anticipation and much optimism in Osaka, we headed to a club called “Big Cat” where I found the Phoenix kit up and ready for the evening’s performance. “Ah Japanese ingenuity and dedication.” 80) It’s amazing what a big difference a day can make and even more, a ‘room’ can make as the “Big Cat” allowed the drums to really sing and project naturally. At this stage of the tour, I am still having trouble with the ambiance and on stage monitors since I have not had the usual ‘in-ear’ monitoring system that I have grown accustomed to these past few months (tonight, that will change). But, that not withstanding, I dove into sound check and the short rehearsal with great optimism and I was rewarded with an even better response from Phoenix than the day before. The bass drums have a very warm personality and all of the toms present a very even, rich full tone as well. I realize that during sound check everything rings and sustains more just because there is no one in the room to absorb the tonal elements but I expected an edge from the hard surfaces in the house reflected back at me and in tribute to the room, this did not happen with this drum set on the contrary, the overall sound from the kit was warm and full.
When we played the first tune of the show we had a lot of definition on stage as the drums did not impede or block the tonal projection of the other instruments. I believe that this drum set is easier to control dynamically should one choose to play in this way. The enhancement of the dynamic dimension in performance can only expand the base of the player and make the music more dramatic in the positive sense. So the kit permits me to be more creative in a real time sense therefore everyone in the band focuses more so that the band creates a stronger unified musical personality. Last night the band seemed to finally arrive and played in a very comfortable way that was not apparent in the first two shows. Jetlag can be a real negative factor, as I said before so, I woke up today with some ideas, to the positive of where I believe that Spectrum can go as a band if given the opportunity. I am looking to change those clunking Sabian Fusion hi hats that I initially requested as they present the wrong image for this project. I will try something more in the AAX stage category and see how I do…….. I did not realize how distracting a bad set of hi hats can be until this past week. In essence, it’s just a bad match  within the cymbal setup I think.
As good as the EC2’s are on the toms, I am beginning to look at the G2 clear heads as being more tone friendly to these toms as well but that’s another story for another time.
Tonight we play in Tokyo and I get a chance to play the drums in the same place over a three day span: another group of experiences that I am looking forward to, especially the last day in performance with Terry Bozzio and Tom Coster.
‘Stay tuned folks.’

Bill C.



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