It’s a good time for TesseracT fans, as the band is in the throes of promoting their newest, teethiest release yet, Polaris. I’m not a fan of this band whatsoever, but even I’m finding something to enjoy in the new tunes that they’ve been dropping, including “Dystopia,” which drummer Jay Postones has just posted a playthrough clip for.
This clip is also of interest because it serves as a teaser for the new teak stave snare drum that Jay built himself and will eventually distribute, which he describes below:
I’ve never felt qualified as a drummer to talk in depth about my drum sound. I’ve always just gone with what I’ve known and not really explored the sounds of different woods, shell depths and diameters, bearing edges, hardware and all the other tiny variables which go into giving a drum it’s signature sound.
So I spent the past eighteen months obsessing over and researching drum making methods. I decided to make my own stave drum from scratch. I teamed up with an old and very good friend and together we have made something I’m extremely proud of. It’s a 14″ x 6.5″ Teak stave shell, 20mm thick with a 45 degree bearing edge. I used 3mm triple flange hoops and a Trick throwoff, and to make it even cooler it used to be a school science desk!
So that’s pretty cool. He’s also got a new column in Modern Drummer in which he discusses the snare drum, as well his process for composing parts in TesseracT. No word yet on if and when he will manufacture more of these things, but I’d imagine he’s thinking of going a similar route to what people like Sacha Dunable or Kurt Ballou have been doing with their instrument companies, where they build a limited number of products on a commissioned basis.
