Rick Allen's (Def Leppard) drumkit?
jP M{kel{
I've seen the Def Leppard video "Let's Get Rocked" that sometimes
flashes to the band playing. As all who read music mags know
their drummer, Rick Allen, lost his left arm in an accident and
now plays with only one hand and usin his foot more than usual.
The video seemed to hint he uses his toes (it zoomed momentarily
to his feet hand he was barefooted) somehow.
I'm just curious. How is his drumkit assembled and what he controls
with what?
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jP M{kel{ ({'s are a's w/ umlauts) jpma...@cc.Helsinki.fi
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Jim Greenlee
>The video seemed to hint [ Rick Allen ] uses his toes (it zoomed momentarily
>to his feet hand he was barefooted) somehow.
As far as I can remember, Rick Allen has *always* played barefoot. He was
doing this even before he lost his arm.
>I'm just curious. How is his drumkit assembled and what he controls with what?
I'm not positive about this, but I believe he can trigger sounds by using
other parts of body besides hands and feet (such as by flinching his shoulders
or hips). I remember hearing this around 1987 or so, shortly after the accident.
Of course, he may have changed his setup since then. At any rate, the drum kit
is very compact - everything is arranged right in fornt of him so he doesn't
have to turn his body much.
-JimG
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Pat Inglis
> with what?
From what I can tell, he has foot pedals equivalent to each drum that is
available with his stick. So, he has a snare, some toms, probably dual
kick and likely some triggers for effects.
So he can roll off alternating between his foot and his hand as though
he were using two hands. Of course, I'm just guessing but it makes sense
to me.
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William Spencer
>So he can roll off alternating between his foot and his hand as though
>he were using two hands. Of course, I'm just guessing but it makes sense
>to me.
Try this guess: holds down a foot pedal and turns each drum hit into two,
one immediate and one delayed some amount. That's what it looked like to me.
I hear he enjoys the more cerebral aspect required by this modified form of
drumming. Is pretty neat actually.
bill
bu...@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
> flashes to the band playing. As all who read music mags know
> their drummer, Rick Allen, lost his left arm in an accident and
> now plays with only one hand and usin his foot more than usual.
> The video seemed to hint he uses his toes (it zoomed momentarily
> to his feet hand he was barefooted) somehow.
>
> I'm just curious. How is his drumkit assembled and what he controls
> with what?
I heard a radio interview of the singer from DL and he said that
Rick uses 2 kick drums, and a drum machine which he programs himself (as
well as the rest of a normal drum kit).
Nothing was mentioned about any special tricks he might do with his toes,
but he might have some midi drum pads on the floor, and the bare feet
are for better feel (I'm only guessing about the drum pads). He may have
simply been barefoot when they filmed him.
Bu...@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au OR bu...@monu1.cc.monash.oz
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Pat Inglis
Quite possible but much harder to control. How does he determine the
interval of space between the two notes? Depending on the tempo of the
song and the type of fill that he was doing, the delay would have to be
adjusted constantly. With the alternating foot and hand thing, it
becomes more like drumming and less like programming.
Either way would be very taxing on the brain for the average drummer.
I've tried alternating between the kick and the hand for some fills and
it's tricky. As for playing with bare feet, we'll it's not so unususal.
I know lots of drummers who play barefoot.
Derek Tearne
>jpma...@cc.helsinki.fi (jP M{kel{) writes:
>>
>> I've seen the Def Leppard video "Let's Get Rocked" that sometimes
>> flashes to the band playing. As all who read music mags know
>> their drummer, Rick Allen, lost his left arm in an accident and
>> now plays with only one hand and usin his foot more than usual.
>> The video seemed to hint he uses his toes (it zoomed momentarily
>> to his feet hand he was barefooted) somehow.
> I heard a radio interview of the singer from DL and he said that
>Rick uses 2 kick drums, and a drum machine which he programs himself (as
>well as the rest of a normal drum kit).
I first saw the video before I realised that he only had one arm. I
remember thinking "Why does he need so many foot pedals?". There are about
ten of the things. I assume each one is connected to a different drum.
The reason I wasn't more observant is a) I don't like the song and
b) I was much more interested in the computer graphics. Did they generate
it all from scratch or did they digitise a film of the lights etc moving
and then superimpose it? Any ideas anyone?
Derek Tearne
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Daniel Vachon
>>
>> I've seen the Def Leppard video "Let's Get Rocked" that sometimes
>> flashes to the band playing. As all who read music mags know
>> their drummer, Rick Allen, lost his left arm in an accident and
>> now plays with only one hand and usin his foot more than usual.
>> The video seemed to hint he uses his toes (it zoomed momentarily
>> to his feet hand he was barefooted) somehow.
I read an atricle in I think Drums and Drumming Magazine about 3 years ago
or whenever Hysteria came out. It was an article about Rick Allen and his
now drum set. He uses Simmons drums (brains and pads), and Shark brand
pedals. He has 6 pedals (if I remember right)...4 for the left foot
controlling Kick Drum, Snare, High Tom, Low Tom...and 2 on the right foot
for Kick and something else (con't remember)... The kit really favors the
right side of the body, as everything goes from 90 degrees straight in front
of him to 180 degrees to his far right. He has both a regular hi-hat and a
remote hi-hat. Apparently he had some drum tekkie types help him design
the kit shortly after his accident.
I must admit, that I like his playing as of late, better than his playing
of the pre-accident days...
Later -Dan