Neil Peart, Part II :: Drum! Magazine

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Artist=20 Features: Neil=20 Peart, Part II =

After Class With The = Professor
Words=20 and Photo by Don Zulaica

If you=92re reading this, you=92re = probably aware=20 of our cover story with one of progressive = rock=92s=20 progenitors, Neil "The Professor" Peart. Well, = when you=20 get two facing chairs in a room (a la James = Lipton) with=20 a rolling tape recorder, a couple of hours, and = an=20 eloquent interview subject like Mr. Peart, you = also get=20 a lot of material.

Rush=92s = Peart, guitarist=20 Alex Lifeson, and bassist Geddy Lee are = currently=20 traversing the globe on their 30th Anniversary = Tour. At=20 interview time they were also in the process of = putting=20 together an EP of covers entitled "Feedback," = which is=20 slated to include the Canadian power trio=92s = versions of=20 The Who=92s "The Seeker," Buffalo = Springfield=92s "For What=20 It=92s Worth," and Cream=92s = "Crossroads."

In the=20 midst of discussing progressive rock=92s history = through=20 the last three decades, and the band=92s place = in it, a=20 couple of other subjects were covered, namely = the cymbal=20 switch to Sabian, the Drum Workshop kit that = features=20 logos from every Rush album, and how Neil keeps = in touch=20 with his inner 16-year-old.

DRUM!: = Talk a=20 little about the new Paragon cymbals and how you = hooked=20 up with Sabian. Quite a jarring change, = considering=20 you=92ve been playing Zildjian for so many=20 years.

Neil Peart: It was one of = those=20 purely organic things that just came along. = I=92m always=20 curious about everything and always wanting to = try=20 different things. There was a tie-in going back = to my=20 very first ride cymbal when I joined the band in = 1974.=20 The three of us got our record company advance, = and we=20 went to the big music store in Toronto and = bought new=20 equipment. I got my chrome Slingerland drums and = a new=20 set of Zildjian cymbals, and one of them was a = 22" ride=20 made in Canada at Meductic, New = Brunswick.

So=20 there was that tie-in, and over the course of = last year=20 I started hearing people playing Sabians and = kind of got=20 interested. And last summer when I was up = rehearsing for=20 the big Concert for Toronto with the Stones and = all=20 that, I just thought about trying out some = Sabians. So I=20 used them for the first three days of rehearsal = or so,=20 and then I said, =91Okay, take them down and put = the=20 Zildjians back up.=92 Frankly they blew them = away. Even=20 just their stock ones. So, hmmm [holds=20 chin].

I got to talking with the = company and=20 they invited me to come to the factory. In late=20 September, I rode my motorcycle from Quebec out = there.=20 It was an amazing experience. I had never toured = a=20 cymbal factory before, and to see how much of it = was=20 done by hand-an old guy with his leather apron = was=20 sitting there hand-hammering the cymbals. It = really was=20 that way, [like] the old guilds of craftsmen. I = saw that=20 firsthand and was very = impressed.

DRUM:=20 You worked a lot with Mark Love in the early = stages,=20 right?

NP: Their product = specialist Mark=20 Love just seemed to get in tune right away with = what I=20 liked. They had a little kit in their vault, and = he kept=20 putting cymbals up. And I=92d say, =91Leave that = one, take=20 that one off,=92 and he immediately grasped what = was=20 working for me. Then he had plain gray bronze = discs, and=20 he really had a row of =91pies=92 like that. We = started with=20 the ride cymbal as the foundation of everything, = and he=20 would lathe the bow of it, but not the bell. The = bell=20 was still raw bronze. And I would describe, =91I = like its=20 attack but it=92s not very musical, it=92s very = clangy.=92 So=20 he would say, =91Okay,=92 and then they would = hand-hammer=20 the bell. =91Okay that=92s a nice musicality, = but still it=92s=20 a little to pointed and too metallic = sounding.=92 So he=92d=20 go off and combine another kind of lathing and = hand=20 hammering, and eventually all of the cymbals = were=20 arrived at by that trial and error. And when I = went=20 back, Mark kept sending samples down to L.A. for = me to=20 try, and there was constant communication. He = suggested=20 the pinpoint lathing on the top, they call it = their AAX=20 lathing. It was the final touch that was = necessary to=20 make it the absolute instrument. Because the = pinpoint=20 lathing gives it such quick response, but at the = same=20 time, the bottom gives it the depth of tonality = and=20 musicality. The hand-hammered bell works on all = of them,=20 even the crashes. I find myself playing the = bells now=20 because there=92s such a musicality to=20 them.

DRUM!: Did you use them on=20 "Feedback?"

NP: The ultimate test = was=20 going into the studio three or four weeks ago to = record=20 ["Feedback"], which is kind of a tribute album = to our=20 youth. We recorded songs by The Who, The = Yardbirds,=20 Buffalo Springfield, Cream, and that sort of = thing, to=20 put out as an anniversary celebration of our = own. I used=20 the new drums and the new cymbals and just = couldn=92t=20 believe how well they worked in the studio. Both = [drum=20 tech] Lorne [Wheaton] and I were so pleased. I = got to do=20 things like play the downbeat on the bell of a = ride=20 cymbal, stuff that I=92d never do. I=92m able to = pull out=20 more uses of the tools, I guess is one way to = put it. I=20 was able to find new ways to use the cymbals = because of=20 their potential, and noticing right away the = character=20 of the crash cymbals as a punctuation mark; this = suddenly had a whole new presence to=20 it.

DRUM!: What kind of balance = was there=20 between producing something for you and your = signature,=20 the music you=92re putting out, versus. . .this = is going=20 to be a product and it=92s going to sell, and = wanting it=20 to be something practical for drummers to=20 buy.

NP: You know better than = that!=20 Absolutely, 100% to please myself. = [laughs] But=20 it happens that my taste in cymbals happens to = be of a=20 classic nature, classic Turkish cymbals. = That=92s what I=20 grew up with and what I played for 30 years, = obviously.=20 So that=92s going to be what I like. And we were = able to=20 take that and develop it to remarkable extremes, = but=20 that was still the basis of it. So I knew we = still had a=20 really fine musical instrument. It was = definitely=20 designed to please me, and that was Mark = Love=92s goal at=20 Sabian. It was about me playing them and seeing = how they=20 were to play, initially. And then as more = refinements=20 came into it, as I said, right up until the = ultimate=20 acid test of the studio, it was so gratifying to = hear=20 that.

DRUM!: You started using DW = a while=20 back, but when did the idea come about to do the = logo=20 kit?

NP: It was actually out of = Sabian=20 that things got started on this, because they = wanted to=20 display the new [Paragon] line at [Winter] NAMM = on my=20 drums. I said, =91Well we can=92t use my old = drums for=20 that.=92 They were pretty road hardened after = two tours=20 and two albums. . .and Brazil! I started talking = with=20 [DW=92s] John Good back in October [2003], and = we had lots=20 of time before NAMM. I said, =91I really want to = build=20 something special for the 30th anniversary.=92 = John is one=20 of those enthusiastic craftsman, and that = enthusiasm=20 moved me.

And fortunately I live just an = hour=20 from the factory now, so I was able to go there = every=20 week or so and look at ideas. John had his ideas = sonically, so I left that to him since he=92s = the King of=20 Wood. I said I wanted something really special = [for the=20 exterior], and we looked at custom paints and = different=20 finishes. They would do up one to look at, and = then we=20 tried all different colors initially before I = realized,=20 I=92d never had black drums in all my life. = I=92d had black=20 chrome Slingerlands, but not the actual classic = =91piano=20 black.=92 Black and red is my favorite color = combination,=20 so I said, =91We have to have that. It=92s the = 30th=20 anniversary, why not have the band = logos?=92

And=20 also, Keith Moon=92s "Pictures Of Lily" kit, the = famous=20 one that was painted in the panels around it on = a piano=20 black background, it was a tribute to that = because these=20 are my dream drums. I always try to keep in = touch with=20 my inner 16-year-old. That=92s the first concert = I ever=20 went to, he was playing those. So [the DW kit] = became=20 partly a homage to Keith Moon, to myself at 16. = All of=20 that became part of the thinking that evolved = into the=20 finish.

=20 =

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