Steve Smith's Drum Talk: My Setup and Equipment

Part II: My Set-Up Today
(click on the set-up at left to view a larger image)

Drums: Today I play Sonor Designer drums with 8x8, 10x8, 12x8 rack toms and 14x14, 16x16 floor toms. I have three BD sizes 18x14, 20x14, 22x14; and change them depending on the music. My East Coast kit, stored in New York, is made of Birch and my West Coast kit is Maple. I hear only a very minor difference in sound, the birch kit has a slightly shorter decay, both sound incredible. I use a variety of Sonor snare drums and also the Jeff Ocheltree 5x14 Phantom Steel snare drum.

Heads: I set the toms up with Remo Clear Ambassador heads, top and bottom, with the bottom head tuned slightly higher than the top head. For years I have also set the bass drum up with Clear Ambassadors on both sides with only a felt strip on each side for muffling, with no hole in the front head. The tension of the batter head is medium, with no wrinkles, the front head is just slightly higher pitched. I've been experimenting with the Clear Powerstroke 3 on the batter side (still using the felt strip) and have been liking it. By using a front bass drum head with no hole, the drum is capable of a very wide dynamic range, unlike a drum with a hole and padding, which usually only sounds good when you "slam" it. I also like the sound of the drum better with both heads, it sounds like a real bass drum instead of a muffled "kick" drum.

I setup my Sonor snare drums and Jeff Ocheltree Phantom Steel snare drums with a Clear Ambassador or Diplomat on the snare side and a White Ambassador on the batter side, again the bottom head is tighter than the top. I find that with some of my older snare drums, like my 1928 Ludwig Black Beauty, they sound better with a White Diplomat on top.

Cymbals: My main ride cymbal is a 22" K Zildjian Custom Medium, which sounds great for most of my jazz or jazz/rock gigs. I also use the new 21" K Custom Med Special Dry, which I think is one of the best cymbals Zildjian has ever made. When I need more of a rock sound, I use a 20" A Platinum Ping ride. For some music I like using my 20" A Custom Flat Top as an additional ride. As far as crash cymbals go, for jazz and jazz/rock I prefer a very thin 18", either A Customs, K Custom Darks, or Constantinoples, for rock I use A Zildjians. My Hi Hat setup is a hybrid that I put together: a 14" A Mastersound Bottom and a 14" K Custom Dark Top. I like the China Trash Hats, 14" bottom/12" top, which I've used on an X-Hat for years. I use an 12" Special EFX with an 8" K Splash sitting on top of it and for a Splash Cymbal, I use an 8" A Custom. Depending on the music I have a few other cymbals that I like, a 22" A Swish Knocker, 22" Constantinople Ride, and various crashes, 14"-17".

Bass Drum Pedals: For over a decade, I've used the DW double pedal with the nylon straps and the light footboards. Recently I've been experimenting with different combinations of the light and heavy footboards and the Delta chain verses the nylon strap. I can't decide if I like the light or the heavy footboard as my right pedal, I keep going back and forth between the two, but to me, the nylon strap feels lighter and smoother than either chain available (I don't use the weights that come with the Delta pedals).

I have recently started using the Delta Chain pedal with the heavy footboard as my left pedal, and that feels very good to me. So now I have this hybrid double pedal with a nylon strap on the right side and a chain on the left, but it's not available for sale like that unless you special order it. I use both the medium size felt beater and the two sided beater on the felt side. They are not fully extended, but lowered a bit so they swing smoother and I can play with a lot of dynamics. When the beaters are fully extended, it's harder from me to control them and play softly. I have the springs tensioned loosely, that way the pedal feels light and follows the motion of my foot very easily.

Sticks: When Vic Firth suggested that I design a Steve Smith Signature stick I resisted the idea for a few months. I was extremely happy with the Vic Firth 5A model and couldn't conceive of improving it. When Vic wouldn't take no for an answer, I start to seriously think about a personal signature stick and decided that I wanted a stick based on the 5A, but with a new tip.

I always like the Elvin Jones and Jack DeJohnette sticks that I bought from the NYC Professional Drum Shop in the 1970s that had elongated tips. Vic made me a few different sticks with the elongated tip and I discovered immediately that I liked the balance better than the 5A. Suddenly the 5A felt heavy in the back and light in the front, and my new Steve Smith Signature model felt well balanced and just right. We tried Maple and Hickory and I felt that Hickory had the best overall feel.  I've been very happy with the stick ever since. Even with all of my recent technical developments, the Steve Smith Signature stick still feels just right to me.

Microphones: I have a Shure Beta 52 mounted inside of my bass drums and on the toms I use the SM98 clip on. For the snare I prefer the SM57 and on the hi hat and overheads the SM81-LC. On some gigs when I use only overhead and bass drum mics, I use the VP-88 stereo overhead mic.

Accessories: I like the LP Yellow Ridge Rider Cowbell, which I mount upside-down, that way I can play more notes on it! The plastic ridge seems to work best for single hits and makes it difficult to play multiple strokes. For other sounds I occasionally use the new Zildjian Cowbell, the LP Red Jam Block and various "Ching-Ring" type hi hat tambourines, by either Rhythm Tech or LP.

Cases: Joe Porcaro makes great soft cases and I've been using them for a few years. They work well for around town and even on the Vital Information tours in the US where we drive ourselves in a van. My cymbal bag has been checked on at least a hundred flights with no problems at all. The long hardware bags are especially nice because I don't have to collapse the cymbal stands, which makes it easier to break them down and set them up again.

Final Thoughts: I've stayed with all of the companies that I started with because I only endorse the equipment that I truly play and believe is the best available. I've been fortunate to have a long career and develop good relationships with the people that work at all of these companies.

Hopefully, this answers your questions about my setup and equipment.