Who are you and what do you do?
Hey! I’m Emily Anne and I’m a Toronto- based drummer. I’ve been playing for just over 12 years. I joined my first band Skull Fist at 17, and am currently playing in Toronto metal band Axxion and session member in Toronto metal band Phantom.
I’ve also recently started my own Youtube channel where I perform drum covers, and instructionals.
I perform and record mainly metal music, though I will venture into other genres during my practice routine to keep things interesting and of course I can take those elements and put it into my recording and writing in and out of the bands.
What do you use?
Here comes the list! First and foremost, possibly the most important part of my set up are my sticks. I’ve been using Los Cabos 5A Intense White hickory sticks for a number of years and they just feel like an extension of my arm.
I use Pearl Vision Birch series drums:
- 12” X 9” Tom
- 14” X 11” Tom
- 16” X 16” Floor Tom
- 22” X 18” Bass Drum
Luwdig’s Black Beauty snare, 6.5” X 14” Hand hammered Chrome.
My cymbals include:
- Sabian AAX 13” Fast Hats
- Sabian AAX X-Plosion Crash 16”
- Sabian AAX X-Plosion Crash 18”
- Sabian Vault V-Crash 18”
- Sabian AA Medium Heavy Ride 20”
And I’ve recently just added a Sabian AA Splash 10” to the kit.
And all the cymbal hardware is Pearl as well.
For the Youtube video recordings I film with a combination of a GoPro Hero, iPhone and Fujifilm cameras for the multiple angles and record with a mic combination of SM57’s, Ribbon mics, SDCs and a D12 on the kick.
When it comes to the actual recording of songs it’s 99% by memory. I’ve never used a notepad or drum demos to write out what I want to play; I think once I find the sweet spot and I’m happy with it, it sticks in my head. As far as the drum covers go, if it’s a really intense drumming song, I’ll listen to it over and over until I figure out the part(s) and again, once it’s in there, it’s not leaving!
So most of the rest of the recording gear includes a computer and recording software (right now I’m using Cubase), though I do keep a notepad of my future drumming plans, and lots of rudiment books or pieces I find interested that I’ve ripped out of drum magazines.
What would be your dream set up?
I honestly would get a Pearl Master Series and get it all customized up. I love the birch sound I currently have but I am a huge fan of maple kits so I would play around with that for sure. I would seriously love to have a rack of octobans up there as well. I am beyond in love with my Ludwig Black Beauty so I would keep it in the mix and I think just about anything Sabian makes I could find a use for, as long as it’s got a nice punch. I would probably have a huge bass drum as well because c’mon you want to feel that bass! In terms of colour? Mike Portnoy’s purple monster is probably the most badass looking kit I’ve ever seen, so something along those lines (without ripping it off!) would be pretty sweet. That or all black and covered in pentagrams.
