Hey everyone, here's a few images for the 3rd stop on SABIAN's 2009 Vault Tour at Musique Gagne & Frere in Quebec City. Check out the full blog post HERE!!

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Katie Robinson
eMarketing Coordinator
SABIAN Ltd.

Edited: 09/29/2009 at 08:34 PM by KATIE86

Hi everyone,

Since I'm having slight technical difficulties with the blog on vaulttour.com, today's wrap-up is here! I also accidentally deleted my blog post just a few minutes ago - so here I go again for a second time...

It was a chilly, but sunny day in Moncton, NB, on our second 2009 Vault Tour stop at Long & McQuade. We were busy with customers, even before we were finished setting up - which is a great start!

The first customer of the day - Brian Vienneau (check out his Moncton based metal band Cold Shadow here: coldshadows.tk) - walked away with some great finds - including a cymbal that he hand-hammered himself!

Next up was Luke Anderson who is a Twitter contest giveaway winner - he came in to test some prototypes, and pick up his prize - an 8" Chopper - we hope you enjoy it!

Many people had the rare opportunity to have crafsman Allie Cougle lathe and/or hand hammer a one-of-a-kind cymbal - this included Brian Vienneau, brothers Dakota and Justin Pauley, and Mike Mallais.

The day ended as Scott Dincorn was picked to receive the $100 coupon towards a SABIAN purchase - he got the phone call and came back to the store to pick up an awesome prototype.

Thanks to everyone in the Moncton area who supported today's stop - and a special thanks to Randy Clarke and his staff at Long & McQuade for hosting us.

I'll be heading home tomorrow, but I'll be meeting back up with the team in Richmond, Virginia on October 12th. The rest of the Vault Team continues on to Quebec tomorrow... check out Gagne&Frere in Quebec City on Monday!


-Katie

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Katie Robinson
eMarketing Coordinator
SABIAN Ltd.

Hi folks!!!

We have just finished our first stop on the 2009 SABIAN Vault Tour at Long & McQuade in Halifax, NS. Check out the official blog here: www.vaulttour.com, but take a look at some pics from the day below Enjoy!

-Katie

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Katie Robinson
eMarketing Coordinator
SABIAN Ltd.

Mark Love and I just returned from St. John's, N.L where we hosted a SABIAN Saturday at the new Long & McQuade location. It was a great afternoon, with many customers dropping by to check out the 150 Prototype cymbals we had on display. During the weekend we also had a chance to enjoy the city, the restaurants and check out some very cool bands!

-Terry Ryan

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Katie Robinson
eMarketing Coordinator
SABIAN Ltd.

Another successful Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival wrapped up this weekend in Fredericton, NB ... just downriver from the SABIAN plant in Meductic. 2009's big acts were legendary blues player Elvin Bishop, and East LA stalwarts Los Lobos, sans bass player, who was "delayed" at the border. A quick call to Halifax jazz bassist Tom Easley, scheduled to play that same night with the Joel LeBlanc Trio, fixed that problem. Tom's a local legend: originally a Fredericton boy, he now resides in Halifax. Probably best known as a member of Fredericton recording artists Hot Toddy, there aren't may Fredericton and/or Halifax jazz projects that don't feature Tom on the stand-up bass.

Harvest was a blast for me this year as well. I took the stage with dub reggae band Dub Antenna on Friday night, on a bill with Toronto roots reggae band House of David Gang. It was our second Harvest showcase in 3 years, and the PQA Barracks tent was filled to capacity for this reggae night event. Photos below of Dub Antenna drummer Mat Fitzgerald -- an HHX devotee -- and bass player Scott Culligan. It was definitely a killer night. More blogs from Harvest 2009 to come.

KORN with Ray Luzier were the highlight of this year's Sunset Music Festival. Organizers shut down Sunset Blvd for almost a mile from the Key Club and Rainbow all the way down to The Whiskey and Viper Room. All of the famous clubs hosted bands performing all day long with the big stages out in the middle of Sunset.

KORN rocked the main stage with all the hits including Blind, Got The Life and Freak On A Leash. Ray has so much prowess on the kit he's able to attack it at will just punishing the groove.

If you still haven't seen Ray perform check him out live at www.drumchannel.com with Yael on Tuesday 9/22 at 6pm PST.

Edited: 09/21/2009 at 02:02 PM by ChristianS

On Wednesday September 16th Sabian Artist Mark Schulman took a night from his busy tour schedule with artist Pink to perform an amazing clinic at Lemmon Percussion in San Jose, CA that was sponsored by Gretsch Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Remo Drumheads. If any of you have seen Pink's show, you will know what a great drummer and showman Mark Schulman is. Mark has played with Foreigner, Simple Minds, Billy Idol, Cher , Velvet Revolver and currently Pink to name a few. From the second Mark walked in front of the large crowd, he had everybody going! Not only is he a great drummer, but he is extremely funny. He really gets the audience involved in his clinics. He even gave a drum lesson to one of the audience members. His clinic was very inspirational to all. He explained how attitude is everything and with a postive attitude and "a little bit of talent" thats how you land the gigs! Mark also played some amazing odd time grooves and played along with tunes from some of the artists he has toured with. Mark also is an accomplished cello player. He even performs on cello with Pink in concert! Mark ended the clinic by playing to a Beatles track paying respect to his favorite drummer of all time, Ringo Starr. Everyone, including myself walked out of his clinic feeling really inspired. If you ever get a chance to catch a Pink show or a Mark Schulman clinic please do so. It will be a amazing experience.

Edited: 09/18/2009 at 07:01 PM by ChrisDL

Steve Ferrone put on a clinic and concert at West L.A. Music. Known mostly for his legendary groove demanded by Tom Petty, Eric Clapton and many of the world's best tonight we got to see him perform an extended drum solo courtesy of a tardy vocalist. Needless to say Steve employs the same instinctual phrasing and groove into his solos and we all considered ourselves lucky to hear him do it. He also performed with a new band he's been recording with.



The mighty Dream Theater finished their Progressive Nation 2009 tour in L.A. Mike Portnoy hand picks the opening bands for this tour and we were lucky enough to see him sit in with Big Elf and Zappa Plays Zappa. The Greek was packed and Dream Theater greeted them with a song from their new album Black Clouds & Silver Linings. The crowd was in for even more treats when Mike shared his kit with each of the opening drummers and then all 4 together on his giant drum kit! THEN, Steve Vai and Dweezil Zappa joined Dream Theater on stage for one amazing jam! What a show and I'll never miss D.T. when they come to town.



Rx Bandits with the ferocious drumming of Chris Tsgakis and Cliff Sarcona with his ethereal band As Tall As Lions played the El Rey. These are two important up & coming drummers you'll want to check out. Something special there ya'll!



One of the biggest tours of the summer came through next with Nickelback, Hinder, Papa Roach and Saving Abel. That's right, Daniel Adair, Cody Hanson, Blake Dixon and now...drumroll please...you heard it here first- Tony Palermo with Papa Roach has joined the SABIAN family of artists and we're happy to have him. You want big rock and nothing but SABIAN on stage? This tour has got it!



-Chris

We had a massive invasion of top artists come through LA recently. Vinny Appice hit the Greek with Heaven & Hell playing classic hits from their self titled album, Mob Rules and from their new album The Devil You Know. Vinny has one of the most spectacular drum kits as you can tell from the pictures. He's got columns of toms on a rack held in place by bungee cords so that he can grab them and throw them around. Very Rock 'n Roll and there's no mistaking Vinny's distinctive style on the kit. Coheed & Cambria are opening this tour with Chris Pennie on drums. Coheed's is music that you just can't put your finger on. I've seen them play at Staple's Center with The Killers, eclectic festivals like Coachella and then I've seen them play with the heaviest of metal bands like Sabbath or Avenged Sevenfold. This band crosses boundaries and Pennie is a monster on the kit.



Tony Royster Jr. held a clinic at Musician's Institute and also a trio performance to mark the release of his new DVD Evolution. They showed some footage of him playing when he was 12 years old that you just can't believe. Tony is all grown up now and is just as impressive. Currently touring with Jay Z he's been playing to massive audiences all over the world. Drum Channel webcast the event at M.I. that also included a panel of Tony, Terry Bozzio and Ray Luzier who took questions from the students.



I stopped by KORN's studio in Hollywood to get a taste of their new record. They have a huge space to record in and I was surprised to find all four members set up in a tiny side room where they are recording the whole record as a band in the same room. Producer Ross Robinson is bringing them back to the garage for this one and the tracks are HEAVY!



With an hour to kill I stopped by my friend and photographer Neil Zlozower's studio who just happened to be shooting Orianthi and Steve Vai. Orianthi you might have seen playing guitar with Carrie Underwood at The Grammys this year. She had also been hired to perform with Michael Jackson in London. I hope now she'll go back to her solo career with Scott Reeder on drums!


... more to come!

-Chris

Edited: 09/21/2009 at 09:14 AM by ChristianS

Hey Everyone,

Since the new Artisan crashes and hats were released, I have been looking forward to trying them. The ride has always been a personal favorite and I wanted to see how the new stuff stacked up against it. Here's what I found:

13" Vault Artisan Hats - These cymbals are a mixed bag for me. They're quick and sharp and seem to suit funk or fusion playing quite well, but for jazz they didn't work for me. The 13" size is known for being faster and brighter than 14s or 15s, but I was expecting the 13s from Artisan to be as dark and warm as the others are. In my opinion, these cymbals don't fit with the other Artisan cymbals I played. I believe the 14s or the 15s would work better for jazz and be more compatible with its "brothers and sisters."

16" Vault Artisan Crash - This is by far one of the darkest 16" crashes I have ever played. Lots of people talk about how smaller crashes create a bright splashy sound, but this crash totally goes against that. When struck lightly is creates a dark, warm, somewhat trashy sound that seems like the ideal sound for a light jazz gig. When struck with force it opens up right away and then gets out of the way in a matter of seconds, which brings me to my only complaint: I wish it had more sustain. But overall, this is the perfect 16" crash for any jazz situation.

18" Vault Artisan - This cymbal is absolutely amazing. Even darker than the 16", with a beautiful sustain and light riding capability. I really can't say enough about this cymbal. It opens up with ease and is a lot of fun to play. I would use this cymbal for jazz as well fusion and light rock. I can really see a jazz player bringing this as his/her main crash a long with one of the four amazing Artisan Rides.

20" Vault Artisan Medium Ride - To me, the ride cymbal is the toughest cymbal to choose. Sometimes you want definition and sometimes you want wash. But there are certain models that are good enough to be used in any situation and the 20" Artisan Medium Ride was just like that. Because of its medium weight, this cymbal possesses a dark, warm, articulate stick definition with a great crash. I really enjoyed laying into this cymbal, something I don't do often. The bell wasn't my favorite, but the bow and edge of the Artisan Ride were perfect. I could see this cymbal fitting into jazz, fusion, funk, latin, and possibly rock.

-Bob Sommer (SABIAN Intern)

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Katie Robinson
eMarketing Coordinator
SABIAN Ltd.

Greetings, y'all. I've just joined the SABIAN marketing department, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be here. I'm a guitar player and songwriter, and most definitely a gear geek. I collect vintage amps and pedals, and I play with Fredericton reggae band "Dub Antenna" and indie rock band "Steady, Garcia". Watch for my blogs to witness first-hand the transformation of a guitar gear geek into a rabid cymbal collector.