Terry Bozzio’s Kit

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted this?

As luck would have it, I found myself actually sitting behind Terry’s kit at the DW factory a little over a week ago. DrumChannel.com is owned by Don Lombardi, who also owns Drum Workshop, and the two business entities share a bunch of warehouse space in Oxnard, CA. I got to spend the day there doing some video lessons for DrumChannel, and at the end of the day Don brought me into Terry’s personal practice space (which is on sight at the DrumChannel studios).

Too many drums?

Here’s the thing: It was SUPER fun. The kit is laid out in such an incredible way, and everything about it is so interesting. There are tuned toms, unorthodox hihat stacks, tuned gongs attached to pedals, and misc aux perc all over the place.

Trying to look like I’m not intimidated…

The main observation I have about it is this: there isn’t a normal kick/snare/hihat combo in the whole thing. Meaning, it’s not really a “drumset.” It feels a lot more like a prepared piano. And then, suddenly, all my criticism of the thing being “overboard” or too extensive… well, all my criticism just vanishes. Sitting behind the instrument made me realize that it’s a unique and musical device, not simply excess for the sake of being excessive.

Side view.

So anyway, I feel like I need to retract any sort of mockery I may have thrown toward Terry’s kit in the past. He’s not showing up to church gigs with this setup, and he’s not trying to convince anyone that his drumset is the norm for drumsets. He’s just exploring a creative avenue that he has the ability (and resources) to explore. And let me tell you, it was FUN to try my hand at it. I could have sat behind Terry’s kit for HOURS.

Because Don brought me into Terry’s room I was able to bypass the “Don’t play this kit” sign.