PASIC 2012 - Austin, Texas

What a great PASIC this year!

It was almost non-stop on my booth. I sold every last triangle and - as you can see - I had a few! Interest in them was already pretty high, but it was boosted further by the use of my triangles by Nicholas Ormrod of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, London in his Symphonic Accessories masterclass and also by Keith Aleo of Zildjian in his clinic.

I had visits from players with all the local symphony orchestras - Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, plus the Florida Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic and others. There was a lot of interest also in the 100% reliable bowing capabilities of the Bat-Wing gongs. I was told to rename them "Lord of the Rings" gongs!

So, besides the triangles, I also sold a bunch of cymbals, hi-hats and smaller gongs. A very successful show.

I had the pleasure of meeting with old friends, plus making a whole load of new ones including Johnny Rabb, Ari Hoenig, Todd Sucherman, Luis Conte, Richie Garcia and Ralph Humphrey.

PASIC has a lovely relaxed atmosphere. It's all about the art and about percussion education. This show, more than others, is much more about cameraderie than competition. The setting too - Austin in Autumn - was a lot of fun. Great people, great vibe, great food.

I believe PASIC is back in Indianapolis next year - which is nice enough, especially the selection of "brewpubs". But, I'm looking forwards more to a return to Texas at some point.

Resolution

Right. I'm on a mission. Let's see how long it lasts...

Smaller blog entries. Much more frequently.

Did the London Drum Show at Olympia. Good show. Check. Next up - the UK National Drum Fair in Birmingham. 2 weeks to go. After that, one of the biggies - PASIC in Indianapolis. You have to wait until November for that one.

Last night, I had great fun with Andy Mac the photo / video genius. He shot some gorgeous looking HD footage of my new Symphonic Triangles. We had fun lighting the scene with a candelabra and a propane torch! Later on, I'm going to be breaking out the ribbon mics and the fancy pre-amps to do a soundtrack. I'm looking forward to editing together the most over-the-top promotional video for a small percussion instrument ever made...

The Shows Must Go On

Well, the Hollywood Drum Show has been and gone, as has PASIC - the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, this year held in Indianapolis. I had an expo booth at both and had a great time.

The Hollywood Show was very much a drummers' event, plus a few sound-track type folks. Plenty of great artist clinics - but none that I got too see, being glued to my booth.

PASIC was fantastic. The world's largest percussion event with over 150 different performances / workshops / clinics over the 4 days and the expo running alongside for 3 days. A real wide range of folks coming to see the expo - drummers, percussionists of all sorts, young students, old masters and everything in-between. And, even the man who is in the guiness book of records for having the largest hand-shaped-things collection! A real pleasure to meet all the people who came to my booth. It was great to hang out with industry friends old and new in the evenings too. I hope I can afford to make the trip over and exhibit again next year.

While in Indianapolis, the home of the P.A.S., I visited their newly opened museum - the Rhythm Discovery Center. Some cool stuff in there - an enormous drum head from Remo, feel the low frequency vibes man! But, I must say, I was most fascinated by the Musser designed Glock and Vibraphone type instruments. Fantastic.

So, what's next? Well, I've got orders from before and after the shows to make and new things to create. That's going to keep me busy until January. And what's happening in January? NAMM of course! I'll be at NAMM, on the Pork Pie Drums Booth. Booth #3378. Their main drum kit will be furnished with my cymbals and a very special custom gong.

Hand crafted cymbals alongside hand crafted drums. Perfect!