So a few weeks back we were in LA to perform on the CBS tv special “Teachers Rock” featuring teachers doing wonderful things and all. We along with Garth Brooks, Josh Groban, Fun, Carrie Underwood and others did their respective ‘thing’ and we did too covering Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”…wait..no. I mean Rod Stewart’s “Forever Young” which is a Bob Dylan tune with a few of Stewart’s embellishments. I had a little time the day before so me and my drum tech/where are we guy, Jay Ballinger, drove to Oxnard to spend some time with one of the greatest guys in the drum biz Scott Garrison, AKA Garrison…just Garrison who is the artist rep at DW Drum Company and our personal grand tour provider. I bought my first DW kit in 1995 and have cherished that kit as my first real professional kit because of its DW sound. Fast forward a few years..: ) and now I’m a bonafide member of the DW drum family and have been on the artist roster for almost a year now! So I was very excited to see the factory in action. You can check out the history of DW by clicking on this link DW Drums or the DW logo on my home page so I won’t go into that detail. We arrive to meet our gracious host and waste no time in seeing the goodies. The DW facility/compound is gigantic. The main building is huge. I can’t begin to guess the size but I bet you could fit 100 Starbucks in there. “How ’bout put one right over there!” They weren’t receptive to that idea. These folks get their buzz with the smell of the building of drums. The show room is exciting featuring many different kits in different configurations and shell packages. The basic manufacturing principles of the drums is similar to other companies but DW always takes each process one step further in the name of quality, if not science. John Good, Senior Vice President, ‘tone taps’ each shell finding its fundamental note to match with other shells to complete a drum kit. Shell design is unique to DW. They have their own machine shop lathes to manufacture every thing from plastics to tension rods and pedal/cymbal stand hardware. Time and care is taken to recycle as much unused material as possible and their paint and finish department takes things to the extreme by recirculating and filtering air that is way beyond EPA standards. With all the friendly faces you can definitely get the sense that this is a great place to work. Everybody knows Garrison, he knows all of them as well…smiles all around! The doors are open to the public on Thursday afternoons for tours so if you’re in the area I encourage you to take the tour even if you’re not a drummer. Its an experience you’ll never forget! Check out the video which goes into further detail of the manufacturing process. I managed to snap a few picks but its hard to remember to take a pic when grinning ear to ear. Thanks for stopping by! Steve
