Shigeki Okubo says about Gaai Drums...   

 

 The reason We, Chimpanzee Studio, decided to bring in Gaai Drums Kit was because of the “Sound” of course.  The decisive factor was if the drum itself, which we record with,  is suitable for recording or not. As a drummer as well as an engineer, I always needed several vintage snare drums in order to handle all kinds of situations.  In fact, we have ordered bunch of custom snare drums for that reason.

 

 I had a chance to meet Gaai in person and asked him to build a 5-inch deep snare. That was my first encounter with Gaai.  The first impression of the snare drum was absolutely “Ordinary.”  “Wait!  It was just ordinary which means it was boring?” You might ask…. No- That’s not what I mean.  Based on my experience, the snares with flashy sound or unique sound tend to sound very boring once it’s recorded.  However, this Gaai Drums snare would refine its amazing sound when played-back.  This is a common factor with vintage Ludwig snares and you would sense the illusion as if the snare has a magical fragrance.  When tuning the pitch of this snare higher, the resonance at low-mid frequency exist stably, which is not so common for 5-inch depth snare.

 

My “Ordinary” means that the standard situation for best suitable for recording indeed exists as its standard.  After trying so many kinds of snare drums, I conclude the reason why it is not easy to find a nicely fit snare is above.  This may be a difficult thing to accomplish.   It happens often that the sound we feel good would end up with boring after being recorded.

 

After getting this snare, which I would keep company with for a long time, I got a drum kit. During the production process, Gaai and I discussed about the sound and I felt his enormous passion toward handcrafting drums through this approach.     His remarkable skills for special covering is just one of countless examples of his pride.  Positioning of Lug or balance of diameter vs depth also shows his seriousness towards the pursuit of great sound.

 

You may not be able to see well in this photo, but the tom mount got the same covering design as tom itself!  If you’d like to see it in person, please come by my live performance or stop by my studio.

 

I hope you’ll actually try out Gaai Drums to feel how great it is.    Every artist who visits Chimpanzee Studio raves about Gaai Drums and chooses to use Gaai for recordings!!!