Drums

OOS Tour Drums

Configuration

Hullabaloo Era Drums

Configuration

Absolution Tour Drums

Configuration

BH&R Tour Drums

Configuration

Resistance Tour Drums

Configuration

The 2nd Law Configuration

Drones Configuration

Dom's Drums

Dom had an exclusivity contract with Tama drums. He has had many kits several of which have been destroyed during performances. Here it all is. All drums with chrome hardware unless otherwise stated. As of The Resistance Era Dom has apparently switched contracts to DW.

Unknown Period

• This section is for drums whose time of life is unknown.
• British racing green Starclassic Maple kit
• Brown fade Starclassic Maple kit
• Marigold sparkle Starclassic Maple kit with chrome hardware
  • As Seen On: Hullabaloo DVD2
• Unidentifiable low-end black Pearl kit (Forum, perhaps)

Early Days

• Black Tama Starclassic Performer
  • Used: Live, As Seen On: Muscle Museum II clip, Fate: mortal wound dealt by Matthew
• Red w/ silver stripe on kick DW
  • Used: Live, As Seen On: Muscle Museum II clip, Fate: guitared in the face by Matthew
• Unidentifiable yellow kit
  • Used: Live, As Seen On: Muscle Museum II clip, Fate: unknown but the smart money says that Matt thoroughly owned it
• Brown Peavey kit ( possibly a Peavey Radial Pro 1000 ) with distinctive collars around the tom bearing edges (Peavey logo can be seen in this image: [1])
  • Used: Live, As Seen On: Muscle Museum II clip, Fate: as above
• Black Yamaha Recording Custom kit
  • Used: Uno clip, As Seen On: Uno clip, Fate: Unknown
• Nondescript DW kick drum and 14x5.5 matching snare
  • Used: Sunburn clip, As Seen On: Sunburn clip, Fate: Unknown

Origin Of Symmetry period

• Matte Black Pearl Masters kit and 14x6.5 LB417 Ludwig Black Beauty snare
  • Used: New Born clip, As Seen On: New Born clip, Fate: Unknown
• Silver Sparkle Sparkle Tama Starclassic Maple kit and 14x5.5 matching snare
  • Used: Live, recording Origin of Symmetry, Plug In Baby, Hyper Music and Feeling Good clips, As Seen On: Plug In Baby, Hyper Music and Feeling Good clips, Fate: Brokeded by Matt and Chris
  • 22x16,12x10,14x14,16x16
• White Matte Starclassic Maple Kit with hollographic tama emblem.
  • Used: As with the silver sparkle tama, the white starclassic was used during the origin of symmetry tour of japan in 2001, Fate: Dismembered by matt and chris during bliss in their final show of the tour.
• Blue and Red DW kit and Orange 14x5.5 DW snare
  • Used: Recording Origin of Symmetry
  • Blue: 22x18,14x12 Red: 12x8,16x14

Dead Star/In Your World period

• Blue Sparkle Tama Starclassic Maple kit and 14x6.5 Ludwig Black Beauty snare (hammered shell, Imperial lugs)
  • Used: Dead Star and In Your World clips and live, As Seen On: Dead Star and In Your World clips and Hullabaloo DVD1, Fate: demolished by Matt
  • 22x16,12x9,14x14,16x16

Absolution period

• Amber, Red, Yellow and Blue Vistalite kit
  • Used: Stockholm Syndrome USA clip, As Seen On: Stockholm Syndrome USA clip, Fate: Unknown)
  • 12x8,13x9,16x16,22x16
• Custom Chrome Tama Starclassic Maple kit with custom black powdercoated hardware and matching 14x6.5 snare
  • Used: live, As Seen On: Absolution Tour DVD, Fate: Matthewed many times (this kit was reincarnated at least thrice).
  • 22x18,12x8,14x12,16x13
• Yamaha Maple Custom Advantage kit and 14x5.5 Yamaha Brass snare
  • Used: Time Is Running Out Clip, As Seen On: Time Is Running Out clip, Fate: Unknown
• Blue DW kit and matching 14x5 snare
  • Used: sessions for Apocalypse Please, Time Is Running Out, The Small Print, Thoughts of A Dying Athiest, Sing For Absolution and Fury, As Seen On: Absolution Bonus DVD, Fate: Unknown
• Composite Kit
  • Used: recording Apocalypse Please march, As Seen On: Absolution Bonus DVD
  • 22x18 black walnut satin Ayotte, 22x18 blue opal DW
• Composite Kit
  • Used: recording Ruled By Secrecy, As Seen On: Absolution Bonus DVD)
  • 22x18 black walnut satin Ayotte, 12x9 and 16x16 blue sparkle Tama Starclassic Maple toms, 14x5 silver DW snare
• Composite Kit
  • Used: practicing before recording Ruled By Secrecy, As Seen On: Absolution Bonus DVD
  • 22x18 black walnut satin Ayotte, 14x5.5 silver sparkle Tama Starclassic Maple snare

Black Holes and Revelations period

• Composite kit
  • Used: recording the album
  • Wooden kick, 12x8, 14x12 and 16x14 clear Ludwig Vistalite toms
• Crystal Ice (clear acrylic) Tama Starclassic Mirage kit with custom white powdercoated hardware and matching 14x6 snare or 14x6.5 Tama Power Metal Brass snare
  • Used: live, Supermassive Black Hole and Knights Of Cydonia clips, As Seen On: Supermassive Black Hole and Knights of Cydonia clips
  • 24x18(w/Tama Power Kick Bass Muffler),12x8,14x12,16x14,20x14 Mirage gong bass

Fate: Sold as part of an Auction for Oxfam

• Bubinga Tama Starclassic kit (Black Metalic w/ Gold Inlay) with black nickel hardware and Tama Power Metal Brass snare.
  • Used: Live Williamsberg, supporting My Chemical Romance
• Fate: Likely retired, as with above
• Vintage Gretsch Jazz Kit in a Champagne Sparkle Finish
  • Used: Wembley Stadium 16th and 17th June - Soldier's Poem, Unintended and Blackout

The Resistance period

• Dom now endorses DW drums.
• According to an interview during the studio tour with Zane Lowe, drumkit on The Resistance has been used in the studio since the very first album.
• 8-ply Maple (possibly VLT), either Gold sparkle with Gold hardware or Silver custom finish with Chrome hardware (he has been spotted using both live) with a 14x6.5 Aluminum DW snare or Ludwig *LB417 Black Beauty of the same size
• Used: Live
• 22x20, 12x10, 14x14, 16x16, 21x16 Gong bass
• As of The Resistance tour his drum throne is a "Pork Pie Big Boy Silver / Zebra"
• Dom uses a Roland TD20kx V-Drums kit for Undisclosed Desires
• He also uses two Timpani (Kettle) drums live during Exogenesis Pt1

Fate: Active duty

The 2nd Law Period

• During the recording of The 2nd Law, Dom used the Resistance tour drum kit in the studio, as well as several miscellaneous drums such as a Ludwig Vistalite orange floor tom. He also used a vintage drum kit on some songs. The Resistance tour kit was also used for the first few concerts of the era, and was replaced by the new drumkit at the beginning of the UK arena tour.
• He has tweeted a photo with him, playing Tablas in the recording studio.
• According to a Tweet he appears to be using chequerplatedrums, although these were never aired in public.

Dom's touring drumkit was a DW Jazz Series kit, in a custom Spiral Glitter finish. It consisted of:

• 22x20" bass drum, 12x10" tom, 15x15" and 16x16" floor toms, and an 18x16" floor tom on the snare side. His snare was a 14x6.5″ Collector’s Series Snare (knurled black nickel over steel)[2]
• His drum throne remained a Pork Pie Big Boy Silver/Zebra.
• Also present are two Roland H PD-8 pads, used in Madness, a mounted tambourine, RhythmTech ribbon crasher and TreeWorks Classic Bar Chimes, used in Explorers.
• Used: Live

Drones Period

• When recording the album, Dom used two drum sets, both from DW.

Psycho UK Tour, Festivals Tour, South America Tour:

• For the new set of tours he switched to a mahogany Q Drums kit with aluminium plates (black with white double-stripe across the drum)
• Same configuration as with the DW drum kit
• He has gotten a new basic black stool for the drums and added a double bass pedal to the kit
• He also updated his drum skins, now using Remo Controlled Sound heads with white dots

Drones World Tour:

• Same as the previous Q Drums kit, painted in chrome instead of black instead
• He replaced the electronic pads with a Roland Octapad

Note:

• For the Psycho UK Tour he didn't use the electronic drum pads as shown on the picture. He also dropped the splash cymbal and hasn't included it back since then.
• Used different resonant kick drum heads, one had a Psycho artwork printed on, another had Drones artwork, while the third one had Revolt artwork (latter one used for the Revolt music video only).
• For the Drones World Tour he uses a clear resonant kick drum head with white Drones-Men printed on

2017 Amphitheatre Tour:

• Same as the previous Q Drums kit, but with a 24" instead of a 22" Kick

Dom is left handed

As Dom is left handed he sets his drums up with the hi-hats on his right and floor toms on the left. If you're right handed look in a mirror basically.

Cymbals

See Cymbals.

Hardware

He used a Tama Iron Cobra Lever Glide Hi-Hat, and is currently using the DW 9000 series Hi-Hat pedal. He also used to use Iron Cobra Power Glide double and single bass drum pedals interchangeably depending on the setlist (few songs require the double, Cave live, for example) he also used to use the Chrome Cobra single. With his new DW contract/endorsement he uses a DW 9000 Series Single kick pedal.

His hardware is now all DW, although it used to be Tama Roadpro, his throne was a Tama First Chair with back-rest, and is now a Pork Pie Big Boy Silver / Zebra. He has used Zildjian Dennis Chambers signature series drumsticks, Shaw 5BN drumsticks (Hullabaloo) and Promark TX5BNs (Live 8, and BH&R tour), Marco Minneman signature sticks, as well as many others. Dom also has had his own signature drumstick released through Promark, and it is currently available to the public for sale in the UK, and by special order in the US. Recently, Dom has been using Vic Firth sticks, as can be seen in the Austin City Limits concert of 2013 and Rome Olympic Stadium DVD. He most likely uses Vic Firth American Jazz 2 stick.

Heads

He uses Remo and Aquarian heads. Dom generally uses the classic combination of clear Emperors over clear Ambassadors on his toms (coated Emperor in the OoS period), but has been seen with Pinstripe batter heads (on the Peavey kit).

The following combinations have been seem:

• Silver sparkle: Super Kick II with no resonant side head
• Blue sparkle kick: Super Kick II over black ported Regulator
• Chrome kick: Powerstroke 3 over black ported resonant side head
• Ayotte kick: Powerstroke 3 over unknown resonant side head
• Crystal ice kick: Super Kick II over Force I or Powerstroke 3 over unknown clear ported Remo or Pinstripe over ported Pinstripe

Coated Emperor, Controlled Sound or Hi-energy (Hullabaloo only) batters on his snare.

Note the one exception to this rule is when he uses the stock Tama heads, Evans clear G2 over clear G1, that come with every new kit of drums. As the G2/G1 combination is identical to his usual Emperor/Ambassadors he'll often use the stock heads until they wear and replace the batter only.

Contract Lapse

It is possible that during 2005 Doms endorsement contract with Tama Drums expired as a set of orange and red Ludwig Vistalites (acrylic drums) were used in the USA cut of the Stockholm Syndrome video clip (and another character in the talk show was using Pearl drums). As video clips receive much public exposure it is usually against the terms of a contract to use a competitors product. This would tend to suggest that the Tama contract had reached its conclusion.

A clear set of Vistalites (with a shallower rack tom, 12x8 most likely) is seen on one of the background images of Muse's official site, suggesting that they were used for the recording of Black Holes And Revelations.

As of 2006 he is using Tama Drums' new Starclassic Mirage line [3](acrylic drums) in live situations. These three data would suggest that the contract briefly lapsed in 2005 and during that time Dom developed a taste for acrylic drums. When Tama released Mirage he renewed his endorsement.

Other Dom info

Recording the introduction to Apocalypse Please, Dom played a drum fill from the Grouse Lodge swimming pool, with a driver from an NS10 speaker used as close mic.

Whilst in the pool area, they decided to have a go at creating a water gong effect by hitting cymbals loads of times while dipping them into water. However, because cymbals have nowhere near the same sustain as an actual gong, the sound decayed as soon as they went into the water, which made the whole activity pointless!

Dom has a large floor fan next to him to keep him cool.

Links

• Muse Drums
• Doms Zildjian Set-up (inaccurate)
• Official Tama Website
• Official Zildjian Website

See also

• Percussion

Back to Gear