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Guerrilla Drum Making Review |
 Review
Guerrilla Drum Making DVD
86 Minutes
John Dutra
www.guerrilladrummaking.com
There
is an increasing number of online home-made videos and tutorials showing various
aspects of the drum making and drum finishing processes, some of these are are
reasonable and some are not so great. Many of the 'how its made' variety give an
insight into the major drum manufacturer's plants and processes that are very
informative, but use machines and techniques that the small-time or hobby
builder can never hope to use. John Dutra's Guerrilla Drum Making represents the
first professionally produced tutorial that I have come across regarding Drum
making that relies on common or garden tools and techniques - I am mightily
impressed.
The DVD assumes from the outset that the viewer has a basic
blank shell or an old shell to be reconditioned; it takes the viewer through
several practical and very well explained steps on the accurate placement &
drilling of holes and the attachment of hardware on toms, snares and kick drums.
For me the 'meat on the bone' of the the DVD is regarding finishing the drums
using a variety of methods: staining, sunbursting, using wrap, striped
laminates, even the complicated process of using jointed veneers and more!. The
Author uses mostly household tools and easy-to-find everyday items in
accomplishing the work, this non-reliance on expensive or specialist tools is
refreshing and increases the overall accesibility to the viewer.
Throughout the production, the DVD is professionally photographed, lit
and recorded; it includes multiple camera angles and a clear voice-over to
ensure that the viewer can clearly understand the various steps and objectives
of each process. In addition, the DVD is backed up by a range of online
resources.
If there can
be any down side for me, it is that the DVD relates primarily to drum assembly
and finishing rather than 'drum making' from scratch. As a drum-builder myself I
would have been fascinated to have seen another's process of making shells using
ply, stave, segment or steam bending techniques, however that would be more
than enough to create an entirely separate DVD product. If it's not already on
John's to-do list then I'd like to make that a formal request!
Overall,
this is a top quality, professionally produced DVD containing many useful tips
and accessible approaches that would take years of trial and error to learn;
without doubt it is certainly a video tutorial that must be in the video library
of every drum-building enthusiast.
Drumdojo is more than happy to
recommend this DVD to our site visitors as a 'must have' - go get it today,
you'll not regret it for a moment!
Paul Marshall
www.drumdojo.com
March 2009
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