Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Tim Barclay and I’ve played drums in a small handful of British heavy metal bands. Right now I’m playing in a Dio tribute band called Heaven or Hell?. Before that I played in London based NWOTHM band Neuronspoiler, glam/classic metal band Serpent Sins and punk band Kunk.
What do you use?
At gigs I play a Mapex Meridian Black Raven kit:
- 22” x 20” bass drum
- 10”, 12”, 14” & 16” toms (although I often don’t bother lugging the 16”)
- 14” snare
I’ve currently got all Evans heads (EMAD2 on the bass drum, EC2s on the toms, Power Center Reverse Dot on the snare and G1s for all the reso heads) but I’m not very particular about that and change my mind about what I like every time I change them.
For the reso head on my bass drum, I use a DrumPort which I absolutely love and makes my bass drum look and sounds crazy and amazing.
I use (mostly) Zildjian cymbals:
- 14” Z-custom hi hats
- 18” Z-custom medium crash
- 18” Z-custom medium crash
- 18” low china boy
- 21” Z-custom MegaBell ride
- 18” Stagg Furia crash with O-zone holes done by Ben Camp at Cymbal Magic
I use Tama Speed Cobra bass drum pedals and then the rest of my hardware is a mishmash of stuff I’ve picked up on eBay and from different Facebook selling forums.
For practicing at home, I use Roland TD-9 V-Drums. I wear Audio-Technica ATH-M50X headphones rather than using an amp or speakers or anything because I hate hearing the actual sound of hitting the mesh pads along with the sample.
I mostly use Vic Firth 5A sticks but I also occasionally use Pro-Mark Rock Knockers so I can get that massive Vinny Appice washy ride sound without having to hold on to the tapered end of a normal stick.
I have a cheapy set of drum mics from eBay, only about half of which work, but they do ok for laying down demos. I record using a Fostex digital 8 track recorder which I have no idea how to use and then output that into Reaper.
What would be your dream set up?
Although my kit is pretty mid-range, I really love the look and sound of it and don’t have any real desire to change it. My cymbals are all lovely too, although they were all second hand so it would be nice to upgrade to all new ones that have endured a bit less of a kicking.
The main change to my setup that I’d like, and which I’m currently working on doing, would be to get my practice space properly sound proofed so I can practice on an acoustic kit at home without getting myself evicted. I’d love to have a gigging kit, all packed up and ready to go, and a second kit permanently miced up at home in my soundproofed heavy metal cave.
Apart from Zildjians, which I’ve unfortunately acquired an expensive taste for, I’m pretty agnostic when it comes to brands, so I don’t have a particular dream kit, but it would be great to have something custom, whether it be DW or something more local like Liberty Drums.
