Using a PA system for an acoustic drum clinic may sound unnecessary, but it's not just about the drums themselves. Attendees need to hear White as he shares the secrets of his trade, while he also uses a Roland SPD-S for triggering samples.
"At the clinics I use samples from records that I've played on and more quirky elements like old school hip hop loops and beats, which say a lot about the music I grew up with and what my influences are," he says.
"In the past I'd spend hours editing, putting the loops in and practicing, because if you hit the wrong one it all goes pear-shaped - it's seat of the pants stuff. But then, in terms of delivering the sound to the audience, the attitude was like 'Oh, we'll just put some gates on the drums'. It felt like I was wasting my time, no-one seemed to understand what I was trying to achieve."
White's answer was to take control of all aspects of his performance at the clinics, including the PA. "I wanted to deliver the sound that I thought the audience deserved, so I looked around for a PA system that I could mix onstage, but also have the portability to load in myself. That's when I came across K-Array.
"A demo was arranged via UK distributor Sennheiser, with the system set up next to a conventional PA system. When they switched the K-Array system on, I had to go and prove to myself that the conventional PA - which was a big rig - wasn't on, because I couldn't believe the sound that was coming from such a compact system."
(Jim Evans)
