This is the latest in my series on some of the influential drummers in modern western music. Today it's Ian Paice, the original drummer for Deep Purple. Now I'm sure some of you would say "who"? Ian Paice may not be a household name, but he is a great player, and he's also a southpaw, so he makes the list.
It is also my opportunity to let you know about my important scientific discovery that I call the "greggp effect," namely that sliver sparkle Ludwig drums are the loudest.
Here is an old video of Ian Paice playing "The Mule" and demonstrating his chops. You will have to take my word for it that he's playing silver sparkle Ludwig drums in this video.
The story goes back to 2004. One of the more influential drummers' bulletin board websites of the time was the DrumCenterForum, operated by the Drum Center of Indianapolis. Its owner was Harry Cangany, himself a noted expert on vintage drums (he's written a couple of very important (to us geeks) books on the subject.
Harry tried his best to keep the forum civil, yet open. However, as with any similarly administered internet forum, it isn't always easy to do so. Certain people tend to be lightening rods for controversy. One of those people was a member who called himself "hoppy".
Hoppy got into scuffles with forum members from day one, and he soon got himself banned. He returned under another name, and got banned again, and repeated the process several times. He was easy to spot, due to his rather cavalier use of punctuation and lack of grammatical skill, initial solicitousness, and eventual blind rage when someone dared to have an opinion different from his. He was so infamous, that the phrase "I'm not hoppy" became a way for members to (1) make peace with the community, and (2) make sure no one thought they were hoppy.
One of the things that we did know about hoppy was that he owned a set of 1980s-style silver sparkle Ludwig drums with the 6-ply shell. Up to the late 70s, most drum manufacturers had settled upon a common construction for musical drum shells consisting of thin layers (1/32") of maple of mahogany veneer on the inside and outside of a thicker layer (1/8") of poplar veneer, with the cylinder reinforced at the ends by solid maple or oak reinforcing rings. In the late 70s, following a trend started by Sonor of Germany, Ludwig (the biggest company) and Slingerland (formerly the biggest before Ringo) moved to thicker shells with no reinforcing rings. Ludwig went to 6-ply maple-poplar, and Slingerland to 5-ply. The drums were louder with fewer overtones - good for the rock and disco music of the time. They were generally not appreciated by jazz players who tend to prefer a more complex sound and don't care so much about volume.
One night, after a rather contentious exchange that resulted in another banning, the forum had seemed to calm down. A new member showed up on a thread that had heated up and cooled down, and he seemed to come in as a peacemaker type who did not know how to use a period or comma. I knew right away.
Another member sent me a screenhot of a banned thread that had featured the banned hoppy-reincarnation. Things had gotten really nasty that night too. I mentioned to that member that hoppy had already come back. He asked how I knew, and I explained my reasoning.
The next day, the new member posted a thread asking for help in making his drums louder. That's all he said. I replied and said, "well for starters, silver sparkle 6-ply Ludwigs are the loudest." He responded in typical hoppy passive-aggessive style and shouted "DID I SAY THEY WERE SILVER SPARKLE?" to which I replied "you didn't have to." He soon dropped his charade and we all went back to not being hoppy.
Anyway, since then, it's become common knowledge that silver sparkle drums (now of just about any brand) are the loudest. I do believe the above to be the true origin of the contention, and I have yet to see anyone else provide a credible attribution that predates it. It is the greggp effect.
I do want you to know that Ian Paice really did play silver sparkle drums, so here's a slightly earlier Deep Purple video from the old Playboy After Dark television show. I love it for the fact that the band was playing live, for the silver sparkle Luddies, the mushroom hairdos on the band, and THOSE PANTS! I think a movie theater in Hell is missing its drapes.
Later, with the advent of better and more reliable sound systems, drummers like Ian Paice did not need focus solely on volume when choosing a drum finish, and Ian had this kit custom finished. It's now in the collection of Paolo Sburlati.
If you're looking for volume yourself, just remember that silver sparkle is the loudest.
And, stay tuned, because in the next couple of weeks, I will be featuring some of the more well known names in drumming.