During Silesia Drum Festival in w Chorzów, Poland, we had the opportunity to interview the artists who performed on stage that day.
One of them was an excellent on-line educator and a great drummer, Siros Vaziri.
One of the things we asked him was to talk us through his drum kit configuration.
BeatIt: Since it’s the first time we’ve actually had the chance to talk a bit more in depth, congratulations on your deals, on your endorsements. That’s a step forward. So could you tell us about the gear you’re using and the setup today?
Siros Vaziri: Absolutely. My main, my longest endorsement is with Meinl. And it’s Meinl that I have the closest relationship with. They have played a very big part in getting me here today. And that’s where we met also the Meinl festival and all of that. Right? So Meinl is the absolutely the biggest for me.
I’ve been with officially with Meinl since 2016. That’s been a couple of years now. After that, Tama since 2017. 2019, Evans and initially Evans and Promark around that same time. Recently, I switched from Promark to Meinl Stick and Brush. So the Meinl stick.
BeatIt: We wrote about that.
Siros Vaziri: Yes. This was this year, so this is new and exciting. The setup today. I’ve always loved experimenting with setups. So my setups at previous festivals, clinics and videos, they are a little bit different each time .They change over time. I haven’t really found maybe my perfect setup yet, but now I love playing with one rack tom and two floor toms. So that’s something I really enjoy. I’ve been very inspired by Meshuggah and Tomas Haake recently, so I’ve taken a little bit of his type of setup where you have like a stack cymbal right in front of you and an extra pair of hi hats.
I never really played with two hi hats, one that is permanently open, but I tried that setup a couple of months ago and with the stack and everything and it felt really good. So that’s what I’ve been practicing on and that’s what I’m playing today as well. So it’s a little bit of a different setup, like, cymbal wise, but one rack tom, two floor toms and all of these different things. Probably, my favorite cymbal that goes with me everywhere is the Benny Greb little Crasher Hats. It’s like an 8-inch hi hat right next to the main hi hat. That’s consistent. No matter what else I change with my setup, I always have that. It’s become like a permanent part of my kit.
BeatIt: Even if you do metal?
Siros Vaziri: Oh yeah. I love that little effect sound. It’s so much fun and a contrast, because I always play very big hi hats. The main hi hat is 16 inches. Most of the time, I play Meinl Extra Dry 16″.
BeatIt: So you have the 16 and you have the little 8 right next to it. It’s a very cool contrast. So what kind of skins do you like to put on the drums?
Siros Vaziri: It’s different. It depends on the setup. Usually, when I do clinics I tend to go with clear heads, as in Evans G2s. Always two-ply. I’m not really a one-ply guy. G2 clear, and then one G1 clear underneath. That’s like my standard setup. I’ve tried all kinds of different versions, all these different heads with inbuilt muffling, like Evans E2 and the frosted heads, you know, all these different things, but I always come back to the classics. Two-ply over one-ply. And then, like for example now at home, I play on this Tama Starclassic kit that’s a bit bigger, so 13, 16, 18, 24. On that, I really like coated heads like Evans UV2s are my favorites for that. But for clinics and festivals and that kind of thing, those sizes are a bit unusual.
So usually a backline kit is not like 13, 16, 18, 24. It’s usually like here, Tama Starclassic 12, 14, 16, 22. And for those standard sizes and for this type of performance, I almost always use clear heads.
BeatIt: What about the cymbals – the sizes and the models?
Siros Vaziri: Generally, I like a little bit bigger cymbals. I’m not much for 16-inch crashes and 14-inch hi hats and, like, a 20-inch ride. Always a 22-inch ride or sometimes even 24″. Crashes are 18″ and up. Now, I have a 19″ and a 20″ crash and 16″ hi hats, a 22″ ride, an 18″ china and the extra hi hats are 15″ and then the stack is like 18″, and the little mini hi hat. That’s the exception. Usually, bigger is better for me. I like a lot ofwhoosh and swish and the sustain. It’s the Meinl Bizance cymbals in general. I was going to say I usually have used like the drier ones, but actually in recent years I’ve started mixing it up more.
I used to like almost only play like the extra drives – very short sustain, but still a big cymbal. Now, I use a Polyphonic Crash, which is a very standard and typical sounding crash cymbal. I have that in 20 inches on my right. You know, a little bit more like normal cymbals into the mix, but I like big cymbals, I like thin cymbals.
I want them to have a little bit of give, like a little bit of flex under the stick.
