Addictive Drums 2 - Black Velvet ADpak

This kit is so nice, we recorded it twice! The drums were recorded in the grand hall-sized recording room at Kingside Studios, where we could really make the most of the room tone. Then hi-hat and cymbals were captured separately in the smaller and more dampened recording room at Decibel Studios. By altering overhead/room levels you can easily transform the kit from near-and-fat sounding to loud-and-large. Automate these settings for a close, tight kit in the verse and then whack up the room for a gigantic sounding chorus. Whether you're going for that authentic rock sound, or a full-on arena anthem, Black Velvet makes epic easy.

John Good and Don Lombardi make beautiful drums, designed to give drummers exactly what they want. John's years as a drum tech to mega bands like Earth Wind and Fire helped him form an instinctive understanding of a performer's needs, and this really shines through in this Collector's Series kit from DW's flagship line.

The shells are cold pressed for extra stiffness and extra resonance, and the attention to detail is intense. Each shell is tapped in the factory to test its natural frequency, which is then stamped on the inside, so it can be tuned up to the precise note it was born to sing.

A high-end sound that's raw but controlled, rich but gritty, everything in perfect balance. This is our idea of loud and epic.

• Beautiful expensive kit, for a beautiful expensive sound
• Cymbals and drums recorded in different rooms for minimum sonic interference
• Near and fat for the verse, then turn up the room sound and go EPIC on the chorus