I have to say Jimmy Chamberlin is definitely on my list of top 10 drummers of all time.Siamese Dream was one of my greatest discoveries and still plays as the soundtrack to a lot of memories. I totally fell in love with this amazing group of musicians, beautiful melodic guitars, hard and driving rhythm section and mind-smashing songs..12 years later I still listen to it – LOUD!
Being a drummer myself,I know how much time goes into a project; the rehearsing,driving to rehearsals,working a second job to pay the petrol and the rent, gigging and touring…recording and so forth. Out of experience I can say- in my opinion, drummers work the hardest in the band; from carrying and setting up the gear to the actual live performance. They keep the shit together.Jimmy is a legend and a machine indeed.
Jimmy Chamberlin
Jimmy Chamberlin is an American drummer, songwriter and producer.He was born on 10 June 1964 in Joliet, Illinois and is one of six children.Chamberlin began drumming at the age of 9 and his early instruction included Latin, Brazilian, and big band techniques, but focused on jazz, under the tutelage of future Yanni drummer, Charlie Adams.He is best known as the former drummer for the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins as he left the group in March 2009.He currently performs in a group called Skysaw.
As mentioned earlier, Chamberlin is originally trained as a jazz drummer and cites jazz musicians Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Gene Krupa, and Buddy Rich, as well as some legendary rock-drummers Keith Moon, Ian Paice, and John Bonham as major influences on his technique. Jimmy is known as “one of the most powerful drummers in rock,” though he primarily strives for emotionally communicative playing. He was named the 5th best drummer of all time by Gigwise in 2008 and has also been compared to jazz drummer Dennis Chambers for his “quick hands,furious snare rolls, and crackling rimshots.” In general, he is one of the few hard rock drummers to combine a driving backbeat with jazz-like flourishes. When asked about his influences in 2007, he responded:
“Aside from the obvious—Keith Moon, John Bonham, Ian Paice—I would have to say Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, any of the jazz greats—Gene Krupa, those people. I think, more and more, as I get older, I’ve developed my own rock style and I tend to pull more stuff from Elvin Jones and Tony now that I can incorporate it into a rock arena and kind of modernize it.” Ex-bandmate Billy Corgan has said of Chamberlin, “he’s up there with Bonham, you know, that level of drummer, who has been able to play a variety of music and have his style impact the way people play drums. That’s the hallmark of a great drummer. And, right now, I think, pound for pound, he’s the best drummer in the world.”
Other drummers that also influenced Jimmy includes Bobby Caldwell of Captain Beyond, Lalo Schifrin’s Dirty Harry soundtrack, Weather Report, and Return to Forever’s Lenny White.
While giving drum clinics in late 2009, Chamberlin announced his next project, a band called This. He described the music as ‘progressive, symphonic pop’ and later released a 6 track album titled Great Civilizations on November 1, 2010 as a digital download only on Amazon and iTunes.Downloads from these online stores were later removed after there was confusion over the band’s name The new band name, Skysaw, was officially announced in December 2010.
On the Smashing Pumpkins album Zeitgeist and subsequent tour, Chamberlin used a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute kit with 60 (instead of standard 45) degree bearing edges. His kit consisted of two snares (5×12 and the main snare, his 5.5×14 “Signature” model), six toms (12×14, 8×10, 9×13, and an 8×8 above his floor toms which are 16×16 and 16×18), a 16×22 bass drum, four crash cymbals (a 15″ thin and three Zildjian A customs – 15″, 18″, and 19″), a 8″ splash cymbal, 15″ New Beat hi-hats, a 20″ China High, a 22″ K Constantinople medium ride, and a 22″ riveted swish knocker. Chamberlin’s drumheads are Remo coated Ambassador on snare-side, clear Emperors on tops of toms with clear Ambassadors underneath, with a Powerstoke 3 on the bass drum batter. He uses Zildjian cymbals and Vic Firth 5B sticks. His signature snare drum is popular with other drummers – Chad Smith has been known to use it as a second snare drum.
On the 6th of April, 2011, Chamberlin announced that he had switched from long-term drum manufacturer Yamaha to Drum Workshop. He has ordered a custom “prototype” Copper Lacquer Specialty with Chrome Hardware. The Shells are a ply combination of VLT Maple and Mahogany with no reinforcement hoops. The kick drum hoops are Solid Black Lacquer. The sizes are 5×8, 7×10, 8×13, 10×14 rack toms. 14×14, 16×16 floor toms. 16×22 kick and with a matching 5.5×14 snare and a stainless steel 6.5×14 snare.
You can go and check out Jimmy`s different drum set-ups here. HELLSYEAH!
Other Projects
- * 1998: The Last Hard Men (The Last Hard Men) (limited release 1998, reissue 2001)
- * 2003: Mary Star of the Sea (Zwan)
- * 2005: Life Begins Again (Jimmy Chamberlin Complex)
- * 2010: Great Civilizations (Skysaw)
Guest appearances
* 1994: She Knows Everything (remix) (Medicine)
* 1997: Starjob (The Frogs)
* 1997: Boom! Boom! Boom! (The Kelley Deal 6000)
* 2005: TheFutureEmbrace (Billy Corgan) (appears on “DIA”)
* 2006: Gone (Bill Madden)
* 2006: Help Yourself Charlie Paxson (appears on “C.Y.T”)
* 2010: Not From Here (Gannin Arnold) (appears on “Not From Here” and “Get On with It”)
* 2010: Metro: The Official Bootleg Series, Volume 1 (appears on “Freedom”)
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Jimmy Chamberlin Signature Drums Vol. 1 – 24-bit Drum Loops.
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Here`s to Jimmy Chamberlin, a true Drum God!!
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Chamberlin
Nice
Posted by DREVPILE | January 23, 2012, 7:55 pm