Vic Firth Short Take: Abe Laboriel Jr.

We couldn't resist... Here's a little teaser for our upcoming performance feature with Abe Laboriel Jr. It's so fun to watch this guy play!

[BDizDaBest]

Love this guy. A blast to hear and watch play.

[FazMaTaz]

One of my favorite drummers. Powerful and funky.

[Hawiianlion]

I started playing drum 4 years ago, this was the first video I watched when I got my kit, and it changed me.

[SirPhoenix]

i presume he has moved his bass drum to the left, so he can be free to place the big tom where he wants..am i right?

[tobydrum]

Dude, didn't know you could organize the drumset that way...i'd love to try that out...

[donandannieu]

The best thing about being a drummer is you can set up your kit any freakin way you like...as long as it's functionally playable. Guitarists and keyboard players can't say that. Check out other unique setups being used by Dony Wynn w/ Robert Palmer, Mickey Hart with the Dead, Micky Dolenz with the Monkeez, Bill Bruford, and there was a German drummer playing with Falco in the 80's whos kit had cymbals where the toms usually are and the toms up where the cymbals usually go. Have fun kids...

[bandfromtheband]

This guy is a monster! He's so smooth, so accurate and incredibly talented! And he plays my favorite cymbals! Listen to the different tones of those Paiste cymbals. He picked an excellent batch, both dark and light.

[theminardiparty]

Abe makes drumming a spiritual journey. Wow.

[TotoTom]

I do it aswell, I came up with the idea when I ordered my double pedal and forgot to say I was a lefty. I put the kick drum by my right foot and used a right footed pedal, played the secondary pedal as the main pedal and gave me so much more room for the toms, they could all be lower and closer together.

[iLoveAltNation]

That is such a smart idea with the pedal set up!

[louisroberts]

Love how hard dude hits!!! Listen to his snare get progressively lower and lower as he wails on that 6 oclock lug...Jesus fuck

[jazzydrums]

never heard a snare drum detune in one sitting like that

[juanignacioarenas]

Increible, el tipo le baja el tono al tambor con un par de golpes nomas. Que bestia! Crack

[bobomchobo]

Another reason for the setup is that if you're a right foot dominant drummer it'd easier for your right to deal with the lag inherent in a slave pedal and have the left foot on the master pedal.

[WhyTheHorseface]

I know you posted this almost a year ago, but.... it's so his gigantic toms and bass drum can be positioned comfortably. The space is filled with the bottom of his rack tom (which is the size of many people's floor toms) and he can put his giant floor tom closer to the rack tom. He couldn't get them that close and still use a gargantuan bass drum.

[spigots]

He was having problems with posture, back pain and just general ergonomic issues with the traditional set up

[SineQuaNonBand]

Why does he have his kick drum on the left??

[ochocabra]

I don't have a problem with the wacky setup, but if it was mine I'd put the floor tom right in front of my right foot and make kind of a rack/floor/snare triangle thing. then I'd fill the empty floor tom space with a fucking gaggle of percussion.

[handidrummed]

Watching him now with Paul McCartney and he's set up righty again. I wonder if his back problems are solved.

[sickofthebulldodo]

Killing for a while I would assume so I ran a 14 rack it was designed to be a floor tom on a Tama Road Pro stand. Sometimes it just was distant and couldn't get just the right setting. With that kit I'd be real tempted to throw another kick drum and just sits at Big Baby right in the center of the two kicks Ron cymbal stands out of each Kick or just get a rack for god sakes just to kicks a huge center rack Tom two juicy floors 2002's. The snare turned off obviously so the Tom's can sing with the total warmth and boom that they do and my God do they ever probably one of the best sounding kits all together I've heard.