Lexicon Devil

Nice and close to my bus stop too.

Please do. I'm quite interesting in your playing.

Private Message.

Shaping up to be a great gig.

A new guy to look out for is Benny Greb; ridiculous. I think there are some clips on the Meinl cymbals site.

Many people find the Z-customs to be of a terrible sound quality when played by themselves. Great live, terrible acoustic, or so I've heard. My wrists couldn't handle them either, I find even power crashes a bit too cumbersome and insensitive at times. To be honest, if you play metal you don't have to use heavy or large hats. 13"s are just as suitable as 15"s. Just try some out and choose; it's the only way really. However, since we're talking about hats, heavy will give you a very clean bright cutting sound. And many models are on the thick side anyway, therefore Z-Customs/Rudes may well be what you want, I hear the Rude Soundedges are stupidly versatile.

Good work Alan. Was it between the two Universities or something?

I too would be one to recommend the Foyer. We practice there regularly and have had no problems, in fact Dave and Steve are very helpful. At a price like that it's great going too.

In bad cases it can last a few days. Let this be a lesson and start using high earplugs at gigs or any place with loud music. Not only will the gig sound better but you'll feel better. The foam ones are cheap and very effective. I have used some others and found that in the likes of Moshulu, even they aren't strong enough to avoid ringing ears. Some venues seem to play music far too loud. You'll appreciate it long-term.

I take it you're going Calum?

I really want to go and see this. Aborted and Cryptopsy are both excellent, excellent bands.

I don't really feel it's fair to justify it as harsh. It evidently ha dto be done. Read the first half of that letter again, it appears to me as a bit of an emotioal appeal, building a feeling of sorrow for Tarja before talking about how unfair the letter was. It doesn't really explain her side of the story, it doesn't say why Tuomas was wrong or in what way their letter was incorrect, simply that she's upset and that they said mean things. It just comes across as a bit of a "feel sorry for me," letter to me. Only a third actually talks about the split directly.

Rest In Peace, most certainly a woman who deserves to do so.

Is Flo's DVD out yet? I heard November, if you know where it can be found on sale please tell me. I have heard a couple of tracks and quite like them, although the general consensus from most that I know is that Lord worm is terrible.

Dennis Chambers is very, very good.

They don't make them anymore. Hence my interest.

If it's really small, then go with the sawing off a length from the end and filing or the triangle method you suggested. I'd be weary of filling it with an unknown glue, it's probably just kill the resonance. On a sidenote, I noticed at the gig I saw you play you had a very nice Sound Formula Dark ride of some-sort. Where did you come by that?

Crockett's theme is excellent.

It all depends on the crack. If it's a tiny one near the edge you can hack saw off the crack plus a few mm extra and file the edge. You can cut a small triangular slice out of it and yet again file the edge, or you can drill. When drilling it you should always drill a fair bit away from both ends of the crack; the eye cannot see the ends of it, and drilling that bit further along will make sure you've got the end. If it's fucked you might as well give one of these a shot to see how it goes. You could always turn it into part of a stack or something.

The only real way to find the hi-hats for you is to go and play some of them. You can check out soundclips on: www.meinlcymbals.com http://www.beta.paiste.com/products/cymbals/default.php www.sabian.com www.zildjian.com While these don't truly reflect the cymbals' sounds, they will give a good indication, helping you narrow your search. Sounds like A-Custom Mastersounds Tav.

I really enjoyed the tune. Considering the circumstances, the recording was great too.