EARLY "PERC ADDS"

Soon after I had acquired the initial six-piece Tama Imperialstar kit, I began adding percussion items to experiment with. I had listened to a lot of music featuring various instruments that greatly expanded the typical "drum-and-cymbal" sounds, but had not quite figured out creative ways to incorporate these gadgets into my setup. Here is an old photo of some early "perc adds" that I placed on my left-hand side for lack of better ideas: a set of Temple Blocks, a rack of cowbells and a single triangle.

Temple Blocks were cool-sounding wood blocks, but they were extremely fragile and subject to deterioration. In other words, they were definitely cool but not for long. They broke, rotted and fell apart rather quickly. Nowadays, however, Latin Percussion manufactures modernized plastic versions called "Granite Blocks" that sound better, project better and last forever. They also make other individual blocks that come in various colors and sizes: Jam Blocks, Sambago Bells, Blast Blocks, etc. Check the LP Website for their current offerings and audio samples of each.