DW USA "The Neil Peart Evolution Snare Drum Collection"

Hand-crafted in Oxnard, California by Drum Workshop in the year 2011. This official reproduction is compromised of a quantity of four DW Collector's Series Snare Drums in a Rush Evolution Road Case with wheels & clear plexiglas top.

Representing a Period of 15 Years in the musical history of Neil Peart and DW Drums, these for snaredrums demonstrate the evolution of the snaredrum as a musical instrument and as a visual statement of growing artistic ambition. Here are Neil Peart's comments on each one:

The Test For Echo Snare (circa 1995)

14x6" Laquer Specialty Edge Snaredrum - Red Sparkle High Gloss with Brass Hardware

The Test for Echo Snare (circa 1995) is a 14x6" Edge Shell, with a ten-ply maple center, drop style throw-off, standard butt plate, and brass-plated hardware. The red sparkle Finish was chosen to reflect my very first drumkit, a three piece Stewart outfit, vintage 1966. My parents bought it for me for $ 150, after I had taken drum  lessons (and practiced) for one year (the first songs I played on it were "Wipeout" and "Land of 1,000 Dances")

This style of Edge Snare was used for the Test for Echo and Vapor Trails recordings and tours, as wekk as the intruductional DWD, A Work in Progress, and the concert DVD, Rush in Rio. 

The R30 Snare (circa 2004) 

14x6" Exotic Edge Snaredrum - Black Mirra with holographic images

The R30 snare (circa 2004) is a 14x6" Edge Shell, with a ten-ply maple center (including a Curly Maple innermost ply) with a Delta throw-off, standard butt plate, and hardware plated in 24-Karat gold. The elaborate custom finish was created by Louie Garcia for Rush's Thirtieth Anniversary tour, painted in black mirra with holographic images of logos from Rush albums framed in outlines oh Chinese Red.

The Design was used for that tour, as well as the recording of the Feedback collection of covers the band recorded in 2004 to commemorate that event. It also appears in the instructional DVD, Anatomy of a Drum Solo, and the concert DVD, R30: Thirtieth Anniversary World Tour, filmed in Frankfurt, Germany.

The R30 Kit was on long term display at the museum of Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Columbus, Ohio, along with my "Ghost Rider" motorcycle.

The Snakes And Arrows Snare (circa 2007)

14x6,5" Exotic Ten-Ply Maple VLT shell - Aztec Red with "Ouroboro-Logos"

The Snakes And Arrows Snare (circa 2007) is a 10 ply maple VLT shell 14x6,5" with Delta throw-off, standard butt plate. and hardware plated in black nickel. The paint is Aztec Red, with "Ouroboros" logos from the album art in genuine gold leaf.

The introduction of the VLT (Vertical Low Timbre) shell was a major change for me. I had always used a variety of different snare drums in the studio, and even in live performance prefering the Edge model for indoor shows, and the Solid for outdoors, for example.

However, from the first time I played the VLT, it became "the one" for me, and has been used on every recording and performance since. The VLT snaredrum was more than an evolution, it was a revolution, a revalation, combining extremes of delicate articulation and assertive power under any playing conditions.

This visual design was on the Snakes and Arrows tour of 2007 and 2008, the accompanying DVD, Snakes and Arrows Live, filmed in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as well as the recording of "Caravan" and "BU2B" in 2010.

The Time Machine Snare (circa 2010) 

14x6,5" Exotic Ten-Ply Maple VLT shell - mahogany stain oververtical walnut with stained painted lines

The Time Machine Snare (circa 2010) is a 10-ply maple VLT shell 14x6,5" with a magnetic throw-off, 3-p butt plate, and True Hoop counter hoops. The hardware is copper plated, with raised copper-colored sprockets around each lug, while the finish is an elaborate combination of mahogany stain over a vertical walnut outer ply (for deeper tonality), with stave painted lines. The logos combine alchemical symbols in copper leaf and chrome.

The Design was used on Rush's Time Machine tours of 2010 and 2011.