“Carter has played Recording Custom since the beginning,” says Beauford’s longtime drum tech, Henry Luniewski. Regarding the new Recording Custom kit, Lunieski says, “It’s awesome. It comes with thinner shells and heavier hardware, which gives you a different mass-to-resonance ratio. And it’s a lot more dynamic, with lower lows and higher highs.”

In terms of his massive array of cymbals, Carter says, “I use a lot of different cymbals because there are times when I want to sound just a little bit different from the night before. I’ll use certain cymbals to make my job easier and to project the sound I’m looking for. Then there are nights when I don’t need all that power, and I choose something else to allow the song to breathe.”

When asked about the microphone setup, longtime DMB monitor engineer Ian Kuhn says, “We chose mics that aren’t coloring the sound of the kit. They pick up the natural sound, but they’re also durable. We’ve experimented over the years, but we keep coming back to the same things. We use DPA microphones exclusively on the toms. They’re expensive, but we bought them twenty years ago and haven’t had to replace them. They sound great and color the sound very little.”

Gear Talk with the DMB Road Crew

Drums: Yamaha Recording Custom in Solid Black finish

A. 7×13 Dunnett titanium timbale

B. 15×15 floor tom

C. 6.5×14 Ludwig Alex Van Halen signature rosewood snare

D. 8×8 tom

E. 9×10 tom

F. 10×12 tom

G. 12×14 tom

H. 14×16 floor tom

I. 7×10 Pork Pie mahogany snare

J. 18×20 bass drum Cymbals: Zildjian

1. 10″ FX Spiral Stacker on 18″ A Custom EFX crash

2. 20″ A Custom Flat Top ride with 6″ A Custom splash stacked upside down

3. 19″ A Ultra-Hammered China

4. 21″ K Crash/Ride

5. 14″ A New Beat hi-hats

6. 8″ K splash, 6″ Zil-Bel, and custom bronze bell

7. 18″ K Dark Medium-Thin crash

8. 10″ A Custom splash

9. 19″ K Dark Thin crash

10. 6″ A Custom splash stacked on 8″ K splash

11. 6″ A splash over 8″ K Custom Dark splash

12. 14″ K Mini China

13. 21″ A Ultra-Hammered China Sticks: Vic Firth Carter Beauford signature model