A note from Pat:
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Rather than the usual links (which are at the bottom of the page) & headings, I thought it might be useful to give you a bit of back ground on the gear I use & why. The gear we choose to use as as players is one of the most important decisions we make because it helps us with our sonic identity & it helps us develop our sound as we progress, not to mention everything else that goes with it. Equally, the relationships we build with the artist relations teams & the brands are super important, and of course it goes without saying that you need equipment that is reliable, well made, available, affordable and that when you're touring and working internationally that the right equipment can be procured for whatever you need it for, e.g. it needs to be available & the brand needs to have presence in different territories.
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For example, SABIAN I've been using since I was 15, in fact I've still got the very first SABIAN cymbal I ever bought when I was 16 years old, a 20" AA Rock Ride. I have tried other cymbals over the years, but I've never found anything that really compares to what SABIAN have to offer in terms of their range or artist relations.
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REMO were the heads that just happened to be on the first drum kit I got when I was 12. I was able to tune & play them with ease & I've used them for so long that I know exactly how to get what I want from different head combinations live or in the studio, so I've always used them.
VIC FIRTH I've used for nearly 15 years, I was with Vater for some time before that but I wasn't happy with the stick weights I'd get sent, & VIC FIRTH have always been incredibly consistent.
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Deciding to work with NATAL Drums was in a huge part swayed because it meant I had the opportunity to work with George Frederick & that was enough for me. George is a legend in the international drum community and because NATAL are part of Marshall, their approach - and his - to artist relations is old school, which is rare these days & it matters, and the rest of the team at NATAL are also incredible to work with.
With sE Electronics I'd had a pair of their legendary RN17's for years (part of a collaboration between sE Electronics and Rupert Neve), which are incredible microphones, & when I tried out their V-series mics & a few others I was blown away by what they were doing, so I got in touch & it went from there. sE have always been incredible with live support too, something that's really important when you're on the road.
Roland are the global industry leaders & industry standard for electronics where drums are concerned & I've been with them for many years. Their products are always at the cutting edge & they're also a great team. I was lucky enough to work with them on a small project a few years back as well.
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Protection Racket soft cases are for me the best on the market, I've used them for decades & Deano & his team are incredible to work with.
DYNASTY U.S.A: at some point during the time when I was studying with the great Bob Armstrong, he pulled out this high tension marching snare drum one day & it was a double marching DYNASTY drum in what was at the time the livery of the Blue Devils (a very famous American drum corps). A few years later he passed it on to me - I was touched. It's an awesome drum that I take to masterclasses, guest teaching sessions & use in my own private teaching. They make amazing products, check them out.
In terms of tactile monitoring & Porter & Davies, a respected local professional drummer (local to me, we both live/lived in Brighton), Dill Davies (along with Tim Porter) started developing & making this tactile monitoring system so I tried it out & immediately signed on the dotted line. They're now global leaders in this technology & have many truly great players on their roster.
I was first introduced to ACS by a drummer called Leo Crabtree back in 2011, who at the time was playing with The Prodigy, I've never looked back & in fact it was only in early 2025 that I was fitted by the team for a new set of IEM's for our Ozric Tentacles tours.
A great drummer called Andy Gangadeen - (in fact it was his then Tech, Tom Simister who was also a student of mine at the time) that in a roundabout kind of way put me on to these E-PAD Practice Pads. Ed Eblem of E-PADS is the original guy that was using this material way back before it became hip, & they're the best of their type.
I first came across Bill Sanders Practice Pads when I was fist invited to teach at BIMM in 2008. They had rows of them. They're a hard pad practice pad & he does a great range of pad products, so good that they haven't changed for decades.
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So, there you have it, a bit of background & perspective. Click on any of the images below & you'll be taken to either my artist page or the companies website.