Canadian Musician - November/December 2018

tends to have wide rhythm, leaning more on key downbeats than creat- ing a deep-pocketed feel. Control is more important than ever, because the trap kit is by far the loudest thing on stage. You have to go to great lengths to play quietly. Each show is a personal rollercoaster. I have to be more focused on what I am doing than ever, because every night you have a new orchestra that is playing this music for the first time. You feel a swell of pride at the body of work, and a sense of awe at the collective sound when the band and the symphony come together. CM: Is there anything technical you’ve been working on lately, or that you’d like to start working on in order to further improve your playing? ZAC HANSON Hanson SJC Drums • 20-in. Kick Drum • 16 -in. Floor Tom • 13-in. Rack Tom SJC Custom Black Beauty Replica Nickel-Coated Brass Snare Zildjian Dark K Cymbals • 20-in. Ride • 18-in. Crash • 16-in. Crash • 14-in. Hi-Hats LP Black Beauty Cowbell CM: What’s the most recent piece of gear you’ve added to your set-up and how did it earn the spot? ZH: I only recently switched from a 22-in. kick to a 20-in. and it has been a game-changer. Not only do I like the sound of a small, tight kick drum, its smaller size means everything can be closer together. That means a more centered, flatter-angled rack tom and the cymbal stands have more room to play with as well. CM: Your latest album String Theory, recorded with an orchestra, is an interesting and ambitious project. Tell me about the process of adapting music to this unique musical setting, particularly from a drum perspective? ZH: To create String Theory, we started with a story. We broke the 54 • C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N arc down into pieces and gave each piece a word like “dream- ing” or “building” or “fighting.” As for song choice, we could have picked from our most popular songs, or the songs that already lent themselves to a symphonic arrangement, but we wanted it to be more than a set list; it needed to be a new work. We opened the floodgates and looked at every Hanson song ever, from the “big- gest” to the unfinished, and what we ended up with was an eclectic mix of classic Hanson combined with brand new songs and deep cuts, all chosen because their lyrics help tell a bigger story. Building the arrangements was unlike anything we had ever done. Everything had to be broken down to its key parts and then reimagined with the symphony as an integral part of the sound. The trap kit has a very unique place in the process because no orchestral instrument can really fill its role. As a producer and more directly a drummer, the task was finding the balance of playing as little as possible while keeping your finger on the pulse of what made the song compel- ling in the first place. CM: How are you finding the experience of performing with an orchestra for the live dates? Do you have to adjust your playing or parts in any significant way to maximize the musical synergy? ZH: Playing live with an orchestra is difficult. It’s a real clash of style and culture. From the standpoint of drumming, the symphony ZH: Being a left-hander, mixed dominance has always been an issue. I kick a soccer ball with my right foot, throw a baseball with my left hand, play guitar right-handed, but play drums left-handed. Yeah, I’m a mess! When I practice lately, I have been thinking about how to develop more independence between limbs. MÉLISSA LAVERGNE Belle et Bum, Papagroove, Lady Beats, Various Artists Moperc Custom Cubano Series Congas Moperc Custom Cubano Series Bongos Moperc Timbales Sabian 8-in. Chopper Sabian 10-in. Chopper Sabian 16-in. HHX Evolution Crash Sabian 20-in. HHX Evolution Ride Vic Firth American Classics 5A Vic Firth World Classic Conquistadors Vic Firth GEN1 Rollers Vic Firth T1 Generals Vic Firth RUTE505s Roland Handsonic HPD-20 Traditional djembe

Canadian Musician - November/December 2018 | Page 54