GEAR REVIEW
BALDMAN PERCUSSION’S JUNK HAT | Alex MacDougall
KEY FEATURES
a sampled sound. One of the hallmarks of You can hear this approach in lots of R&B and
percussionists during the session era of the 60’s even some pop music from this era. Fleetwood
• Hi-Hat Stand Set Up and 70’s, was that many of their instruments Mac (Mick Fleetwood) and The Eagles (Don
• Multitude of New Sounds were handmade. That’s what gave each Henley) both employed this technique. Like this
drummer and percussionist their own unique approach, the Junk Hat can be played by itself
musical personality. But with the introduction of or along with drums.
• Lightweight and Durable
the Yamaha DX7 in the early 80’s along with
sampling technology most of that dynamic was
Smack it. Tap it. Stomp it. Swoosh it.
lost. The Junk Hat, Junk Hat 2.0, and Junk
Hat XL, are a rebellion against that tendency.
Imagine having another set of sounds in your Baldman Percussion’s Danny Young and Mike
drum or percussion arsenal that is lightweight McKee, both bald and both drummers, started
to carry and easy to set up? Add to that, thinking outside of the box a few years ago.
something that can provide a multitude of What would happen, if …? And they did it!
interesting sound possibilities and can be
personally customized using any player’s The Junk Hat provides a great alternative to
imagination? You can stomp on it, you can tap only using a snare drum or only using a hi-
it, you can smack it, and your foot can “dance” hat. Back in the 70’s, snare drum backbeats
on it. were often augmented using a tom. This was
done either by replacing either “2” or “4” with
One of the things that I love about this new a tom-tom or playing a tom along with the
offering is that it is organic in nature. It is not snare backbeat in order to “fatten” the sound.
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May 2020
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