When I was in high school, I played a battle of the bands at a friend’s school. What never occurred to me until the middle of the show was that I had forgotten the most essential piece of gear that a drummer could have. Not the snare, not the bass drum pedal...not even the cymbals. More important than that.

We loaded in that Friday night, hauling in the black and gold Gretsch drumset from the church where my friend and I both played. This was a pretty nice kit, and though more suited for jazz, it held up just fine for Sunday mornings (and the occasional battle of the bands at a nearby high school). In addition to the sleek drumset, we had a whole stack of the ZBT “rock” cymbals ready to go. I could always count on those cymbals to make enough noise. But as a precaution, we also borrowed the large, folding drum shield from the church as well. Hopefully that would win the battle with the ZBT rocks.

Myself, my friend (who played bass in the high school worship...