Modern Drummer Magazine - Kit Of The Month Feature

Modern Drummer Feature ~ 
Kit of the Month 
I was very honored to have had my Lego Drum Set highlighted in Modern Drummer Magazines, January 2016 Issue's "Kit Of The Month" feature.  See above for the January 2016 issue and the feature that was highlighted. 

“I am always experimenting with objects of all kinds to create new sounds, colors, and textures,” Brian Melick of Ravena, New York, says. “With my son at a Lego BrickFair in Virginia, I watched two children and their parents build a very flexible creation with a limitless offering of Lego bricks, and it occurred to me that it was possible to create a fully functioning instrument that incorporates all the elements of a well-designed drum. I was totally inspired and up for the challenge. I had successfully created a few rattles and shakers, so why not a snare drum? 

“After I assembled the Lego drum shell—following a strict credo to honor the original Lego brick and not alter it in any way, therefore no cutting, drilling, or gluing—I completed it with conventional elements so that I could tune the instrument and also really play it. I was taken aback by its musical personality. It has a tight, dry texture, very woody sounding. The drum has found a permanent spot in all of my diverse setups.

“Then it only made sense to me to create a bass drum. I wanted to work with smaller, compact sizes and ended up with 16×16. When I tuned it up, mounted a pedal on the platform I created, and hit the drum, my mouth fell open. The kick has a powerful, warm, fat sound. I built a 10×10 rack tom and 12×12 floor tom, and I find that they sing in most every genre of music and react very well to all implements. I am now in the process of building a 14×14 floor tom to add a little low end. So I get to make another drum—and what bad could ever come out of that!”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Care to guess how many Lego bricks were used to make Melick’s four-piece kit?                                        Here’s your answer: 8,016.