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On this episode of DTB’s “Gear Masters”, Zach Velmer, drummer of the instrumental band, STS9, shows off the gear that she uses onstage. STS9 is currently supporting their newest album, Human Dream.

PLAY THE SAME GEAR:
Craviotto Custom Drum Kit (14" Snare Drum, 10" & 12" Rack Toms, 14" Floor Tom, 20" Bass Drum) - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/xJyo9d
Bosphorus Stacker Cymbals with Rivets - https://guitar-center.pxf.io/enqj4D
Bosphorus Auxiliary Hi-Hats - https://guitar-center.pxf.io/VOZdma
Bosphorus China Stack Cymbal - https://guitar-center.pxf.io/E09AKe
Bosphorus Effects Cymbal - https://guitar-center.pxf.io/6kAzeV
Hammerax Snapshot Cymbal - https://tidd.ly/47Z7KeE
Hammerax Spanky Cymbal - https://tidd.ly/4ty5rYN
Bosphorus 18" Crash Cymbal - https://guitar-center.pxf.io/B5xkn1
Bosphorus 19" Crash/Ride Cymbal - https://guitar-center.pxf.io/yZyoqV
Bosphorus 20" Ride Cymbal - https://guitar-center.pxf.io/7XyKaA
Yamaha DTX Multi 12 Electronic Percussion Pad - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/qWAoz5
Nord Drum 3P Modeling Percussion Synthesizer - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/rEGWEQ
Yamaha Drum Triggers - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/k4zA4z
DW 5000 Series Bass Drum Pedal - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/aN5DNW
DW Hi-Hat Stand - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/Gbn1bV
Vater Zach Velmer Signature Drumsticks (7A-style, wood tip) - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/WO4EOP
Rock Tempo “Tempo Ref” - https://roktempo.com/

VIDEO INFO:
Film Date - December 30, 2025
Location - Ramova Theatre in Chicago, IL

KEEP UP WITH STS9:
Facebook - https://facebook.com/STS9
Instagram - https://instagram.com/STS9
TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@STS9
Twitter - https://twitter.com/STS9d

FOLLOW US:
Website/Email List - https://www.digitaltourbus.com/#/portal/signup
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Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/digitaltourbus/
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Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/digitaltourbus/
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Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/user/digitaltourbus

VIDEO SUMMARY:
00:00 Introduction
00:38 Skip Intro
00:55 Drum Kit
01:47 Drumheads
02:48 Cymbals
04:01 Electronics
04:39 Drumsticks
05:07 Throne

ABOUT DIGITAL TOUR BUS:
Digital Tour Bus is your backstage pass to your favorite touring artists! With daily video releases, we cover all genres, and have had the pleasure of featuring the likes of Matchbox Twenty, Twenty One Pilots, Megadeth, MGK, Papa Roach, AJR, Pierce The Veil, Simple Plan, A Day to Remember, and thousands of others over the past 15 years. "Bus Invaders" takes you inside an artist's home on the road, "Cooking at 65mph" showcases the culinary skills of artists on tour, "Gear Masters" unveils the equipment musicians use on stage, and "Stage Threads" dives into the meaning and i

Category

🤖
Tech
Transcript
00:00These drums stay in tune very well, so we don't change the heads that often.
00:05It has a break so that my sacrum can not be compressed.
00:09If Hunter plays a lick on the guitar, we'll pick up on it and we'll take it somewhere.
00:39Yo, what up? This is Zach from STS9. STS9's in Chicago for our New Year's run, 2025.
00:44I'm just going to give you a run-through of my kit.
00:46Cool, I play a Caraviato kit. They're out of Santa Cruz, California.
00:51I was good friends with Johnny Caraviato. I have three kits from him. This is my touring kit.
00:59Pretty Bugatti of a drum kit, to be honest with you.
01:03There's a proprietary thing that Johnny Caraviato used to do.
01:07He's since passed, but the team has kind of been continuing his legacy.
01:12They take one board and they steam it, and then they kind of cinch it together.
01:21Most drum kits are ply, but this is actually one piece of wood.
01:28I'm incredibly grateful to be playing this kit.
01:31I play a 14 snare, 10, 12, 14, 20-inch kick. Pretty shallow kick.
01:37And then I play a 10 and a 12 auxiliary snare.
01:40I'm endorsed by DW Hardware, endorsed by Bosphorus Cymbals.
01:46I use Evans heads.
01:49Depending on the room and depending...
01:52The drums are... These drums stay in tune very well.
01:55So we don't change the heads that often.
01:58The main snare gets changed the most.
02:01And it's not like every five shows.
02:04We just kind of... Me and TK, my drum tech, we gauge it.
02:08Just if the... How it feels.
02:11And their Evans resonant on the bottom.
02:15And yeah, man. Evans is... I don't know.
02:19I just... I love their heads.
02:22I like my drums a little drier for the resonance.
02:26We also have Roland... Actually Yamaha.
02:29Yamaha triggers on all the drums I'm triggering.
02:32As well as sending triggers and gates out to the front of house.
02:37Which is pretty cool.
02:39I have... I got a kick pedal.
02:42Yamaha kick pedal that's triggering some of the electronics as well.
02:46I'll start to my left.
02:48These are all bosphorus except the two hammer axes.
02:52These are just kind of like... Auxiliary percussion.
02:57My stackers are bosphorus with rivets.
02:59And then I have, you know, holes in that.
03:01And this is kind of just texture.
03:04With this, it's all texture to be...
03:08Ingrained in the rhythm of the drums.
03:10I have hi-hat. I have a china that's stacked.
03:12And it kind of creates this very electronic...
03:17You know, kind of feel that I'm able to have different sounds.
03:21And I think... Man, I don't know.
03:23This is a stacker. I think that's like a 6 and an 8.
03:27And a 6 and an 8. But they're different.
03:29And then I have rivets in this one.
03:30I believe this is a 12.
03:31This is a hammer axe snapshot, which is super cool.
03:36This is a hammer axe spanky.
03:38This is a 19 crash ride.
03:41I got a 20 crash... I got a 20 ride.
03:43This is an 18 crash.
03:45Obviously a bosphorus kind of effect symbol.
03:50Bosphorus EBC auxiliary hi-hats.
03:52So I can double.
03:54And then a bosphorus... I think this is 18 china stack.
03:59On my far left, I have a Yamaha DTX.
04:02This is more... I sample.
04:04So I have a whole bunch of my found-built samples that I load into this.
04:10And then I have this Nord Drum 3, which is an analog drum kind of percussion thing that I can
04:15affect.
04:16Has delay and all that. I mean, this has delay and stuff.
04:18But this is like kind of an analog drum...
04:21I wouldn't say synthesizer, but drum pad.
04:23So this is super cool.
04:25High quality.
04:26And this is really... I don't use really any of the Yamaha sounds.
04:29It's all my user presets of samples.
04:32And then I have a kick pedal going to the Nord 3 for auxiliary kicks and electronic kicks.
04:39I use... I'm endorsed by Vader.
04:41I have my signature drum stick, Zach Velmer.
04:43So Vader.
04:45It's kind of like...
04:47It's very simulated off of a...
04:50Kind of a 7A long.
04:52Wood tip.
04:55Amazing stick.
04:58And then...
04:59Once again, DW kick pedal.
05:02Endorsed by...
05:03And DW hi-hat stand.
05:04Endorsed by them for my hardware.
05:05I use...
05:07This particular throne.
05:10It has a...
05:11It has a...
05:13A break.
05:14So that my sacrum can actually not be compressed.
05:18Because I sit here for a long time.
05:21So that's pretty amazing.
05:23It's hydraulic.
05:26This is a...
05:27This is a really cool piece right here.
05:28This is called a rock tempo ref.
05:31So this monitors my tempo.
05:33Um...
05:34Which is...
05:34It's been absolutely a really amazing tool in the type of music that we play.
05:40Um...
05:40So it's...
05:41It's rad.
05:42It's actually really, really rad.
05:44That's...
05:44That's one of my favorite pieces that I travel with and everything.
05:49I have a couple of them because it monitors my tempo.
05:52Because we play...
05:53Um...
05:53A lot of the times we're playing to sequences and all that stuff.
05:56And so I can make sure that I'm in time.
05:58All the time.
05:59I can also make sure that I'm in time if we're not playing to a sequence or something like
06:03that too.
06:03So it's a really cool piece.
06:04So STS9Live, we...
06:06You know, Hunter...
06:07Hunter...
06:08Hunter's kind of station is...
06:10Um...
06:11Is kind of the brain of the whole operation.
06:14Um...
06:14He's sending...
06:16Uh...
06:16Click in MIDI.
06:17And everybody is kind of, uh...
06:19Connected in time with that.
06:21I am not like...
06:22Because I'm human.
06:23I'm playing to the click.
06:26So...
06:26Um...
06:27So that's kind of how it works.
06:28We, um...
06:29We all...
06:30And it's...
06:30It's...
06:31Not everything is in that...
06:33In that way where there's clicks.
06:35But, um...
06:36But that is...
06:37I make a lot of the communication to the band if we're changing, if we're not changing.
06:41And we all just communicate.
06:42It is a...
06:43It is a conversation.
06:45You know?
06:45We're...
06:46We're musicians.
06:47And just how we...
06:49Um...
06:49If Hunter plays a lick on the guitar, we'll pick up on it.
06:51And we'll take it somewhere.
06:52And if I'm playing a lick on the drums, it's...
06:55It's a very...
06:55It's a conversation.
06:56And we try not to talk over each other.
06:58And we just communicate together.
07:00Musically.
07:00Keep it...
07:01Keep it a really cool musical conversation.
07:04Hey, you guys.
07:04Thanks for watching.
07:05Um...
07:06And kind of going through my whole kit.
07:08Uh...
07:08STS9.com.
07:09And, uh...
07:10Come check us out on tour.
07:112026.
07:12Ciao.
07:15Música...
07:17Música...
07:22Música...
07:25Música...
07:31Música...
07:44Música...
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