- 16 minutes ago
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On this episode of DTB’s “Gear Masters”, Matt Mingus, drummer of the rock band, Dance Gavin Dance, shows off the gear that he uses onstage, while on their 2026 North American headline tour with The Fall of Troy, Horse the Band, Wolf & Bear, and Novelists. Dance Gavin Dance is currently supporting their newest album, Tree City Sessions 3.
PLAY THE SAME GEAR:
DW Collector's Series Drum Kit (20" Bass Drum, 10" Rack Tom, 12" Rack Tom, 16" Floor Tom) - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/xJON0y
DW 14"x10" Black Badge Snare Drum - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/QY06V6
Remo Vintage Emperor Drumheads - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/rER2jD
Remo Emperor X Coated 14" Drumhead - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/QY06R6
Remo Powerstroke 3 Clear 20" Bass Drumhead - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/9V2JbE
Zildjian A Custom 14" New Beat Hi-Hats - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/GbEZr2
Zildjian K Custom 18" Cluster Crash - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/VOg6oj
Zildjian K Custom Dark 10" Splash - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/PzB62R
Zildjian K Custom Dark 19" Crash - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/gRJWyX
Zildjian A Custom Hybrid Trash Smash with Inverted Bell - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/oNVyQW
Zildjian K Custom Dark 22" Ride - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/AgBEqa
Zildjian Oriental 12" China Trash - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/E02ZQD
Zildjian Oriental 16" China Trash - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/n4g2DM
Zildjian Zil-Bel - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/bk5mRM
DW 9000 Double Bass Drum Pedal - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/OYzmGP
DW 9000 Hi-Hat Stand - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/3kYdbn
DW 9000 Series Hardware - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/X4WXQ3
Vic Firth American Classic 3A Drumsticks - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/B5B2DJ
Roland SPD-SX PRO Sampling Pad - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/MKmqGY
Ableton Live - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/6k7gBm
DW Airlift Drum Throne - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/OYzm6P
VIDEO INFO:
Film Date - May 15, 2026
Location - Riviera Theatre in Chicago, IL
KEEP UP WITH DANCE GAVIN DANCE:
Facebook - https://facebook.com/DanceGavinDance
Instagram - https://instagram.com/dancegavindance
TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@dgdtheband
Twitter - https://twitter.com/DGDtheband
FOLLOW US:
Website/Email List - https://www.digitaltourbus.com/#/portal/signup
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/digitaltourbus
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/digitaltourbus/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@digitaltourbus
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/digitaltourbus/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/digitaltourbus
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/digitaltourbus/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-tour-bus-llc
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/user/digitaltourbus
VIDEO SUMMARY:
00:00 Introduction
00:36 Skip Intro
01:07 Drum Kit
03:05 Share Drum
04:18 Cymbals
09:27 Drumheads
10:24 Hardware
10:54 Drumsticks
11:10 Electronics
12:02 Throne
Buy official DTB merch at http://digtb.us/merch
On this episode of DTB’s “Gear Masters”, Matt Mingus, drummer of the rock band, Dance Gavin Dance, shows off the gear that he uses onstage, while on their 2026 North American headline tour with The Fall of Troy, Horse the Band, Wolf & Bear, and Novelists. Dance Gavin Dance is currently supporting their newest album, Tree City Sessions 3.
PLAY THE SAME GEAR:
DW Collector's Series Drum Kit (20" Bass Drum, 10" Rack Tom, 12" Rack Tom, 16" Floor Tom) - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/xJON0y
DW 14"x10" Black Badge Snare Drum - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/QY06V6
Remo Vintage Emperor Drumheads - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/rER2jD
Remo Emperor X Coated 14" Drumhead - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/QY06R6
Remo Powerstroke 3 Clear 20" Bass Drumhead - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/9V2JbE
Zildjian A Custom 14" New Beat Hi-Hats - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/GbEZr2
Zildjian K Custom 18" Cluster Crash - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/VOg6oj
Zildjian K Custom Dark 10" Splash - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/PzB62R
Zildjian K Custom Dark 19" Crash - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/gRJWyX
Zildjian A Custom Hybrid Trash Smash with Inverted Bell - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/oNVyQW
Zildjian K Custom Dark 22" Ride - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/AgBEqa
Zildjian Oriental 12" China Trash - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/E02ZQD
Zildjian Oriental 16" China Trash - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/n4g2DM
Zildjian Zil-Bel - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/bk5mRM
DW 9000 Double Bass Drum Pedal - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/OYzmGP
DW 9000 Hi-Hat Stand - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/3kYdbn
DW 9000 Series Hardware - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/X4WXQ3
Vic Firth American Classic 3A Drumsticks - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/B5B2DJ
Roland SPD-SX PRO Sampling Pad - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/MKmqGY
Ableton Live - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/6k7gBm
DW Airlift Drum Throne - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/OYzm6P
VIDEO INFO:
Film Date - May 15, 2026
Location - Riviera Theatre in Chicago, IL
KEEP UP WITH DANCE GAVIN DANCE:
Facebook - https://facebook.com/DanceGavinDance
Instagram - https://instagram.com/dancegavindance
TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@dgdtheband
Twitter - https://twitter.com/DGDtheband
FOLLOW US:
Website/Email List - https://www.digitaltourbus.com/#/portal/signup
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/digitaltourbus
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/digitaltourbus/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@digitaltourbus
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/digitaltourbus/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/digitaltourbus
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/digitaltourbus/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-tour-bus-llc
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/user/digitaltourbus
VIDEO SUMMARY:
00:00 Introduction
00:36 Skip Intro
01:07 Drum Kit
03:05 Share Drum
04:18 Cymbals
09:27 Drumheads
10:24 Hardware
10:54 Drumsticks
11:10 Electronics
12:02 Throne
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00But one thing it doesn't come with is this beautiful picture of Will Swan.
00:04It took me, you know, a few years to figure out like,
00:07oh, I don't need to like beat the crap out of these things.
00:36Hey, what's up, guys?
00:38It's Matt Mingus here from Dance Gavin Dance.
00:41We're out on tour promoting our new live album, Tree Cities 3,
00:45along with our previous album that came out, Pantheon,
00:48that we never had a chance to tour on.
00:51We're on a long U.S. tour with Fall of Troy, Horse the Band,
00:56Wolfenbear and Novelist, so if this comes out and we're still out on the road,
01:02because it's a very long one, come out and see us and enjoy the show.
01:07All right, so these are my drums on this tour.
01:10I kind of switch it up a lot of tours, but I'm a DW artist,
01:14so it's always going to be a DW kit.
01:16This is my classic series kit from them.
01:21They use, on these, it's mahogany and maple shells, a hybrid,
01:30and these kits were originally produced to kind of replicate the sound of like a 1930s,
01:371940s, and 1950s drums, which is kind of odd to use that in our genre of music,
01:46but we've always kind of been outside of the box, so I saw these.
01:50I wanted to try something different.
01:52I got them made, and they sound beautiful.
01:54They're really punchy.
01:58The heads that I started using with them are the Vintage Emperors,
02:03and I like those a lot because they have a pretty dampened sound naturally.
02:09They're a little thicker, and we get some longevity out of them.
02:13I'm not having to change them every two shows like I might maybe for just regular emperors,
02:20so I've been really enjoying those, and we tune them a little higher on this tour normally.
02:28I've always had my stuff tuned kind of low, but on this tour,
02:31we've been cranking them up a little bit, and they sound beautiful.
02:35I use a smaller kick drum.
02:37This is just a 20-inch, and it's really punchy.
02:41Our front of house guy loves it because he has a lot more control over it than just a 22.
02:47So this is a 10-inch, 12, 16.
02:53Those are the sizes I've always used as long as I've been playing drums.
02:56So I've never changed there.
02:58I've always done two up, one down.
03:00I briefly switched over to having one rack and one floor for a couple tours,
03:04and it just wasn't enough.
03:04Snare!
03:06All right.
03:06So on this tour, I love this snare.
03:09This is DW with a black badge.
03:14It's an older one.
03:16It's a 14 by 10, a massive guy.
03:20We went in and recorded a new album that's not out yet.
03:25It's coming hopefully at the very beginning of 2027.
03:29But I rented a couple snare drums, and one of them was a 14 by 10.
03:34And I was like, oh, I got to get one of those for my collection.
03:36So I found this older one, and I was shopping on reverb because I wanted something kind of
03:44a vintage DW, which was only back to like the 90s.
03:48But I found this, and I put it in my car, and I kept shopping.
03:54But then I went back, and I read the description for this, and it was in the Ukraine.
04:00So I was naturally like, oh, man, I got to save this snare drum and bring it back home.
04:06So I messaged the guy, and I ended up getting it, and I saved her.
04:12So now she's got a new life.
04:14She's out on the road doing what she needs to do.
04:17So I play Zildjian cymbals.
04:19I've been a Zildjian artist for years.
04:21Love them.
04:21They're my favorite.
04:22That's like a dream come true for me since I was a child to be playing for them.
04:27I kind of switch up a lot of my cymbals.
04:29I switch up my hi-hat.
04:32This is just an A-custom 14-inch new beat.
04:36I love those.
04:37They're just punchy.
04:39You can't go wrong there.
04:41And then I got this Cluster Crash 18-inch K-Custom.
04:48And it's just got a nice, really kind of pristine, clean, higher-pitched cymbal for some more of the quieter
04:58and punchier parts.
05:00And then the good old splash cymbal K-Custom, just a little 10-inch.
05:07I love my little effect cymbals.
05:10I do often change those out and do different ones depending.
05:15But I've really been digging this little K-Custom.
05:20I think it's in the Dark series.
05:24Yeah, it's the Dark Splash.
05:27But that thing sounds really cool.
05:29It's got a nice, it's not too, like, high-pitched and, like, silly-sounding.
05:34I like it a lot.
05:36And then probably one of my favorite cymbals of all time that Zildjian's made is the 19-inch Dark Crash
05:43K-Custom.
05:45It's just a really good cymbal.
05:47I get a lot of life out of it.
05:50You know, I used to, like, break cymbals and go through them.
05:53And it took me, you know, a few years to figure out, like,
05:56oh, I don't need to, like, beat the crap out of these things, like, to get the best sound out
06:01of them.
06:02So I'm able to make them laugh.
06:04And I learned, you know, the freaking, like, karate chop technique to keep them spinning around.
06:08So I get good longevity out of these.
06:12And, again, it just sounds excellent.
06:14This is probably, I don't know, one of my more unique cymbals.
06:20And I actually got this.
06:22It was an accident.
06:23They sent me the wrong one.
06:24And I was like, oh, I kind of like that.
06:26But it's the Custom Hybrid Trash Smash with the inverted bell.
06:33Pain in the ass to pack up in the case.
06:35But it's worth every headache that it gives.
06:39It's just a cool cymbal.
06:40It's just really unique sounding versus a lot of the trashes where this kind of sustains more
06:48and has a nice ring to it.
06:52And, again, another one of my favorite cymbals.
06:56It took me a long time to – I've played a ton of different rides and crash rides.
07:03And it took me a long time to find this guy.
07:05This is the Custom Dark Ride 22-inch K-Custom.
07:10Again, I love this cymbal.
07:12It's just like the 19.
07:14I get a lot of longevity out of it.
07:16And it just sounds nice.
07:17The ping, it's got a washy ping to it.
07:20And I can still crash on it and really rock the thing.
07:24And it just all around sounds good.
07:27The bell sounds good.
07:28It's an amazing cymbal.
07:32Then over to kind of more of my effects land.
07:35Again, I'm swapping these guys out all the time.
07:40Whenever we record, I use multiple different Chinas and stuff.
07:44But this tour, I've been liking this combo with this 12-inch Oriental China.
07:53Just a little guy.
07:54Just for a little punchy little effect sound.
07:58It's kind of fun.
08:00And it sounds really cool in tandem with the 16-inch Oriental.
08:08And like going back and forth on those.
08:10I don't know.
08:11It just kind of – it adds some texture.
08:14And they sound different enough that it's a good combination.
08:21And then probably the newest thing that I added to my kit.
08:24I added this on at the last tour.
08:26But the Zill Bell.
08:29And I don't know.
08:30I was just like kind of – there was this like time when we toured early on.
08:35And a lot of those like metal bands and stuff, they were using these a lot.
08:41Like right before the breakdown, the bell hits and then it kicks in.
08:44And I never got into it then.
08:46And then I don't know why out of the blue, I was like, you know what?
08:49I'm going to try and incorporate that.
08:51And I watched some other – another artist play.
08:55And he used a couple of these.
08:57And I was like, that's kind of cool.
08:57So I found a way to kind of insert it.
09:00And I don't know.
09:02It's neat because I'll go back and forth between just the regular bell on my ride.
09:07And then this.
09:08And it just adds, again, more texture and layers to some of the more quiet parts.
09:13And, of course, I got to take it back.
09:16So there's a couple of parts where a breakdown is about to hit and I hit the bell.
09:20And, you know, it's homage to our genre of music.
09:24So, yeah.
09:25So that's my cymbals.
09:27And for my drum head on my snare, I use Emperor X coated.
09:33I've been using these for a long time.
09:36Another one that I do like a lot is the controlled sound.
09:40But these, I don't know, they're – again, they get just like the Vintage Emperors.
09:45They get a lot more longevity.
09:49And they just have a nice – you could crank them if you want a real poppy sound.
09:54You could let it a little loose if you want a deeper, more full body sound.
09:58It's just a nice versatile head.
10:00On the kick drum, I use a Power Stroke 3.
10:04Good old-fashioned P3 Clear.
10:06They sound great, punchy.
10:09Again, they last long, you know.
10:11And when we're out here on the road, that's a lot of kind of – not only am I looking
10:16for stuff
10:16that sounds good, but I want stuff that lasts, you know.
10:19Because it's expensive to be a drummer these days.
10:22All right.
10:23And then for my pedals, DW9000s.
10:27I think technically the double pedal is 9002.
10:31Love them.
10:32I've been playing them forever.
10:33You can't go wrong.
10:35Like, they're just amazing, smooth.
10:38And then for the hardware, it's also all DW.
10:43All the 9000 hardware, 9000 hi-hats, and all the way around.
10:51It's DW.
10:52And for drumsticks, I use Vic Firth's 3As.
10:58Some beautiful customization here.
11:01Thank you, Vic Firth.
11:02And I have been playing these for 20 years.
11:07Love them.
11:08Lastly, here, this is the Roland SPD-SX Pro.
11:16Love this thing.
11:17It's fun.
11:18You can program anything on it.
11:20It comes stock already with tons of sound options.
11:24But one thing it doesn't come with is this beautiful picture of Will Swan.
11:29So, not only do I get to look at him on stage in front of me, but he's always on
11:33stage next to me watching me.
11:35And then this is for our playback.
11:39This runs to a computer that runs Ableton.
11:42I can switch through, have control over the songs, play them, stop them.
11:46That's all the click track and whatnot.
11:48And then this is our very, very backup.
11:51And for some reason, Ableton crashes.
11:53We have all of our clicks and tracks ready to roll right here on iTunes.
12:00And then this is my throne.
12:03This is my comfy seat.
12:04It's a hydraulic DW airlift throne.
12:08I love it.
12:09Again, it's really comfortable.
12:12Super easy to adjust.
12:14I don't know if you're like me.
12:16I'm really picky where I sit, so I, you know, I measure it.
12:20I know the exact height of it, where I want it, just in case someone accidentally hits that switch.
12:25All right, guys.
12:26Well, that's my drum kit.
12:27Thanks for checking it out.
12:29Please come and see us on tour if you can.
12:31Check out our live album, Tree City 3,
12:34and keep your eyes and ears peeled for our new full-length record
12:37that's going to be dropping next year.
12:59We'll see you next time.
13:01We'll see you next time.
13:02We'll see you next time.
13:04We'll see you next time.
13:05We'll see you next time.
13:06We'll see you next time.
13:06We'll see you next time.
13:07We'll see you next time.
13:09We'll see you next time.
13:10We'll see you next time.
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