Jon Fedorsen

I started KitDynamo in 2007.

At that time I had been working quite steadily repairing drums and percussion instruments around the Greater Toronto Area, as well as spending a great deal of time on the road touring with several bands. I was playing a custom wood hoop kit that was made for me just over a decade earlier and it was about time to get something new to fit the changing sounds of music I found myself being immersed in.

Don't get me wrong, my old kit was great. It sounded considerably better than anything my compatriots were using, and here are a few reasons why:

It was made from only the highest grade of select North American Maple.
The shells were thin.
The shells kept round without the need for muting reinforcement rings.
It was built with exquisite bearing edges allowing the drum heads to vibrate freely.
The snares were fitted with deep snare beds that made the drum less ringy.
The drums were shallow in depth and could be tuned extensively in different ranges.

I had a rack full of toms at 8", 10", 12" with a sweet ol' 14" suspended floor tom that sounded a full size bigger, and a sturdy 20" kick that recorded beautifully. But I just needed an update. The music I was now playing was making the wood hoops a poor choice for tone and durability, and I needed a deeper snare and a 22" kick to cut in the mix. I also wanted something more inspiring than the brown bubinga finish my old kit sported. My only problem was that my old drum maker had recently retired, leaving me in new-kit limbo.

How the search for better drums turned into full-blown odyssey.

So I decided to start a drum search. I had a pretty great advantage: I was playing drums steadily at a huge Ontario Casino. At every show I could choose to play any of the plethora of top-end kits they had in stock back-stage. You name the major brand, they had them. And in no time, I was able to try each and every one of them to see how they stacked up. I was even able to compare cymbal and drumhead manufacturers. It was one of the main factors we now use EVANS drumheads and PureSound strainers exclusively on all of our drums.

Back to the drum kit test: the problem had become quickly evident. I found these all to be nice kits, but they were just that. Nice. As if their main goal was to be inoffensive. Safe. Playing these drums, I immediately felt as if I was being held back.

I also felt that, although these drums were made by different companies, they were all made in almost complete carbon copies of one another. They all sported the same dimensions: 10x9", 12x8" toms, 22x16" kicks, and 14"x5.5" ringy snares that seemed to require lots of taping. Air holes always drilled in the middle of the drums. Poor snare wires, and awkward throw-offs. Shallow beds and clunky die-cast lugs.

They even looked similar, with aforementioned clunky hardware and boring finishing options; sparkle fade this, giant logo that, with bearing edges that muted deep drums and made smaller ones ring more, with wood species that just didn't come close to the sound of my old North American maple kit.

Why I needed to start Kit Dynamo.

So what happened next seemed only natural. With my years spent playing, repairing and tuning drums of all makes and sizes, I decided I would take matters into my own hands. I assembled myself a quaint workshop, sourced out the best materials available and got to work.

I took the best features of all the drums I had played in my lifetime and put them all together. It took time, but eventually I got it right. Drums that sounded better. Looked better. Felt better. Drums people felt an inherent connection to as soon as they laid eyes on them.

Light weight, superior wood, with edges that let the drum sing. Deep beds, larger tuning ranges, better shell intervals, and sound-controlled edges that made microphones cook and looks that could kill from front-row-centre to the back of the club.

I paid attention to the little things: air vents that weren't always simply placed in the centre of the drums. Turned, single point lugs. Better hoops. Better drumheads. Better strainers and wires. The highest grade finishes, all hand sanded and buffed to a ripple-less mirror-shine that most big name companies were no longer willing to do – look at the reflection in your big name kit, and you'll see what I mean.

I needed to make drums that weren't simply clones. Drums that could cut and evolve with the ever changing tones of today's music and radiate an energy all their own. Great in the club. Great in the studio. Great at home. Drums that were true dynamos.

We definitely do things a little differently around here.

I am very proud of the work we do. The sounds we bring you, the looks we can achieve, the quality of the materials, the fundamental designs, our musical philosophy; it is all these things that make Kit Dynamo drums stand out with a personalty all their own.

Our players don't rest on their laurels, and neither will we. We promise we will always be looking to make things even better, so stick around, we're just getting started.

--Jon