Anika Nilles her regular Tama drum setup is the Tama STAR Bubinga. However, and this is the reason for this extensive article - during the Hoshino Tama VIP Meeting 2019 in the famous Wisseloord studios in The Netherlands, she played the stunning new Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch in the video below. The one with the lacquer Phantasm Oyster finish, as introduced at NAMM 2019. And she had some extra snares along side her as well. We made a video of the kit and the Meinl cymbals she has in her setup. Extra on video here are the three Tama S.L.P. snare drums she played, plus some Meinl videos. Let's check the details of this unique kit of a unique artist...
Note:
Anika doesn't allow any recordings of her clinics or shows, so we added some audio from Eddy Thrower playing the Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch in a Gear4music sound demo. Naturally, we added that video as well.
Anika Nilles' one-off Tama and Meinl setup at 2019 Tama VIP meeting
The Snare Drums Anika has three snare drums in her setup here, using a very low tuned S.L.P. Walnut 14x8" Limited Edition more like an extra tom than as a snare. Also featured below are her S.L.P. Dynamic Bronze and the S.L.P. Fat Spruce snare and drum kit demoed by Ulysses Owen Jr.
S.L.P. snare drums: Dynamic Bronze, Big Black & G-Birch
S.L.P. Fat Spruce In 2017 Tama launched the Fat Spruce snare in the SLP series. A year later they actually built a whole drum set from it. The Fat Spruce is quit a unique kit. The density of Spruce wood is high, which means it creates a fat sound with a real focused attack. It's rarely used on complete drum sets, which makes it quite unique.
S.L.P. 14x8" Limited Edition G-Walnut The Tama video below shows the 6.5" x 14" Walnut snare demoed by Joe Bergamini. It is constructed with an exceptionally thick 10-ply, 9mm thick 100% walnut shell. The use of walnut- known for its dark fundamental timbre - for this snare's thick shell, results in a deep tone with exceptional attack and cut. Imagine Anika playing her 14" tuned to the bottom.
Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch sound demo with Eddy Thrower (Gear4music)
Anika's Meinl cymbals We added some videos of Anika's Meinl cymbals below as well. A ✔ means the cymbal is in her setup in the video.
✔ Byzance Extra Dry Medium Ride 22" (1)
✔ Byzance Extra Dry China 20" (2)
✔ Byzance Vintage Crash 22" (3)
✔ Byzance Extra Dry Thin Crash 20" (4)
✔ Byzance Traditional Extra Thin Hammered Crash 18" (5)
✔ Artist Concept Model - Anika Nilles - Deep Hats 18"/18" (Signature stack from Anika) (6)
✔ 15" Foundry Reserve Hats* (7)
✔ Byzance Extra Dry Splash 10" (8)
✔ Byzance Brilliant Splash 8" (9)
Anika also uses these Meinls
Generation X Jingle Filter China 12" GX-12FCH-J
Generation X Filter China 14" GX-14FCH
* The picture above shows the 15" Pure Alloy Medium hi-hat which is in Anika's template in the Meinl Cymbal Set-Up Configurator. She actually played the 15" Foundry Reserve Hats, but these aren't available in the configurator yet.
Meinl 22" Byzance Extra Dry Medium Ride Cymbal - Played by Matt Garstka
Meinl 20" Byzance Extra Dry China Cymbal - Played by Chris Coleman
Meinl 22" Byzance Vintage Crash Cymbal - Played by Gabriel Harris
