Visual kei news
V系ニュース

News Interviews Comments

Translation: Megaromania's drum design

Author
inartistic

おかむら准备室 (okamura's preparation room) is the blog of AKI OKAMURA, the head graphic designer for Matina and UNDER CODE PRODUCTION. OKAMURA's latest entry is about her creation of custom drum heads for Megaromania, and she has graciously given me permission to post a translation here!

Affixing a band logo to bass drum heads <cut> ![][1]

Recently, Megaromania drummer 邑诗-yushi- asked me to put a design on his drum heads. I'll try to write out the process I used, for anyone who's curious. This a “do it yourself” project.

※ This entry was written in September of last year, and I have received permission from 邑诗-yushi- to post it.

★ Supplies needed ★

  • Drums: 1 set
  • Cutting sheets: sheets of colored adhesive material
  • Masking tape: 1 roll
  • Others: razor, ruler, scotch tape, cutting mat, etc.

★ Step 1 ★

  • First, create your design. It's best to do this in Illustrator, so we can print it out and use it as a pattern later. Consult with your favorite drummer to come up with the design. ![][2]

Do a design check with the drummer via email. Since the drumset is more than 1 m away from the audience, make sure the design looks good from far away. Don't focus on too many small details, as they will be hard to see from far away in the dark livehouse. ![][3]

★ Step 2 ★

  • Create a pattern by printing out the lines of your design from Illustrator. Print 2 copies at full size (actual dimensions of the drum head). For the first copy, make sure that each piece of paper contains a whole section of the logo or design. ![][4]

For the second copy, include the drum maker's logo and cut the whole thing to fit the round shape of the drum head. We'll use this pattern later. ![][5]

★ Step 3 ★

  • Use scotch tape to firmly affix each of the pattern papers to a colored adhesive vinyl sheet. ![][6]

★ Step 4 ★

  • Use your razor and carefully cut along the pattern. Be careful with your pressure; you must use enough pressure to cut through the pattern and the colored adhesive sheet below, but not the backing of the adhesive sheet. ![][7]

Be patient and careful as you cut around the pattern. Roll up and discard the portions that you cut away. In fact, you will end up discarding most of the colored sheet! This seems wasteful but it can't be helped. ![][8]

Let's do this pattern as well... ![][9]

It's finally done. ![][10]

★ Step 5 ★

  • Put strips of masking tape over the entire sheet. Leave a small margin at the top of the sheet so that we can peel it off later. Overlay the edges of each strip so there are no gaps (when done correctly, it resembles a mummy). ![][11] ![][12]

★ Step 6 ★

  • Clean the drum heads. During lives, they may get sticky from duct tape being used to secure microphones in them. (If your drum heads are brand new, you probably don't need to do this.) ![][13]

★ Step 7 ★

  • Using the second pattern you printed earlier, align it with the logo of the drum company (Pearl or YAMAHA, for example). ![][14]

★ Step 8 ★

  • Take one of the colored adhesive sheets (the ones we cut out and applied masking tape to) and, using the round pattern sheet as a guide, align it to the correct position. ![][15]

Once aligned perfectly, temporarily secure it to the drum head using a few strips of scotch tape at the bottom of the sheet. ![][16]

At the top of the sheet (where you left a margin without masking tape), lift the masking tape a bit and fold that bit of paper under. Then firmly press the exposed masking tape to the drum head. ![][17]

★ Step 9 ★

  • Now that the masking tape has been firmly affixed to the drum head, you can start to remove the paper backing of the colored adhesive sheet. Slowly peel the paper backing away while simultaneously flattening the masking tape layer to the drum head. Be careful to smooth out any air bubbles. ![][18]

Afterward, the colored portions should be stuck to the drum head. Carefully peel away the masking tape layer, and the colored design should remain behind. ![][19]

If the design goes a bit over the edge of the drum head, it's OK to tuck it under, as it will be hidden by the frame of the drum. ![][20]

By the way, you might have to hold it down as you do this to keep it steady. ![][21]

Use a ruler to make sure that the logos are at the same level on both drum heads. ![][22]

That's all there is to it!! ![][23] ![][24]

Please give it a try! You can even peel up the old design when you get tired of it and put a new one. You can also easily change just the band name. (It might be ill advised to use too many colors, though.) </cut>

Thanks again to AKI OKAMURA for writing this post! View the original entry here.

[1]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-01.jpg [2]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-02.jpg [3]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-03.jpg [4]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-05.jpg [5]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-04.jpg [6]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-06.jpg [7]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-07.jpg [8]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-08.jpg [9]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-09.jpg [10]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-10.jpg [11]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-11.jpg [12]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-12.jpg [13]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-13.jpg [14]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-14.jpg [15]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-15.jpg [16]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-16.jpg [17]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-17.jpg [18]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-18.jpg [19]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-19.jpg [20]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-20.jpg [21]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-21.jpg [22]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-22.jpg [23]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-23.jpg [24]: http://weloveucp.com/uploads/2012-07-22-Megaromania-24.jpg

Comments
コメント

Commented anonymously. Add a handle name, or register, below.
コメントは匿名で投稿されました。以下、ハンドルネームを追加するか、登録してください。
No comments yet.
top