Streaming live concerts is the wave of the future, and Relix Studio in New York City has been at the forefront of this movement with their weekly live streams. Many world-class bands have come through the studio, streaming their live performances on Twitch.tv amid the pandemic and a growing interest in virtual shows.
Jump ahead to find out why professional touring drummers and engineers are falling in love with WTS drums:
The Relix / WTS Partnership
The Relix Channel is the largest music-streaming platform on Twitch with 39,800 followers and 2,358 subscribers. Relix Studio has produced over 75 Twitch streams with an array of artists from American Idol runner up scarypoolparty to up-and-coming indie acts such as flipturn, and newly formed supergroup Taper's Choice, featuring Chris Tomson, the drummer of Vampire Weekend.
Since the beginning of 2021, Relix Studio has been using WTS drums as their house kit. Featuring the revolutionary WTS single-point tuning system, WTS makes it incredibly easy to access the full tuning range of the instrument without picking up a drum key. As a result, the options for creativity and drum tone are at their peak.
This new functionality and incredible drum tone has not only improved the sound quality of every performance but has allowed touring drummers to feel at home on the house drums in a matter of seconds, something that has never been possible on any other brand of acoustic drums. WTS drums have proven themselves as reliable, great sounding drums with unmatched versatility, and professional touring drummers are taking notice.
Relix Studio's Producer Talks WTS Drums
Relix Studio Producer and Head of Audio, Jesse Lauter, speaks highly of the studio’s WTS house kit:
“There’s the famous saying, “a band is only as good as it’s drummer.” Well to spin off that, I like to think a studio is only as good as its drum kit…. and without a doubt, the Welch Tuning Systems kit has become one of our prized possessions at the Relix Studio, blowing the minds of drummers on a regular basis.
When we started the Relix Sessions on Twitch, building the first only exclusive streaming concert venue in NYC, I knew we needed an amazing house kit, and by divine intervention, we met Sam and the Welch Tuning Systems family and have been blessed with a WTS Artistry Series since the beginning.
We’ve have the most watch[ed] music channel on Twitch and host bands on a weekly basis, so we get a variety of drummers through our studio, with limited sound check time. So we not only needed a backline kit that is versatile but is easy to tune and able create beautiful tones on the fly. With the WTS, we got that and then some.
Every drummer that has come through our studio has used our WTS kit over their personal kits, and some have even gone as far as to get sponsored by WTS.
With our mixes and productions, me and my engineer are easily able to achieve incredible drum tones on the fly and so much of that has to do with this incredible set.
Sam and WTS have truly changed the game and have made our lives easier and full drum gooey goodness. Pay. Attention.”
- Jesse Lauter
Producer | The Relix Sessions on Twitch
General Manager, Head of Audio | The Relix Studio
The Reviews Are In: Professional Touring Drummers Love WTS
Touring drummers have been thoroughly impressed with Relix Studio’s WTS house kit. Many have noted the exceptional tone of the drums, the innovative WTS cable tuning system, and overall quality of the instruments.
Testimonials have been shared by Alex Coté (Mikaela Davis and Southern Star), Jake Goldbas (John Splithoff), Grahame Lesh (Midnight North), David Butler (Andy Falco), Collin O'Brien (Neal Francis), Ryan Wood (Kendall Street Company), Alex Wooley (New Madrid), John Morgan Kimock, and many more!
Read all of the WTS reviews at wtsdrums.com/awards-and-reviews! In the meantime, here's a dive into the reviews from Relix drummers:
"These drums were so fun to play! I've never experienced anything quite like them. I could change my tuning during a song if I wanted to. They seem like they could be the ultimate drums for backline on a festival stage. Each drummer would be able to dial in their preferred tuning in seconds."
- Alex Coté (Mikaela Davis and Southern Star)
"Really nice to be able to change tuning between songs with ease and minimal effort. Drums sounded warm in any range. Absolutely fantastic."
- Jake Goldbas (John Splithoff)
"…WTS makes it quite simple and easy to target and test (and repeat) until you’ve reached a perfect tension and sound for each drum. Definitely a time saver for pre-show tuning - while also opening up the opportunity for quick changes in tuning mid performance … Love the tone! Love the tuning system! …"
- Graham Lesh (Midnight North)
"Cool innovative method. Very cool to be able to tune so easily. You could almost completely customize your drumset between songs."
- David Butler (Andy Falco)
"[WTS] is amazing, nice and thuddy when I want it to, you can play one song like Bonham and then tune it up within seconds to go to Max Roach territory and just crush it. It’s amazing, can’t get enough."
- Taylor Jones (Maggie Rose)
[Keep reading reviews or skip to the next section: Watch the WTS Drums Live at Relix Studio.]
"From the first time I played a WTS kit I was hooked. I find the tone of the drums to be incredibly inspirational and am still blown away by how fast I can dial in the exact sound I am looking for. They also look quite stunning up on stage!"
- Ryan Wood (Kendall Street Company)
"I really really liked the kit. I’ve seen them online, I follow a drummer online named Steve Pruitt who is one of your endorsers and he’s always talking about Welch Tuning Systems so it was nice to finally use them. I think it's one of the most innovative tuning systems for drums I’ve ever seen, so I really hope the company does well, I hope to see more of them in future and hope I get to play on them more in the future."
- Dan Weiss (Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio)
"...I was immediately impressed by the clever pulley-like design holding the tension on the heads. When it came time to tune the drums I instinctively went to grab my drum key then laughed, remembering the single source tuning system and was pleased with the tones 45 seconds later."
- Jeff Mann (Consider the Source)
"What a treat to play the WTS kit at our Relix Studio Livestream session! The innovative one-point tuning system made my prep for the show a breeze and the drum tones themselves were clear and buttery at every pitch I explored. Plus this kit just looks really cool. I might just have stumbled on my next dream kit!"
- Doug Schneider (Dude of Life)
"I was actually well impressed with the kit [at Relix Studio]. When we were playing the songs, because they have different tonality on the snare that I like depending on the song, for this particular setting to be able to just turn the knob so quickly without having to tune it, that was one of the best features for me. I really like the depth of the kick, the tom and the snare and it was quite different but I love the fact that you can do everything so fast. Excellent job on your part."
- Brady Blade (Reverend Shawn Amos and the Brotherhood)
"I had an awesome time playing [WTS at the Relix Studio]. I thought it sounded fantastic. Honestly my favorite part about it is we just rolled in, we were coming from New England, I sat down and I literally turned the key on the tom like twice and was like ‘oh nice that’s the pitch I want.’ It really made life a lot easier for quick turnovers and stuff like that so I really dug it a lot."
- Tim Carman (GA20)
"It was the first time I’ve ever used [Welch Tuning System] and the thing that stood out the most was how easy it was able to make a foreign drumset feel so comfortable so quickly. I’m so used to showing up to a venue and playing a backline kit and getting a set of sounds that I can work with but don’t necessarily feel comfortable about because it takes so much time to get the right tunings out of the drums, having the Welch Tuning System was just so easy and convenient it cut out so much of the time and allowed me to feel comfortable and ready to play a gig as soon as possible."
- Josh Greenzeig (Melt)
"I thought it sounded amazing. It was so easy to get my toms to the tone I wanted. It was really easy to marry them. Super comfortable and easy to play. Sometimes new kits are hard, this one felt like home pretty quick."
- Collin O'Brien (Neal Francis)
"I mean, its an amazing kit. I would say that sometimes with a house kit you walk in the room and it needs a lot of work, sometimes it needs very little, but this one needed no work. It just sounded great out of the box, I honestly didn’t touch it. I just put maybe a little bit of muting on it just to take a ring out or two and that was it."
- Tim Kuhl (Jounce)
"I loved [WTS], it sounds great, super responsive to all sorts of dynamics and really friendly tuning, it was a pleasure to play that kit."
- Jonathan Smith (Ariel Posen)
Watch the WTS Drums Live at Relix Studio
Relix Studio performances are streamed for FREE on The Relix Channel on Twitch. Tune in and subscribe to the channel here: twitch.tv/therelixchannel .
Catch up on past performances from Relix Studio and more here!
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