We recently caught up with Calhoun at a Living Colour show and chatted with him about the gear he’s using on tour to support the band’s latest release, Shade. His Mapex Saturn series kit is outfitted with some new prototype heads. “I’m experimenting with Evans’ Red Hydraulics,” Will says. “They allow me to smash the drums in a big room without having too many overtones.”

Calhoun explains the reasoning behind his tom sizes. “I like to have a 2″ spread between drums, because it allows me to cover a lot of genres—jazz, rock, funk, metal, and so on.

“My snare has a 6×13, 2.3 millimeter brass shell,” Will adds. “I wanted the brass to be thinner so I could get a nice ring, but it’s not too much. I decided to go with that size because I can still play loud but not have too many overtones.”

Explaining the recent addition of an 18″ HHX Evolution crash to his setup, Calhoun says, “I was looking for a crash that was still bright, like a 17″ AA, but I wanted a little bit of a dark dive after you hit it. The HHX Evolution has a nice bell and a good crash. I’m also using Calhoun Mad Hats. The bottom is a lot heavier than the top. It’s a thicker sound, so I’m able to cut through the volume of the rock guitars and bass while at the same time having some subtle dynamics to play jazz, funk, and hip-hop.” Advertisement

Calhoun concludes by talking about one of his favorite pieces of equipment. “The original Wavedrum is one of the most intelligent electronic percussion instruments ever built,” he says. “You can go in and make this your own electronic dream sound piece, which is what I’ve done. Of all my electronic gear, this is what I’m most attached to.”