Hey, Cliff. Finally got around to listening to these two files, and here's my response: The Signatures sound great, but nowhere near as open and alive as the Designers. If that weren't enough (for jazz I would have thought it would be), I know that you are close miking your drums, and as such the difference between them is equalized: the Signatures are at their best, while the Designers lose all that fat shimmer in the room.
Knowing where "Jack D" went after his round with Signatures, I'd have thought that his version of heaven would be found in closer proximity to the orbit of HiLites or Designers, but maybe Jack got confused somewhere.
Noted that your playing style is different from one kit to the other. The Designer clip is characterized by quicker sticking patterns. I know you cut down your 12 to speed things up, but is the speed differential still true between the two kits? One thing I know about Signatures is that they are slow to respond, which would seem to me to be a drawback in jazz or swing performance, but I'm not certain, when looking back at my twenty years with Signatures, whether their slowness was more a function of the tuning, heads, and sizes of my kit.
Nice playing, and thanks for posting the files.
