thewashingmachinepost




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pearson cycles greg coulton illustrates s/s baselayer

pearson greg coulton s/s baselayer

though you may lower your opinion of me by way of this admission, it's not that often that i consider the interiors of my drum shells. deliberations can be long, procrastinated and ultimately futile when time comes to choosing the exterior, ostensibly to impress upon an often less than interested audience, an inherent knowledge of the percussive portion of modern music. it would be foolish of me to deny that the vintage marine pearl finish-ply on the larger of my two drum workshop sets, is in homage to gene krupa and buddy rich. my exterior choice was also based on the fervent hope that this iconic finish might also bestow even a small portion of the musical ability displayed by either or both of the above.

pearson greg coulton s/s baselayer

so far, that has not materialised.

the smaller of the two drumsets features the same maple finish both inside and out, offering a more neutral stance when swing morphs to bop. but due to my traditional stance when it comes to drumset playing, the white-coated remo drumheads obscure the interiors from view. the exception would be both bass drums, which feature clear batter-side heads, but due to their positioning down below, their interiors are all but obscured from view.

until the mid 1950s, all drumheads were made from calfskin, rendering them fully opaque both top and bottom. not much altered when remo introduced the plastic drumhead, but more recently the bottom resonant head is most often transparent. if the drumset is on a riser, or the stage is several feet above the floor, only the less than interested audience might perceive the interior of at least the rack tom, and the logo screen-printed on the underside of the crash cymbals.

pearson greg coulton s/s baselayer

prior to my dw ownership, i possessed a british hayman drumset, the interiors of which were painted white, presumably taking their lead from america's ludwig drum company, who had long featured a similar interior finish. the gretsch drum company opted to paint the interiors of the snare drums at least, with a much sought after silver finish, something they still apply to several of their contemporary products. in the uk, the premier drum company once featured a resonator drumset in their range; these contained a secondary, very thin shell which sat against the top and bottom reinforcement rings, creating an interior resonating sound space which was promoted as providing additional volume, though i think it may have been more of a hope than a reality.

pearson greg coulton s/s baselayer

drum workshop varnish the interiors of their snare drums, but leave both toms and bass drums untrammeled by any specific coatings. you'd probably have to ask them why. when i was more of a newbie to this aspect of percussion, advice was usually to inspect the interior finish and wood-type; invariably this would alert the unwary individual, such as myself, to the real quality of the drumset, no matter the sheen displayed on the exterior shell.

while the foregoing might well appear to be wholly irrelevant to the intrepid velocipedinist, there is a corollary when considering the ubiquitous baselayer that the majority of us take very much for granted. i have several baselayers in the top drawer that are of a particularly mundane colour, predominantly on the basis that nobody but me will ever see it. i have an eyewateringly bright cycle jersey with a colour pattern based on a traditional african design, that can probably be seen by the astronauts on the international space station, but even if i leave the zip undone to my navel, few, if any, of my baselayers would give cause for concern in a brightly-lit branch of currys/pc world.

pearson greg coulton s/s baselayer

there's probably a good case for commencing a university doctorate on why baselayers remain entirely unremarkable, but there's nothing in the rulebook that says it always has to be that way. greg coulton is a designer, illustrator and typographer for whom the phrase 'the devil is in the detail' could probably have been invented. his work is meticulous throughout and can be seen on pub signs, book covers, drinks bottle labels and magazine covers. and, adding to the above, we can now include a pearson cycles baselayer.

pearson greg coulton s/s baselayer

produced entirely from recycled materials, pearson's maintain that this limited edition, polyester/elastane short-sleeved garment (which feels more like cotton) could also be worn as a t-shirt, a claim with which i'd be loathe to argue. however, while there's a certain frisson to wearing the baselayer 'neath even the plainest of cycle jerseys, i seriously doubt i'd have the chutzpah to adopt the t-shirt notion within my relatively straight-laced circle of friends and acquaintances. islay's considerable distance from and combined with a lack of knowledge about london's richmond park might excuse my total ignorance of the names emblazoned on each of the sleeves. further investigation indicates that these refer to the names of deer inhabiting the park. who knew?

pearson greg coulton s/s baselayer

so what would be the point of decorating a garment that only i and mrs washingmachinepost will ever witness? well, in my estimation, it parallels the drum shell interiors. my vintage marine pearl 14" x 6" jazz series, cherry wood snare drum, sports deeper than usual reinforcement rings and that varnished interior. nobody listening knows any of this; but i do. and, trivial though it may seem, that's exactly the point. when out cycling at the weekend, i know that i'm wearing a state of the graphic art baselayer underneath. it won't make me go any faster and i won't win any prizes, but...

pearson's greg coulton illustrated short-sleeve baselayer is available in sizes ranging from small to xxl at a retail price of £45.

pearson greg coulton illustrates s/s baselayer

monday 22 june 2020

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................