Virgil Donati on Influence, Innovation, and Mastering the Craft

Who were your major drumming influences early on?

Billy Cobham was a very influential drummer with the explosion of the fusion scene in the mid-70s, and a pivotal drummer in my early days. It was a combination of Billy Cobham and Steve Gadd. It’s hard to really pick one. I would also include Terry Bozzio and Vinnie Colaiuta. They were all big influences and inspirations in those days. It would be unfair to just focus on one because I didn’t really focus on one. I just soaked in as much as I could from all these guys. They had such unique voices and helped shape my ideas. Drumming was evolving so fast at that time, and they all had something very important to add to the drumming vocabulary. I would listen, transcribe, and play along with them, trying to give the music my voice. With time, it then eventually became my own thing. I wasn’t explicitly trying to copy them, but I was learning from them. I’d always adapt and take what I learned from them and find a way to express it, and not necessarily play what they played, but just being inspired by the ideas and the creative powers.

Rim Shots on the Toms!

I love rim shots on toms when there is a need to express dynamics at various extremes. The rim gives it the feeling of more intensity, but that attack you get is also beautiful. I love that combination.

Clear Emperors to Ambassadors

I switched to Ambassadors when I went into Simon Phillips’ Studio to record the Moon Baby’s record about 20 years ago. I was still playing Premier drums at the time, just before I switched to Pearl. We went in, and Simon was engineering the record, and we were getting sounds, and he said, “You know, we should try some ambassadors here. It might give it a little more life, a little more purity.” I was open to trying anything at the time. And I said, “Yeah, let’s put on some ambassadors,” and never looked back.

Pulse Drumsticks

Pulse drumsticks are my new signature stick with Techra. Techra is an Italian company based in Italy. They are made of a very high-grade carbon fiber. My choice to go away from wood was not because I don’t think wood’s great. It’s beautiful. It’s a natural material. It feels great. It was more inspired by the need for consistency of feel. Because wood can vary from stick to stick, it can vary from batch to batch, along with the weight and density of the wood, and that can be frustrating. The more sensitive your hands become over the years, the more you feel like you need to have something that’s consistent and feels good. The touch, which comes with time and a deep connection between the stick and the drum, is why the consistency of the carbon fiber sticks is so important.

Are you rehearsing to a click?

Yes. The material we will play on this tour is about 50-50 click and non-click tracks. We’re playing some pretty scary stuff, and it’s a useful tool. We’re living in a digital age, and we’ve got tools at our disposal that our forefathers’ musical fathers never had. Who knows what they would have done with it? But it’s at our disposal, and we use it if it can help us. It gives me an option to also insert certain elements that might be part of a recording or something that we can’t actually play, like loops or sound effects or something, so I have some of those in there and a couple of keyboard things when everyone’s soloing and we still need that support of some harmonic support, and that’s it. On our first tour, I was the only one with a click. It was remarkably tight. I mean, they can do it without, but as we’re evolving, and they’ve got in-ears now, they feel we should have it to ensure we’re locked in.

Taking care of yourself…

I’ve got my little strategies that I’ve developed over the years. I use certain supplements to help readjust, like melatonin and magnesium. Magnesium is a good nutrient for the muscles and body processes. It also has a calming effect, so taking a dose before bed can have a profound effect. I also eat real food. It’s important to read labels and look at what you’re taking in. It’s not like I need something else to be occupied with – researching diet and nutrition – but it’s an important part of our life. So it’s wise to invest a bit of time in it.

Full Documentary HERE!