Well, actually, it's more of a tip! tap! than a bang and a crash going on as I've taken delivery of my new Pearl drum kit with special super-clever 'near-silent' heads.

It was weird putting up a drum kit after all this time, but I was like a little kid at Christmas during the unpacking - "oh look! there's the hi hat pedal!", "wow!` check out the action on the bass drum pedal!" and "free sticks! wicked!"

The kit is a Pearl Traveler, which is specially designed for small spaces, silent practices and ideal for drummers who don't fancy lugging half a ton of equipment to a gig.

I've only had a half hour session on the kit, but it's definitely delivering on its promise of cutting down the noise. The wire mesh heads barely make a noise which means - joy of joy - that I can come in pissed late at night and play along to records on my headphones.

Now, lemme see if I can still do that 'ironic' heavy metal drumstick twiddling.....