François Comtois

At 3:49 in this video from Avedis Zildjian Company, Françiois mentions his use of the Pings.

Mentioned this November 2018 Drumhead Magazine article.

Drumhead had a chat with the band’s drummer, François Comtois, about a month before Mirror Master was released. (...) I endorse Zildjian, Vic Firth, Sunhouse and C&C—I love to play with the pallets that they’re able to create. For a really long time I was playing a maple/poplar/maple kit from C&C, and that’s the one I have at the rehearsal space right now. It’s really warm and beautiful, and it records well. On the last album I wanted something that smacked a little harder, so I ordered their acrylic Coke bottle green kit. I had been pining for that one for a long time. It looks so good under lights and there’s something so visually appealing about it, but more importantly it sounds incredible. That one is a 22” kick, whereas usually I play 20”. So being able to feel it through the sub, it’s a whole different animal. Cymbal-wise, I really love the K series that Zildjian makes. The K Sweet Ride is something I’d like to acquire. I tend to prefer darker cymbals, I think they’re set back and a bit more out of the way in the mix, which pairs with my philosophy for recording drums. Snares, I have a couple Black Beauties. I have a George Way, Dunnett chrome snare that’s based on a 1970s Black Beauty. The new Black Beauties are fine, and they do one thing really well, but if you play an old Black Beauty, you’re like ‘why don’t they sound like this anymore?’ This guy, Ross Garfield, who’s “The Drum Doctor” –He’ll supply us with a lot of extra pieces and comes and techs the drums. For the song we just put out, “Superposition,” we wanted that Clyde Stubblefield “funky drummer” sound, and Ross came with this sixty’s Gretsch, and he tunes it, and goes “Does that sound about right?” We barely had to do anything and I knew it was exactly “it.” But he turned me on to the George Way stuff, and said “If you really like the Black Beauty, and you want it sound like one but you feel terrible about bringing it on the road, try this one out.” And I’ve been super happy with it. I’m not a crazy gearhead, I don’t have a room of drums, though I wish I did."

Used on the bass drum for "Superposition (Reprise)", as is visible in this January 29, 2019 Instagram post by Young the Giant.

In this video from Avedis Zildjian Company, François talks about his Zildjian drum set, complete with Zildjian 14" A New Beat HiHats. François says at 3:11 "with the sound that we get on stage - there’s two guitars always blaring with all sorts of effects and reverb and stuff so what I love about the As is that they allow me to cut through that stuff and I get great definition."

At 3:50 of this video from Avedis Zildjian Company, François mentions his use of the 18" Ks.

At 3:40 in this video from Avedis Zildjian Company, Françios says "I like to mix and match, right now I have the Bounce Ride Constantinople 20” that I’m playing as a crash slash crash ride."

This Shure Beta 56A Instrument Microphone can clearly be seen in front of François at around 02:30 in the live performance source video from Pinkpop 2014.

Shure endorsed Young the Giant's Francois Comtois uses Shure's Beta 57A, according to Shure's artist page.

Listed for sale on Reverb.com.

From YTG: Great condition. No software included.

François Comtois of Young the Giant owned a Universal Audio 2-610 Dual Channel Tube Preamplifier, as listed on Reverb, described as being in near-perfect condition.

Sold on Reverb.com.

From YTG: In very good condition. No software included.

Sold on Reverb.com.

From YTG: We used these preamps in our LA home studio while we were writing and making demos for our second record, Mind over Matter. We had Sameer’s effected vocal, Fran’s SPD, and our synths recorded through these preamps. Marked Keys L and Keys R.

The one used by Comtois can be found here.

Sold on Reverb.com, along with the unopened ones of bandmates Jacob Tilley and Sameer Gadhia.

From YTG: In near perfect condition. Original packaging included. No software or plugins included.

Visible as a vocal mic in this photo from this November 2018 Drumhead Magazine article.

Mentioned this November 2018 Drumhead Magazine article.

Drumhead had a chat with the band’s drummer, François Comtois, about a month before Mirror Master was released. (...) "And I love electronic drums. Being able to incorporate them into how I play…I have a few drum machines, and I love to pick off the samples, make them myself, and run them through the SPD-SX or trying to figure out a way to incorporate them with acoustic triggers, which I’ve used in the past, but the technology nowadays allows you to map the drumhead. It used to be the trigger would react to a certain threshold, and now it maps the entire drumhead into different zones, and each zone can do something different. Different velocities will do something different. I was always jealous of guitarists and keyboard players who have all these crazy options at their fingertips, and now I see this area starting to be explored a little more with drums. You start to see the drums as more of an instrument that can just keep a beat, and it’s nice to have that flexibility. But I never want to become too dependent on trigger sounds. I know bands that use the exact snare sound from the record for each song, and I think that can sometimes be distracting to the player if you’re going for something that sounds alive and is dynamic. So there’s a line I’m trying not to cross, but it’s fun experimenting."

Mentioned this November 2018 Drumhead Magazine article.

Drumhead had a chat with the band’s drummer, François Comtois, about a month before Mirror Master was released. (...) I endorse Zildjian, Vic Firth, Sunhouse and C&C—I love to play with the pallets that they’re able to create. For a really long time I was playing a maple/poplar/maple kit from C&C, and that’s the one I have at the rehearsal space right now. It’s really warm and beautiful, and it records well. On the last album I wanted something that smacked a little harder, so I ordered their acrylic Coke bottle green kit. I had been pining for that one for a long time. It looks so good under lights and there’s something so visually appealing about it, but more importantly it sounds incredible. That one is a 22” kick, whereas usually I play 20”. So being able to feel it through the sub, it’s a whole different animal. Cymbal-wise, I really love the K series that Zildjian makes. The K Sweet Ride is something I’d like to acquire. I tend to prefer darker cymbals, I think they’re set back and a bit more out of the way in the mix, which pairs with my philosophy for recording drums. Snares, I have a couple Black Beauties. I have a George Way, Dunnett chrome snare that’s based on a 1970s Black Beauty. The new Black Beauties are fine, and they do one thing really well, but if you play an old Black Beauty, you’re like ‘why don’t they sound like this anymore?’ This guy, Ross Garfield, who’s “The Drum Doctor” –He’ll supply us with a lot of extra pieces and comes and techs the drums. For the song we just put out, “Superposition,” we wanted that Clyde Stubblefield “funky drummer” sound, and Ross came with this sixty’s Gretsch, and he tunes it, and goes “Does that sound about right?” We barely had to do anything and I knew it was exactly “it.” But he turned me on to the George Way stuff, and said “If you really like the Black Beauty, and you want it sound like one but you feel terrible about bringing it on the road, try this one out.” And I’ve been super happy with it. I’m not a crazy gearhead, I don’t have a room of drums, though I wish I did."

Featured in this Instagram post.

End of tour present to myself.. Time to drive @robertinha_do_rio crazy with my space opera

Featured in this Instagram post.

End of tour present to myself.. Time to drive @robertinha_do_rio crazy with my space opera

Used as tom mics for Young the Giant's Spotify Sessions, as visible in this April 21, 2014 Instagram post.

Werkin. #twerk #spotify

Visible in this June 25, 2013 Instagram post.

Used on Comtois' snare, as is visible in this June 25, 2013 Instagram post.

Killin that snare #sunsetsound #deadassdrums

Visible in this January 15, 2017 Instagram post.

Used on the Mind Over Matter Tour, as mentioned in this March 1, 2014 Mix Online article.

Drummer Francois Comtois’ kit has a Shure Beta 91A and Beta 52 on kick, Beta 57 and SM57 on snare, KSM 137 on hi-hat, and Beta 98AMP on toms, according to drum tech Colin “Gravy” Strahm. Cymbals are KSM 32s, and his vocal mic is a Beta 56.

Used on the Mind Over Matter Tour, as mentioned in this March 1, 2014 Mix Online article.

Drummer Francois Comtois’ kit has a Shure Beta 91A and Beta 52 on kick, Beta 57 and SM57 on snare, KSM 137 on hi-hat, and Beta 98AMP on toms, according to drum tech Colin “Gravy” Strahm. Cymbals are KSM 32s, and his vocal mic is a Beta 56.

Used live for the snare drum, as is visible in this May 30, 2011 photo of Comtois from the Young the Giant Tour and as stated by drum tech Colin Strahm in this March 1, 2014 Mix Online article about the Mind Over Matter Tour.

Drummer Francois Comtois’ kit has a Shure Beta 91A and Beta 52 on kick, Beta 57 and SM57 on snare, KSM 137 on hi-hat, and Beta 98AMP on toms, according to drum tech Colin “Gravy” Strahm. Cymbals are KSM 32s, and his vocal mic is a Beta 56.

Used on the Mind Over Matter Tour, as mentioned in this March 1, 2014 Mix Online article.

Drummer Francois Comtois’ kit has a Shure Beta 91A and Beta 52 on kick, Beta 57 and SM57 on snare, KSM 137 on hi-hat, and Beta 98AMP on toms, according to drum tech Colin “Gravy” Strahm. Cymbals are KSM 32s, and his vocal mic is a Beta 56.

Used on the Mind Over Matter Tour, as mentioned in this March 1, 2014 Mix Online article.

Drummer Francois Comtois’ kit has a Shure Beta 91A and Beta 52 on kick, Beta 57 and SM57 on snare, KSM 137 on hi-hat, and Beta 98AMP on toms, according to drum tech Colin “Gravy” Strahm. Cymbals are KSM 32s, and his vocal mic is a Beta 56.

Used on the Mind Over Matter Tour, as mentioned in this March 1, 2014 Mix Online article.

Drummer Francois Comtois’ kit has a Shure Beta 91A and Beta 52 on kick, Beta 57 and SM57 on snare, KSM 137 on hi-hat, and Beta 98AMP on toms, according to drum tech Colin “Gravy” Strahm. Cymbals are KSM 32s, and his vocal mic is a Beta 56.

Used as an overhead for Young the Giant, as stated by producer Joe Chiccarelli in this April 26, 2016 ProSoundWeb interview and this identical April 27, 2016 article by Manley.

“I have a Manley Gold Reference tube mic and two Reference Cardioid tube mics,” Chiccarelli relates. “The Reference Cardioid is my go-to mic for drum overheads. I’ve used them on drums in every session at Sunset Sound in the past three or four years. I used the Reference Cardioid on drums for Jason Mraz, Christina Perri, Alanis Morissette, Morrissey, Divine Fits, Young the Giant-pretty much anything I’ve done here. They are always my first choice for drums.”

Used for the hi-hats on the Young the Giant Tour, as is visible in this May 30, 2011 photo of Comtois.

Drummer Francois Comtois Doostzadeh [sic] of Young the Giant performs at Sasquatch Festival day 4 at The Gorge on May 30, 2011 in George, Washington. (Photo by Dana Nalbandian/WireImage)