And it came to be that the drummers of the world did pass out of the first instalment of One Two Testing's deeply gear drum special and go thereon up to part two, and it was good. Last month, for the uninitiated, we reviewed more than 20 kits and snares, studied the legendary percussionists of rock and roll, and learnt about tuning. This month it's the turn of Mark Brzezicki of the Large Countrymen to discuss road maintenance (big shovel and plenty of tar), a Dateslate on the development of the drum kit, plus words on how to keep the sound of your kit balanced, and the best methods of miking. We wish to thank the very marvellous Mark Brzezicki, Andy Ducan, Geoff Nicholls and Dave Sinclair, and smile halfheartedly at Tony Bacon who got the whole lot working under the whip. Now beat it.

Big Country's Mark Brzezicki suffers agonising memories of maintaining his kit on the road... but he tells us anyway.

KIT

Tuning lugs should be oiled with sewing machine oil — check that there's some lubrication whenever you change a head.

• Treat the kit as a smooth-running engine. Look after it — you're totally reliant on those bits of wood and metal screwed together to see you through some very awkward situations.

• Get the right bits if something goes wrong — don't just gaffa up the stand or whatever, because it won't last five minutes. Most drum shops are really helpful if you take something in, and will give on-the-spot advice and share drummers' enthusiasm for drums. Always ask!

• It always makes me laugh when I see drummers who don't have a carpet, who chain their stool to the legs of the bass drum and so on. It's absurd. Use a carpet under the kit to check movement. It's obvious.

• Watch out when somebody offers to dismantle your kit after the gig, because it's amazing what you'll get dismantled. They'll change the snare drum height by collapsing the stand as small as possible, or undo the tension on the footpedal rather than undo the clamping wing-nuts. I've even had people taking my bass drum legs off my bass drum by unscrewing enough for them to come out in their hands — exploding springs. They're well-meaning, but it takes ages to get back to your set-up. If you do get someone to help, then lay down the rules. Be fussy.

And the same before the gig — if you're all set up and have some time to kill, don't let anyone touch the kit. You'll get some madman decide he's going to be Keith Moon for five minutes. Not only do they naturally move and adjust things to suit themselves, but there's wear on the heads too. A lot of damage can be done in five minutes of thrashing. Keep people away from your kit.

SNARE

A must for drummers on the road is to carry a spare snare drum set-up on a stand, tuned and soundchecked too. If your snare does go, you've got an immediate replacement at the right height and tension ready to go.

Carry a spare set of snare wires, too, just in case. You should carry a double of everything, ideally.

• Be careful with the packing of the snare drum. I carry four snares on the road, and some roadies have a silly mentality where they'll put a snare in a case and then try to get a small cymbal on top, too. My main snare is a Ludwig Black Beauty — the snare attachment is £20 a time and you can't get spares everywhere. So get a proper flightcase, and make sure the packing is thought out, not just a case of bunging things where they'll fit.

FOOTPEDALS

Carry a spare bass footpedal, adjusted, balanced and ready to play, and well oiled. And a hi-hat stand — I go through a lot. For some reason I'm heavy-footed on the hi-hat, it's my metronome for the whole kit. It's probably because the Pearl ones I use have a plastic link between the footplate and the centre rod.

HEADS

I use Remo Pinstripes at present, and wherever my roadie gets them, some are thicker than others, some even have an inherent crease in the moulding — so there seems to be a quality control problem. Even if you chase out those creases, you get a dull spot in the kit.

So when you buy heads, take them out of the plastic bag they come in and have a look to see that they're flat — something like a pool of water in effect — and have no kinks. Hold your hand on the head and rattle it to feel the thickness and natural tension.

• If I have a month on the road, with a gig every night and one night off a week, I get through about five gigs with one set of heads before I need change. But a snare drum head I only use for about two gigs. The toms actually sound nicer when the heads have worn in a bit, when they've lost the horrible overtones that new heads have, but something like the snare just sounds great with a new head.

When you're changing the head, take the opportunity to check that the rim of the drum is clean, that there's no stick dust inside, and check the bottom head which can be difficult to tune when the top head is on. Check the general internal condition of the drum when you have the chance, that there are no screws undone or any rattles from the damping (which, of course, no-one seems to use).

• People undo drum heads and take the hoop off, and the lugs fall off. So carry spares. If you do buy another tuning lug, make sure it's the same screw thread and length — they do vary. But always put the washer back — that'll help the drum stay in tune as the vibrations are absorbed by it.

STICKS

Quality control again. I can pick up a Pro Mark 5A, pick up another, and they're nothing to do with each other. One's like balsa wood and the other's made out of the middle of the tree — which is about it. Nearer the middle of the tree the wood's denser. You can tell by the general colour of the stick, so go for sticks of the same colour and tone and you know they've come from the same general area.

• When you buy new sticks, tap them on a wooden table top or other surface, and you can feel and hear from the noise in the stick whether they're brittle or not. Hold each end of the stick and push your thumbs gently in the middle — there should be a little flexibility. If it feels too solid they're too brittle and will break easily. If they're too bouncy you won't get the power from them.

I'm using Tama sticks at the moment, and I can actually get through about three or four gigs on one pair — and I hit really hard. Keep an eye open for the tips breaking. You can do an amazing amount of damage to heads if you don't notice that. Lose a beat throwing it away and picking up a new one rather than hitting a drum with it.

CYMBALS

Check the edges of the cymbals you use, make sure there are no hairline splits there. You normally won't notice them, but over the weeks you'll hear the cymbal gradually dulling in tone. Again I'd advise carrying a spare set if you can afford to — there's nothing worse than your favourite cymbal going, and at the gig the next day you've got no cymbal to go in its place. It affects your whole attitude to drumming.

• The grooves make the sound of the cymbal, allowing the sound to disperse. So if you polish it with the wrong stuff you'll just block the grooves and make it go dull. So I never use the recommended cymbal cleaner. Much to some people's amazement I use the shower attachment in the bath and clean them in warm water, giving them a rub with a lint-free cloth. Jerry my roadie keeps most other stuff clean with lighter fluid on a cloth — it's great for getting gaffa tape stains off drums, for instance.

• Again, packing needs care with cymbals. What I used to do was get those stretchable meatcloths — lengths of white stocking-like stuff that you can cut to the size you want and make a sort of "envelope" with. You push the cymbal in and it stretches to the shape. It's good for protecting them if you don't have a sectioned flightcase.

TOUCH

Be careful with drums touching each other. On stage when you're playing it's amazing how much movement and vibration is generated. Not only will drums clattering against each other cause a lot of unwanted noise but they can do a lot of damage to one another. I've known lugs to wear right into the wood of the next drum in this way, which is obviously not good at all.

• Look for points where the drums are touching or might touch as you set up. The simple solution is either thick tissue paper gaffed to the portion of the drum in question. What I also do is to cut up an old skin into a square and gaffa it to the relevant area. Do it discreetly and it won't show, but it'll save a lot of wear and tear on your valuable kit.

CASES

Getting flightcased properly is a very good investment. If you're going to spend a lot of money on drums, you'd be advised to spend on cases too. Also, if you come to sell your kit and it's flightcased you'll get a lot more.

• If you definitely can't afford flightcases, the fibre types are fine, but go down the market and get yourself some foam and cut it to fit your drums and gear. Make sure the straps on those cases are good too, because they're always wearing out. Don't gaffa them back on — it may be all right when you carry it but someone else is bound to send your snare drum rolling down the stairs.

BUT

...don't be afraid to hit your kit, though.