I find that textures and tones profoundly affect what I play on any instrument. Guitar, bass, and electronic keyboards are kind of already "electrified" before they're recorded, but drums are an acoustic instrument that is electrified by the process of being recorded. And truly, the drum sounds that work in a track rarely ever sound like what a drum kit sounds like when you are standing next to it in a room. The drums always go through some kind of process to become what they are in a final mix.
What's great fun is to have access to some manipulated sounds while you are recording...rather than applying some kind of sonic treatment later, you get to play into it and respond to it. It's with this spirit that I started working on my "drum pedalboard." Being a guitar player, obviously I'd want to run my drums through pedals. This is usually fraught with issues of impedance mismatch and noise, but the wise Joel Hamilton pointed me towards an excellent device made by Eventide called the Mixing Link. It's a mic pre/DI with a built in effects loop that makes everything play nicely together. It's a device that should have always existed.
So, my drum pedalboard is opening up some fun performance possibilities for me. Texture is inspiring! You can see me messing around with it in this video - I improvised a form and then overdubbed bass and guitar to it. Everything is a live take - no punch-ins or edits. Enjoy!
(Other excellent gear appearing in this video: Island Instrument Manufacture Carny guitar, Benson Amplification Monarch 6v6 amplifier, various pedals by Z.Vex Effects, Diamond Pedals, JHS Pedals and Neunaber Audio Effects.)