and had to undergo surgery. In 2015, Yoshiki stated he is more of a songwriter than a drummer. Tama Drums created a custom-made acrylic drum set for Yoshiki to use on stage, the ArtStar series. Yoshiki admitted that the clear acrylic shells are great for appearances, allowing the stage lights to color his drums with varying hues, but are not ideal sound-wise. He explained that the clear drums are difficult to play because they do not have the usual responsiveness of wooden shells and are not very durable; as they require much more physical pounding to deliver a good sound and that causes the heads to be essentially ruined after only a single concert. Yoshiki's live kit uses two kick drums, and centers the 14" snare drum directly in front of him. He usually works with five tom drums: three rack toms with diameters of 12", 13", and 14", and two floor toms with diameters of 16" and 18". However, in the studio he uses a limited made titanium kit from Kitano drum called Tama Artstar II "Titan Body" with Evans coated heads. Yoshiki usually performs on a Kawai Crystal II Grand Piano CR-40A. Kawai also makes a Yoshiki-model grand piano of traditional wooden design. He has a constant numbness of two fingers on his left hand that he says makes it difficult to play piano. He also suffers from chronic tendonitis on his right hand, which may cause him to be unable to play musical instruments in the future. Discography Solo studio albumsEternal Melody (April 21, 1993) Eternal Melody II (March 23, 2005)Yoshiki Classical'' (August 27, 2013) Tours and concerts Solo December 3–4, 2002: Symphonic Concert, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo 2014: Yoshiki Classical World Tour Part 1 2016: Yoshiki Classical World Tour Part 2 January 12–13, 2017: Yoshiki Classical Special with Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York August 26 and 29, 2017: Evening With Yoshiki, Nagoya, Osaka June 24, 2018: Lunatic Fest July 13–16, August 31, September 1, 2018: Breakfast with Yoshiki, Evening with Yoshiki, Tokyo August 9–12, 23–25, 2019: Evening/Breakfast with Yoshiki 2019 in Tokyo August 11–15, 19–21, 26–28, 2022: Evening/Breakfast With Yoshiki 2022 In Tokyo With X Japan With Sarah Brightman "Hymn: Sarah Brightman In Concert" - 2019 (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London) "A Starlight Symphony: An Evening with Sarah Brightman" - 2022 (Las Vegas and Mexico) Awards References External links Yoshiki Foundation