in the 1970s, changes in oil prices impact the price of acrylics and hence the cost of drum shells made from them. As cited above, Ludwig references the oil shock of the late 1970s (and the impact it had on material costs and subsequent product pricing) as one of the main reasons original Vistalite production ended in 1979. Popularity Rockers and jazzmen alike enjoy the wide tuning range of acrylic drums, and the dry, but punchy and projecting sound. A criticism of Vistalite and acrylic shells in general is that some feel they sound brittle, artificial, and lack the complexity of their wood counterparts. It may be worth noting that some producers have been quoted as asking for Vistas as they are extremely forgiving in humidity variable environments, and seem to offer more consistent notes, session over session. Vistalites are substantively louder than traditional drums with fewer overtones. With modern amplification and recording techniques, acrylic can be made to sound very close to wood. In a 2007 issue of Modern Drummer magazine (www.moderndrummer.com), one reviewer stated of the Tama mirage acrylic drum kit "When I close my eyes, I find it hard to believe it's not a wood kit." Many professional drummers used Vistalites or similar acrylic drums in the '70s and '80s. Jazzmen like Billy Cobham, Lionel Hampton, and Bill Zickos were well known acrylic kit players in the 1970s. In the electronic music scene, a clear Ludwig Vistalite kit is featured in the award-winning Daft Punk music video Robot Rock. Recently, drummer Mike Portnoy of the progressive metal group Dream Theater used a Tama drum company-built acrylic kit for a John Bonham tribute, and for parts of Dream Theater's 2005 Octavarium CD and DVD. As of Summer, 2007 Portnoy now plays a Tama Mirage dubbed "the mirage monster" to support his 2007 tour. This underscores the resurgent popularity of these shells, and brings them into the public eye. Dominic Howard, drummer for the band Muse, previously used Tama Mirage drums for live performances and studio recordings (After his contract with Tama ended in 2009, he switched to DW). Drum tech Jeff Ocheltree included a segment on tuning the new Vistalite drums in his DVD "Trust Your Ears." He describes them as having a very "live" sound. Originally, drummers favored single-ply drum heads with a center dot for these drums. But as Jeff Ocheltree describes, the sound improves with