Believable Beats Part 2

A Drummer’s Guide To Studio Recording

By Garrett Haines Originally published in the August 2008 issue of DRUM!

To read Part 1, click here.

Standard Practices

For the most straightforward project, we are going to record each drum and each cymbal in the kit. Each drum will be miked separately in a room that has minimal or no reflections. We want this “dry” sound to allow users of the samples to be able to add their own ambience based on the needs of their project.

Moving from drum to drum, Dan will hit each drum three different ways: soft, medium, and hard. We’ll capture the audio in our capture software and in a little while we will have a complete sample of his kit.

Suggested Practices

The following are some suggestions for sampling your kit. You may or may not want to follow these depending on your needs, time, and budget.

Set Up The Entire Kit. In the real world, you don’t play your drums with each drum in a different room, so why sample them in isolation? When you hit the snare it vibrates the other drums and reflects off of hardware. Although subtle, this added ambient information is captured when you record. I believe this can help increase the depth and believability of your samples. In our session, we placed ten microphones using two Latch Lake Mike King 2200 stands and several Xtra Boom add-on arms.

Three Is Not Enough. Traditional samplers might have had only enough storage for three volume intensities, but that’s changed. If you are going for authenticity, consider five or more levels of striking force. With kick and snare, you definitely want more than three options.

A Little Ambience Is All Right. While there is significant merit in avoiding effects such as reverberation when we sample, the fact remains that we don’t often play our drums in a completely dead room. From a small club to a recording studio to a stadium, the spaces in which we play have some degree of liveliness to them. Provided there are not significant slap-back echoes or pronounced reflections, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to sample your drums in a room that is not completely flat and dead-sounding. In our session, we included two overhead microphones and a monophonic omni-directional room mike.

Strike Different Areas Of The Head/Cymbal. We’re not all perfect — sometimes we hit a drum slightly off center. Make sure to record striking at different parts of the head (this is especially true for the snare). When recording cymbals, the hi-hats and ride samples will benefit from hits at different parts of the cymbal. Don’t forget to try different parts of the stick as well. Side-stick sounds and rimshots are two crucial samples for drums.

Use Different Sticks/Striking Devices. Speaking of sticks, consider using wood and nylon tips on the cymbals. You might also want to take advantage of the numerous alternate devices on the market: brushes, dowel rods, polymer brush-things, broom stick stalks, and so on. Many drummers utilize these products to open up their sonic palette. Don’t leave them out in the sampling process — especially if you have a favorite.

Multiple Microphones. For delicate work, like brushes, it might be a good idea to use multiple microphones. A large-diaphragm condenser mike placed farther away from the drum can often do a better job picking up nuances than a close-on dynamic model (Fig. 3).

Figure 3.

Don’t Forget The Rudiments. While it’s conceivable that you could re-create any drum fill using single hits, I’m convinced that strikes based on flam and drag families will be more believable if you record them for real.

Consider Multiple Head Types. If you are wed to one type of head, this may not apply, but having recordings of single- and double-ply heads, live and focused, will give you more flexibility down the line.

Remember Different Tunings Especially for the snare, but also important for the kick, you’ll want to try to get samples across the usable tuning range of your drums. This can be helpful when changing styles and for capturing more or less of the shell in the tone.

Loops Are Samples Too. Blame Sony Acid for making looping even more fun. Loops, or short one- or two-bar phrases, can be loaded into computer programs such as Ableton Live or Apple GarageBand. From there you can time-stretch (change the speed of the loop with minimal impact on the tone of the instruments) to fit your track.

Strange Perspective. With lo-fi beat-box sounds so popular, you might want to consider adding an actual boom box or other limited-range microphone to the mix. We added a Bing Carbon Mic, which is based on telephones of the 1970s. (myspace.com/carbonmicrophone) (Fig. 4).

Figure 4. Bing Carbon Microphone.

Geek Can Be Good. If you find yourself agreeing with some of these suggestions, you probably already understand that the scope of this project will expand quickly. If you have access to a spreadsheet program, it would be a good idea to begin by making a grid of what you plan to do (a piece of graph paper works fine too). In one column list the drums you’re sampling, and in another you can note intensity levels. Add items such as stick and head variations. Take this to the session and have the engineer call them out and check them off as you complete them.

Geek Can Be Good, Part Two. If you go in a specific order, it will make it easier for you to name each sample as you save it. Remember, a sample has no use if you can’t find it when you need it.

Cleaning Up

During the recording, you’ll have more audio than you’ll need for the sample. You’ll need to trim the excess audio at the beginning and the end of the section. I suggest avoiding cross-fades and letting the sound fade out on its own. If you must end the clip before the audio ends, do your best to zoom in to where you can find a zero crossing (where the audio wave hits the center line of the graphical scale). This can happen when the audio is moving up or down, just as long as you stop at a zero crossing. This will help to eliminate pops or glitches at the end of the sample.

Publishing To Sampler Type

Once your samples are trimmed and ready to go, you’ll need to export your audio files into a format that’s recognizable by your sampler. The SAMPLIT software used in our example can output information recognizable by the nine most popular software samplers. If you need to convert to a hardware sampler, you’ll need to use something like TRANSLATOR from Chicken Systems, Inc. (chickensys.com), which can translate into various hardware formats.

Of course, it’s always a good idea to keep a backup copy of the original digital files. These will be useful for tasks like sound replacement. They will also serve as your archive and the source from which new sample formats are developed.

Conclusion

Although there is a good bit of electronic lingo involved, sampling your drums is not terribly complicated. With a little bit of planning, some simple organizational tools, and a good audio engineer, it’s possible to capture an accurate recording of your kit. Provided that you record to a high-resolution digital file, you can share your kit for years to come.

And you don’t even need to be there!

Drumming Clinics And Events For June

By Phil Hood Published June 16, 2009

Summer is here so get out to see some live music and some clinics. This month's highlights include Peter Erskine's summer tour of California music stores and Steve Smith at Drummer Live in London this week. Next month, Thomas Pridgen of Mars Volta invades Brisbane, Australia.

2009/Artist/Location/City/State or Country

JUNE    CANADA/USA                        
12        Peter Erskine    Sam Ash Music            Cerritos    CA
13        Peter Erskine    Best Buy            West LA    CA
13        Jeff Queen, James Leslie    Dayton Conv Center   Dayton OH
13-20   Scott Deal    New England Conservatory            Boston    MA
14        Danny Gottlieb    Eckerd College            St Petersburg    FL
15        Virgil Donati    Mother's Music            Winnipeg    MB
15-19   Diane Downs    We Got The Beat Music camp            Fresno    CA
16        Thom Hannum    Thom Hannum Mobile Percussion Seminar            West memphis    ARK
16        Virgil Donati    Mother's Music            Saskatoon    SK
17        Peter Erskine    Best Buy            Torrance    CA
17        Virgil Donati    Mother's Music            Edmonton    AB
17        Carmine Appice    West LA Music            Los Angeles    CA
18         Rickie-Byers Beckwith, Michael Bernard Beckwith (The Secret), Freddie Ravel (Grammie artist), Faith Rivera, Steve McCarty of the Steve Miller Band, Christine Stevens, Jenni Swerdlow Humanity Unites Brilliance Benefit (for Lakota)  Palace Hotel    San Francisco CA
18        Peter Erskine    Sam Ash Music            Ontario    CA
18        Kenneth Broadway    Vero Beach H S            Vero Beach    FL
18        Tiger Bill Meligari    Sam Ash            Edison    NJ
19        Peter Erskine    Sam Ash Music            Canoga Park    CA
19        Virgil Donati    Mother's Music            Calgary    AB
19        Bobby Sanabria, Dafnis Prieto, Memo Acevedo    The Power of Drum - Riverside Theatre        212.369.0276    New York    NY
20        Vicki Peterson Jenks    International Music Camp (7-20th)            Minot    ND
20        Peter Erskine    Best Buy            Pasadena     CA
20-27   John Santos    Camp Jones Gulch - Jazz Camp West            LaHonda    CA
21-3     Jason Price    Shell Lake Combo Camp            Shell Lake    WI         
23        Ed Roscetti    Drum School 101 & Drum Circuit            San Luis Obispo   
22-24   Jeff Crowell    Univ of WI - Eau Claire            Eau Claire    WI
24        Dafnis Prieto    Berklee College of Music            Boston    MA
25        Julio Figueroa    Saddleback Church            Lake Forest    CA
25        Giovanni Hidalgo    Guitar Center        Orlando   FL
25-26   Sheila E    Guitar Center       Hollywood    CA

JULY
5-10     Bill Cahn    Eastman School of Music       Rochester    NY
5-10     Jeff Crowell    Shell Lake Combo Camp       Shell Lake    WI
6 -11    Vicki Peterson Jenks    Birch Creek Music       Egg Harbor    WI
9          Shawn Drover    Seminole Music      Seminole    FL
10        Bill Cahn    Eastman School of Music       Rochester    NY
11        Julio Figueroa    Old Town Temecula      Temecula    CA
11        Zoro    Tuscaloosa Music Service      Tuscaloosa    AL
14        Ed Roscetti    Buffalo Drum Outlet        Depew    NY
14        Dom Famularo    Frank Rieman Music       Des Moines    IA

INTERNATIONAL/JUNE               
13        Steve Smith, Pete Lockett, Mark Richardson    London Excel Centre Docklands            London    UK
14        Cora Coleman-Dunham, Derrick, McKenzie, Sola Akimbola    Drummer Live            UK   
26-27   Dom Famularo    Free Stroke School, Florence           Italy
28        Dom Famularo    Musical Centro, Cassino          Italy
29        Dom Famularo    Accademia Francesco Tarrega, Taranto          Italy
30        Dom Famularo    Beat School Vibo, Valentia          Italy
28-30   Sergio Bellotti    Ringo Music       Torrino    Italy
29        Dom Famularo    Accademia Francesco Tarrega       Taranto    Italy

JULY
12        JoJo Mayer      Drum Fest Birmingham    Birmingham    UK
18-19   Zoro, Vera Figueiredo    Batuka International Drum Festival            Brazil
19        Thomas Pridgen, Virgil Donati, Dom Famularo    Billy Hyde/Drumworx      Brisbane    Australia

Joey Jordison

DOUBLE BASS: SPEED DEMON

By ANDY DOERSHUCK Photos By NEIL ZLOZOWER

Call Slipknot what you want – profane prophets, noisy nihilists, masked Midwestern miscreants, or just plain scary nu-metal mofos with bad attitudes. But ever since the release of the band’s self-titled breakthrough album in 1999, drummer Joey Jordison has been nothing less than a classic workaholic with an indefatigable work ethic – a profile that loudly clashes with Slipknot’s anarchistic street cred.

Jordison wouldn’t have it any other way. Between worldwide Slipknot crusades he formed The Murderdolls with Static X guitarist Tripp Eisen. The two co-wrote all of the material for the band’s lone release, the 2002 punk rock horrorfest.

Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls, on which Jordison’s contributions read like a stage plot: Bass, guitar, drums, vocals, producer, engineer, and mixing. He made offbeat cameos on various albums – from remixing Marilyn Manson’s “Fight Song (Part 2),” to writing liner notes for Deicide’s 2003 compilation Best Of Deicide, to providing vocals for Necrophagia’s Harvest Ritual Vol. 1.

Over the past eight years he has performed both as drummer and songwriter on Slipknot’s three major label releases, and toured the world relentlessly. And we do mean relentlessly. Slipknot remained on the road for 20 merciless months in support of it’s 2004 CD Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses – a grueling endurance test for any drummer, and an inconceivable feat of strength for one such as Jordison, a diminutive man who nonetheless blasts double bass with a freakishly aerobic attack night after night. It’s a wonder he can still walk.

“Every drummer will tell you that there comes a slump in a tour where the endurance factor or the thinking factor just kind of gets jumbled,” Jordison says. “It usually happens once or twice in a tour, even though the shows are a blast each night. Even Dave Lombardo was telling me one time when we were touring with Slayer, ‘Man, I don’t know what the hell happened. It sounds like my drums are falling down the stairs.’” You’d think he’d be ready for a break once the tour wound down, but instead, in December of ’05, Jordison took the helm for the Roadrunner United album The All Star Sessions, writing music, playing bass and drums, and co-producing the ambitious CD, which featured an army of artists from the Roadrunner catalog celebrating the label’s twenty-fifth anniversary. He began to daydream about being a producer.

Ministry beckons. Last April, with barely a moment to gulp a breath, Jordison launched into a five-month tour with Ministry – a dream come true. ”I’m a huge Ministry fan, always have been,” says Jordison, who met Ministry brainchild Al Jourgensen when the two bands shared festival stages in 1999. Following a chance encounter in London when Slipknot played two sold out nights at the Astoria, Jordison got the call from Jourgensen to go on the road.

“Of course I said yes, and it was awesome. The first couple shows were really surreal. When we played songs like ‘Stigmata’ or ‘Jesus Built My Hotrod,’ ‘So What’ – it was really odd. Ministry is one of the band’s I looked up to – one of my favorite bands of all time.’

Drawing material from Ministry’s 1988 album The Land Of Rape And Honey onward, Jordison found himself reinterpreting drum parts laid down by a number of sources, including industrial drum machines and sequences. “I amped it up … a lot,” Jordison says. “I kept the structure and the pulse of the original beats, but of course I couldn’t help it but freak out a little bit. I added double bass on certain parts to lift it here and there, and on certain fills. I didn’t change it to where you didn’t know what song or the beat it is.” Jordison was asked to record Ministry’s next release, still unscheduled at press time.

Back to the board. He’d barely been home from the Ministry tour long enough to unpack before jumping headfirst into producing the newest release by Three Inches Of Blood. It’s impossible to miss his enthusiasm about the project. Jordison produced the Murderdolls debut and portions of the Roadrunner All Stars, but this is the first time he produced an album on which he didn’t play any drums.

“When you’re writing your own material it can be hard to hear another opinion, because you’ve already analyzed the stuff over and over. But with [Three Inches Of Blood], I instantly hear something, and they’ve been really receptive. I’m co-writing and arranging with this band a lot – that’s where my real talent lies. It’s not like I’m just doing engineer work or anything like that. It’s been a blast so far. We work really well together.”

Jordison honed his knack for production by closely studying studio veterans Rick Rubin and Ross Robinson as they produced the last three Slipknot’s albums. “At first it was really weird, like, ‘What’s this guy doing? Butchering the songs?’ But now you listen to them and it’s like, ‘Yeah, it makes total sense.’ So with Three Inches Of Blood, when we start, I go through the whole song and we get an arrangement, and we’ll wipe things out here, and we’ll change keys there, we’ll add a new part, we’ll strip it down and rearrange things, do different dynamics.”

You might imagine that Jordison pays strict attention to even the tiniest nuance of every drum part, fine-tuning arrangements with the band’s new drummer Lexi Rodriguez. “He’s amazing,” Jordison gushes. “I work really closely with him. Once we have an arrangement, I sit alone with Lexi, and we’ll figure out the dynamics of the drums for hours on end until it feels right to me, and it’s second nature to him.

“Producing bands is opening up a whole other door in my career, and I’m super excited about that. I’m looking for another band to produce right now. I think once this record comes out I’ll get some offers, and I’ll be able to get a little bit more into that side of the music business, which I’m really excited by.”

Intro double bass. Jordison reveals, “Slipknot will be getting back together in the summer to write the next record,” which means only one thing to drummers – another healthy dose of precision double bass work.

“When Slipknot came out, no one was playing double bass like that back then. It didn’t exist. You never heard it, unless it was a really underground band. As Slipknot came out, you started to hear more of the harder metal coming back, and all of a sudden double bass drummers started appearing everywhere. If I did help out a little bit, man, it’s an absolute huge honor for me.”

Jordison started out on a single-bass kit, “just like any kid does,” and was influenced by John Bonham, Keith Moon, and Stewart Copeland. “I’ve learned a lot from them. Those types of drummers made their parts sing.” His perspective shifted in the early ’80s when “one of the first double bass drum patterns that I recognized was ‘Red Hot’ [from Shout At The Devil] by Mötley Crüe. Granted, it’s slow, but at the time it was powerful.”

Working through Carmine Appice’s book Rudiments To Rock, he gravitated toward increasingly heavier music. “I remember [Anthrax’s] Among The Living record, with songs like ‘A Skeleton In The Closet.’ Charlie [Benante}’s feet, he was always one-upping what the previous thrash bands were doing. Obviously, Metallica’s ‘Fight Fire With Fire’ [from Ride the Lightning] was definitely an influence. Those were a couple of songs where I noticed that the speed was getting crazier.” All hell quite literally broke loose when Slayer’s drummer Dave Lombardo entered Jordison’s radar. “Reign In Blood really was the one that stepped it up for me, as far as noticing the speed and the overall aggression and power of what double bass can do for a song.”

And that’s all it took to launch Jordison into a lifelong pursuit of ever-faster feet. “You can do anything with your feet that you do with your hands,” he exclaims. “I don’t get to practice as much now, but in the early days, I’d be able to practice a few hours a night. I’d watch a TV show that would be an hour long, so that would keep my attention and I would do eighth-notes, alternating between my hands and feet. I’d just go back and forth, back and forth. I didn’t keep my feet going all the time, but I still was working on my stamina. So I’d do it that way instead of just trying to jump right into keeping my feet going for a long time.

His routine has only slightly changed. “Sometimes I’ll just do mid-tempo sixteenth-note for a half hour or 45 minutes, not super fast, but not slow. Sometimes the really fast stuff is easier for me, because there’s a certain way you balance your feet with the vibration and tension in your legs. Mid tempo exercises use more of your leg, and tire my legs out more than doing really super fast thirty-second-note double bass.”

Double bass tips. Jordison now finds himself among the world’s authorities on double kick drumming. We wanted to learn his secrets, starting with the nuts and bolts – the virtues of playing heel-up and heel-down.

“I play heel-up, but recently on certain songs I’ve been learning how to play heel down. It’s a lot easier than I thought it would be. There are some really quick Slipknot songs like ‘Pulse Of The Maggots’ that have long double bass sections – one is halfway through the first chorus, and halfway through the guitar solo, then halfway through the last chorus. I’ve been doing those heel down recently, even though they’re incredibly fast.

“I’m always trying to find different ways to play certain speeds, where it feels the most comfortable. I notice that if I play heel up on a certain song, I might try to go a little bit too fast, and rush the beat. Songs like ‘Disasterpiece’ and ‘Heretic Anthem,’ that’s definitely a heel-up style, because they’re so fast.”

The right-hander has the ability to lead with either foot while racing through tricky double-bass figures. “It depends on how my legs are feeling,” he explains. “When I’m leading off really quick sixteenth-notes or thirty-second-note double bass, I always lead off with my right. But sometimes I can actually kick a straight eighth-note beat better on my left than on my right. I don’t know why that is.

“I think [my left leg] hasn’t been worked as much as my right. And when you over-think your parts, and it gets so easy and you get so comfortable with it, sometimes it can start to be self-defeating. I actually play a lot with my left foot, especially with simpler beats. I have no problem – if I’m experiencing fatigue for some reason on an odd day – to kick it over and to play a song on my left foot.”

Jordison sits low behind the kicks, with his back slightly arched for balance. He sets his beaters approximately halfway between the points of impact and at rest, and prefers a medium-loose spring tension. “I used to tighten them really tight, and I was starting to lose a little bit of the attack, so I’ve loosened my pedals up a little bit,” he says. “It gave me a quicker bounce back and it’s not sloppy, so I can get a little bit more speed out of it now.”

Inquire into the angle of his pedal board and Jordison quips, “Ask my drum tech, Sol. I drive that guy nuts. He’ll probably be in an asylum within the next two years, because I’m constantly changing things.” Jordison presently uses the Pearl Eliminator with the red offset cam for optimum power and sensitivity. He also likes to tune both bass drums to the same pitch, with the resonant head tensioned a bit tighter than the batter, “because I like a lot of click and for the bass drums to be defined.”

The New breed. Even Jordison is amazed by some of the double bass drumming he hears roaring out of new metal bands that have started to stake a claim. “I listen to a lot of black metal music. The stuff is just getting insane for drummers. There’s always someone pushing things.

“Frost from Satyricon and Hellhammer from Mayhem are a couple of the drummers who, if you want to listen to speed – they’re it. I also have to mention Pete Sandoval from Morbid Angel. These guys have been around for a long time, they’re not newcomers. But for listeners that want to hear double bass, these guys are the really extreme players, as far as black metal, death metal drumming.”

Jordison also sees a downside to the resurging popularity of extreme double bass drumming … double kick dependency. “There are a lot of metal drummers that really disappoint me,” he confides. “Even though they’ve got crazy speed, it’s just a linear pattern of fast fills and double bass. It sounds great for the parts that they’re playing, like a lot of black or strict death metal stuff, but now the whole thing is, ‘Who can play faster?’ That starts to wear on my nerves. I’m all about as fast as you can go, but I just think it takes away from the actual song itself.”

Are there clues that tell you when you run the risk of overusing your double bass chops? “You can see where the riff should breathe a lot more,” Jordison advises. “Make more space for the vocal, because sometimes you can muddy that up, and the whole personality of the song can go away because the drummer’s just overplaying way too much.

He adds, “Sometimes I use double kick too much.”

A pregnant pause lingers before we dare ask: So Joey, can you give us an example of a Slipknot recording where you overplayed the double bass part?

“Actually no,” Jordison immediately laughs. “It’s all about the feel of the song. We’ll do three different double bass patterns on a certain riff before we know which one it is. Sometimes we’ll try it with a China, and then we’ll go to a ride cymbal, or the bell of the ride cymbal, or the hi-hat, just to find out where the space really lies, where it really makes sense for the song. It’s not just like, ‘Oh, we need a double bass part here, just do it.’ Sometimes we wipe out double bass completely, and all of a sudden the sun comes out, instead of getting too dark and muddy. Double bass needs to be used as a dynamic, not for flash.”

Parting shots. Like the volume control on your iPod, double bass is little more than a feature of a bigger thing. Whether you choose to use it or lose it will have little impact on your odds of making it big. But some drummers are simply compelled to play two kick drums, based on the style of music they play and lifestyle they choose.

It’s a counterculture inside a subculture, and devoted young double bass drumming devotes at Slipknot shows routinely swarm Jordison. “They always ask the same question: ‘How did you get your speed so fast?’

“God!” he explodes. “It comes from years of practice. Start slow and gradually build up. Don’t try to dive right into playing the fast stuff.”

But let’s be real. In the hands of Jordison, Benante, or Lombardo, pure speed is alluring. “It’s an attractive thing to a young metalhead who is crazy about aggression and overall power. But to really develop your style, you should learn to walk before you can run. A lot of killer lead players that I know have no clue how to play a real soulful, well-structured, musical solo that sings, because they’re concentrating only on speed. I think that’s kind of self-defeating in a lot of ways.”

So here’s the rub. “Learn the basics first and build up. Because all you do is end up losing the best parts of playing rock music if you try to just jump right into all the technical stuff. You miss out on the real meat and potatoes of rock drumming. All that other stuff can come later, but learn your basics first.”

Jordison keeps an eye on those kids waiting backstage at Slipknot shows. “I’ve always thought the most important musician out there is that kid that’s in his basement that no one has heard of. There are kids coming out that want to make their mark – they’re one-upping everybody, and it’s absolutely amazing. I love it.”

From The Archive: Jerry Marotta

Tribal Beats Inside Iron Mountain

By J. Poet Originally published in the April 1998 issue of DRUM!

Caves and caverns have a mysterious, even supernatural air about them. Pirates stashed their loot in caves, mountaineers lost in howling blizzards took refuge in caves, some surviving, some perishing - their remains to be found years or centuries later. Caves were used to bury the dead in ancient Egypt, natural vaults safe from the whiles of grave robbers, and caves were probably the first indoor dwellings of our primal ancestors. The word “cave” sends ripples of excitement running through the imagination. Edgar Allen Poe imprisoned many an unsuspecting character in caves and crypts and Injun Joe’s cave figures heavily in Mark Twain’s tales of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. North America’s native people saw caves as the mouths and nostrils of the Earth Mother, and considered them holy, places of great power and often the sites chosen for sacred rituals.

It was this timeless, ritualistic aspect of cave lore that sent bass and Chapman Stick wizard Tony Levin, flute and reed ace Steve Gorn and master drummer/percussionist Jerry Marotta into the Widow Jane Mine, a cave that contains an underground lake, near Woodstock, New York, in 1998 to record From the Caves of the Iron Mountain, an impressionistic journey that allowed the trio of musicians to explore the full range of their spontaneous creativity.

Marotta, who was Peter Gabriel’s drummer for nine years (1977–86) and played on hits like “Shock the Monkey” and “In Your Eyes,” has also worked with Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Suzanne Vega, and the Indigo Girls. He was inspired by his older brother, Rick Marotta, who worked with Steely Dan, and got his start in the early ’60s playing in bands that covered the soul and r&b hits of the day. In the ’70s, Marotta was captivated by the simplicity that drummers like Russ Kunkel were bringing to the records of folky singer/songwriters like James Taylor and Crosby, Stills and Nash. His first professional gig was with Orleans, still hot after their big hit “Dance with Me.”

Marotta’s work with Orleans led to his longtime gig with Gabriel, but in his spare time he added his talents to projects by Tears For Fears, including “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” Joan Armatrading’s Walk Under Ladders, three Hall and Oates sets including Private Eyes, Robbie Robertson’s Storyville and Sara McLaughlin’s Fumbling Toward Ecstasy. The drummer moved to the Woodstock area after leaving Gabriel in ’87 to start a band that didn’t quite pan out. But when Levin moved into the same area, the two began talking about making noncommercial music to feed their souls. Levin had started his own company, Papa Bear records, so no matter how it turned out, the project would have a home. When Steve Gorn came to Woodstock, everything clicked.

“The cave project was Tony’s idea,” Marotta says. “We live near each other, but we haven’t really played together since we’d both left Peter [Gabriel]’s band, and that was more than ten years ago. We’ve done some sessions on other people’s albums, [including singer/songwriter Ellis Paul’s downbeat gem Carnival of Voices, which Marotta also produced, although he modestly failed to mention it.] but that wasn’t enough. Tony knew Steve [Gorn] also lived in the neighborhood and when he found out about the cave, he thought it would be a good place to record, and he was right. It turned out to be an amazing experience.”

Levin contacted the United States Park Service, the agency that runs the Widow Jane Mine, and arranged the permits necessary to play there. The mine is a former limestone quarry, excavated by the Lawrenceville Cement Company in the early 1800s. A steep downward path leads to a large open space that is now used as an underground concert hall. There is a small stage and an underground lake, and people from the local arts communities have adopted the mine for performance art, weddings and small concerts. It’s still not a major tourist attraction, but the Widow Jane Mine, named after Jane Snyder, the original property owner, does have a growing cult following.

The mine is a no-frills site, so Levin, Gorn, producer and engineer Tchad Blake and Marotta had to carry all the instruments, drums and recording equipment in on their backs. The recording was done on the shore of the underground lake, over the course of two days, and Marotta says the resonance of the cave created an almost psychic harmony between the players. “My biggest worry was that the dampness and lack of light would make the drum heads go dead,” Marotta says, “so I parked my wife’s minivan in the sun and set the drums out all over the seats. When a new texture was called for, I’d run out and grab a drum and run back down into the cave to record.”

Although Marotta still plays the “traditional” Western drum kit, he’s been exploring hand percussion for the past few years and it was his collection of tribal drums and hand percussion that gave the drumming on Iron Mountain its organic feel.

“I’ve been tending toward tribal drums, rather than a regular drum kit with cymbals, for the past two or three years,” Marotta says. “At first people gave me odd looks, but today they’re more acceptable. I’ve used them on a couple of Suzanne Vega’s records, although I also used the regulation drum kit.”

Marotta’s tribal kit was made by Taos Drums in New Mexico, a company that’s run by Native Americans, and employs traditionally trained drum makers who still handcraft the instruments from local woods using the hides of cow, goat, sheep, deer, buffalo or elk. Marotta sets up the native drums like a regular drum kit. There is a bass drum with a rich, deep tone - Marotta has several with heads varying between 24" and 30" wide, tom toms that he sets on the floor, and several smaller drums of various sizes in racks, including a couple of African hand drums from Uganda. The tribal drums are played with hands, brushes and mallets, and, on occasion, sticks, but only very rarely.

For percussion Marotta used wrist bells, called dew claws by native people; a bracelet of deer hoofs tied onto a leather thong; mallets strung with beads and seeds that make a rattling sound when they’re used; ceramic shakers - small ceramic cups that look like large walnut shells, covered with animal skin and filled with beads or pebbles, strings of glass beads, slit drums; boxes carved out of wood, with tongues of wood slit into them that sound like a small balafon or marimba; and a Garden Weasel that Marotta bought in a local hardware store. The Weasel is a tool that looks like a roller covered with large barbed-wire spikes, but when Marotta shakes it like a maraca, it produces an amazing ringing sound.

“We were also able to use the cave itself as a percussion instrument,” Marotta says. “The space added its resonance to the sound of the big bass drum and enhanced it. I was able to play off the overtones we were creating, and some of the stuff we composed in the cave is really sonically incredible.”

Marotta says that the method of recording also played a big part in the sound of the finished product. “Tchad (Blake, the producer) recorded the whole thing using the Neuman binaural head. It’s a featureless plastic head with a couple of ultrasensitive mikes placed where our ears would be and it captures an accurate representation of what the human ear would actually hear in any given situation. He set it up in front of us, and, on occasion, he’d walk around the cave with it to get different spacial effects. He also has a mike set up that he can wear on his head. Since it’s all digital, it’s extremely portable and easy to use.” Marotta says the recording was done directly to two-track stereo, with no mixing, and although Tchad did do some knob-twiddling during the sessions, “he couldn’t do anything about the volume, so what you hear is what we were actually playing.”

The sound Blake has captured on From the Caves of The Iron Mountain is often spectacular. The system really captures the separation of the instruments, an enormous depth of field, and the subtle overtones and echoes of the cavern. At times, the dynamic between Levin’s bass and Marotta’s drums can turn the listener’s ears inside out, as the sounds combine with the echoes of the cavern to blend into one mega-instrument or produce an eerie triple-voiced harmony. Marotta chuckles. “Yeah, both those things were happening, but there’s only so much I contributed to it. Tony has more control over his playing. We planned some of it when we rehearsed, but the sound in Tony’s living room and the sound in the cave is very different.

“We kept the tunes simple and kind of moody, because of the ambiance of the cave. We started with Steve doing a bit of his circular breathing thing, and some vocals. [Gorn’s technique sounds similar to the “throat singing” of Tuvan herdsmen and the Inuit singers of Northern Canada and Siberia.] You can hear some of it on the ‘Widow Jane Mine’ track. We slowly built on the harmonics we were setting up as the sound swirled around the cave. The setting made it easy to play simply, since one note lasts such a long time. I’m a simple player anyway, but all of us fell into that.”

Marotta says that the rehearsals for the Iron Mountain sessions were kept casual on purpose. “We got together in different pairs - me and Tony, Tony and Steve, me and Steve - and worked out some rough ideas, and rehearsed a bit as a trio, then went into the cave. We all take compositional credit for all the songs, even if one of us came up with the original impulse for a tune. But a lot of the stuff is totally improvised. When we began playing down there, we got into a totally natural flow. After this, I’d like to go back and do another set down there, with no rehearsal. It would be really easy to do.”

The music was recorded in long, symphonic like suites, although it was later broken down, and resequenced in the studio by the trio of musicians and producer Blake. “As I listen to the album now, a year later, some of the stuff on there still impresses me. ‘Drumming on Water’ started with Tony playing a simple bass line and Steve doing these long fluttering notes on the bansuri. I was walking around with my brushes, playing on the ground and walls, and finally found myself on the shore of the lake, which they keep stocked with ducks, by the way. I got down and started splashing on the water. ‘Glass Beads’ uses the Garden Weasel, you’ll hear what a unique sound it has. ‘Magic Meadow,’ which has players dropping in and out and a lot of tempo changes, happened naturally. I know we worked on it in rehearsal, but most of the dynamics were spontaneous. For ‘Shakers in Five’ I started playing the shakers in this rhythm I’ve been finding myself gravitating toward. Tony started playing spare, almost like a drum, and Steve joined in. I don’t know where I picked up this rhythm. I don’t go out of my way to pick up things in five, but it felt comfortable.”

Although Marotta played drums with Peter Gabriel during the decade in which Gabriel was moving his music in a more international direction, Marotta says he’s never made a conscious effort to pick up techniques or rhythms from other drummers or cultures. “Peter would play us some music he was interested in, from whatever country, but I didn’t make a conscious effort to study it or absorb it. Today, I listen to a lot of Brazilian music, mostly because it’s rhythmic and melodic and I like that combination, but whatever it may have added to my technique has been unintentional. I don’t have any particular technical knowledge about what anything is, I just pick up things I hear, if I like them. A couple of people have said some of the things I play on Iron Mountain sound like pow-wow drumming or a bolero, and while I may have heard a bolero, I couldn’t sit down and play you one. Nothing I do is premeditated.”

For more information, visit Jerry Marotta's site.

Video: What has Hot Water Music been doing?

George Rebelo of Hot Water Music.

Pete Lockett : Crossing The Great Divide

by Ian Croft

The view from Pete Lockett’s North London top-floor flat is as cinematic and epic as his musical biography. Climbing up the curving flight of stairs to his residence bears testimony to his hectic schedule. Like ancient wall paintings, the many scuffmarks along the walls tally his numerous trips up and down carting a vast array of percussion instruments, and demonstrate the constant demand for his musical expertise.

At the age of 45, Lockett boasts a résumé that stretches to many, many pages, and involves a cross section of artists that reads like a who’s who of popular music. Whether he is at Ronnie Scott’s with Steve Smith’s Vital Information, performing with Shakti’s U Shrinivas, or producing and recording with Zawinul’s Amit Chatterjee, Lockett is a musical chameleon of enormous proportions. Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, and Jeff Beck have all called upon Lockett’s unique percussive ways, as has The Verve, Amy Winehouse, and even the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra — and we’re just scratching the surface of the broad array of artists expressing a desire to have Lockett’s percussive imprint grace their work.

Drums and percussion came quite late in life for the former Portsmouth dockworker, who at the age of 19 took a walk along the streets of Fratton on his lunch break only to notice an ad in the window of the local drum store — “Drum Lessons” is all it said. Lockett ventured inside, had a chat with drum teacher John Hammond, and the following week his life changed — dramatically. “It turned out to be the first thing that made sense to me,” says the philosophical Lockett in his quiet, friendly tone. “Everything that he showed to me, I could do instantly. It was the first time that anything like that had happened to me.”

Immersed In Study

Lockett had never shown any interest in music before that moment, and his family household was virtually devoid of music. “We did have a radio, but there were no records or musical instruments in the house,” he says. “But as soon as I discovered drum lessons, that was it — big time! Two weeks later I joined a punk band. I went from a couple of £5 drum lessons to playing local pubs and clubs overnight.”

Lockett’s first gig was a suitably unusual start for what would prove to be a uniformly unusual musical career. “I replaced a drummer who would get tired halfway through a song and just stop playing. He’d never learned to use the bass drum pedal and only ever played with his hands, so it was an easy gig to step into.” Lockett smiles at the memory. “I used to smash my drums up at the end of every gig. I even ended up in hospital once to get stitches. I was inspired by Keith Moon, and I loved the drums, the excitement, and the energy. It also taught me a lot about drum building as I couldn’t afford to repair mine and had to rebuild them myself.” Lockett’s diverse instrument collection contains a broad assortment of percussive items, some homemade, with many resembling nothing you would have seen before.

As his facility improved, Lockett immersed himself in studying. “At that time everything stopped for me and I practiced constantly.” After two years of continual practice, Lockett made the decision to move to London, despite not knowing a soul there. Times were bleak. “I rented an old concrete store in Finsbury Park in North London that doubled as a bed-sit,” he says. “The place was just full of dust and was very cold. It was very depressing.”

In Search Of The Music

In 1985, a friend invited Lockett to his apartment near Alexander Palace, which was hosting the Festival Of India, where the venue took on the look and sounds of that country. “I could hear this incredible music and wondered, ‘What is that?’” The two took off in search of the music that filtered through the window. “It was a free concert that featured Zakir Hussain, and I’d never seen or heard anything like it!

“I was deeply analytical about drummers and would sit and watch their every move and watch what they’d do. Even though I couldn’t see what they were doing, I could conceptualize what was going on. One might not be able to do it, but you could imagine a practice regime that would take you towards developing that kind of playing. Whereas with tablas there is this massive sound coming out of these tiny little drums and I had no idea how they were played. Listening to a conga or djembe player, you get an idea as to what they are doing. With tabla you can’t even see what is happening, yet they have this massive sound, this whole tonal spectrum coming from these small drums. Again, it was this and the lyricism that attracted me to them.”

Lockett then noticed an advertisement for tabla lessons, and once again, that was it. “Yousuf Ali Khan was teaching the course, and he gave me free lessons. That was the start of my interest in Indian music. Originally, I thought that it would complement my drum set playing, but I got totally obsessed by it. I stopped playing in bands and just studied solidly for six years, firstly with Yousuf and then South Indian music with Karakudi Krishnamurthy.”

University Of Life

Lockett was determined to make a career in music and wasn’t going to work a daytime gig. “I didn’t go to university, so studying with these great Indian players was my university.”

He took the most logical step and began to teach drums. “The first thing that teaching taught me was that if someone showed me something, it was embedded for life, but I noticed with some of my students, they’d either forget what I’d shown them, or they weren’t interested. I found this strange, as I was always so hungry to learn. I realized that not everybody wants to learn and there are very few people that have the commitment to get it down. I was shocked.”

Lockett remembers showing one student a straight-eighth groove, then the same groove as a shuffle. “He’d come back and would have learned the shuffle, but had forgotten the straight-eighth version. In the end I told him that he might have to think that this wasn’t going to work out,” Lockett chuckles. “I’d save him from quintuplets!”

A Taste For Diversity

By now, Lockett was listening to all styles of music and took an interest in drummers like Stewart Copeland, Mark Brzezicki, and Steve Gadd. “Chick Corea’s Leprechaun’s Dream was a big influence for me and I’d go and buy a Leo Sayer album just because it had Gadd on it! I also liked Joni Mitchell and her drummers. I’d listen to The Who, or Ravi Shankar, and to some extent that has reflected in the player that I am now, as I don’t put barriers between things. My iPod is highly eclectic.”

Since educational resources for hand drums were practically nonexistent, Lockett relied on his ears and instincts to develop drumming technique. “Now you can get five-camera angle DVDs,” he says. “But back then, starting out playing bongos, I’d never seen anyone play bongos, nor could you find a video that showed you how to do it, so I sat at home and listened to tracks that featured bongos to try and work out what they were doing. I knew a basic martillo pattern and I was lucky in a way, as now I have this weird hybrid bongo style due to trying to discover how it was done.”

Lockett threw himself into studying, and developed unorthodox regimens that depended on patience as much as coordination. “Even when I first started, I always — and still do — have this practice routine where I’ll have a 30-minute or one-hour session of just playing one thing continually on whatever instrument I’m working on, and every five minutes I move it up by 5 bpm. I found that concentrating upon one thing for that space of time to begin a longer practice session really brings results.

“One problem is that I’ll tour playing tablas for a month and then when I get back I have a session that requires I play another instrument, and I have to quickly re-establish those techniques on that instrument. But playing something really slowly without putting any strain upon yourself for 30 minutes will bring results.”

As much a form of meditation as woodshedding, Lockett’s personal practice time led him into a pursuit of cross-fertilization. “Everything has become hybrid and influenced by everything else, so a lot of the techniques have become interspersed onto different drums. So I might use some of the Indian techniques on the cajon, or darabuka.”

A Musical Flow

Lockett grew consumed by his study of eclectic percussion, burning through hours of practice and piles of money to buy new instruments. “I was fascinated with the technique of how it was done and how the drums produced such an amazing array of sounds,” he says. “I got deeply into the South Indian musical culture and learned the mridangam. I was about to learn the thavil and thought, ‘Actually, I can either learn that drum or get a career.’”

And with that epiphany, he began casting around for work, and finally got a nibble from a rock band called Thunder, who asked him to record on their 1995 release, Behind Closed Doors. “I played tabla, bongos, and lots of various percussion,” he says. “I went into the studio and it was all rigged out with skull and crossbones and all other manner of rock trappings — but as I had long hair, I think I fitted in all right.” Considering that this was the late ’80s, it was fairly adventurous for a rock band to consider adding such unusual instruments as tablas. “I was shocked, as I got paid decent money to do the things that I really wanted to do!”

This early recording experience taught Lockett a valuable lesson. “I always try to approach everything with an open mind and make everything musical rather than trying to impress with a dazzling solo. I make music so that it has some flow to it, rather than a barrage of noise or sounds that are inappropriate.”

Organic Beats

The Thunder sessions brought further visibility to Lockett’s adventurous talents, and led to the opportunity to play on Björk’s 1995 album, Post. “I always say that if you send out a hundred things, expect one phone call back, or two at most,” he says. “Even with a big CV it can be two years before you hear anything. Although I mostly get calls to play percussion, my first instrument was the drum set, so I do have to remind people that I can cover that area too.”

And these days producers also call on Lockett to punch buttons. “I’m currently programming all the percussion for the new Bond movie and I do what I call organic beat programming. It’s not total hardcore electronics, but there’s a lot of electronics and sound design going on. Craig Armstrong asked me to do the programming for the Incredible Hulk movie, and he’s known for a couple of years that I can program.

“You have to be patient. I never hassle people for work because people don’t like being hassled. You make your case, say, ‘This is what I can do. You can listen to it on my site or on the disc that I sent to you,’ and that’s it. Leave it to lie and see what comes back.”

Cowbell Anyone? Success has happened for Lockett organically, and he has worked hard to get where he is. But he believes that his ability to be flexible is equally as important as his finesse as a drummer and programmer. “Sometimes I get asked for something that I think might not suit the tabla, but you have to get to their ideas,” he explains. “I always remain open to what the producer might be asking for, as they obviously want something a little different that can’t be found on a drum sample CD.

“I got a call from Roxy Music’s Phil Manzarena and most of the session was standard stuff and it was going well. And then he wanted me to build another percussion track on junk sounds. We took the light down from the ceiling, the bin from the street came in, the grill from the fire got used, and it was great. Originally, I was thinking that I wasn’t so sure, but it turned out brilliantly. It certainly makes you think how you can use different sounds. Think about instruments such as congas and bongos, they are commonplace in popular music now, whereas 30 years ago they were considered exotic — and it’s the same with tabla. Though that is a harder instrument to learn, you do hear it incorporated more into popular music.”

Going Solo

It seemed as if Lockett had achieved every possible goal that a percussionist could dream of until a promoter asked if he was interested in performing at the Rhythm Sticks Festival of percussion in London. The normally garrulous Lockett found himself at a loss.

“I genuinely did not know what to say and said I’d think about it,” he remembers. “I had not performed solo before so it was a big deal at the time. Right before that call I had been working with Joji Hirota and I thought that we could do a project together that incorporated tabla and taiko drums. I called Joji, we got together, and that was my first sold-out show. The promoter loved it and suddenly we were doing 30-, 40-date tours around Europe. Bill Bruford had come to one of our gigs and I got talking to him and it began the Network Of Sparks project with him.”

During these duo tours Lockett suddenly had to please someone other than a record producer (even worse — his peers!), which once again found him plumbing his inner musicality. “I know that sitting respectfully through a drum clinic can become a little boring if people aren’t playing musically. Whether the audience is all drummers, or simply Bob from up the road, you have to give them something musical to latch onto.”

Tours and sessions continue to introduce the uninitiated to Lockett’s various projects. “I’ve been working with beatboxer Shlomo and we played the Glastonbury festival — it was great. There are great talents in all genres and I try not to pre-conceptualize or be snobbish or judgmental about different styles and players. It helps keep my ears open to different influences, which helps develop my broader eclectic approach, and in turn makes it difficult to categorize what I do. I like that.”

Lockett is excited about his most recent project, which finds the percussionist expanding into an entirely different type of media — print. Hudson Music has just released his long awaited method book, Indian Rhythms For The Drumset. “The book came about over a long period of time,” he says. “I was teaching the South Indian rhythmic system and that became the core of the book. Once I had my approach to the system in place I was able to approach the system in a slightly more abstract way, so that the building blocks could be utilized by all musicians.

“I believe it is a book that will last a long time and is not a moment of fashion that won’t be of interest in five years. I like to give things back. It would be nice if more players did that.”

Pete Lockett Selected Discography

Chris McHugh Joins Craviotto

Craviotto Drum Company today announced the addition of one of Nashville’s best,Chris McHugh, who has recorded with Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts and others, to their family of artist endorsers. Not only can Chris be seen touring with Keith Urban on his 2009 “Escape Together World Tour,” but his work can be heard on numerous platinum and Grammy Award winning recordings from a virtual who’s who in the music industry. It is estimated that his involvement in the making of nearly 50 albums has played a role in the sale of upwards of 100 million CDs worldwide.

A New Jersey native, Chris moved to Nashville in 1985 to start his professional music career. He has since recorded, produced and audio engineered for the likes of Faith Hill, Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts, LeAnn Rimes, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks, Jewel, and others. He has also served as Keith Urban’s musical director for the past two years.

His setup
Drums: Custom Shop Series American Ash
Sizes: 15 x 26, 16 x 18, 16 x 16, 10 x 14. 6.5 x 14 snare.

For more information contact Craviotto Drum Company.

Matt Thomas of Brother Von Doom

What techniques have you learned by listening to or watching other drummers?
To play a little lighter with my feet for speed. Instead of caveman-ing my drums to death!

The KickPort has turned a lot of heads since it was unveiled at the January 2009 NAMM show and many artists have adopted this product including Kenny Aronoff, "KickPorts add punch, power and low end to your kick drum.. They work both live and in the studio...." And more specifically… “KickPorts will kick your ass...kick it right out of the venu... ; )” Other endorsers include Gerry Brown (Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritchie) Jonathon Moffett and others.

The Kickport is an insert that promises more punch and less ring out of your bass drum. Additionally, it adds dampening to the head which allows you to reclaim all that valuable resonant space inside your beautiful drum. So now you are free to remove that giant sleeping pillow choking the vibrations of the shell and replace it with minimal internal dampening.

Currently available in ten stores in the US, the company promises it will be widely avaialbe soon.Find out more at Kickport.com.

HYBRID DRUM KITS

By Mike Snyder

As an instrument, the “drum set” is constantly changing. Just look back to what was the norm in the 1920s. A contemporary kit barely resembles the set of that bygone era. The hybrid electronic/acoustic drum set is the next big evolutionary step. It not only increases the sound palette but can also expand the drummer’s musical role. With electronics, the drummer can play rhythms as well as perform parts that are traditionally the domain of pitched instruments. How cool would it be to replace that chronically late guitar player? With the technology available today, only imagination limits the possibilities. That said, let’s look at three different hybrid setups.

Each of the three hybrid setups is built around a specific type of sound source: a sample pad, a percussion pad, or a drum module. The sample pad is a product unique to Roland. Setup 1 is based around the Roland SPD-S sample pad. Percussion pads are available from a few different manufacturers, each offering greatly differing features. Because of this, I’ll use the Roland SPD-20 percussion pad as the centerpiece of Setup 2. Although drum modules differ greatly, their basic features are by far the most generic of all when compared to percussion and sample pads. Because of this, I won’t reference a specific manufacturer or model number for Setup 3.

Any drummer who is working or practicing can find a use for this particular hybrid setup. It’s compact, versatile, and not terribly expensive. Built around the Roland SPD-S sample pad, it’s easy to use and perfect for a drummer’s initial dive into the world of electronics. And if you want to play custom samples or loops, it’s the only game in town. Although it can easily be used in concert with a computer, you can also create, edit, and modify sounds directly within the unit. A sample pad’s versatility comes not only from the sounds loaded into it at the factory but from the ability of users to load and save their own custom sounds into its memory. With this setup, a player has access to hundreds of sounds of any type – Latin percussion, electronic, found, or acoustic drum sounds. Imagination, musical style, and taste are the only limiting factors.

One of the most common uses of the SPD-S is to play back loops – melodic or rhythmic – in live performance. A friend in Philadelphia has even replaced his bass player with a SPD-S! (Personally, I’d bag the guitar player first, but to each his own.) He did this by creating a separate loop for each song section: intro, verse, chorus, and so on. Each of the loops was assigned a different pad (nine on the SPD-S), and hitting a pad alternated between starting and stopping the assigned loop. If you want to see a master of this kind of setup in action, check out Johnny Rabb. He uses a sample pad to playback one-shot melodic and rhythmic samples to create real-time, on-the-fly arrangements – no need for a band! With this hybrid setup, the drummer is truly in the driver’s seat. Along those lines, I use the SPD-S to playback all the music I play along with in my clinic performances. Each song is loaded into the sample pad and assigned to start and stop with the strike of a pad. There’s no clumsy fumbling with my iPod or CD player. I hit the pad that has the song I want to play assigned to it, the song starts, and I’m off and wailing. This greatly simplifies my workload.

The sample pad can be positioned anywhere in the drum set to suit the player, although I put it next to the hi-hat so that it’s within arms reach. Because the SPD-S can accept input from two single-trigger pads or triggers, it is an easy way to get that perfect kick drum sound and add an auxiliary pad for specialty sounds, like a second snare drum. FIG. 1 shows this setup. An acoustic drum trigger is placed on the acoustic kick drum, and a rubber pad is placed next to the hi-hat, where a second snare drum would traditionally be found. They are connected to the SPD-S by an insert cable. An insert cable has a 1/4” stereo plug on one end that splits off to two individual mono 1/4” plugs on the other end. The stereo end plugs into the trigger input of the SPD-S, and the two mono plugs hook up to their respective pad/trigger. Although I’m using a pad/acoustic trigger combination here, you could use two triggers or two pads.

Getting sounds and loops into the sample pad can be done in two ways. An audio source can be plugged directly into the onboard audio inputs (mono or stereo). These can be line or microphone level, as there are controls to set the input to the desired level. Once the level is set, it only takes a few button pushes to get the sampled audio into the SPD-S and stored into memory. There are onboard tools that allow for basic sound editing, albeit on a small screen. Loops can be fine tuned to repeat smoothly, and excess silence at the beginning or end of a sample can be trimmed and discarded. Once the sounds and loops are edited, the onboard functions and effects can be used to further change the sounds. Altering or adding effects to an existing sound, then using the SPD-S’ resample function will create an entirely new sample or loop. The SPD-S is a very powerful tool that lets the lowly drummer pierce the once sacred bastion of the keyboard player. There is justice in the world after all.

Another way to get sounds into the sample pad is to transfer them from computer to the SPD-S via a compact flash card. This gets around the three-minute sampling limitation (stereo) when using the audio inputs. Some of my clinic tunes are over six minutes of stereo audio, and in my opinion, it’s easiest to edit sound on the computer because the waveform can be seen. Once edited, copy the sound/loop to the compact flash card. Then remove the card, place it in the SPD-S, and import the sound into memory – couldn’t be much simpler.

Percussion pads have been the workhorses of the electronic drum world for almost 20 years. This setup is perfect for those who don’t need loops or their own sampled sounds. A percussion pad, in this case the Roland SPD-20, has sounds stored in ROM. Unlike the sample pad, these sounds are permanent and cannot be erased, although they can be edited (for pitch, decay, effects, etc.). This is the perfect piece for the player who doesn’t understand or doesn’t want to be overwhelmed by sampling. The SPD-20 has the added benefit of having four dual-trigger inputs, which allows for a more extensive setup. Yes indeed, more things to hit.

This hybrid setup (FIG. 2) has two drum triggers, a mesh pad, and a kick pad plugged into the percussion pad. Plugging these pads and triggers into the percussion pad is straightforward. The cable comes out of the pad or trigger, and it plugs into a trigger input on the percussion pad. Inputs 1 and 2 of the SPD-20 recognize dual-trigger mesh pads. Mesh pads actually use two piezo elements – one for the head and one for the rim. These are what I call “true” dual-trigger pads. Dual-trigger rubber pads most often use only one piezo to sense a hit both on the head or the rim. This single piezo is used in conjunction with a “membrane switch” on the rim that lets the sound module know which sound to play – head or rim. Each type of pad requires slightly different circuitry to work; the SPD-20 has both types of circuitry on Inputs 1 and 2. If you’re using a dual-trigger pad or trigger, you’ll need to use a stereo cable to make the connection. If a mono cable is used, only the head portion of the pad will work. Inputs 3 and 4 accept dual-trigger membrane-switching pads or single-trigger mesh pads/triggers.

Once the pads/triggers are hooked up, the trigger input settings on the percussion pad have to be set to best match the pad/trigger. Percussion pads generally have what I would describe as intermediate-level trigger parameters, like “sensitivity,” “threshold,” and “mask time.” You’ll have to do some experimenting to find the settings that work best for your style of playing and technique.

Percussion pads, as I mentioned earlier, have sounds that are preset in ROM memory, which means that you can’t add additional samples to the percussion pad’s onboard library, but you can alter the existing sounds. Pitch, length, and effects are a few of the parameters that can be changed. Roland’s SPD-20 has 700 onboard sounds from every genre and style of music imaginable – tabla, gongs, TR-808 sounds. They’re all right there at your fingertips.

FIG. 2 shows a mesh pad and snare drum trigger plugged into the first two inputs of the percussion pad. Because most mesh pads and nearly all snare drum triggers are dual trigger, a different sound can be assigned to the head and the rim. If you don’t want two different sounds, just assign the same sound to both the head and rim.

Because drum modules have many more inputs than sample or percussion pads, the combination of pad and trigger types is huge! For me, this is the ultimate setup: It’s really a drum set within a drum set. There are six pads, triggers, and foot controllers used in the setup shown in FIG. 3. Choices abound when selecting sounds. Consider for a moment the drum-set-within-a-drum-set concept. By simply moving your hands to the pads and your left foot to the hi-hat controller, a completely electronic drum set can be played. This makes it easy to switch between programmed-sounding beats to full-on acoustic drums in real time.

A kick drum trigger is used in every one of the three setups shown. If I can only trigger one sound, it will be the bass drum. By triggering the kick, with or without the addition of a microphone, the sound can be dramatically altered. Altering or switching sounds is as easy as pushing a button to change patches. I commonly add the super low end of an 808-kick sound to fill out the low frequencies of a pop song. If a sharp beater attack is needed to cut through a wall of guitar sound, that too is easy to achieve. Just select a kick sound that has a lot of high-frequency snap. Use the drum module’s EQ (found on most high-end drum modules) to boost the frequencies around 8kHz, and then slightly cut all frequencies below 500Hz. Instantly a kick drum sound is created that will cut through the most dense guitar tracks. I’ve used this very technique on Thomas Lang’s acoustic kick drums at a number of recent live events. Adding in the triggered sound from the drum module made the kicks slice right through the mix – a must-have to hear his intricate kick patterns. As a bonus, the acoustic triggers tracked his unrelenting barrage of notes flawlessly.

Because almost all drum modules have more than six inputs available, this setup could be expanded to include even more pads and triggers. Consider adding triggers to the acoustic toms and snare drum. With a completely triggered acoustic drum set, it’s possible to change the entire drum sound from song to song, even if you don’t have mikes on the drums..

I didn’t included a cabling diagram in FIG. 3, because it’s about as straight forward as it gets. One cable goes from each pad/trigger to one trigger input on the module. As always, if a pad/trigger is dual trigger, use a stereo cable. Notice that this setup also includes a hi-hat controller pedal. This pedal can be used to open and close hi-hat sounds assigned to any pad, as well as control pitch bend on any of the pads/triggers (depending on the module’s capability).

As a rule, drum modules have more advanced trigger input settings than sample or percussion pads. Many of the higher-end modules even allow for the choice of trigger type on each input. By choosing the trigger type, the module’s trigger parameters are set to best match that specific kind of pad/trigger. Because every player is a bit different, these baseline parameters can then be tweaked to get the best possible response from the pad/trigger.

As I’ve said in previous articles, use the newest and most advanced drum module you can afford. Electronic drum technology is constantly changing and improving. And in this case, newer really is better.

It’s this simple: Electronics have become part of what we do as drummers and percussionists. Electronics might be reinforcing an acoustic drum sound, providing some sort of backing loop to play against, or playing some effect that can’t be created in the acoustic world. Drummers like Jojo Mayer, Johnny Rabb, and Samantha Maloney frequently use hybrid electronic/acoustic setups. Even drummers that are often associated primarily with acoustic drums, like Peter Erskine and Jim Keltner, use electronics as part of their everyday setups. So based on what you’ve read here, think about what you might need in your own setup to enhance the music you’re playing. Do you like to trigger a lot of loops? Do you need bigger acoustic drum sounds? Do you want to replace that pesky guitar player with a sample pad? Whatever you decide, there is no such thing as a wrong setup, and it’s really no longer a question of whether acoustic or electronic gear is the best tool for the job. You’ll likely need both.

Needle Art
Ludwig Announces Corey Miller Signature Element Drum Kit

By Salman Haqqi

As Ludwig moves into its 100th Anniversary in 2009, the company is announcing several new drums, including a limited collaboration tattoo-inspired Ludwig Corey Miller Signature Element Drum Kit. These special edition inaugural kits will only be available for a short time at select Ludwig dealers.

These drums feature the flash of world-renowned tattoo artist Corey Miller. Having entered the world of drumming as a “15-year -old hoodlum punk rock drummer”, Corey began his professional tattoo career at age 20 at Fat George's Tattoo Gallery in LaPuente, California. Taking cues from famed artists such as Jack Rudy, Filip Leu and Suzanne Fauser, Corey's stunningly realistic tattoo art have taken him all over the world, and made him one of the most sought-after purveyors of ink in modern times. Sole proprietor and owner of Six Feet Under Tattoo Parlor in Upland, CA, since opening up on April Fools Day, 1997, it is his use of black-and-grey that put Corey on the map. Having inked such icons as James Hetfield and custom motorcycle artist Jesse James, it is his recently televised association with L.A. based celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D that has propelled him into the media spotlight.

"This is a true first for Ludwig, and indeed, the drum industry”, says Kevin Packard, director of marketing, combo percussion. “Numerous kits with custom graphics have been introduced before, but never in a way that allowed every drummer access to them. To have Corey's art on a Ludwig kit is something we are really proud of".

A long- time Ludwig artist and drummer, the Element Series Corey Miller Signature drum kit was personally designed by Corey using various elements of his classic tattoo flash. The kit is also the first production kit from Ludwig to feature a 22"x22" bass drum, a compliment to the kit's 7x14 snare, 8x12 rack tom, and 14x16 floor tom.

For more information on all the new Ludwig drums, visit http://www.ludwig-drums.com .

Drum Maker Of The Month: MCD Percussion

While working as a manager for Guitar Center in the ‘90s Kyle Mastropietro got a lot of recording and studio gigs. He says he was never completely pleased with big name drums he would try, so eventually he began making his own in the workshop owned by his family’s construction business. He still plays the first snare drum he ever made.

“What makes MCD Special is the intense process we use in cutting bearing edges,” says Kyle. We use three different granite tables and LED lighting to ensure a perfectly flat edge before we start cutting.” This process, he says, guarantees that drummers don’t get the “bad aftertaste” from drums where the head is not seated properly. They must be doing something right. Drummers at Larry Gold’s busy Philly studio, rave about MCD kits.

MCD Beech Shell

MCD Acrylic

MCD Curly Hickory

MCD Orange Cocobolo

All MCD drums are completely custom, but they primarily build acrylics, maple ply drums and solid shells. “Our acrylics are really popular with guys in the hip-hop and gospel scene,” says Kyle.

MCD is a family business—even Kyle’s grandfather helps in the shop. And, if you order drusm to pick up in person, they may even cook a little barbecue for you. MCD kits start at around $800 for standard kits and $2500 for solid shell designs.

Contact: Kyle Mastropietro, http://www.mcdpercussion.com. 215-359-7923

Just Ask Neil Yourself?

Ever wanted to sit down for an interview with Neil Peart? Well now, you can.

Neil has agreed to answer DRUM! readers questions in our June 2009 issue. Instead of us asking the questions, it's you asking the questions.

All you have to do is email your question to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) . Editor Andy Doerschuk will forward all the questions to Neil and then we'll sift through them and answer as many as possible in a marathon interview.

If your question is chosen, we'll include your name (and a photo if possible) in the issue. The deadline for questions is March 16, so act today. Just email your questions to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) .

SJC Drums Launches New Web Site

SJC has launched a brand new interactive web site at http://www.sjcdrums.com. . Mike, Bryan, and Brad at SJC Drums have been working on this site for the past 6 months. The new website is highly interactive, featuring a built-in Video Update TV screen, staff videos, an easy-to-use shopping cart where you can buy pre-made drums, merchandise, and lots of other features designed to appeal to the growing SJC audience. According to Mike Ciprari, this new site will be followed by the release of Virtual Kit Designer v2.0, which will be overhauled and get the same new features as the rest of the site.

Visit SJC at http://www.sjcdrums.com.

How Our Feet Do What They Do

By Dr. Luga Podesta

Since the development of double bass pedals, the sound of fast footwork has been incorporated into numerous musical styles such as funk, fusion, rock, metal, and progressive rock. Despite the fact that drummers have played double bass drums for many years, mastering this double bass drum technique can be extremely difficult. As a former athlete and saxophonist, I was well aware of the muscle mechanics and functions necessary to acquire skills needed to play a sport or an instrument. However, when I decided to learn to play the drums four years ago, I severely underestimated what it would take for me to develop the muscle memory and coordination necessary to move my four limbs independently while balancing on a small throne. Furthermore, learning to play sixteenth-note double bass patterns with my feet was an additional challenge. While playing double bass may seem to be a routine movement to some, developing this skill requires our bodies to create thousands of neurological pathways to coordinate electrical signals from our brain to our extremities. Thousands of neuromuscular connections occur simultaneously to signal our legs to move in a synchronous movement pattern, using our trunk to balance, and moving our arms in a different movement pattern. Regardless of whether you play double bass heel-up, heel-down, or a combination of both, a number of leg muscles and muscle movement patterns need to be developed (see Fig. 1).

Whenever we discuss various playing styles, such as “heel-up” or “heel-down,” from an anatomical standpoint, we usually concentrate on which leg muscles function to allow us to perform these movements. What we commonly overlook is the group of muscles that are the base and support for all other muscles to function, which is referred to as the core.

Core Muscles. These are the group of muscles defined as the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex. There are 29 different muscles that make up the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex. The core operates as an integrated functional unit, enabling the entire kinetic chain (muscles from the foot to the spine) to produce force, reduce force, and dynamically stabilize against force. A strong core provides optimum neuromuscular efficiency throughout the entire kinetic chain, allowing for maximum acceleration, deceleration, and dynamic stabilization during integrated movements.

Heel Down. There are predominately four muscle groups in addition to the core that work synchronously to permit the foot and ankle to move the drum pedal while playing heel down. In order to allow the beater to move away from the drumhead, the foot must point upward while the heel rests on the floor. To bring the foot upward, the foot elevators or dorsiflexors (anterior tibialis, peroneals) and toe extensor muscles are activated. In order to drive the beater into the drumhead, the foot must push downward while the heel stays on the floor. To push the foot downward, the foot depressors or plantarflexors (soleus) and the toe flexors are activated (see Fig. 2).

Heel Up. The muscle groups used to play heel up are slightly different than those used to play heel down. The predominant muscle groups necessary to play using this technique include the hip flexors (iliopsoas), the foot/plantar flexor muscles (soleus), and the foot elevators (anterior tibialis). These muscles also work in conjunction with the core musculature to maintain balance and trunk stabilization. The hip flexor muscles elevate the leg, bringing the foot off the pedal and releasing the beater from the drumhead. The foot flexor muscles push the foot down to depress the pedal, driving the beater into the drumhead. The anterior tibialis muscle eccentrically contracts (lengthens) to assist slow ankle and foot plantar flexion (see Fig. 3).

As you can see, double bass drum technique requires the core and various leg muscles to be trained and conditioned, regardless of the preferred technique. While conditioning as a drummer, keep in mind that the core is the basis for all your leg movements. Strengthening the core and trunk is vital for the drummer to play with speed and endurance.

Terry Bozzio: An Interview From The Vault Part I

By Don Zulaica

There's a small group of names that command a certain reverence among drummers. One word is usually enough for any stick-wielder with a pulse to acknowledge the significance. Buddy. Krupa. Elvin. Max. Bellson. Bonham. Bruford. Tony. If it's not at that stage already, certainly in twenty years the name Bozzio will be uttered in the same hushed, hallowed tones.

The history of Terry Bozzio's professional career is well-documented. Every time there was some so-called plateau to reach, it was met. Brecker Brothers. U.K. Frank Zappa's "Black Page." When commercial success beckoned, faster than you could say "hairspray," he was they key instigator of one of the '80s more significant bands, Missing Persons.

But somewhere along the line Terry seemed to discover that maybe making music wasn't about reaching the plateaus, or selling a large amount of records-- perhaps the journey was the best part. It was at this point Terry seemed to joyously break out in different directions.

On one hand, he went inward, taking his Stravinsky-inspired ostinato drum solo compositions to unprecedented heights, single-handedly creating a cottage industry of study materials, videos, books and drum equipment. On the other hand, Terry never lost touch with his love for removing the safety net and just letting things rip with other inspired musicians. Whether a chops-showcase or an honest to goodness band, at times it was tough to keep up with all the different projects. But damn if it wasn't fun to try-- Steve Vai, Patrick O'Hearn, Polytown, Jeff Beck, The Knack, The Lonely Bears, bpm, and the projects with bassist Tony Levin and guitarist Steve Stevens ("Situation Dangerous").

We caught up with Terry at home in Austin after a clinic tour with fellow Zappa-cohort Chad Wackerman to talk about the albums, the projects, the medieval ostinato-torture devices, and Frank's legacy.

DRUM! I have to ask about the clinics with Chad Wackerman-- how did they come together?

Bozzio Based on all the touring I've done in the past and looking at it kind of from both sides of the fence, from the dealers and from the drum and cymbal companies, and then from myself as an artist, with the whole point of what going out on tour and doing a drum clinic performance is-- I just saw so many problems with it. Drum companies don't really have a person who is a booking-agent type. No matter how many times you tell them, they're being pulled in several different directions, and sometimes they don't ultimately get it together where it benefits everyone involved.

So I figured, okay, at this point I've done this so many times and I've gotten more and more involved in routing the tours and trying to make everything make sense financially-- why don't I just do the whole thing myself and get backing from DW to help get it up and running? So that's what I did. I came up with the concept of myself and Chad, two ex-Zappa drummers who both play DW and we did the southeast tour and it was a lot of fun. People loved it.

DRUM! Did you rehearse much for the clinics? How did you guys structure the program?

Bozzio We knew we wanted to do something together, and my whole feeling about doing things with other people is just to let it happen in the moment. So you use every bit of musicality and knowledge in that kind of situation. And I find that in the focus of the moment, the hyper-focus of doing a performance, you come up with great ideas that aren't the same as when you've got the luxury of sort of sitting around and thinking about it. It's not really something you think about, it's something that's internalized.

So we knew we were just going to play like that, it could go anywhere. And it did. God, sometimes we jammed for many, many minutes, not just 15. So there was some great stuff that happened. Then we were able to work on "The Black Page" separately, and just got together here in Austin a day before the gig.

DRUM! What did you think of Chad's performances?

Bozzio Chad's big leap this time was that he prepared a bunch of solo drum music, so he was able to do his show without the use of a DAT or playing along with recorded material. I was really proud of the statements he was making. He did one solo in seven, with a half-time melody over it, one of those confusing aural illusions that happens the first few times you hear it, until you can count it out. He had a few really exceptional pieces.

DRUM! What do you think of him in general as a player?

Bozzio Oh man, the guy is really deep. The guy played much more difficult music with Zappa than I ever did. Things like "Mo N'Herb's Vacation," stuff that made "The Black Page" look like a primer.

The other thing is, his technique is really excellent. Amazing chops, and he's incredibly clean and controlled. A lot of times, guys who have amazing chops are kind of mechanical. But Chad is so sensitive, he's so musical. It's a great combination of the depth of musicality and sensitivity, and then on the other hand the depth of his knowledge of technique.

He's done incredible stuff with everybody he's played with, from Zappa to Holdsworth and his own stuff too. And now his writing is really blossoming. I was able to hear his CD ["Scream"], and you can hear the melodic and harmonic depth. A lot of times, when drummers try to write, they have motifs that may not be the best for the ultimate musical outcome. I think Chad's musical sensibilities are so great that he was able to make a real beautiful album, not just something to set him up to play the drums or just to prove, "Look at me, I can write, and I can write fancy stuff!" It's really more from the heart.

DRUM! You released your second album with Tony Levin and Steve Stevens, "Situation Dangerous," and it definitely sounds like you took more time on that one.

Bozzio Yeah, we had about a week of rehearsals and about ten days in the studio. So there was a lot more structure, and the record is more cohesive. And it's also kind of a nice compliment to the other record, which had its strengths in the "off-the cuff-ness" of it and the magic that happens without preconceived ideas. Whereas this one, it was a little more difficult for me in that we approached it more like a session. There were pieces where we'd go for takes and sections of tunes. So it was a little bit more pedantic in its approach, for me.

But on the other hand, the cohesiveness of the results is really nice. And it's sort of an equalizer too, because I put Steve in a tough position trying to do the first record, because he'd never really worked that way. So this is my way of coming back, I think, and trying to work in a way where he was more comfortable, because most of the ideas musically were coming from his direction, and therefore I was kind of forced into playing to accompany those ideas as opposed to what I would play from the heart in the spur of the moment.

DRUM! Did everybody come in with ideas beforehand, or were the tunes put together pretty much in those ten days?

Bozzio Pretty much in those ten days. I'm sure some of Steve's ideas, he had and brought in, and on the other hand things would come up based on what we were doing. So it was a little bit of both.

DRUM! Let's talk about a couple of the pieces. "Crash" is reminiscent of something like "Sling Shot" off of Jeff Beck's "Guitar Shop. "

Bozzio Steve came up with that line, a high energy kind of punk thing. The bridge goes into five, and that was coming from me and Tony. We experimented some different B-sections and then it ended up in that half-time thing. To me a lot of the feel of the album has to do with tragedy and that dark film-noir kind of thing, a little bit science fiction detective, black and white, shady things.

DRUM! Which leads me to guitarist Steve Stevens, who is the X-factor in this, to me. I mean, this was the "Billy Idol" guy, and now he's doing this and "Flamenco A Go Go. "

Bozzio Yeah, he just has a lot of musical depth, which you could even hear in the pop format. His arrangements and parts were great in the '80s style of music, but I had no idea that the guy could play that well. He's a highly accomplished guitarist, and I don't think that many people know that. So I was happy to be the instigator to set him up in this kind of situation to get him known as a player, rather than just as "The Rock God" or something like that. And he's a very fluent flamenco player.

For me, I come from a musical background where I've heard a lot of stuff over the years, and I have an appreciation for ethnic styles of all kinds, as long as it's really high quality. But flamenco, I'd probably heard it around the house, and watching Jose Greco on the Ed Sullivan Show, and other sort-of public television specials that you'd see over the last 30-40 years. I knew there was something going on that really moved me. The connection with drumming is obvious, of course.

And I had the opportunity to play with this flamenco dancer, Andreas Murim, who comes from Seville, Spain. It was in Holland, a percussion festival with Trilok Gurtu, myself, Vinx, Zakir Hussain and Manashio Embande, from Africa. So we all played together and everybody was moved by this young kid who could just go out there with a guy behind him and play flamenco guitar and dance damn near better than any drummer that had played. Had so much passion and drama and pathos going on, it really moved me. He didn't speak any English, but his girlfriend did. So she got us together and told me, "Andreas was really moved by your playing." And I thought, "Well wow, tell him I feel the same." I hope to work with him more in the future.

So when Steve and I brought the influences together on the first Black Light Syndrome album, we did a tune called "Duente," which was completely off-the-cuff and totally amazing. We definitely have that in common.

DRUM! How did you and Steve meet?

Bozzio He saw me play at the House of Blues for a DW Drum Day event. He saw my solo drum music and really liked it. And to me, that's important. If somebody doesn't get that or appreciate it, then I don't see what the point is in going on, because that's just so much a part of my heart. No matter what project I approach, if they don't know that I'm coming from that space, it may be a little confusing and controlling, etc. So his liking what I was doing made me feel really safe.

And then we got together over at his house, and he played me a couple of these tracks that I don't know if they ended up on "Flamenco A Go Go" or not, but man-- the bottom line was, I thought if we play nothing more than the music for his solo record, I'd be happy to do that.

DRUM! "Tziganne" features some wonderful flamenco guitar playing. But soloing-wise, it's almost a departure for you because you're known for the ostinato work, and here you go with melodic motifs on the piccolo toms.

Bozzio Yeah, I've got a set of four piccolo toms and four short-stack toms. Together with my snare and my highest normal-shell tom, I've got and octave and a third of the white notes of the piano. So this gives me a lot of different melodic, harmonic and modal variations. And I can use other drums that are deeper, that relate to those top tonalities, as tonal centers.

For instance, if I go to an E shell tom and kind of pedal on that, I can use the same white notes but be in an E Phrygian mode. And then if I go down to a D I'm in the Locrian mode, or if I'm on A I'm in A minor. My development over the last year or two had been not so much in the ostinato area as opposed to getting deeper melodically and harmonically with what I've got on these piccolo toms. So "Tziganne" was the one tune that allowed me to use what my latest developments on the drum set have been. I actually tuned the F to an F#, so it was in the key of what we were doing. But basically I was able to do a flamenco-esque guitar solo over a little ostinato.

That type of thing is really what I'm into now. I've got harmonic etudes now that use all of the chords and a whole lot of different progressions and relationships within that. And it's really amazing to think, I've got all these white notes, so what can you do with these white notes? And you don't just want to go like a perfect cadence, so how do you use these things in a way where you can make progressions that are hip to you and are interesting musically and delineate these harmonies? I've really been able to use every dang chord that's available and put them together into a little piece. So that's the area I've been working on more lately.

DRUM! Where are those types of ideas coming from?

Bozzio I think it's taking more of a keyboard approach to the drum set. It's like many, many little things that have just stuck in my head, that I've read or been influenced by, over the course of a long period of time. And then you move more in that direction, and it was about five years ago I went to the full-blown set of piccolo toms. The first thing you do is you're playing typical paradiddles and other things that you did on the small drums.

But then after a while you start to go, okay what is the logic and what is the expression according to the traditional laws of melody, and what are my options here? So I began by thinking, okay I've got these modal options. And by starting or ending around certain tonal centers, it puts you in different modes. So that was step one.

Then I got into finding all the different pentatonic scales that were available. Finding the chords that I liked, the things I had learned from the jazz I had listened to. And just figuring out what the options are, you know. There are certain chords that sound good going into other chords, and other chords that sound very typical or "Happy Birthday," and you want to stay away from those. So I started writing out all the little combinations that were available to me and the different voicings and inversions.

I remember reading a book by Stravinsky, where he said that the contrapuntal aspects of the vibraphone really excited him, and he felt that that had yet to be fully exploited. This was years before Gary Burton came along with four mallets. So I figured, okay I haven't got four notes I can play at once, but I can have two. And I thought, let's use the melodic and harmonic and contrapuntal types of motion, either in single-note melodies with two hands doing independent melody lines, or else by rolling in between the two toms and moving the hands independently and creating a sustained harmonic event that changed independently. Very much like fugue. You can use canon, contrary motion, parallel motion, oblique motion, similar motion. So I break these things down and study it, just like I did with permutations.

I always use this comparison. You could drink a 44-ouncer from 7-11 of American-filtered coffee, or you could drink one little Italian espresso and get the same amount of caffeine. So you could study for twenty years every drum book that's ever written, and they're not worth the trees that they cut down to make these books, you know? Whereas if you boil down the essence of what a few of the great drum writers have said, then you can take that information and reapply it in an infinite amount of ways. And you'll have the essence of the whole in the sum of its smallest parts and variations.

DRUM! Where did your theory knowledge come from?

Bozzio I'm pretty well schooled in theory from my two and a half years at the College of Marin, which has a really good music department. I stepped away from that with an AA degree. And the composition and the other things, I studied on my own after the fact, literally after say 15 years or so. Just taking a book on a plane when you're on tour, and relating theoretical concepts to the drums. And once you boil the concept down to its basic element, you can reapply it in an infinite amount of ways, and you're using the language of the European tradition that's been with us for 400 years, to describe it in infinite ways.

DRUM! You've also got some albums out, reissues actually, with The Lonely Bears. This came out of the tours with Jeff Beck and keyboardist Tony Hymas.

Bozzio What happened was, I had a different type of relationship with Tony than I did with Jeff. Jeff was a rock star with a great sense of humor, a cut-up, and there were certain aspects of his personality that I really fit with. Other aspects were diametrically opposed, like all of my classical roots and training.

So I had all this tremendous respect for Tony as a pianist and composer, and we would talk about a lot of stuff. I noticed every morning he'd wake up and be playing Debussy preludes and what have you, before we'd start recording. I thought to myself, man I've pretty much made a career out of a little bag of drum tricks. And that I really haven't got this full-blown, all-encompassing approach that one would have towards a keyboard instrument or a violin, for the drums. It's genre based. So really, that's when I began practicing again, and fooling around with the ostinatos and all the things I'm doing now.

So this relationship we had was special. And one day in the early '90s, after "Guitar Shop," he called me up and had this particular gig in Europe where his drummer couldn't make the show and he asked me to sit in with him. So I did, and it was with Tony and other people who became members of the Lonely Bears, with strings and winds and a guitarist and all these American Indian musicians. And that's when we started talking about doing a project.

So we did four albums over there in the course of about two years. I lived in Paris. We lived pretty cheaply and didn't make much dough but it was art for art's sake. One album was completely improvised, it pretty much runs the gamut of some esoteric material. Mainly written by Tony. I helped arrange and produce it. I'm proud of that stuff. Pete Morticelli from Magna Carta bought the license and now they're going to be available in the states for the first time, so that's great.

DRUM! I actually remember seeing you in San Francisco with The Knack. After all the ostinato clinics, that seemed like quite a departure. How did that come together?

Bozzio It was a session at first. I had talked to Doug Fieger on the phone, and he's a really sweet guy. They had a very small budget, and there was a question of was it worth it for me to do. But it turned out that I had the time, and I figured what the heck, I'll just go in and slam this out. And in the course of making the album, we laughed a lot and had a really good time. And I was impressed with the professionalism of the group. We pretty much did that record after rehearsals in one take, each song. I figured, it's not the most complex music. It doesn't really relate to my history as a drummer, but on this level as a performer, like the Beatles-- I dig these guys. Because they're not phony.

Then they started talking about a tour, so I considered it, it looked okay, and I decided to do it. Then when I got to LA I realized that none of the things that were supposed to be set up for the tour had been done, and what we were embarking on was a really badly-routed and badly-thought-out tour. In a van, 10-hour drives on a show day, staying at Motel 6s. I just said, "Doug, I do this in a truck all the time. I know what you can do and what you can't do, and you can't do this. Somebody's going to get sick or burnt out. It's really impossible."

And he told me that we couldn't pull out because guarantees had been gotten and blah, blah, blah. And I said, "We should pull out and consider putting the onus on the record company to work a single, get some airplay, get some TV shows that we thought we were going to get, so we can go out and do this on a level that's not just...stupid." So, he wouldn't listen to me, and became a little bit obsessed with it.

So we went out. Two weeks in, he lost his voice. I got sick as well, and I had a European tour coming up on the tail end of that. We were in la-la land from day one.

And it was really sad because, I hate to say I told you so, but after going to the same places and theaters and doing 400 people on my own in a drum clinic months before-- we go back to these same places and there would be like 75 people. 25 people. It just was not promoted. Rhino is a reissue label, not a record company that knows how to work a band that's alive and kicking. I think they sold them a bill of goods and didn't really follow through with the promotional things that they said they were going to do. They take records and compilations of bands that have a history, and so their fans will find these, stumble on them and buy them and they'll make money.

So it turned out to be a drag. There were some bad feelings between me and Doug, which I don't know if they've ever been resolved, but I had to just let go of it. And I feel bad about it, but on the other hand I had my health and my sanity to think about. So that was that. Doug and I have spoken and there's no hard feelings, but the way it happened was unfortunate. It had the potential to be a fun and money-making opportunity for me, and it's important for me to have fun and be with people who are nice, if I'm going to make money.

Ed. Note: This is an interview from circa 2000, that first appeared on drumstuff.com. Look for part II here.

Guerilla Drum Making Explained on DVD

Released online in September of 2008 by drummer and drum builder John Dutra, Guerrilla Drum Making visually demonstrates an abundance of custom drum making possibilities through a guerrilla style approach of simple building techniques. Since it's online debut on http://www.gdmDVD.com, worldwide viewers of Guerrilla Drum Making have been more than pleased. “I was sold in the first five minutes, just by the various jigs he shows you how to make. It’s definitely geared toward builders without a ton of experience or equipment (like me), but I think even old hands will be able to pick up a tip or two” says Greg from Texas.

The DVD shows the completion of a full drum set through six different chapters that each focus on a particular drum shell size, finish type, custom lug type, lug layout style, hardware setup, and more. All chapters show clear and easy drum building strategies to attain a professional product, all without the need of any drum making experience, specialized tools, or an outsized budget. "A person with no prior building skills can save big money, and end up with a kit of better quality than many of the custom builders of today offer," says online drum making supplier Gary Folchi of Precision Drum Company.

Details

Guerrilla Drum Making *Running Time: 86 minutes *Content: 7 Chapters *Production, Direction, Performance, Voicovers and Music: John Dutra *Videography: Silas Barker *Editing: Silas Barker and John Dutra *www.gdmdvd

Gabrielle Morin

By Waldo The Squid Originally published in the July 2009 issue of DRUM!

AGE 27

EQUIPMENT Pearl drums and hardware, Sabian cymbals, Mapex, Pearl, and Dixon hardware, Sonor and Pearl pedals, Remo heads, Vater sticks, Ddrum triggers, Roland brain.

CONTACT deeplyconfused.com

Damn it’s nice to see the ladies getting their death metal on. Not that The Squid was doubtful when he opened the package by Montreal metal-grrrl Gabrielle Morin, but you have to admit there’s not too many females as brutale as this Québecois lass. The metal blogosphere is blowing up with her praises, and it’s easy to see why after listening to Isolated, the new release from her band, Deeply Confused, in which she doles out a steady stream of tech-deth punishment. It’s no wonder she plays as effortlessly as she does considering she was a student of Cryptopsy’s Flo Mounier. In fact, her Pearl/Sabian setup is remarkably similar to Monsieur Mounier’s, but that’s probably just because it’s a bomb combo regardless. Having just signed with Dane Records, there is little doubt you’ll be seeing more of Morin and Deeply Confused from a future moshpit near you.

Zildjian On Tour

Zildjian is hitting the road this year visiting more than 28 cities over the next few months with the Zildjian on Tour tour [Ed note: Just wanted to say that!]. During Zildjian On Tour, fans will have the chance to meet top artists, check out Zildjian Sound Lab prototypes and tap into the knowledge of the Zildjian team.

You can check out the dates and times below. All locations are in the US, so far. Check back as artists and locations are added.

• June 4th: West Music, Coralville, IA with DANNY SERAPHINE
• June 6th: Explorer's Percussion, Kansas City, MO with DANNY SERAPHINE
• June 7th: Drum Headquarters, St. Louis, MO with STEVE GORMAN
• June 19th: Colorado Drum, Colorado Springs, CO with SONNY EMORY
• June 20th: Pro Drum, Hollywood, CA with HAL BLAINE (confirmed) and VINNIE COLAIUTA (tentative)
• June 22nd: Mike's Drum Shop, Santa Barbara, CA with DANNY SERAPHINE
• Sept. 9th: Drums 2 Go, Orlando, FL
• Sept. 10th: Seminole Music, Seminole, FL
• Sept. 10th: Marshall Music, Lansing, MI
• Sept. 12th: Cascio Music, New Berlin, WI
• Sept. 12th: Resurrection Drums, Hollywood, FL
• Sept. 13th: Drum Pad, Palatine, IL
• Sept. 15th: Jeff Ryder's Drum Shop, San Antonio, TX
• Sept. 16th: Tommy's Drum Shop, Austin, TX
• Sept. 17th: Lone Star Percussion, Dallas, TX
• Sept. 18th: The Univ of North Texas Denton, TX
• Sept. 18th: Daddy's Junky Music, Boston, MA with STEVE SMITH
• Sept. 22nd: Fork's Drum Closet, Knoxville, TN
• Sept. 24th: Fork's Drum Closet, Nashville, TN
• Sept. 25th: Memphis Drum, Memphis, TN
• Sept. 26th: Memphis Drum, Memphis, TN
• Sept. 26th: Dale's Drum Shop, Harrisburg, PA
• Sept. 26th: Rainbow Guitars, Tuszon, AZ
• Sept. 28th: Milano Music, Phoenix, AZ
• Oct. 3rd: Bentley's Drum Shop, Fresno, CA
• Oct. 25th: Columbus Pro Percussion, Columbus, OH
• Nov. 7th: Ritchie's Music, Rockaway, NJ
• Nov. 21/22nd: Long Island Drum Center, Plainview, NY

2008 Drummer Of The Year

Neil Peart's Progressive Percussion Proves Itself Again; Nominated “Drummer Of The Year” For A Second Time in DRUM! Magazine's Drummies 2008: Selected “Best Live Performer” As Well.

San Jose, Calif – He's done it again: Neil Peart has been selected “Drummer Of The Year” in DRUM! Magazine's Drummies 2008, a prestigious reader survey contest comprised of 42 categories, conducted by Enter Music Publishing, publishers of hip/drum percussion magazines worldwide. More than 5000 drummers nominated Peart; the runners-up were Stanton Moore, Mike Portnoy and Jimmy Sullivan.

Additionally, Peart won “Best Live Performer”.

“Peart has definitely shown his influence on drummers of all ages and walks of life,” said Phil Hood, publisher of Enter Music Publishing. “At the same time, the runners-up demonstrate the diversity of taste that our readers have. All of the winners have clearly proven their commitment to the drumming arts.”

The winners of this year's Drummies will be published in DRUM!'s August issue and announced publicly on over 500 web sites and media outlets beginning July 1 in a comprehensive campaign. The August Issue of DRUM! Magazine hit newsstands officially on July 14.

The winners and runners-up are listed in order below. Enter Music Publishing would like to, once again, to congratulate all of them.

DRUM SET CATEGORIES

• Best Drummer of the Year–WINNER: Neil Peart. Runners-Up: Stanton Moore, Mike Portnoy, Jimmy Sullivan
• Best Rising Star–WINNER: Thomas Pridgen. Runners-Up: Cody Hanson, Matt Smith, Spencer Smith
• Best Progessive–WINNER: Mike Portnoy. Runners-Up: Neil Peart, Gavin Harrison, Danny Carey
• Metal/Extreme Metal–WINNER: Chris Adler. Runners-Up: Jason Bittner, Joey Jordison, Brann Dailor
• Best Jam Band–WINNER: Carter Beauford. Runners-Up: Stanton Moore, Matt Abts, Jim Donovan
• Best Jazz–WINNER: Steve Smith. Runners-Up: Peter Erskine, Billy Hart, Billy Kilson
• Best Funk–WINNER: Chad Smith. Runners-Up: Stanton Moore, Zoro, Aaron Spears
• Best Urban–WINNER: ?uestlove. Runners-Up: Aaron Spears, Trevor Lawrence, Teddy Campbell
• Best Mainstream Pop–WINNER: Taylor Hawkins. Runners-Up: Neil Peart, Chad Smith, Travis Barker
• Best Alternative–WINNER: Sam Loeffler. Runners-Up: Brooks Wackerman , Atom Willard, Travis Barker
• Best Punk–WINNER: Travis Barker. Runners-Up: Tré Cool, Brooks Wackerman, JP Parker
• Best R&B/Blues–WINNER: Zoro. Runners-Up: Stanton Moore, Aaron Spears, Teddy Campbell
• Best Country–WINNER: Jim Riley. Runners-Up: Paul Leim, Eddie Bayers, Ben Sesar
• Best Drum Clinician–WINNER: Thomas Lang. Runners-Up: JoJoMayer, Stanton Moore, Mike Mangini
• Best Studio–WINNER: Vinnie Colaiuta. Runners-Up: Steve Gadd, Josh Freese, Rodney Holmes
• Best Live Performer–WINNER: Neil Peart. Runners-Up: Stanton Moore, Jimmy Sullivan, Mike Portnoy

INDUSTRY AND PRODUCT CATEGORIES

• Best Drum Set–WINNER: DW Collector's Twisted Exotics.
• Runners-Up: Pearl Masters MCX, Tama Starclassic Perfomer Bubinga/Birch, Ludwig Legacy
• Best Snare Drum–WINNER: Black Panther Thick Flame Maple. Runners-Up: Tama 13" Warlord Limited Edition, Pro-Mark 50th Anniversary, Yamaha 14" X 5.5" Kabuto
• Best Custom Drum Maker–WINNER: SJC. Runners-Up: Pork Pie, Craviotto, Orange County Drums & Percussion
• Best Cymbal –Zildjian Armand Series, Sabian 20" HHX Evolution O-Zone Crash, Paiste Twenty Series, Zildjian 22" K Medium Dark Ride
• Best Drumhead–WINNER: Evans EC1, Remo Powerstroke X Snare, Remo Vintage A Snare head, Aquarian Super-2
• Best Drumstick–WINNER: Vic Firth Danny Carey Nylon Tip Signature, Vater Limited Edition 2007 Stewart Copeland Standard, Zildjian Backbeat Series, Pro-Mark Chris Adler model
• Best Hardware–WINNER: DW 8000 Series Pedals, Tama Ion Cobra Rolling Glide Pedals with Cobra Coil Speed Spring, Pearl 900 Series, Tama Stage Master
• Best Percussion–WINNER: LP John Dolmayan mini-timbale, Pearl Travel Conga, LP More Cowbell Ridge Rider Bell Pack, Remo Key-tuned Djembe
• Best Drumming Accessory–WINNER: Zildjian Travis Barker Artist Series Cymbal and Drumstick Bags, Vater Safe 'N Sound Earplugs, SKB Roto-X cases, Aquarian Super-Thin Kickpads
• Best Electronic Percussion: WINNER: Roland HD-1 V-Drums Lite electronic drums, Yamaha DTXpress IV, Roland PM-01 Personal Monitor, Alesis DM5 Pro

PERCUSSIONIST CATEGORIES

• Best Percussionist of the Year–WINNER: Luis Conte. Runners-Up: Giovanni Hidalgo, Fausto Cuevas, Taku Hirano
• Best Rising Star–WINNER: Cesar Espinoza. Runners-Up: Carlos Maldonado, A.B. Bermudez, Eric Velez
• Best Latin–WINNER–Richie Flores Runners-Up: A.B. Bermudez, Giovanni Hidalgo, Poncho Sanchez
• Best Jazz/Fusion–WINNER: Sammy Figueroa. Runners-Up: Richie Flores, A.B. Bermudez, Cyro Baptista
• Best Percussion Clinician–WINNER: Jesus Diaz. Runners-Up: Giovanni Hidalgo, Alex Acuña, Valerie Naranjo
• Best Rock/Pop–WINNER: Luis Conte. Runners-Up: Fausto Cuevas, Raul Rekow, Jim Donovan
• Best Worldbeat–WINNER: Valerie Naranjo. Runners-Up: Zakir Hussain, Taku Hirano, Cyro Baptista
• Best Percussion Ensemble–WINNER: Hip Pickles. Runners-Up: Blue Man Group, San Jose Taiko, Blue Devils
• Best Drum Circle Facilitator–WINNER: JimDonovan. Runners-Up: Valerie Naranjo, John Scalici, Chet Doboe
• Best Studio–WINNER–Luis Conte. Runners-Up: Lenny Castro, Emil Richards, Robert Vilera
• Best Live Performer–WINNER: Marc Quiñones. Runners-Up: Alex Acuña, Hip Pickles, Jim Donovan

MEDIA CATEGORIES

• Best DVD–Winner–Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer by Jojo Mayer. Runners-Up: In Constant Motion by Mike Portnoy, Ultimate Realistic Rock by Carmine Appice, Billy Cobham Live At 60 by Billy Cobham
• Best Drumming Book– Winner: On The Beaten Path: The Drummers Guide to Musical Styles and the Legends Who Defined Them by Rich Lackowski. Runners-Up: Drumming Out of the Shadows by Jason Bittner, Hands, Grooves and Fills by Pat Petrillo, Jimi Hendrix: Smash Hits Play-Along
• Best Drumming Album–Winner: Hellyeah, Hellyeah. Runners-Up: Obzen, Meshuggah, Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold
• Best Hand Percussion Album–Winner: The Magician Sammy Figueroa. Runners-Up: Global Drum Project, Con Alma Mark Weinstein, Raise Your Hand, Poncho Sanchez
• Best Web Site–Winner: Drummerworld.com. Runners-Up: Pearldrum.com, drumsmith.com, drumbum.com
• Best Print Ad–Winner: "Chad Smith Grammy Magnet" (Pearl). Runners-Up: "My Name Is" (DW), "Say It With Your Music" (Pro-Mark), "Blue Man Group" (Tama)

About Enter Music Publishing

Founded in San Jose, CA in 1992, Enter Music Publishing, Inc. is a leading publisher of drum/percussion magazines, with distribution in 40 countries. DRUM! is the flagship publication of Enter Music Publishing, Inc. and continues to set the industry standard for editorial quality and innovation. In addition to DRUM! And DRUM! Digital, the company publishes Traps and HOW TO PLAY DRUMS. Additional information about the company can be found at: drummagazine.com.

The John Bonham Story

City Man Country Boy

The response to TRAPS 25-page John Bonham article has been terrific and we are now glad to share the full version of it with drummers worldwide.

If you'd like to order a back issue or subscribe to our sister publication, TRAPS, visit the store.

Click to Download

SJC Adds Online
Virtual Drum Designer

SJC Custom Drums has just launched one of the most interactive Virtual Kit Designers out there today. With the ability to choose wraps, stars, stripes, acrylic, stains, veneers, and even hybrids, this Kit Designer takes you to a whole new level of kit builders on the internet. The customer is able to choose the lugs, mounting type, heads, and even design their front head with the SJC logo in a variety of colors and hole patterns. Once designed, the customer can see an approximate grand total of their kit, and can even save the picture of their shells before submitting to SJC to place the order.

SJC has been working on it for over a year, and already has even deeper plans for Version 2. Check it out now at http://www.sjcdrums.com/kitdesigner/.

Dave Raun: Punk Cover King

By Scott Locklear

Seventy-one seconds. That’s how long any unsuspecting, true-blue country fan will make it through Love Their Country, the new album from Me First And The Gimme Gimmes. Up until then, it’s all side-saddle guitar and twang-tinged vocals – everything those good ol’ bandanna-bearing boys on the disc’s cover seem to promise. But at second 72, the façade is over, guitars turn up, and drummer Dave Raun beats the bejesus out of a hyperwarp version of Garth Brooks’ “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old).” Congrats, cowboy. You’ve just been punk’d. Literally.

As the hipper kids in the reading room already know, the Gimmes are punk rock’s first uber-super cover group, a side project for Swingin’ Utters singer Spike Slawson, NOFX bassist (and Fat Wreck Chords owner) Fat Mike, Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett, and Lagwagon vocalist/guitarist Joey Cape and skinslammer Raun. And whether it’s greaser pop or surfer swing or this current roundup of country-influenced ditties, no genre is safe from the band’s daring interpretations: The songs are fast, the volume is loud, and the attitude – a lot playful, a little pugnacious – is like a soft poke in the ribs. It might not hurt much, but it sure does get your attention.

And Raun’s power playing, of course, will have everything to do with keeping your attention. Now 36 years old, and with almost two decades pounding the beat behind aggressive music, he is more than a respected, bona-fide punk professional: Raun is punk rock royalty. Even if he didn’t realize he’d be wearing the crown.

“I never planned on playing drums,” he remembers, laughing a little. But as a kid, he was one of those telltale fidgeters who couldn’t stop hitting on stuff, so he soon tapped into his talent by picking up the sticks, quickly joining his middle school’s concert and marching bands, and eventually taking lessons from one of DRUM!’s very own columnists, Mike Curotto. But even while practicing slick samba patterns and jamming out the muscular music of ’70s stalwarts like Led Zeppelin and The Who, Raun still didn’t consider a career as a pro basher, much less as a punk icon. “I really never thought about it too much,” he insists. “I played with people, started jamming in bands, and kind of got lucky. One thing just led to another.”

Sounds simple enough, but some of those “things” (feel free to groan now) include coveted gigs with a couple pioneering punk bands. The first, Rich Kids On LSD, also abbreviated to RKL, was already well established by the time he joined in 1992, and the group’s sound – derelict and raw and jam packed with jacked up tempos – proved a perfect fit for the phat foot he had developed playing Bonzo’s kick pattern in “Immigrant Song.” Four years and a lot of leg muscle later, he then landed Lagwagon’s drum chair, replacing the late Derrick Plourde (“a great, great player,” who ironically enough was also his predecessor in Rich Kids). And though the bands’ styles were relatively similar, Lagwagon became a musical turning point for Raun.

“RKL songs were all over the place,” he says, “and it was a little more structure with the Lagwagon stuff. It was a nice departure, playing a song that’s based more around the vocals and the melody. That’s the kind of the thing that Joey [Cape] writes – the normal singer/songwriter type of thing. It was nice to have a singer and not some kind of crazy punk rock screamer.”

Once the screaming turned more to singing, Raun must have liked what he heard because the song- and melody-focused Gimmes gang soon came together. And they rode in hard and fast, with tongues firmly and unabashedly planted in cheek. “It was pretty much a joke band,” Raun admits. “And we really didn’t take it seriously – we still don’t take it as seriously as probably it should be. We go through songs that have really strong melodies and see how they work with us. We really don’t want to stray too far from the original melody, because that’s the crux of the songs. They’re already tried and true, and then when you’ve got someone like Spike singing them, who is a phenomenal singer, it’s just a whole lot of fun.”

Absolutely. And nothing quite shouts fun like, umm, cowboy hats? Why, oh why, a country cover album? Though the latest Gimme release does rework a fistful of boot-scootin’ classics, don’t run for the hills and get your half-panties in a knot. There aren’t any of your toothless granddaddy’s campfire singalong sounds here. In fact, the whole album could be listened to as a subversive unwriting of our very own national folk music. Or maybe the record is a not-so-subtle stiff middle finger directed toward industry naysayers. But the real reason is probably a little simpler. “Country ended up being the natural progression from all the other [albums],” Raun explains. “Some country artists are some of the earliest punk rockers, like Johnny Cash.” And Willie Nelson and Hank Williams and, for a contemporary twist, maybe even those loud-mouthed, free-speech-spouting Dixie Chicks – all subversives, and all excellent songwriters whose tunes the Gimme guys creatively crank up with high-powered punk sensibilities.

But cranked up, remember, doesn’t have to mean crazy stupid. Because the songs ultimately center on Slawson’s vocal lines, Raun manages to keep the drumming reins on, adopting the scaled-back kick-ass charms of the cowboy genre. “I prefer to keep it pretty basic with the Gimmes,” he explains, playing mostly up-tempo 2 and 4 patterns, with a punk-patented galloping bass drum. “There are only like two or three beats I do. It’s not the place to get all Neil Peart about it.”

Except maybe on the second song, “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky,” which starts out with a shredding snare and tom lick, a little slice of Raun’s chops. It’s fast of course, but also melodic, and all the more impressive because it was off the cuff, a result of the Gimmes’ hit-it-and-quit-it aesthetic. “We don’t really spend much time on anything we do,” Raun reveals. “We rehearse the songs a bit and then start laying them down. [Fat] Mike is all for the first take. I’ve had to actually plead with him to let me hit it again. In the studio, I know that I’m working under the gun.”

And ultimately he and the rest of the band are also working on the edge, playing on the dicey domain of what it means these days to be a genuinely sweat-stained and muscle-strained punk band – what it really means, that is, to be “successful” in terms of punk rock’s philosophy of social commitment, integrity, honesty, and, most important of all, creative freedom. Is it enough to just play shows and pay bills and eat? Is there ever a desire for something more? Maybe U2-like record sales and Christina Aguilera–frequent magazine covers, a Bentley or two in the garage, and a little face time on MTV Cribs?

“No, not really,” he says. “I’m happy because I just love playing, and because no one expected to actually be able to make a living from this, and it’s more than done that. Back before this punk thing broke, Lagwagon was offered all kinds of huge deals, and we refused it because we kind of figured that being with the punk rock ideology, we wanted to keep it small, the way we have done it. We wouldn’t really last [in] the big leagues. You have to bow to too many people. And you have to compromise. The albums that we make are the albums that we want to make. And we don’t have people breathing down our necks.”

And when no one’s breathing down your neck – when an artist can actually take a risk, throw on a cowboy hat, and ride off into the Wild Wild West, all full of piss and vinegar and cantankerous confidence – you might be surprised at the number of people who will tag along. Raun still is.

“It just kind of caught on,” he says about the Gimmes. “A lot of it in the beginning was people who knew what bands we were all in. But since then, it’s gone on to be that kids will be at our show and they’ll be like, ‘My parents are into your album.’ It’s a hit because people love to listen to the songs they’ve grown up on. The songs are still very familiar, but they rock a little harder. People really dig it. We would have never been able to predict the Gimme phenomenon,” he says, pausing for the punkest part of all: “And it all started just as a joke.”

By JASON JURGENS Photos By PAUL LA RAIA

Mike Portnoy is not of this planet. If you dissected his body, you might find a brain in each limb, small gnocchi-sized minds pulsating in his appendages like something out of Alien. The guardian of progressive metal, film junkie, and co-founder of Dream Theater says nothing to refute the conspiracy.

“I’m completely unaware of what my limbs are doing. I just do it. I just sit down and they just kind of naturally go where they go,” says Portnoy, whose journey with Dream Theater began 20 years ago after hooking up with guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung at Berklee College Of Music. “Sometimes when I watch a drum video of mine, I actually look at what my left foot is doing and it’s completely on it’s own. It’s like its own entity. I’m never at all conscious of what it’s doing, flying back and forth between the hi-hat pedal and the bass drum pedal.”

“My feet have minds of their own. Even my bass drum patterns – I just instinctively play what I play. If I think about it too much, I’m sure it would mess me up. I’m sure Virgil Donati and Thomas Lang have complete control and knowledge of every single thing their limbs are doing, but I’m not like that,” he continues. “I just sit down and my body just flies with the song. I think about a drum part more in terms of a sound or groove as opposed to what my four limbs are individually doing.”

Obsession. Not all of us are blessed with the sort of organized schizophrenic-style Portnoy possesses. But being so detached from his body while playing is odd for a guy who is notorious for being a control freak. Portnoy is eccentric, borderline obsessive compulsive – not in a Jack Nicholson As Good As It Gets or Nicolas Cage Matchstick Men sort of way – rather in a creative genius manner. He’s not washing his hands 1,000 times a day or locking his door repeatedly, but, if you’ve seen his web site, you’ll notice everything is organized scrupulously. Every last detail is taken into consideration. Perhaps that’s what makes him the perfect producer for Dream Theater, a task he’s manned for the past four albums.

“It’s a matter of controlling everything and collecting everything, overseeing every aspect of everything I do. Laying in bed and not being able to turn the switch off … ever,” admits Portnoy, taking a break from keyboard tracking for the new Dream Theater album. “I don’t have it in the sense where I’m counting the cracks in the street or not touching a doorknob. I have it in the obsessive creative sense.

“I think it has enhanced everything I do because I’m very organized, thorough, and passionate,” he adds. “I’m a workaholic because of it, and it makes my wife and my bandmembers crazy as well. But at the same time, it has completely benefited my career.”

Creative vehicle. The foundation of Portnoy’s career is Dream Theater, a progressive metal extravaganza, relying on expert musicianship and metal/rock exploration. In over 20 years, Dream Theater has become one of the most successful progressive metal bands, despite being relative unknowns in mainstream music circles. The pop world may be oblivious to DT, but those in the rock and metal genre – including legends like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen – salute the brains behind the machine. Touring with bands like Iron Maiden, Megadeth, and Deep Purple has upped their metal cred too.

Portnoy, Petrucci, and Myung have come a long way since their early days in Boston. “I always thought we could make it. I knew from the get-go, when we formed at Berklee in 1985. There was a special chemistry between us that could sustain a long career, but because of the nature of what we do, it’s not exactly the flavor of the month style of music,” says Portnoy. “It’s been a struggle to endure and persevere as long as we have. Once we got past the first few years of obstacles, it became obvious that we could pretty much endure anything and stand the tests of time.”

Often compared to bands like Rush and Yes, Dream Theater has translated the progressive rock sound of the mid-1970s into a unique contemporary metal sound that blends elements of different genres, including pop. Still, DT has never been mainstream. And they didn’t create their fan base by crafting pop tunes for mainstream radio. By showcasing musical versatility and technical proficiency, they let the music do the talking. >>

Dream Theater earned the adoration of fans the hard way. Though their fans may not be as maniacal as Kiss cronies, Portnoy has seen his share of Dream Theater tattoos. “The complexity and the musicianship is probably the biggest part of our appeal. The heavy side and the pop side are just additional flavors that we add to the formula. The core base of our audience are musicians or people that appreciate musicianship,” reveals Portnoy. “People appreciate what we do because it is so out of the ordinary from what is popular. We provide an alternative to what is generally commercial.

“Our fans have made our career. We haven’t made it on being popular or trendy. We’ve made our career on touring and the devotion of our fan base. I don’t take it for granted,” he adds. “I’ve seen Dream Theater tattoos. I’ve autographed tits and prosthetic legs. I’ve seen it all at this point. Our fans are crazy.”

The show must go on. Many of us can’t walk and chew gum. So watching a drummer twirl sticks mid-beat like a juggler is downright inspiring. For Portnoy, stick tricks are sheer necessity. Without them he may fall asleep behind the wheel. He’s a performer at heart. A big part of Dream Theater’s allure is their ability to entertain night in and night out.

“To me stick twirling is just sheer boredom. If I have to only play my drum parts, I would be completely bored on stage. To me playing the drum parts on stage is the least of what I do. I love being an entertainer and I think that comes from being such a Keith Moon fan,” says Portnoy, who also cites John Bonham and Neil Peart as influences. “I love performing. Playing the drums on stage is what I have to do; everything else is just filling in the blanks. I think that is why I sing as much as I do. I play drums and spit and chew gum. I even throw a stick to the bass tech and have him throw it back. It’s all part of the show.”

Double bass basics. There was a time when (gasp!) he had to learn to play double bass. He gained an appreciation for bands like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and The Who at an early age because his father was a radio DJ. He taught himself to play drums and was later awarded a scholarship to Berklee. It wasn’t until he heard the aggressive and thunderous roar of double bass that his drumming life changed.

“My first exposure to double bass – there’s two tracks in particular that come to mind – one was the song ‘Overkill’ by Motörhead and the other ‘Fast As A Shark,’ by the band Accept. I heard both of those tracks around 1982 and that was the was the first time that I ever heard relentless, nonstop double bass going from start to finish in a song. I was immediately intrigued. I went and bought a cheap second bass drum to add to my kit,” says Portnoy. “But before I could get to the level of those two tracks I had to start with the basic patterns, and the first guy that really taught me the basics was Tommy Lee on the first two Mötley Crüe albums. I would learn how to play songs like ‘Red Hot’ and that got me around the basics. Then a few years later the whole thrash metal scene exploded, and it was drummers like Lars Ulrich, Dave Lombardo, and Charlie Benante that really showed me how double bass could be utilized in a metal genre.”

Throughout his career Portnoy has been compared to Neil Peart. To ever be uttered in the same sentence as the Rush icon meant that Portnoy had to practice day in and day out. Much to the chagrin of family and friends, Portnoy was willing to practice wherever he was.

“I played along to records with headphones. That was how I developed the technique. In terms of stamina, I would practice a lot with a metronome and start slow and get it going faster,” says Portnoy. “A big part of practicing for me was what I did off the kit as well. Even sitting at the dinner table or at the desk in a classroom my feet were always going. I was a teacher’s and a mother’s worst nightmare. Now a wife’s worst nightmare.My legs were always going and practicing the coordination between the two.”

For some the double bass concept conjures up the ridiculous excess of ’80s hair metal. A spandex clad figure with more hairspray and lipstick than a cosmetologist getting lost behind four bass drums. Not an uncommon sight during the ’80s. Of course, there is nothing wrong with four bass drums. I mean, Alex Van Halen pulled it off. Yet some single bass enthusiasts have sworn never to try the double bass method. Certainly there has to come a point when there is too much bass drum, right?

“When I started playing double bass in the ’80s there was no stigma attached, and if there was I didn’t care. I was a young, easily influenced kid. I was always impressed by the big kids – people like Neil Peart and Simon Phillips. Those big kids excited me. It was never a single bass versus double bass thing. I’m not even a double bass player, I’m a triple bass player,” laughs Portnoy. “There was never a stigma I was scared of. I’ve never concerned myself with what people think.

“It’s pretty obvious when not to use it in terms of grooving and playing full double patterns,” he continues, referring to double bass faux pas. “Usually I’m very selective of when I’ll do double bass patterns. And it tends to be on heavier moments. But I’m constantly using my left bass drum pedal for fills and embellishments. Even if it’s a simple straight-ahead beat, I’ll kind of use it to snap on or in. I rarely go into a full-on double bass pattern unless it’s for a heavy aggressive section.”

Art of soloing. Many people – drummers included – are ready to declare the death of soloing. Portnoy couldn’t disagree more. “The solo hasn’t gone anywhere. From the early jazz days and people like Gene Krupa or Buddy Rich who started it to rock music and people like John Bonham, Ginger Baker, and Ian Paice. They did it. Through the ’70s and ’80s, people like Neil Peart making it so popular. People like Tommy Lee taking it to a whole new level of entertainment,” says Portnoy, enthusiastically. “These days you see people like Joey Jordison of Slipknot and Shannon Larkin of Godsmack making it entertaining. They’re doing it in the rock and metal field. Then you have the technicians, people like Mike Mangini, Thomas Lang, and Virgil Donati that are taking solos to all new levels in terms of technique.

“It’s always been there for the people that want to see it and hear it,” he continues. “For every eight people that use it as an excuse to go to the bathroom and get a beer, there’s still two that are in the audience with their drawers hanging from the floor.” Speaking of drum soloing – Portnoy’s recent encounter with Neil Peart was a dream come true. Having long been compared to the drumming icon, Portnoy had never got the chance to meet him, and he was beginning to take it personally. >>

“Peart’s really the only drum hero of mine that I hadn’t met. He’s a very private guy so he’s very hard to reach. I started to wonder if it was something personal because I always felt that it was inevitable that we would cross paths, because I have spent my entire career being compared to him and Dream Theater being compared to Rush. To finally meet him was really cool. It was an honor and something I always looked forward to happening.”

Gear talk. To say that Portnoy plays a big kit is quite an understatement. An octopus might have trouble hitting everything. While there are no prosthetic limb attachments in Portnoy’s future, he admits that piloting the kit is part of the fun.

“I love having as many options as possible. I’m always an equal opportunity employer. I’ll try to hit everything at least once throughout a show or an album,” chimes Portnoy. “I have two kits in one. One is a double bass kit, and the other is a single bass kit. I’m not really playing triple bass. I’m playing two different kits, and I jump back and forth.”

Having a drum kit the size of most boutique drum stores requires stamina. And you’d probably need GPS to navigate through Portnoy’s toms. Yet Portnoy has never been the type of drummer to lace up the track sneakers or practice, at least not in the traditional sense. These days Portnoy practices his chops on stage.

“I wish I was in better shape and exercised more or ate better. I’m just a lazy bastard. I’m a workaholic when it comes to my mind, but when it comes to my body I’m a complete procrastinator. I don’t have a routine. I just stretch a little and warm up a bit before I go on stage,” he says. “When I play with Dream Theater it’s usually a very long show, and I can’t go on stage cold. I try to get massaged and adjusted by a chiropractor regularly. That has helped me have fewer problems with my muscles and cramping up. “I don’t practice anymore. I don’t have time. I spend my life on tour or in the studio, playing drums for a living and away from my family,” he continues. “At this point, when I spend most of the year away from my family playing drums, I think it would be selfish of me to come home and go in to the basement and play drums all day. I do all of my practicing when I’m on tour and on stage. When I’m sitting behind the kit, I try to make the most of learning and applying as I can.”

There are no tricks when it comes to Portnoy’s setup or power. He may be unaware of what his limbs are doing, but he’s certainly in tune with his setup and form. Remember, he likes to be in control, and every square inch of his kit is set the way he wants it. Spring tension and drum tuning are just other ways for him to maintain control. “It’s always heel up for me. Maybe because when I started I used to sit very high, so it was almost impossible for me to physically play heel down. I find I get the most power and control with my heel up. I keep my spring tension kind of in the middle. It’s not too loose or too tight. I need some spring back, so I’m not doing all the work. I don’t like too much of a spring because then I feel like I’m losing control.

“I like my heads on the loose side and incredibly muffled,” he continues, referring to bass drum tuning. “I always put big pillows in the bass drum to make them dead, therefore I can get a lot of punch out of them.”

New horizons. His desire to control has opened doors to new careers. More recently, Portnoy has helmed a different chair, the director’s chair. His web site cites Scorsese as a film idol, and he hopes to forge a career in directing movies (he directed Dream Theater’s 2004 DVD Live At Budokan). Perhaps that’s why he speaks so highly of Rob Zombie, a metal head turned film buff.

“I directed the last few Dream Theater DVDs. I absolutely love that aspect of filmmaking. When I see films, I always watch them from the director’s point of view. I find similarities between directing and producing a record, in terms of overseeing. I think Rob Zombie does a great job. He’s awesome. I’m envious. I wish I could have gotten as deep into it as he has. He has really infiltrated the film world.”

Our guess is that Portnoy will bring the same passion, albeit borderline madness, and work ethic for drums to the film world. If that’s the case, watch out Spielberg.

Tiger Bill's Speed Lesson #61: Increase Your Speed Around The Drums - Part 4

Welcome to part four in my series designed to increase your speed around the drumset. It is based on my concepts of Tension Free Drumming, which allow you to play at maximum speed, power, endurance, and precision while maintaining exact control over each stroke. If you missed any of the previous lessons, I suggest you work on them before moving to this one. When practiced in the proper order, these exercises will help you improve your "mobile" speed, which is a term that means your speed as you move around the drumset.

Video Lesson

Showboating

When playing this exercise up to speed on the video clip, you'll notice that I start the exercise with a single drumstick in my right hand and then switch the stick to my left hand without stopping. I am simply doing this for fun and it is not meant to be part of the exercise. At least not in the beginning. But after you are able to play the exercise up to speed, you may want to try stick switching. It never hurts to add a few showboating stunts to your drumming bag of tricks!

For more details on my concepts of Tension Free Drumming, visit http://www.tensionfreedrumming.com. For drum talk in general, check out my Drummersblog.TigerBill.com.

Feel free to email questions on this month's lesson to me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Until next time: Stay loose and have fun!

Tiger Bill Meligari

Ludwig Gets A Jump on 100th Anniversary With New Centennial Series Maple Drums

As “the most famous name on drums” moves into its 100th Anniversary in 2009, Ludwig is starting to roll out some new products and special editions, starting with the Ludwig Centennial Series Maple Drums. Designed to fuse the need for reliable gear with the desire for perfect drum tone the Centennial Series Drums are Ludwig’s answer to the battle-cry of the mobile percussionist.

The Centennial Series Drums start with 6-ply (toms and floor toms) and 8-ply (snare and bass drums) North American Maple shells. Augmented with Ludwig’s new Classic Micro-Lug, Vibra-band mounting system on toms, and 2.3mm drum hoops, Centennial Series presents the road-worthy player with new ways to expand their spectrum of tone. Centennial’s three “Core” shell packs each come standard with a bass drum (20”, 22”, or 24”, each with a 20” depth for added low and punch), a 12” rack tom, 16” floor tom, and snare drum. Where it goes from there is up to the player. Available kick drums, snare drums, and component drums from 8” to 18”, add the ability to custom configure the kit is in the hands of the drummer. Finish options include transparent high-gloss and Ludwig’s new 2mm SuperFlake Sparkle Lacquers, for a spectacular look to augment Centennial’s massive sound.

“Ludwig snare drums have been the industry standard since 1911 and the tradition and quality continues on today better than ever with a sound that could only be Ludwig”, said Kevin Packard, director of marketing, combo percussion. “Ludwig’s family of artists extends across so many genres; from rock to jazz to country and beyond; that’s why we wanted to create something that would be at home in any playing situation”.

Centennial Series “2-Up/2-Down” Shell Configuration Silver SuperFlake Sparkle Lacquer Finish (Model #s LRC22, LRC7510, LRC1314F), Centennial Series 20” Core Shell Pack (Model #LRC20), Centennial Series 22” Core Shell Pack (Model #LRC22), and Centennial Series 24” Core Shell Pack (Model #LRC24) are all currently available for to order. Retail prices start at less than $1400.

For more information visit http://www.ludwig-drums.com.

Mitch Mitchell: The Hendrix Years

Story By Andy Doerschuk Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s February/March 1998 issue

There has been - and continues to be - no shortage of great rock drummers out there, many who have contributed to the collective vocabulary and influenced countless others who followed. Distinguished names come to mind, like Bonham, Starr, Watts, Moon, and Baker, who long ago earned lasting respect. But there's only one who, in the span of a few whirlwind years during the late '60s, rewrote the rules of rock drumming so completely that things could never be the same.

For that, you can thank Mitch Mitchell, the drummer with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, who could be loose and funky, or sharp and precise, or soft and spacey, a thunderous backbeat or a wisp of breath - all within one song. Before then, such depth was absent from rock drumming, and the impact was profound...

Go back and listen to Mitchell on Are You Experienced, the band's 1967 debut album. Whatever happens, Mitchell goes wherever the guitar goes, relying on instinct as much as technique. And the guitar went wherever Hendrix took it, which meant, of course, that it went to places that hadn't existed before then. Together they enlivened rock with a newfound level of improvisation, unorthodox riffing, tonal liberation, and sheer speed and power that stands unmatched to this day.

Yet, during the years since the guitarist's untimely death on September 18, 1970, the Hendrix legend ballooned to such mythical proportions that it all but obscured Mitchell's groundbreaking contribution to the band's sound. And that is nothing short of criminal, because those drummers who based their entire methodology on the unique combination of fire and grace that defined Mitchell's work with the Experience know that, for utter historical innovation, his drumming matched Hendrix's guitar wizardry note-for-note.

To hear Mitchell tell it, his introduction to Hendrix was hardly the weighty stuff of drumming lore. It could've just as easily never happened. In the mid-'60s, while still in his teens, Mitchell established himself in London, where he worked as a sideman and session drummer for various bands, including Screaming Lord Sutch and Johnny Kidd and the Pirates.

"It was an early equivalent, I suppose, of the brat pack," he says. "There were a few young players in the studios at that time in London: Johnny Baldwin [John Paul Jones], Jimmy Page. There was this one street, Denmark Street, which was like London's Tin Pan Alley. All the music publishers were there, and consequently, most of them had their little recording studios in the basement, and you'd go and do demo tapes for whoever it was.

"A lot of times, you didn't know who the heck it was for, because we were recording backing tracks. It could be Tom Jones, it could be Petula Clark. I did some things for Ready, Steady, Go, which was a TV program. Basically, you would take on anything that moved, and if you were lucky enough, you progressed from doing Denmark Street demos to the proper Musicians' Union sessions, which paid us a little bit more."

In 1966, Mitchell was working with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, a well-known r&b act in Europe that had scored a respectable international hit the year before with "Yeh Yeh." Mitchell visited Fame's office every Monday to collect his weekly earnings, until one fateful payday when he was informed that the entire band was sacked. "My face sort of hit the floor, it was so unexpected," he recalls. "I literally walked down Charing Cross Road past all the music stores, back to Denmark Street - it was like going back to your roots, basically - and I went to a coffee bar just to think things over.

"Apart from being pretty devastated, my first thought was, 'I'm 19 years old. What am I going to do? What do I want to do?' I thought, the first thing, of trying to form some kind of band of my own. [Laughs] That lasted about five minutes. Actually, I did get a session that afternoon and that kind of brought a smile to my face. I thought, 'Well, okay. I have the choice of either going back to the studio or hopefully, if I'm lucky enough, I'll get gigs.' I did like the idea of working on the road with a band. It just seemed right."

Absolutely right, because Mitchell would soon receive a phone call from Chas Chandler, the former bassist with the Animals, who had since gone into band management and production. "I knew Chas vaguely from the Animals," Mitchell remembers, "and he said, 'Hey look, do you want to come and have a play with this guy I brought over [from America]?' I didn't realize it at the time, but of course, it was an audition.

"I went down to this little basement strip club in Soho and there was Jimi with a Fender Stratocaster upside-down with a kind of fake London Fog raincoat on, with his wild hair, and Noel Redding, who had been playing with Jimi I think for a couple of days, who I found out later was a guitarist, really, playing bass. I think there was a keyboard player, if memory serves me right, from Nero and the Gladiators. That was the idea first off, to maybe have a keyboard player.

"I just took down a tiny little Ludwig drum kit and said, 'What do you want?' basically. 'What are you looking for and what's it about?' I remember to this day, these tiny little amplifiers, and Hendrix was not happy with these little amplifiers so he was starting to kick them around. Like a lot of auditions, it really came down to the lowest common denominator. [We played] a bit of Chuck Berry, a bit of this, bit of that. I just threw in my Deutschmark, whatever you want to call it.

"He played a couple of things on the guitar that I found interesting - the style - and it kind of sparked me off. I used to get a lot of demos from, like, Curtis Mayfield, early Impressions things. And Hendrix was the first person I'd ever seen who could actually play that Curtis Mayfield style, which was unusual. So I named a Jerry Butler song, or an Impressions thing, and he knew it and could play it, and I thought, 'Oh, interesting.' I mean, I'd never been around that area of music before."

After jamming about 45 minutes, Mitchell packed up his gear and went home, feeling "intrigued." Two days later, he received another phone call from Chandler, who once again invited the drummer to jam with Hendrix, only this time, when he showed up, Mitchell found that there was no keyboard player - just the core power trio that would soon become internationally known as the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

At first, the three-piece lineup reminded Mitchell of Cream - a star-studded supergroup featuring Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker - which had become the talk of the town around London. He remembers, "I came out with some facetious comment like, 'So, you want me to try to play like Ginger Baker or something?' Hendrix just goes, 'Oh, yeah, whatever you want, man.' But I did get the impression on that second time playing [together] that something was released. It was like a feeling of freedom. I don't know if it's a spiritual awakening. It was just a situation where I'd gone, 'Hey, you've never worked in a three-piece band in your life, ever, and there is something with this player that is very, very special.'"

Mitchell wasn't alone. There were plenty of other drummers around London who wanted the gig. "What did surprise me, very much, is that it appears that a lot of people had been going for auditions and had been playing with Jimi for about two weeks prior to me hearing about this," he says. "London's not that large a place, and in those days, there weren't that many drummers about. A lot of my peers, colleagues - call them what you will - they'd gone for the job. Aynsley Dunbar and Mickey Waller had gone, and knew about this guy and they wanted the job, basically. That's what surprised me, because I didn't hear about it."

Mitchell got the gig after jamming with Hendrix and Redding for a third time. "I think I actually asked Chas, the manager, 'What's on offer? What's the deal here?' It was like, 'Well, look. We've got nothing, apart from a chance. There's two weeks' work, basically.' And I'd gone, 'Well, okay. I tell you what. I'll give it a crack. I'll have a go for two weeks.' What have you got to lose? You're 19 years old, and in fairness to the music, there was something that I could see was potentially inspiring."

With no record deal and hardly any original material, Chandler began to book gigs around England for the Experience. "We had no songs when we first started," Mitchell says. "So for the first couple of gigs, we were doing stuff like [Wilson Pickett's] 'Midnight Hour,' anything we could think of, quite honestly." The band's first tour was a series of opening slots for French rocker Johnny Halliday, followed by "anything that was offered," including pubs and pool halls. But the word seeped quickly through the underground about the band's wild stage shows and startling techniques, and record company cronies began to poke around backstage.

Chandler knew that the Experience was ripe for the studio. "Bless his heart," Mitchell says, "Chas was hocking every bass he owned in sight just to subsidize the band and recording time." The first song the Experience recorded was "Hey Joe" at De Lane Lea studios. In its day, it was a perfectly adequate facility, but by today's standard it was practically Jurassic. "Over all those years, the technology changed so much," Mitchell says. "When we first started recording from the Hendrix days, we had Chas Chandler working as the producer. Don't forget, the Animals' 'House of the Rising Sun' cost £4 - which is $8.00, whatever it is - to make and was done in 15 minutes, first take. And it sounded good.

"Obviously, we were fortunate enough to be around some pretty competent engineers. There was a certain amount of talent going around, especially in England then. It strikes me, looking back on it, English engineers made the most of the limited capabilities of the technology. They knew the structure of the rooms and they knew what mikes to use and where to record things from. They would make the most of the acoustics with limited equipment. And Hendrix did have a natural capability of working in the studio. To him, that was like his palate of colors. There are some people who feel very comfortable behind the board and know how things work. He was just very natural with the technology that existed. I don't know how much time he'd spent working in studios before."

Chandler kept the trio working at a frantic pace, rushing them from one gig to the next, while squeezing recording dates into the schedule whenever he could. Writing original material on the run, the band would often learn new songs in the studio, practically as they recorded them. "There were no rules on that stuff," Mitchell says. "There are many things that were just done in the studio, created in the studio, written in the studio, played once, and never played again - onstage or anywhere else. That's it. Consequently, you tend to forget all about them."

But Mitchell can't forget the intense level of creativity that buzzed through the room whenever the Experience wrote new material. "I was absolutely free," he says, "but I've never had a fear then or to this day of asking another player, 'What do you hear on this?' If he wanted it to go, 'boom-chicka-chick, boom-chicka-chick,' whatever it might take, 'Tell me what you hear.' Or Jimi would play a basic rhythm and I would see if I could come up with something that would either fit or oppose it.

"I'm just like any other drummer. I stole things from other drummers I could think of. 'Manic Depression' comes to mind. I stole that completely from, of all people, the drummer called Ronnie Stephenson. It came from John Dankworth's 'African Waltz.' It's just what fitted in. I heard this rhythm that Jimi was playing on guitar and I thought, 'Oh yeah, it's that kind of feel.' So thank you Ronny Stephenson."

Though Mitchell generously gives credit where it's due, his humility underplays the deep divide that separated jazz cats from rockers when he recorded "Manic Depression." In a radical moment of inspiration, by adapting Stephenson's jazzy "African Waltz" groove to one of the heaviest rock songs ever written, Mitchell cast aside artificial barriers and foreshadowed the jazz fusion movement that followed in the early '70s. He did this on song after song from Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold As Love, and Electric Ladyland, raising the stakes several notches for every rock drummer who suddenly had to labor over the licks that Mitchell whipped out so effortlessly.

Back then, he wasn't trying to change rock and roll. He just wanted to lay down some great drum tracks. "How the heck do you know?" he asks. "You weren't thinking of putting down something for posterity's sake. It was important to try to put down the best music you could, because there was a very competitive spirit. It was like the be-bop era, it's a very cutting situation, which is very healthy. And of course, in those days, just because it happened to be the '60s, there were a lot of bands from the same area and everyone was trying to outdo each other."

These chops shootouts often happened onstage, during extended jams at after-hours gigs, where musicians would show up to sit in with other bands. Mitchell remembers encouraging drummers like Tony Williams and Buddy Miles to play with the Experience, so that he could hear how the group sounded. And Hendrix would take Mitchell to check out other bands, and the two of them would often sit in.

"After the concert you'd go back to the hotel," Mitchell says, "and it was like, 'Hey, I know this guitarist down the road,' Roy Buchanan or Cornell Dupree, whoever it would be, because he knew these people from being on the road or from the south side of Chicago. I'd go along and was privileged to take those chances to have a play with these people. Jimi would always insist that the two of us would play together, which could be very strange at times.

"I ended up playing one thing in New York with Joe Tex and his big band - and this ain't Count Basie! Jimi woke me up in the hotel in New York and it was about 2:00 o'clock in the morning, 'Mitch, come on. You've got to come.' 'Huh, what?' I think it was something like a Black Panther reunion or whatever the deal was. I was in the middle of this huge situation in some ballroom, and it was like, 'Shit or get off the pot.' I was very grateful to be around this situation.

"I also got invited up to Miles Davis' house on a Sunday. John McLaughlin had just come in to New York and he was just starting to do some work with Miles with that old Gibson acoustic guitar and Miles at the piano. I was just sitting there taking it in. Suddenly there was this voice like, 'Hey, drummer!' So I looked around. 'Hey drummer! You're a drummer, right?' What was I supposed to say? 'Yes sir, I'm a drummer.' 'Come play.' And there's no drums. So I went to the kitchen and got a couple of pan scrubbers and just made noise. We played for a little bit and, 'Okay, can you be at CBS at 2?' And that was it. I was at CBS at 2 the next day with a brand new Gretsch kit from Tony Williams. And I still have that kit to this day."

Oh, if one could only have been a fly on the wall at that session, or, for that matter, at any session during the late '60s and early '70s where Mitchell played his heart out. Imagine watching him shape ideas emanating from Hendrix's guitar, spontaneously interpreting material that would inspire generations of players to reach a bit further beyond their grasps.

Might as well face facts. The best we can expect is to hear him describe, in his own words, the relationship he shared with his friend and partner, Jimi Hendrix. "There are a lot of things that we never said," Mitchell says. "I think what it comes down to is a kind of mutual respect for each other. Musically, I'd give him a hard time, he'd give me a hard time, though it was a very compatible situation from my side. It was very interesting to work with someone who would give you that ultimate freedom that seemed to have whatever time existed in your head. There were no boundaries, there were no limits at all. Jimi was irreplaceable, both as a friend and a musician. I miss him as much today."

Chris Dalley of Death By Stereo

By Andy Doerschuk Published July 2, 2009

Age: 31
Hometown: Covina, CA
Previous Bands: Ten Foot Pole
Drums: Pork Pie
Cymbals: Turkish
Hardware/Pedals: DW
Sticks: Vater
Drumheads: Remo

It's been four years since Orange County hardcore punk rock band Death By Stereo released their last album, Death For Life. After parting ways with Epitaph Records, their home base for more than seven years, the band went into the studio last year to record its new self-financed release, Death Is My Only Friend, which is coming out next week on July 7. Death By Stereo can be described as hardcore punk, with a heavy dose of metal, and has shared stages with a variety of groups, such as AFI, Rise Against, Thursday, Strung Out, Serj Tankian, and Bad Religion. The band’s namesake comes from a Corey Haim line in the 1987 horror film The Lost Boys.

How would you describe the feel of the new album?
I would describe it as in your face but with the less is more theory.

What is your favorite drum part on the new album?
"To All My Friends" is my favorite because I got to do this crazy punk beat with doing 16-note patterns mixing my feet and my left hand, which is challenging but very much fun to do.

Did you change your drum parts much throughout the recording process?
I had my parts pretty much set due to our producer, Jason Freese's mindset. We had the same wavelength as far as how the drumming should turn out. Jason taught me so much as far as being disciplined and just going for the throat. He is the reason I sound the way I do on the record.

How prepared were you before going into the studio?
I was completely prepared. We rehearsed for four-to-five hours every day for three weeks before we went into the studio.

Did you record to a click track? How well did that work?
Yes, I did. It was tremendous, because Jason had me do the tracks to a click for rehearsal, which made me way more relaxed and ready for it.

Describe your favorite aspect of touring.
Touring is amazing for the fact that the fans enjoy every second of what you're are doing. It's the best feeling in the world to have the kids be louder than you are singing to all the words.

Describe the worst gig you've ever played.
The worst gig was a show in Vegas that I had no monitors whatsoever. I had to play off of memory, which isn't so bad, but it's the worst feeling to go off memory because you don't know if the rest of the band is on the same page.

How do you stay healthy while you're on the road?
I eat the right foods, do the right calisthenics, and get the right amount of sleep to insure I will give the best performance.

Have you ever been injured on stage?
I remember being so intense at a show that I raised my right arm so high that I dislocated my shoulder. I finished the gig, though in major pain, because the kids paid to see a show and I would never give them anything less than 1,000 percent.

SKB is well-known for their instrument cases, as well as cases for a wide variety of non-musical applications. What is less well-known is that they make puncture-proof waterproof cases for a wide range of applications. The company recently installed a new new Hydraulic Toggle Injection Molding System at their Orange, CA facility and has introduced two new larger sizes to the 3I Series of Watertight Utility Cases.

The inside dimensions of the 3I-2317-14B Watertight case are 23” x 17” x 14” ( 2 1/2” deep top over 11 1/2” deep base) and the 3I-2918-14B case is 29” x 18” x 14” (2 12” deep top over 11 1/2” deep base). The interiors of both cases are available (E) Empty or with (C) Cubed foam. Utilizing SKB’s new Custom Foam Shop to your individual specifications can customize empty cases.

These new cases are molded of ultra high strength polypropylene copolymer resin. Waterproofing is accomplished via a a gasketed, water and dust tight, submersible designthat is resistant to corrosion and impact damage, and an automatic ambient pressure equalization valve (MIL-STD-648C) to assist with moisture control. There are three protected hinges with stainless steel pins to provide lid stability and five of SKB’s “trigger release” latches for added security. What this means in practice is the next time a hurricane hits, your instruments or audio gear will be completely protected. Both cases include an industrial-strength injection molded pull handle and four wide set in-line skate style wheels to comfortably transport pro audio equipment, video equipment, cables or hardware.

For additional information on the 3I-2918-14B or 3I-2317-14B Watertight Utility Cases or any of SKB’s innovative transport cases, contact: SKB, 1607 N. O’Donnell Way, Orange, CA 92867 Tel: 800.410.2024 Fax: 714.283.0425 Web: http://www.skbcases.com.

Warped Tour Interview with Robert Ortiz

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Robert Ortiz of Escape The Fate.

For more information about the band visit http://www.myspace.com/escapethefate

Video Interview with Dango of Amber Pacific

Warped Tour 2007

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Dango of Amber Pacific.

For more information on Amber Pacific be sure to check out the official website

An Interview From The Vault, Part II

By Don Zulaica

For Part I of the interview, click here.

DRUM! What are your relationships like with the other Zappa bandmembers? I heard a real nice story about how you have become closer to guitarist Adrian Belew.

BOZZIO I've been trying to rattle cages in the King Crimson camp and talk about the possibility of getting different things together, one of which would be to do some kind of project with Adrian. I just haven't been able to work that out.

DRUM! But during his time in the group, late '70s, he mentioned that he felt a little ostracized from the rest of the band.

BOZZIO At the time when Adrian joined the group, I was very prejudiced. Coming from a narrow judgmental space of what I was calling interesting music, it was all based on the American jazz/rock/fusion stuff. Weather Report, Miles, Mahivishnu, Chick Corea, all those guys. And anybody who didn't really understand or play coming from that school, I didn't really respect or care about. That was part of my upbringing or education and also part of my heart. I wasn't broad-minded enough to accept or understand other ways. It was just part of being young.

So here I am, kind of a veteran in Frank Zappa's band. I can read all his hard stuff, I've done orchestra gigs with him, I've played "The Black Page," and I'm an aspiring heavy metal guy with my long hair in the '70s. And here comes Adrian Belew, dressed like out of the '30s, Dick Tracy, which I really thought was cool. I knew he was an excellent guitar player in terms of what he did. He had an incredible feel and made a lot of really interesting sound effects, and he had a good voice. But I was used to someone more in the mold of what Napoleon Murphy Brock was, in terms of being a showman. So I tried to instigate Adrian to be more of a showman, and we got him to wear the WAC uniform and do some of those things.

There was a clique in the band at that point. Tommy Mars, who could read anything and was an amazing jazz player, was the keyboardist. Peter Wolf was a jazzer. Patrick O'Hearn was a jazzer. And Ed Mann who was a great percussionist. And myself and Adrian. So Adrian was just kind of the guy who sung the vocals that Frank didn't sing, and we were hoping to get into this role of being more of a showman, and he'd get to take a solo or two a night. He had to work out the parts that Frank assigned him, and they weren't very complicated. It was like one of those examples of Frank using a guy and seeing potential in him that we didn't' see. And Frank did that a lot.

And even Frank would say, "Okay Adrian, in this section you can do your bird call." He wouldn't call it a solo. And Adrian would phrase across the bar, and wasn't playing in 8- and 16-bar phrases, and building and releasing the tension like all us fusion guys. And there wasn't this sort of talked-about conceptual aspect. So yeah, I didn't respect him as much. I liked him, and we were friends and we hung on the road, but it wasn't like the connections that I had with Patrick O'Hearn and the other guys.

So then Adrian goes with David Bowie, and I thought that work was incredible. Then when he worked with Talking Heads I was like, oh my God, how did I miss this guy? Then I heard "Desire Caught By The Tail," I thought, man, this guy is just incredible and I'm a complete idiot. So I went to the Greek Theatre one time when Talking Heads was playing there, and Missing Persons had just played there, I went backstage and we went out to dinner later. And I said, "Hey, I was so wrong. I didn't see what you had, and I think what you're doing now is incredible. I'm so proud of what you've done, you're solo concept is brilliant." And it is. And ever since then I've been trying to get us back together, but it's just not been the right timing.

DRUM! What about Steve Vai? You did an album with him.

BOZZIO I worked with Steve on "Sex and Religion" and we had a bit of a problem there, so I bailed on that. We've remained friends, but I've realized that Steve is pretty much a controlling type of character. And he's coming from a different head space in his approach to music. Mine is more improvisational, his is more work it out and tell everybody what to do. So I felt like I was working in a factory when I was working with him. We were punching in almost every bar and it was very uncreative for me.

DRUM! Must be strange to juggle all the different projects, and all the label hassles, considering you also do a lot of your own stuff.

BOZZIO I don't know. I just cannot find...I do not think that there's a big daddy out there or some friend who really knows, who can help me. I feel that those days are gone and the only thing that I have available to myself, and I'm happy to just do this, is to keep making my own records which I can afford. And owning them, mastering them, doing the artwork and everything myself, and I sell them out of the back of a truck on my web site and through mail order. If some distribution deal comes through, great. But I have to own it, it has to be non-exclusive, and it has to not infringe on those areas that I already had in place and that I'm making money on. Nobody wants to play that game.

Then, I think the only other aspect that's the best thing I can do so far is a guy like Pete Morticelli at Magna Carta, who used to be my manager. I do a record for him, I get paid handsomely up front, like for a Bozzio/Levin/Stevens thing. It's probably not going to make that much money. He's making a catalog. I don't own it...but who cares? I got to make a record I normally wouldn't be able to make, with some guys I like to play with. And I'm proud of that when I die I can go, yeah I did that.

DRUM! It does seem that you have your own niche, and you can do what you want within that niche.

BOZZIO Yeah, that's nice. My head space is that I have a very critical nature. And sort of have low self-esteem despite the fact that...I know who I am and what I've done. But the part of the thing that hurts, in terms of the way that I think about myself, is also the thing that makes me successful. You don't get successful by going, "I am great, I am successful!" You don't move forward. You get great by going, "This sucks. This is so ***** unbearably embarrassing to me. I will never do this again, and I'm going to get this s**t together." And you find things to do to move forward.

Then you get to the place where you just enjoy the process, and you don't really care so much whether it's accepted or not or commercially successful or not. Because there are certain things in place that you can make a living from, let's say, and then that gives you the freedom to be more true to this artistic self. And I've been lucky that these deeper things that I've pulled out of myself have been accepted in my own little way and I've been able to poke along. It ain't easy, but the bottom line is that at the end of the day if I do something that's exhaustive and financially draining, and all I have is the chance to do something again with my freedom-- then that's a good thing. Because if you're doing that with Missing Persons, where it's hell, and all you have is a chance to make another record-- that's very discouraging.

DRUM! You talk about being a self-promoter, which you do very well on your web site. I wonder what your attitude in towards using the Internet as a distribution tool, and all of the copyright issues that we're seeing with Napster, Metallica, and the like.

BOZZIO Any intellectual copyright should be protected. I don't care what the medium is. For me, I shy away from internet distribution. I've got snippets of things on Real Player, which isn't really downloadable. It enables you to listen to it online and that's that. In other words, I can't give what I'm working on away for free. A lot of people are all-too-willing to do that for promotional consideration.

The thing that's different about where I'm at-- Zappa made me an internationally known guy with credibility, just from playing with his band. A kid coming up today, who is a great drummer who people should know about, may not have that feather in his cap. The cap doesn't exist anymore. That's why I have that page on my site where there's a couple of guys that I feel are doing great work. That's about all I can do, and I'm lucky to be in that position.

Yeah, the potential of the web is there, and that's great for someone starting out and making their own business and all. But you're still up against this whole marketing, promotional, dues-paying machine that I've gone through and benefited from. Whereas a brand new band doesn't have that opportunity. They can't just have complete control right off the bat. They've got to do something where they give it away for free or give it to a record company who spends millions in promotion and if they're lucky they get a hit and then they're known, and then maybe they can do what I do. So it's a catch-22, and I'm just glad that it's available for me. And I thank all of my fans and supporters, people who actually relate to what it is that I do and enjoy that.

And I know for me, I know it's hard to think of myself that way, but I still listen to old Miles Davis and go, "Thank you." Tony Williams-- thank you. So I buy those things from the store and I pay top price and I want those people or their families or whoever is supposed to make money off of that, to survive. Because they put something into this statement that still gives me pleasure. So I hope my fans hear that as well and that they'll continue to like and buy the things that I make. That's how I support my wife and family. If nobody buys my stuff, then I don't get to do it. And I don't know how long I've got. I don't know how long it'll be before there's other achievements in drumming that make me look like a guy playing in a Dixieland band.

DRUM! That of course begs the question, who are the drummers out there that are pushing the envelope?

BOZZIO Rick Gratton is an amazing drummer that not too many people know of. Chad is so underrated compared to myself, because things kind of changed in the Zappa band from when I left. From then on, personalities in the band weren't developed in the same way. It was more all about Frank, and at that point in his life and career, deservingly so. But it's still a shame, because here's a guy who is just phenomenal and doesn't have the same recognition.

I think Dave Weckl has grown incredibly. He's doing some beautiful things now, and has developed such a musicality. You know, he was a bit technically oriented when he first started out. Riveting, but still a little stiff compared to what he's doing now. He still has this perfection of expression in terms of technique, but he's got this musicality in his soul that's really coming out now that's just blossoming.

Same with Steve Smith. He's really tried to develop and grow. Max Weinberg, same thing. Who would have thought he'd be playing like Buddy Rich in a jump blues band and smokin', from what he did with Bruce Springsteen? I get excited when I see guys moving on like that, especially guys who don't have to. Steve Smith probably made a lot of dough. Max Weinberg probably doesn't have to work another day in his life. They took the plunge and did their own things, because they care.

DRUM! You've mentioned throughout this conversation about Frank's impact on you. What do you think his legacy will be on the music world in general?

BOZZIO He's a real renaissance man. He's like a Da Vinci. I always describe him like this. He was, I think, a bona fide genius with a very high IQ, and multi-talented. And talented to the extent that there's eight different areas that I can think of off the top of my head, that he could have made a career out of any one of them.

First of all, let's just look at the guy as a guitarist. Forget about his music and everything else. Just those guitar solos, okay? Man, that is a very unique style and a hellacious amount of chops, done in a very personal kind of idiosyncratic way that is undeniable. There's nobody that sounds like Frank on guitar. Those tones, those phrases, and his chops, and he did very weird things that other guitarists find very difficult to do.

Then, as a bandleader-- do you know how hard it is to keep a band together? He was a great arranger and bandleader. He had the respect of all these musicians, he knew what it took, and he dealt with everybody on a very professional, almost old school union-like Hollywood way. Everybody got union scale. He could talk with an engineer about chips and ICs, and he could talk with a film guy about SMPTE and lenses. He just knew so much on so many different levels, and could tell people exactly what he wanted because he was familiar with the mediums. And he always treated everybody fairly. His engineers got what the standard engineer rate was. If I did a record with him, I got standard union scale. If there was TV, I got TV scale and I got my little weekly retainer for being on the road and hanging out with him and rehearsing with him on a yearly basis.

Then, he was an amazing composer. His classical stuff is no slouch material. It's a shame that he was coming into his own, finding Ensemble Modern and some of these orchestras that could cut this stuff and had the right enthusiasm for him. And the doors and the grants and the government sponsorship was open so he could get into these situations and do this stuff on the level that it should be done.

Then, as a writer. The books, the interviews, anything that the guy ever said that was put into print is like unbelievable.

And as a rock star. Not too many people can be rock stars. You look at John McGlaughlin, and he's got a lot of aspects like this that we've been talking about with Frank, but he's not a rock star. Right down the line. There's a lot of talent and classical guy, arranger, composer, bandleader, guitarist, but Frank was a bona fide rock star. An icon.

Then, you have his humor and his wit. He could have been a stand-up comedian.

A playwright, "Thingfish" and "Joe's Garage" and all these things. He had so many ideas about Broadway plays, so many projects that never came about. Amazingly far-fetched and way over my head in scope, in terms of computer and audio/video technology in a Broadway medium. Stuff that would have blown that Andrew Lloyd Weber out of the water.

Then he was a guy who could go up on Capitol Hill and make all these congressman look like the idiots that they are. Tell the truth, stand up for our First Amendment rights-- he could have been a great politician, and a real guy that the people would believe in. Like you see Jesse Ventura has that same sort of thing, where he just talks from the heart, no bullshit, and has nothing to hide. And I think that society is really ready for that now. Whereas most of Frank's life he was put in a box and labeled "not suitable for radio airplay."

at Howard Stern. I mean, you go, yeah, it's funny. And I watch it all the time, and he's kind of carrying a torch, but he is an absolute dimwit compared to Frank. Some of the things he says are so stupid, because he's ignorant and he doesn't know. And Frank knew things, he read, he could back up things he said on a level where universally people would get it for the humor and the satire, but also there was an intellectual knowledge that came behind it that would back it up. Whereas Howard would say stupid things about people for effect, but doesn't really have a clue about who he's lampooning, because he doesn't know anything. So it's a shame that the ones who may know have no sense of humor and the ones who lampoon don't know. Frank had both

He's sorely missed. The only thing I don't miss about him was the fear...that fear that sat in the pit of my stomach that he'd call me up and say, "Bozzio, come up here. I've got an idea." I'd be scared to death! I didn't know if he was talking to me about doing a Broadway play or playing something that I would be afraid I couldn't play or didn't have the time. Because when I was with Frank, I didn't' have a life. That was my life. When you're with Zappa, you don't have a life. After you get a life and you do other things, you're kind of in your own world, and it's difficult to put the effort into the demands he would make on you if you've got a family or other things on your plate. If you're young and he's paying you, it's amazing, you're just happy to be there.

But after I left him, every time he'd call me, there was that fear...oh my God! Can I do this? What's this going to mean? It was a scary, ominous kind of thing. And I'm glad I don't have that any more. [laughs] That's the only thing that I don't miss about Frank.

DRUM! Any regrets?

BOZZIO My regrets are that I was just starting to get into what I'm doing now, the soloing and composing, when Frank died. And what I could have shared with him, playing this music, showing him what I've composed. When I showed him a few things, and "Polytown," he was so proud of me and so complementary. And said, "You've got big balls to be doing something like this. I'm really proud of you, Bozzio." I think about that when I'm low.

When he was getting sick, we had just started having conversations about Stravinsky, because I'd started to go back and get things out of it. There's so much more we could talk about now and discuss, and I actually might be able to hold a corner of a conversation with him, versus not knowing what the hell he's talking about without looking up the words in a dictionary. Being inhibited to tell him you don't know what he just said, I did too much of that when I was younger.

And every damn thing Frank told me about the music business that I didn't want to believe, was true. So now I find myself selling very few records, but bumping along and eking out a middle-class existence on my own. And I'm happy to be able to do it.

Ed. Note: This is an interview from circa 2000, that first appeared on drumstuff.com.

Ludwig Announces the Snare Drums of a Century Collection

Ludwig is one of the grandfathers of the modern musical products business. The company has been making drums for marching, concert and popular music since 1909, making this their 100th year in business. To commemorate the event Ludwig has released some exciting new drums, Ludwig Snare Drums of a Century Collection.

To drummers in all styles the Ludwig legacy was built on a foundation of legendary snare drums, such as the famous Black Beauty and Supraphonic models. Now, in its 100th year, Ludwig pays homage to its historical drums with the Snare Drums of a Century Collection. Available at select Ludwig Platinum Dealers nationwide, the collection includes the 1928 Gold Triumphal reissue, the 100th Anniversary hand-engraved Black Beauty, a laser-engraved Black Magic model, and two titanium Supraphonic models, known as "The Chief" snares.

"Each drum in this collection tells a story," says Symphonic Percussion Director of Marketing Jim Catalano. "There is so much history that is represented in these drums and they are truly something special." These models will be limited to 100 pieces each worldwide. For complete specifications on each drum and a list of participating dealers, go to Ludwig Drums.

Ludwig Drums are manufactured and distributed by Conn-Selmer, Inc., the largest manufacturer of band and orchestral instruments and accessories in the United States and a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. To contact Conn-Selmer, write to P.O. Box 310, Elkhart, IN 46515-0310 U.S.A. or visit http://www.conn-selmer.com.

Evans Drumheads Supports Tune Up Clinics With Marko Djordjevic

FARMINGDALE, NY, May 12, 2009 – On May 5-7, 2009, Sveti band leader and Drummers Collective professor Marko Djordjevic performed three clinics for Fork’s Drum Closet Knoxville, TN, Ken Stanton Music Stone Mountain, GA, and Ken Stanton Music Marietta, GA.

All three clinics had excellent attendance and great question and answer sessions. Marko’s unearthly grasp on Eastern European folk rhythms mixed with modern jazz, funk, and rock had jaws on the floor and people moving from their seats to see what his hands and feet were doing. The clinics were also coupled with Evans snare drum tune up night hosted by Evans product specialist Josh Touchton. Josh talked about this importance of changing heads and snare wires for optimal tone and the crucial skill of tuning your drums to find individual sound.

The clinics were sponsored by Evans Drumheads, Puresound Snare Wires, Mapex Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth drumsticks, and Alfred publishing.

For more information on Marko Djordjevic, please visit http://www.myspace.com/svetimarko.

For more information on Evans Drumheads, please visit http://www.evansdrumheads.com

D’Addario & Company, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets complete lines of strings for fretted and bowed musical instruments, drumheads, drum practice pads, and guitar and woodwind accessories under the proprietary brand names D’Addario, Evans Drumheads, Planet Waves, Rico, HQ Percussion and PureSound Percussion. The company also runs the popular Gbase.com online gear source, as well as D’Addario’s Musician Hub, The Stage (http://www.tothestage.com) and The Lesson Room (http://www.thelessonroom.com) and Guitar.com. D’Addario products are marketed in approximately 120 countries.

Media Contact:

Angela Magliocca

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BRADY DRUMS LEADS BUSHFIRE RELIEF APPEAL

Brady Drum Company and Kings of Leon have joined together to auction a special drum for the Australian Bushfire Relief Appeal. In February, Australia suffered its worst national disaster in over 100 years at the hands of the Victorian bushfires. The fires ripped through local communities in Victoria obliterating everything in its path. Unfortunately, 210 people have died, over 2,000 families lost their homes and over 1 million acres of land have been destroyed. To assist with the relief efforts, Brady Drum Company has donated a new 2009 release snare drum handcrafted from Wandoo (Eucalyptus Wandoo) for auction. In addition to headlining "Sound Relief", a charity concert to raise funds for the relief effort, the members of Kings Of Leon have thrown their support behind the appeal and have lent their signatures to this drum. The band's drummer, Nathan Followill, has performed live since 2006 with a Brady snare drum.

Chris Brady (sporting a natty DRUM! "Hit Hard" shirt) with Nathan Followil

One hundred percent of the proceeds will split equally between the Australian Red Cross, The Salvation Army and the RSPCA who provide financial, emotional and medical support to the families, pets and livestock devastated by this tragedy. The auction is now live on eBay and will close May 10, 2009. If you win, Brady will ship you the prize free of charge. Here's the specs on this amazing drum.

• Handcrafted by Australian master craftsman, Chris Brady
• Wandoo (Eucalyptus Wandoo) timber, a native Western Australian hardwood
• 14-inch diameter x 8-inch depth
• 10 chromed tube lugs
R-class snare strainer
• German tempered snare wires
• Canopus Bolt Tight detensioning washers
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Individuals are invited to make donations to The Salvation Army's Bushfire Appeal, The Red Cross' Bushfire Appeal and the RSPCA.

Red Light Jedis: An Overview Of Studio Kings

In previous issues of DRUM! we tackled the evolution of recorded drum sounds (Strother Bullins’ feature in February 2005), drumming in the age of Pro Tools (David Weiss, February/March 2002), and even dedicated an entire issue (May/June 2002) to the subject of recording. Now it’s time to give the drummers some. With all due respect to the technology, the nuts, and the bolts, we need to give credit where it is really due: to the flesh and the blood. [Ed. note: This article originally published in 2006.]

Or, to quote producer/engineer Keith Olsen (Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Whitesnake) from Bullins’ aforementioned article, “When artists, record companies, and other engineers would ask me how I got this or that drum sound, I would always tell them, ‘The best drum sounds in the world are in the phone book.”

We won’t pretend that this is a definitive list of the “greatest” studio drummers, as we know there are many others deserving accolades (Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Jordan, John “J.R.” Robinson, Paul Leim, Gregg Bissonette, and Larrie Londin fly off the tops of our heads), but these are ten that have enjoyed very busy answering machines. And more importantly, they have given us some of the most memorable drumming ever committed to tape.

Kenny Aronoff

“Don’t let it rock, let it roll.” Kenny Aronoff pummeled his way into the mainstream with the swaggering sixteenth-note groove on John Mellencamp’s “Jack And Diane.” His Massachusetts youth was filled with local junior high and high school bands (even back then his calendar was full), but at 16 the self-taught drummer took a more serious turn towards classical music, taking lessons with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. From there it was on to the University of Massachusetts, then Indiana University, where Aronoff was awarded the school’s esteemed Performer’s Certificate. Instead of joining an orchestra fresh out of college, he studied traps for a year in Boston and New York before returning to the Indiana club scene. In 1980 Mr. Mellencamp hired the drummer into his band, and a few years later his groove-centric, less-is-more approach had him splitting time between “John Cougar” and a bourgeoning session career that would eventually encompass hundreds of albums, including releases by: Eddie Money, B.B. King, Dave Koz, Stevie Nicks, The Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Jon Bon Jovi, Bob Seger, Smashing Pumpkins, Travis Tritt, Melissa Etheridge, Rod Stewart, and Hank Williams, Jr. Aronoff’s not just a studio hound, his touring regimen is the stuff of legend as well, and when he’s not doing either you’ll probably find him teaching somewhere in Indiana.

Highlights.John Mellencamp: Scarecrow (Riva/Mercury); Iggy Pop: Brick By Brick (Virgin); Meat Loaf: Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell (MCA); John Fogerty: Blue Moon Swamp (Warner Bros.); Brian Setzer: This Knife Feels Like Justice(Razor & Tie/EMI); Michelle Branch: The Spirit Room (Maverick); Alanis Morissette: So-Called Chaos (Maverick).

Eddie Bayers

Bayers was born in Pautaxant River, Maryland in 1949, to a decorated navy pilot who fought in World War II, the Korean War, and the infamous Battle of Midway. Growing up all over the U.S. (including Nashville, Oakland, and Philadelphia, with four years in North Africa for good measure), the son of a military man was actually trained as a classical pianist before veering towards the drums and less regimented forms of music during his college years in California. He jammed with Jerry Garcia, and both Tom and John Fogerty, and it was through Tom that Bayers got involved in the session life, including a stint at San Francisco’s Fantasy studios in the late ’60s. Surmising that west coast job opportunities were dwindling, Bayers headed for Nashville and landed a gig at Jimmy Hyde’s Carousel Club as the house piano player. That band’s drummer, Larrie Londin, inspired Bayers to play drums professionally. Since then, Bayers has been one of the most in-demand drummers in country music, recording and performing with Tanya Tucker, Ricky Skaggs, John Denver, George Straight, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, Steve Winwood, Peter Frampton, Lyle Lovett, and even Uncle Kracker, to name a few. He has received the Academy Of Country Music’s “Drummer Of The Year” award 12 years in a row, has served on the NARAS (National Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences) Board Of Governors three times, and also serves on the NARAS Educational Committee.

Highlights. Tanya Tucker: Greatest Hits Encore (Liberty/Capitol); Reba McEntire: My Kind Of Country (MCA); Alan Jackson: Here In The Real World (Arista/BMG); George Straight: Easy Come Easy Go (MCA); George Jones: Cold Hard Truth (Elektra).

Hal Blaine

While it’s impossible to pin down a studio drummer list to only ten, there is undoubtedly no way to leave Hal Blaine off of it. By his own estimate he has played on tens of thousands of albums, and we’re not arguing. Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1929, by seven he was turning everything in his childhood home into a drum. A love affair with jazz, Krupa, and Rich, and a west coast relocation later, Blaine was playing professionally by 1948, and about ten years later landed a landmark (and door-opening) gig with teen heartthrob Tommy Sands. In the early ’60s he played on Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You,” which led to a long and fruitful relationship with The King. His “wall of sound” work with legendary producer Phil Spector and The Wrecking Crew laid the foundation for The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” and The Crystals’ “Da Doo Ron Ron.” Blaine was also the first-call drummer for Brian Wilson, and landed on countless Beach Boys hits including “Good Vibrations” and “God Only Knows.” His other collaborations would fill an encyclopedia, but a infinitesimal sample includes Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas & The Papas, The Byrds, The 5th Dimension, Marvin Gaye, Steely Dan, Johnny Rivers, Joni Mitchell, and Nat King Cole. Seriously, there’s not enough room on the back of his baseball card. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on March 6, 2000.

Highlights. Sam Cooke: Ain’t That Good News (RCA Victor); The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (Capitol); The 5th Dimension: Greatest Hits On Earth (Arista); Barbara Streisand: Stoney End (Columbia); Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water (Columbia); Steely Dan: Katy Lied (MCA).

Matt Chamberlain

The ’90s session stalwart was born in San Pedro, California, and studied linear patterns with David Garibaldi before he even had a drum set. Chamberlain then went on to take lessons from Chuck Flores, hand guru Murray Spivak (dig that traditional grip), Chad Wackerman, Graham Lear, and Gregg Bissonette, who suggested the drummer have a go at North Texas State. That didn’t pan out, but he learned a valuable lesson – that technique for technique’s sake wasn’t the answer, and it was time to get into some bands. Sleeping on a friend’s floor in Dallas, he soon got into the Deep Ellum Street scene, which led to several opportunities, including the formation of a group called Ten Hands. It was there that through the bassist (who used to be a bandmate) of a group called New Bohemians, he would audition and land the gig to join Edie Brickell for the album Ghost Of A Dog. Chamberlain certainly learned to play well with others after that, as he lists among his session credits: Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Stevie Nicks, The Wallflowers, Elton John, Natalie Merchant, Dave Navarro, Stone Gossard, Macy Gray, Garbage, Lisa Loeb, Christina Aguilera, John Mayer, Liz Phair, Chris Isaak, Lisa Marie Presley, and David Bowie. Side note: when Brickell was opening for Bob Dylan, Dylan’s guitarist G.E. Smith brought Chamberlain to New York for what turned out to be a one-season stint with the Saturday Night Live band.

Highlights. Fiona Apple: Tidal (Clean Slate/Epic); The Wallflowers: Bringing Down The Horse (Interscope); Chris Isaak: Speak Of The Devil (Reprise); David Bowie: Heathen (Columbia); Tori Amos: Tales Of A Librarian: A Tori Amos Collection (Atlantic); Critters Buggin: Stampede (Ropeadope).

Vinnie Colaiuta

While he might be better known for soaring over bar lines in a single bound, blasting unthinkable polyrhythms along the way (“Hey Vinnie, where’s five?”), early on young Vinnie Colaiuta laid out pots and pans like the rest of us. However, the Brownsville, Pennsylvania native was a late bloomer – all of 14 when he got his first real drum set and started taking lessons, but he quickly absorbed his early influences (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Dave Clarke Five) along with rock and jazz virtuosos (John Bonham, Buddy Rich, and Tony Williams). After studying with Gary Chaffee and hanging out with Steve Smith at Berklee in the mid-’70s, Colaiuta headed to the west coast in 1978. His immense drumming vocabulary was put on prime-time display when he landed a gig in Frank Zappa’s band, recording the legendary Joe’s Garage (check out the reggae groove of “Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up”). He also toured extensively with Joni Mitchell and Sting, showing that he could lay a simpler groove, and didn’t have to be on 11 all the time. Session wise, it could vary from the all-out fusion blowing of “City Nights” from Allan Holdsworth’s Secrets (one of the more unreal first-takes you’re likely to hear) to lighter fare with Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Celine Dion, Dave Koz, Shawn Colvin, and Clay Aiken.

Highlights. Frank Zappa: Joe’s Garage (Barking Pumpkin/Rykodisc); Robben Ford: Talk To Your Daughter (Warner Bros.); Allan Holdsworth: Secrets (Restless/Intima); Sting: Ten Summoner’s Tales (A&M); Bill Evans: Touch (Zebra); Vinnie Colaiuta: Vinnie Colaiuta (GRP/Stretch); Steely Dan: Two Against Nature (Giant); Karizma: Document (Hudson Music); Bette Midler: Sings The Rosemary Clooney Songbook (Sony).

Josh Freese

Freese’s beginnings scream “here comes the sun” no matter how you look them. Born in Orlando, Florida on Christmas Day 1972, he has lived in Southern California since he was six months old. The son of a Disneyland band director (father) and a classical pianist (mother) was playing in a Disneyland Top 40 band at 12, and started shredding with The Vandals and Dweezil Zappa at 15. Before you could say The Notorious One Man Orgy (the title of his 2000 solo effort), he found himself playing on many notable albums, and his resume boasts performances with Mike Ness, Wayne Kramer, Tracy Bonham, Devo, Chris Cornell, Shawn Mullins, Liars Inc., Puddle Of Mudd, Paul Westerberg, Suicidal Tendencies, Good Charlotte, Static-X, Evanescence, 3 Doors Down, Avril Lavigne, and Rob Zombie. In 1998 he started to work on the inexplicably-still-unreleased Guns ‘N’ Roses record, and met a guitar tech named Billy Howerdel, who introduced Freese to Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan. Together they formed A Perfect Circle and released the critically acclaimed Mer De Noms in 2000, Thirteenth Step in 2003, and most recently the cover-laden Emotive in 2004. Freese remains a member of A Perfect Circle and The Vandals to this day, and continues to feel fortunate that he’s paying the bills by slamming the drums.

Highlights. The Vandals: Fear Of A Punk Planet (Restless/Kung Fu); Dweezil Zappa: Confessions (Barking Pumpkin); Wayne Kramer: The Hard Stuff (Epitaph); Paul Westerberg: 14 Songs (Sire/Reprise); South Park: Chef Aid: The South Park Album (Columbia); Good Charlotte: The Young And The Hopeless (Epic); Evanescence: Fallen (Wind-up); Mike Ness: Cheating At Solitaire (Time Bomb); Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros: Streetcore (Hellcat).

Steve Gadd

We hope our meaning won’t be lost or misconstrued, and we’ll repeat ourselves at the risk of being crude, Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” must be one of the most famous recorded drum grooves, ever. The military-style beat helped further the legend of Rochester, New York native Steve Gadd, who, encouraged by his uncle (an army drummer), started playing drums at three, took drum lessons at seven, and at 11 (!) sat in with Dizzy Gillespie. Later on, he spent his days in the concert band and wind ensemble at Eastman College in Rochester, and in 1972, after spending a few years in a military big band, Gadd began his fabled session career, which encompasses some of the most famous music of the last three decades. His early professional gigs included stints with Chuck Mangione and Chick Corea’s Return To Forever. From “50 Ways,” to the linear patterns on Stanley Clarke’s “Silly Putty,” to the dynamic diversity and breathtaking solos on Steely Dan’s “Aja” (rumors are it was a first take), Gadd’s album appearances cover countless styles – a short list of artists includes: Al Jarreau, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Bob James, Carly Simon, David Sanborn, Diana Ross, Eric Clapton, George Benson, Hank Crawford, Peter Gabriel, Steve Khan, and Tom Scott. In 2003 Gadd was honored by Zildjian at the second American Drummers Achievement Awards.

Highlights. Jim Hall: Concierto (Columbia/Legacy); Al DiMeola: Elegant Gypsy (Columbia); Chick Corea: My Spanish Heart (Polydor); Paul Simon: Still Crazy After All These Years (Warner Bros.); Stanley Clarke: Journey To Love (Epic); Stuff: Stuff (Just Sunshine); Steely Dan: Aja (MCA); Al Jarreau: The Best Of Al Jarreau (Warner Bros.)

Al Jackson, Jr.

Born in Memphis in 1934, groove-master Jackson began drumming with his father’s ’40s-style big band at the tender age of five. He spent many late nights at the Manhattan Club playing with Willie Mitchell, who as a producer at Hi Recording Studios, worked with Jackson on several hits by Al Green, Ann Peebles, and many others. However, Jackson’s moment of truth came in 1962, when he joined illustrious keyboardist Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, and guitarist Steve Cropper, forming the Stax house band (a.k.a. Booker T. & The MGs). His signature feel and deceptively straightforward style graced everyone from Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas (“Walking The Dog”), Wilson Pickett (“Midnight Hour”), and Eddie Floyd (“Knock On Wood”), to instrumental hits like the MGs’ “Green Onions.” When Booker T. moved to California in 1971, the MGs went their separate ways, but Jackson’s calendar was soon filled with the likes of Freddie King, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, and the notable sessions for Elvis Presley’s 1973 album Raised On Rock. Notable because, as legend has it, Presley decided to return to his Memphis roots – and the Stax studios – to record, and the house musicians were evidently so nervous about playing with The King that he had to … leave the building. Simply put, he is the quintessential soul drummer of his era. On October 1, 1975, at the age of 39, he was tragically shot and killed at his home.

Highlights. Al Green: Let’s Stay Together (Hi/Get Back); Booker T. & The MGs: Green Onions (London/Atlantic); Wilson Pickett: Greatest Hits (Atlantic); Otis Redding: The Immortal Otis Redding (Atco/Rhino); Eric Clapton: 461 Ocean Boulevard (RSO/Universal).

Jim Keltner

A big part of lasting in the session business is simply getting along, and few have endeared themselves to more than Jim Keltner. The terminally humble drumming giant took on the Los Angeles club scene in the ’60s, landing a job with Gary Lewis & The Playboys and playing on the single “Just My Style.” A few years later he played on Accept No Substitute by Delaney & Bonnie And Friends, and thus began a simply phenomenal recording career. His list of collaborations includes: John Lennon, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Joe Cocker, Cal Tjader, Don Henley, Ry Cooder, Rita Coolidge, George Harrison, John Hiatt, Steely Dan, Judy Collins, Ron Wood, Elvis Costello, The Beat Farmers, Jack Bruce, Indigo Girls, Nick Lowe, Joni Mitchell, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. In 1988 he helped lay the foundation for the first album from a “new” group called The Traveling Wilburys (comprised of Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, George Harrison, and Roy Orbison). In 2000, he teamed up with Charlie Watts to release The Charlie Watts Jim Keltner Project, a rhythmic homage to a host of legendary jazz drummers, including Art Blakey, Max Roach, and Tony Williams. On “Tony,” Keltner also contributed spoken word vocals, reading quotes from an interview with the late jazz legend. He continues to leave trails of kindness in studios everywhere.

Highlights. Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen (A&M); John Lennon: Imagine (Capitol); Ron Wood: Gimme Some Neck (Columbia); Don Henley: Building The Perfect Beast (Geffen); The Traveling Wilburys: Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 (Wilbury/Warner Bros.); Eric Clapton: From The Cradle (Reprise); Charlie Watts/Jim Keltner: The Charlie Watts Jim Keltner Project (Higher Octave).

Earl Palmer

You say New Orleans, but second-line flame stoker Earl Palmer was born in N’awlins in 1924. His mother was a vaudeville performer, and Palmer took to tap dancing by the age of four. The logical progression to drum set followed, and after his initial love affair with jazz drummers like Panama Francis and Big Sid Catlett, he started making ends meet in 1947 by joining “Big Beat” inventor Dave Bartholomew’s band. From 1950-1957, as the anchor of Cosimo Matassa’s J&M studios, Palmer fused his bebop swing with heavier R&B/blues sensibilities, and a healthy dose of red beans and rice, and laid the pavement for the first generation of rock-and-roll drummers. In 1957 Palmer hooked up with Eddie Mesner and took an A&R job at Aladdin Records. Relocating to California really opened the session floodgates – rock and roll, Motown, jazz, R&B, and soundtracks were fair game, and he did it all. A small sampling of the resume includes Fats Domino (“The Fat Man” and “I’m Walkin’”), Little Richard (“Tutti Frutti”), Ritchie Valens (“La Bamba”), B.B. King, Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, Lou Rawls, Smiley Lewis (“I Hear You Knockin’”), Taj Mahal, Lloyd Price (“Lawdy Miss Clawdy”), Professor Longhair, The Beach Boys, Tom Waits, Sam Cooke, The 5th Dimension, Randy Newman, and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Tony Scherman penned Backbeat: Earl Palmer’s Story in 1999, and the drummer was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on March 6, 2000.

Highlights. T-Bone Walker: T-Bone Blues (Atlantic); Tim Hardin: Tim Hardin 1 (Verve); Tom Waits: Blue Valentine (Asylum); Elvis Costello: King Of America (Columbia).

Video Interview with Boz Rivera of the Real McKenzies

Warped Tour 2007

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Boz Rivera of the Real McKenzies.

For more information on Boz Rivera of the Real McKenzies be sure to check out the official website.

Giovanni wins Grammy for Global Drum project

Latin Percussion artists have often risen to the ultimate industry challenge, the kudos implicit in a Grammy award. Today we salute Giovanni Hidalgo, the esteemed master conguero and long time member of the LP family walked away with a 2009 Grammy for the Global Drum Project. The album, which also featured top-ranking artist-advocates Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, and Sikiru Adepoju, won hands down in the category Best Contemporary World Music. The Global Drum Project is no pick-up band. There's plenty of history—over 15 years. In fact, the award celebrates the long-awaited reunion of the same musicians responsible for another Grammy—earned for Planet Drum in 1991. Then as now, the albums and subsequent tours embody Mickey Hart's vision of percussion as a unifying force. Each musician has built a career devoted to excellence on heritage and modern instruments. Giovanni Hidalgo, to name one, has persisted at creating new benchmarks for conga execution. “I am excited to win this Grammy award,” Giovanni Hidalgo enthused recently. “The band spirit is the same as my own driving force—and that of LP. From way back, the company has persisted in creating durable modern drums that mirror traditional sounds.” Once again, LP passes the test in the artist's critical areas: tonal excellence, design innovation, and road-tough construction. And, once again, LP is proud to back Giovanni Hidalgo, a winner on the world stage.

Repost: Ralph Humphrey--The Legend Of Odd Meters

(Ed. Note: This article, originally posted in 2006, details the history of polyrhythmic legend and teacher Ralph Humphrey, and looks into the band Babaghanoush, with whom he still plays in Los Angeles.)

In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s musical traditions were being torn apart and new ones were taking root. Jazz, funk, rock and soul were colliding, and cross-pollinating with musics from around the world, in a way that hadn’t been seen before. Drummers were experimenting with new equipment, new sounds, new styles of playing, and many bands were pushing the frontiers of jazz and rock with a new music called fusion. No bandleaders were pushing boundaries further than trumpeter Don Ellis. And his drummer Ralph Humphrey was blazing a trail of his own, playing difficult arrangement in odd meters in a way that people had never quite heard before. To young ambitious drummers, Ralph was one of the most brilliant stars in a time that had plenty of them.

Ralph had the distinction not only of playing with Don Ellis at his peak, but he moved from there to take over the drum chair for Frank Zappa at the peak of his career, defining the rhythm for classic albums such as Overnite Sensation. But in the late ‘70s Ralph decided to come off the road and spend time at home with his family in Los Angeles. In the intervening years, Ralph played every conceivable gig, working in the studios on TV shows, movie soundtracks, and pop and jazz recording sessions. In fact, that was Ralph you heard on the all the drum tracks for last year’s American Idol. He also devoted a large portion of his time to education, developing the first percussion program at Percussion Institute of Technology with his longtime friend and teaching partner Joe Porcaro (Jeff’s dad). In the late ‘90s Joe and Ralph moved over to the Los Angeles Music Academy to start a new program, where he teaches today.

Though no longer in the avant-garde limelight, Ralph is very active, touring, doing sessions, and teaching. And, he's still pushing the musical envelope. We sat down with him a few months back to talk about an amazing record he recorded with the group Babaghanoush. We caught up on some of the exciting moments in his 35-year career, and took a track-by-track tour of how Ralph recorded the tunes on Babaghanoush’s debut CD.

DRUM! Ralph, educate me about your early days as a drummer.

RH Well, I grew up in San Francisco Bay Area and learned how to play drums in the high school band. Basically, I played a lot at pizza joints [laughs]. I played the clarinet for a number of years so I knew how to read and I knew concert-oriented classical music. But drumming I learned as I went. I didn’t have any formal lessons. The other day someone asked me “Whom did you study with?” and I always have to say “No one.” I took one lesson from Tony Williams in the late ‘60s when I was in Don Ellis’ band.

DRUM! What was that like?

RH He was teaching in Frank Ippolito’s drum shop. I basically stood behind him for a half hour while he played. I asked him about his bass drum technique, how he did something. He said, "Well you do whatever you have to do." That was it, but what he was really saying was, “Do whatever you have to do to express yourself”, and that made a big impression on me.

DRUM!You also got a lot of good experience during your formal education.

RH I went to College of San Mateo [well-known for its jazz program] where the bandleader was Dick Crest. Jazz was really big up there and we would do a lot of get-togethers where you would compete with different bands. Eventually, I got a gig with Dick's band; we’d play the Russian River festival every summer and the hotels in San Francisco. It was real high society jazz, but it was good band with a good book and a great experience being a young guy, in the union and gigging all the time.

DRUM! How did you hook up with Don Ellis?

RH I played other gigs here and there. [Arranger, producer] Don Piestrup—a wonderful writer –had a rehearsal band in Berkeley with all the top cats and I used to play with them. After College of San Mateo I went San Jose State State. One of the profs there, Dwight Cannon, decided to invite Don Ellis and his drummer up to do a concert with our band. Don had just hit the scene with his album Live in Monterey. Of course we had never heard of this incredible music before Dwight brought him up to San Jose State and he came with his drummer Steve Bohannon. Don sent up the music ahead of time that we were going to play with them. They were really strange charts. He would write out the subdivision of the bar into three—he notated according to the subdivision of the rhythm, not according to the beat. I was scheduled to play the second drum chair. As it turns out Steve missed a plane and missed the rehearsal so Don got a chance to hear me. Steve came up and played the concert.

Six months later Steve left the band and I get a call from Don Ellis. I remember thinking, "There must be tons of drummers in LA. Why would he be calling me?" So, on New Years day 1968 I flew to LA and auditioned for the band at a club called Ellis Island. It was packed. Steve played the first three-fourths of the set and then I came up and played two or three tunes.

DRUM! Were you nervous?

RH On the flight down I was so nervous but it’s funny, once I started to play, I was scared and I knew the band was checking me out but I did okay. On a scale of one to ten I thought I gave it a five. After the gig, we went back to Don’s place, and, he said, “What do you think? And, I said, “It was great, thank you so much.” He said, “Yes, but do you want to join the band?” and I was shocked.

DRUM! So here you were, a young guy, and you’re playing in one of the most experimental bands on the planet.

RH My wife and I moved down a month later. We rehearsed right away for a European tour and then a states tour. It was an opportune time for me. The first record I was on was Shock Treatment. My wife and I moved down a month later. We rehearsed right away for a European tour and then a states tour. It was an opportune time for me.

DRUM! Today, it’s hard for people to understand how out there the music was getting. Did you feel it at the time that you were at the epicenter of something new and big?

RH Yes, but I felt I had been in a normal environment and then suddenly I was in another world with a bizarre band. He did so many things that were pretty new at the time. He wrote using Indian rhythms that he would superimpose over other exotic rhythms. He invented the fourth valve on the trumpet to produce quarter tones, he played the electric trumpet, he wrote modal music, his outfits were wild, his orchestration was unusual, sometimes with three or four drum sets and then percussion, too. He was totally unique in every respect. [Ed. Note. On Shock Treatment, for example Ellis employed six reed players, eleven horns, several pianists, four or five drummers including Joe Porcaro, Mark Stevens and Carlos “Patato” Valdes, and sitar.]

DRUM! You were with Don for five years. What happened next?

RH I did some small band stuff with him, clinics and things. Just after I left the band I was hanging around town, doing rehearsal bands and trying to be active. That’s when George Duke called me and said “Frank Zappa needs a drummer. He has gone through fifty guys and I thought of you because of what you have been doing.” To tell you the truth, I had never thought of playing with Frank and hadn’t listened much. So I went down with no expectations at all but I was confident because after playing with Don Ellis nothing was going to scare me any more. Frank put up some charts that were sort of regular tunes and then we jammed in odd meters and then he put up one of his difficult pieces called “The Bebop Tango,” just to see if I could read.

DRUM! And, how did you do?

RH He hired me on the spot. So again I wasn’t expecting it to happen but it happened.I was just there at the right time. That took me on a whole other journey. It was a great period to be with Zappa. Frank was changing directions and though he hated bebop he needed jazz players who could read and play with his level of perfection, which rock players couldn’t do. There were great players in the band, [violinist] Jean Luc Ponty, [keyboardist] George Duke, [keyboardist] Ian and [percussionist] Ruth Underwood, [horns] Bruce Fowler and [bassist] Tom Fowler, [trumpeter] Sal Marquez. I was with Frank a year and a half. Frank we were on the road all the time. If we weren’t on the road we were in town rehearsing. We played all over Europe, we even did ten dates with Mahavishnu Orchestra.

DRUM! That’s when Billy Cobham was reinventing drums.

RH I envied every one of those players they were at a creative peak. Billy Cobham was unique as a drummer, he was big spike in creativity. If you go through the history of drums over a hundred years, he was a big creative peak.

After Frank I decided to get back into town and try to work my way into the studio. I felt like I had the ability to do that work, I had the background in styles and reading and thought if I take my shot now But I did some time with Seals and Crofts (Jeff Porcaro also played with them) in 1976. I did some touring with Akiyoshi Tabackin Big Band later in the ‘70s and then mostly playing with different people from Joe Farrell to Chick Corea. In 1980 started working with Al Jarreau. I was starting to work more with producer Jay Graydon—he had been in Don’s band so I had known him for years.

DRUM! He’s the guy who played the amazing solo on Steely Dan’s “Peg”.

RH Yes, Jay is a great guitar player. He produced a lot of music at the time, so my studio work was building and I was suddenly in the company of my favorite drummers like Jeff Porcaro and Steve Gadd, and being on high quality records. I was on a lot of B records, not huge sellers, did a lot of recording and started working TV and movies. In Hollywood there is a real separation between doing sessions, TV and movies. I was trying to cross over and do everything. I was teaching, doing sessions, the whole thing because I enjoy it all.

DRUM! Some drummers would hate it if they had to play a swing gig one day and a rock gig the next. Others want to play funk at night, jazz, the next day, avant-garde the next night.

RH That’s me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve imitated Krupa on a session gig. It’s just fun doing a good job. So many times I’ve done TV or recording and to me it’s a job to do and I want to be professional. The music may not be that fulfilling or what I would choose artistically but I still want it to be good. I keep art and business separate. Some people can’t do that.

DRUM! It was about this time you got into education. How long had you been teaching?

RH I started teaching privately when I was with Don. People would want lessons after hearing the band. I took lessons with Hari Har Rao, an Indian teacher. I learned from Don, Emil Richards, Tom Scott, Roger Kellaway and, also Milcho Leviev. Don’s pianist from Bulgaria was a strong influence. from Bulgaria was a strong influence. Then in 1980 I wrote Even In The Odds. Joe Porcaro had a book out called Odd Times before my book came out. And [former Tonight Show drummer] Ed Shaughnessey was experimenting with Eastern drumming. So, that was all the things I was learning and trying to do and then Joe Porcaro and I got the opportunity to open the drum school at Musicians Institute in 1980.

DRUM! What caused you to move from there to Los Angeles Music Academy?

RH In 1996 there was a change of ownership and during the next year there were changes going on and those included the structure of the school and the relationship we had.It was our choice to leave. At the same time the LA Music Academy was becoming established and Joe and I came in and rewrote our curriculum. It’s been great.

DRUM! Have you considered publishing any new books?

RH I’m working on a new book that basically will be what I’ve learned in the 20 years since the first book. I got to learn everything about odd meters by playing it live. A lot of young players don’t have the opportunity so it’s different learning from a book. I want to put it all in a perspective that people can easily understand, and I really want it to be the last word in rhythm. There aren’t too many books that tell you how to play, form the physical coordination to the sound of the instrument to the mental condition. It’s going to take some time.

DRUM! I’ve just been listening to Babaghanoush, which is a fabulous recording. How did that come about?

RH Well I knew about Jimmy Mahlis (the guitar player and leader) through Tos Panos (another drum instructor at Musicians Institute) who was a member of the band. And, I knew Jerry Watts, the bass player, because we use to play together at a place in Santa Monica. I had never met Antti Suzuki, the saxophonist, but I was hearing about him more and more around town. I had a chance to do a gig with Jimmy, before the band was called Babaghanoush. We really hit it off, and then Jimmy called me back and said, he wanted to get serious and record the band.

DRUM! The musicianship is at a very high level.

RH Jimmy is not one to say, “Here’s what I want you to do.” Instead, he gives you the lead sheet, and a lot of the bass and drums is made up as we go along.

DRUM!That’s why we need royalties for drummers, Ralph. You’re giving away your creativity [much laughter].

RH Right.

DRUM! The music is a real fusion to me. It’s not just rock or jazz with something worldly laid over it. A lot of so-called fusion has really been sort of rock with a little quoting other styles or ethnic instrumentation mixed in.

RH Right, it’s mixed like babaghanoush. The styles are really mixed until you create something new. That’s fusion.

See BABAGHANOUSH TRACK BY TRACK Ralph Humphrey details how he recorded the CD.

Information

A good Don Ellis resource.

Ralph Humphrey Discography Ralph has played on hundreds of records by everyone from Al Jarreau and Manhattan Transfer to Frank Zappa and Wayne Shorter. You can find a pretty good list here.

Totally Tubular Giveaway

DRUM!, in conjunction with Gretsch, Sabian and Evans has announced the Totally Tubular Giveaway, which will debut in its January 2009 issue. Entrants will have the chance to win the Gretsch Tube Kit. This four-piece Catalina Mod kit has Gretsch's exclusive G Tube Graphic Finish with a pattern as distinctive as the Club Mod tone. It includes a 20 x 22 bass drum, 8 x 12 tom, 14 x 16 floor tom and 6.5 x 14 snare. In addition, the kit is complete with Evans heads, Sabian AAX cymbals and Gibralter hardware. You can enter here.

Free Download - Lenny White of Return of Forever

For fusion fans, the prospect of Return To Forever getting back together again after all these years (the group dis-banded in 1976) is akin to a Beatles reunion, and for the past few decades seemed about as unlikely. Corea was the lone holdout in recent years. While Clarke, Di Meola, and White had been lobbying for an RTF reunion, the three were unable to persuade Corea to take up the cause, until now.

Free Download

Events: Drum Road Trip Gathering Scheduled For End Of June

The drummers calendar is filling up with vintage drum shows, and concerts. Now along comes Drum Road Trip 2008, a gathering of drummers from all over the world will take place the weekend of June 27-29 in Rochester NY. This first annual event hopes to attract drummers from all over the world and appeal to a variety of skill levels ranging from beginners to touring professionals. According to the promoters there are already registrants from all over the US, Canada and as far away as the U.K. and Germany.

Highlights of the event include:

Friday Night Meet and Greet: A casual meet and greet for drummers that are traveling to the event. This casual gathering will take place in Henrietta NY, A suburb of Rochester (Location TBA). Many of these drummers frequently interact at an online “forum” called Drums My Life. http://www.drumsmylife.com

Saturday Drum Swap Meet: A gathering where vendors, players and collectors can buy, sell or trade new and used equipment. Vendor Tables are currently available on a first come, first come basis, contact the promoter for price. This portion of the event will take place at the Water Street Music Hall. General Admission Tickets are $5.00 at the door.

Saturday “Snare Drum Olympics”: This event is where drummers can pit their favorite instruments against each other for prizes and recognition. In this event drums which are hidden from view will be judged by experts and the crowd. In a bracketed contest, winners in a variety of classifications will be named. This portion of the event will take place at the Water Street Music Hall and is included in the general admission price.

Saturday Trade Show: A Mini Trade Show will feature percussion related manufacturers and their wares. Space is limited, but still available. Please contact Promoters for details. This portion of the event will take place at the Water Street Music Hall and is included in the general admission price.

Saturday Concert: An Evening with Hendrix and Howe. This concert will celebrate the timeless music of Jimi Hendrix and will feature Regi Hendrix, a family member of the late Jimi Hendrix along with special musical guest, guitarist Greg Howe. Along with Hendrix and Howe, the evening will feature several of the drummers that have traveled to the Drum Road Trip as well as top players from the Rochester NY area, and session players from the Berklee School of Music in Boston Mass. For Greg Howe Fans it is important to note; this is one of the only public appearances Greg will be making this year, and it should be very exciting to see him perform in a small venue with such an intimate setting. This concert is a separate ticked event. Tickets will be available at all Ticket Master Outlets for $15.00 in advance and $20.00 at the door (If available). The Water Street Music Hall doors will open at 7:00PM and the show will start at 7:15. This is truly a special evening of music.

Sunday Drum Clinics: An afternoon of educational drum clinics featuring several drummers that traveled to the event will take place in Henrietta. (Location TBA) Tickets will be $8.00 in advance, $10.00 at the door.

Contact Information:

For all questions relating this event please contact Mike Morgan @ (585) 329-8181

Warped Tour Interview with Nick Price

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Nick Price of Meg and Dia.

For more information visit http://www.meganddia.com

Warped Tour Interview with Jon Wilkes

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Jon Wilkes of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

For more information about the band visit http://www.redjumpsuit.com

There's a whole lot of great clinics and events coming up this month, starting with Drummer Connection's Staff Clinic on May 28th at Seminole Music in Seminole, Florida. In fact, the south is busy this week with a Stanton Moore clinic in Gainesville and a Zoro demo at Memphis Drum Shop. Check it out.

Month   Artist    Location    Tel #    City    State/Country
MAY                       
26    Jeremy Hummel    Cumberland Valley High School        Mechanicsburg    PA    
26    Chris Tibaldi    Amityville H S    631.598.6565    Amityville    NY    
26    Stanton Moore    Atlanta Institute of Music        Duluth    GA    
27    Brian Hitt (REO Speedwagon) Private Lessons    Donn Bennett Drum Studio        Bellevue     WA    
27    Stanton Moore    Studio Percussion        Gainesville    FL    
28    Dennis Delucis    Immaculata H S    732.690.6278    Somerset    NJ    
28    Zoro    Memphis Drum Shop    901.276.2328    Memphis    TN    
30    Mike Clark    Sam Ash        Indianapolis    IN    
JUNE                        
2    Garey Williams    Mills Music    425.775.6500    Lynnwood    WA    
4    Joe Bergamini    Lawton C. Johnson Middle School    908.256.1902    Summit    NJ    
4    Jason Bittner    Washington Music Center        Wheaton    MD
5    Jason Bittner    Sam Ash King of Prussia        King of Prussia    PA
8    Garey Williams    Ted Brown Music    800.562.8938    Tacoma    WA
8    Jason Bittner    Daddy's Junky Music        Manchester    NH
8    Dom Famularo    Lassiter H S    404.545.2310    Marietta    GA
9    Dom Famularo    Kennesaw State Univ    404.545.2310    Kennesaw    GA
11    Scott Brown    North Georgia Perc Camp - Lassiter H S    404.641.2357    Marietta    GA
11    Matt Savage    Southaven H S    662.420.1323    Southaven    MS
11    Amy  Davis Savage    Southaven H S    662.420.1323    Southaven    MS
14    Ney Rosauro    Univ of Central Florida    305.971.9217    Orlando    FL
10    Peter Erskine    Sam Ash         Hollywood    CA
11    Mike Clark    Sam Ash        Hollywood    CA
11    Zoro    Tuscaloosa Music Center        Tuscaloosa    AB
12    Peter Erskine    Sam Ash #60        Industry    CA
13    Alan White Private Lessons    Donn Bennett Drum Studio        Bellevue    WA
13    James Leslie    Dayton Conv Center    937.268.9652    Dayton    OH
13-20    Scott Deal    New England Conservatory    617.497.0823    Boston    MA
14    Danny Gottlieb    Eckerd College        St. Petersburg    FL
14-19    Jeff Crowell    McKendree Univ    618.537.6492    Lebanon    IL
15    Virgil Donati    Mother's Music    204.783.5045    Winnipeg    MB
16    Virgil Donati    Mother's Music    306.665.9900    Saskatoon    SK
17    Virgil Donati    Mother's Music    403.432.1867    Edmonton    AB
18    Kenneth Broadway    Vero Beach H S    251.382.3701    Vero Beach    FL
18    Tiger Bill Meligari    Sam Ash    732.572.5595    Edison    NJ
19    Peter Erskine    Sam Ash        Canoga Park    CA
19    Virgil Donati    Mother's Music    403.245.3725    Calgary    AB
19    Bobby Sanabria, Dafnis Prieto, Memo Acevedo,    The Power of Drum - Riverside Theatre    212.369.0276    New York    NY
20-27    John Santos    Camp Jones Gulch - Jazz Camp West    510.540.5149    LaHonda    CA
21    Gregg Bissonette    Shivilbines Music        Cape Girardeau    MO
23    Ed Roscetti    Drum School 101 & Drum Circuit        San Luis Obispo    CA
25-26    Sheila E Live    Guitar Center        Hollywood    CA
25    Giovanni Hidalgo    Guitar Center        Orlando    FL
    Jason Price    Shell Lake Combo Camp    715.468.2414    Shell Lake    WI
    Jeff Crowell    Univ of WI - Eau Claire    715.836.4021    Eau Claire    WI
24    Dafnis Prieto    Berklee College of Music        Boston    MA

INTERNATIONAL/June
5    Marco Minneman    Primorye regional Philharmonic        Vladivostock    Russia
5    Rodrigo Villanueva    JazzUV Leona Vicario & Allende        Mexico    
13    N. Scott Robinson and others    Canadian Frame Drum Festival, The Royal Conservatory of Music        Toronto    CA
14    Cora Coleman-Dunham, Derrick McKenzie, Sola Akimbola (Jamiroquai), Mark Richardson (Skunk Anansie)    Drummer Live        UK    
26-27    Dom Famularo    Free Stroke School, Florence        Italy    
28    Dom Famularo    Musical Centro, Cassino        Italy    
28    Bernard Purdie, Sergio Belloti    Teatro Art E Mestieri        Torino, Italy  

Today we salute Giovanni Hidalgo. The esteemed master conguero and long time member of our artist family walked away with a 2009 Grammy for the Global Drum Project. The album, which also featured top-ranking artist-advocates Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, and Sikiru Adepoju, won hands down in the category Best Contemporary World Music. What's interesting is that this group also won in 1991 for the very first world music Grammy.

The Global Drum Project is no pick-up band. There's plenty of history—over fifteen years. In fact, the award celebrates the long-awaited reunion of the same musicians responsible for another Grammy—earned for Planet Drum in 1991. Then as now, the albums and subsequent tours embody Mickey Hart's vision of percussion as a unifying force. Each musician has built a career devoted to excellence on heritage and modern instruments. Giovanni Hidalgo, to name one, has persisted at creating new benchmarks for conga execution.

Giovanni Hidalgo plays LP congas exclusively.

Dan Trapp: Thrashing The Cradle

By Robert L. Doerschuk

It’s not like Dan Trapp’s parents hadn’t been warned. “I’d been telling them for years, ‘You know, if this ever happens, you’ve got to let me go,’” the young drummer with Senses Fail explains. “And my dad was always like, ‘Well, show me the record contract and we’ll talk.’” >>

The topic was Trapp’s determination that nothing would get in his way if rock stardom beckoned – not family, not school, not even the prospects of idling through adolescence in northern New Jersey. Of course, dad probably felt the odds were on his side. After all, how many kids wind up on the road, wowing audiences from Japan and Australia through Europe before they’ve even left their teens?

And here we could almost hear the smile in Trapp’s voice as he remembers the day, shortly before his sophomore year at Lakeland Regional High School, when Drive-Thru Records offered to sign his band. His parents looked over the contract, asked only that he earn his degree or a high school equivalency someday, and wished him luck.

“So on February 11 I signed out of school,” he remembers. “And a week later we were on the road with The Cinch.”

At age 16, Trapp was the youngest member of Senses Fail; bassist Michael Glita, all of 21, was the oldest. Yet already they had spent most of a year morphing from a weekend garage band to one of the hottest acts in Bergen County. With a sound that combined the tight thrash of nü metal with emo lead and harmony vocals, they unleashed a debut EP on ECA, which summoned Drive-Thru like a flare in the night.

Their first album, Let It Unfold You, picked up where the EP left off, with the same raw, rough energy and on-your-sleeve passion. Trapp found his place within the din by playing like – surprise! – an actual drummer in a band, as opposed to a chops factory running at full speed.

Sure, he had technique, which he’d refined through six months of intense study with Steve Hodes. How intense? Let’s just point out that the guy who taught Hodes was Henry Adler, whose students in previous years had included Louis Bellson and Buddy Rich.

The point is, Trapp can fly with the fleetest, but most of the time he plays like a kid who really enjoys being in a group at the peak of its power. He listened to everything, from Foo Fighters and Smashing Pumpkins to NOFX, Goldfinger, and Blink-182 – it didn’t matter what it was, as long as it burned. But as the time neared for their second album, he started thinking, like the rest of Senses Fail, that maybe they should see whether that fire could blaze a few new trails.

And so they dragged a ProTools setup into guitarist Garrett Zablocki’s basement for a writing marathon. When they emerged they had documented the results on demos that were persuasive enough to bring Battery lead singer Brian McTernan onboard to produce.

“Originally, we were shooting to get some huge producer,” Trapp points out. “But Brian was really excited about our demos, and that’s the kind of attitude you want in the studio, rather than having some big shot tell us what to do. Plus, he’s got a great résumé, he’s a great engineer, and he’s really easy to work with.”

McTernan does much of his recording in Baltimore, but for Still Searching they trekked to Woodstock to cut at Bearsville Studios, whose history dates back to the late ’60s. “I’m pretty sure I lived in Janis Joplin’s room for a month,” Trapp marvels.

They showed up ready to play; in fact, they had locked their material down so tightly that much of their week of pre-production could be spent writing and working out more new stuff. With that, they filed into the barn and got ready to roll – analog, of course – tape.

For Trapp, this meant setting up to sound live. “On our last record [producer] Steve Evetts miked every drum and every cymbal, top and bottom,” he says. “We even made a giant kick drum tunnel. The problem is that when there are that many mikes, it presents phasing problems when you get to the mix. With Brian it was more like a live setup: two mikes on the kick, one inside, and one on the porthole, top, and bottom on the toms, hi-hat, two overheads … and that was it. Brian kept telling me, ‘Don’t worry, man. You’ll hear everything just fine.’ And it does sound great.”

The drum setup was basic too, with one exception: the greatest snare Trapp has ever heard. “It was a 14" x 7.5", 10-ply maple snare made by the Maryland Drum Company,” he says. “It cracks, but it’s also deep; it hits you in the chest. I wanted to use it on every song. I even tried to get Brian to sell it to me, but he wouldn’t give it up.”

Sound aside, Trapp’s playing radiates polish and power, a combination you might expect from a drummer twice his age. There is definitely some rocks-off blowing here, especially on the title track, whose double kick frenzy and crisp but precise execution might bring Dream Theater or Meshuggah to mind. But where simplicity and space work better, as on the booming, echo-drenched accents of “The Priest And The Matador,” he’s happy to hold back.

All of which was his ticket to tour the planet through late ’06, at an age where most musicians are still in the first steps of chasing the dream. “When you live this kind of life, people think you don’t have a care in the world,” Trapp muses, the weight of experience in his words. “That’s completely false. You’ve got a lot to think about. You grow up faster. But that’s fine. I’d rather be an old 20-year-old than a stupid, young adult.”

Drumpicks

Saliva
Stained Love Story
Island

The arrival of a new Saliva album precipitates a little guessing game at the DRUM! office. Which Saliva showed up at the studio this time? Was it the Korn-influenced rap-metalheads that inhabited the band’s first couple CDs, or the melodic hard-rock journeymen that crept into Saliva’s more recent output? While the quintet has always blended both genres into its music, bandleader Josey Scott has steadily steered his creation toward a more bankable strategy – probably a wise move when you consider the career paths of peers like Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach.

Blood Stained Love Story reveals the band making its biggest commitment yet to this radio-friendly trend, overlaying beautifully crafted melodies and harmonies over arena-sized backing tracks. It’s a recipe that brings to mind rockin’ hit-making factories of the late ’70s such as Journey or Foreigner, except that in Saliva’s hands the riffs are slightly more radical, the beats a bit heavier, and the slick studio sheen is calculatedly tarnished with Scott’s occasional white-boy rapping, just to bring us all back to square one.

Perhaps the most illuminating example of this tactic is found on “Never Gonna Change,” the third cut from Blood Stained Love Story. Drop the needle in the middle of a chorus, and you’ll find Scott earnestly pleading, “What do I have to say? What do I have to do?” over battalions of strumming acoustic guitars and choral background singers. It’s a power ballad worthy of a Night Ranger reunion album, masterfully engineered to bring tears to every junior high prom date.

To release this prepubescent tension, Scott smartly follows the prettiness of “Be With You” with “King Of The Stereo,” one of the heavier cuts from the album. Here drummer Paul Crosby lays down his best Chad Smith metal-funk thang, guitarists Wayne Swinny and Joe Montoya chicken-scratch choppy rhythms, and Scott spits out rapped verses dripping with venom. The contrast between sweet and sour is inescapable, yet for my money, Scott sounds much more at ease singing full-throated melodies than doing an Anthony Kiedis impression. Our advice is to stick to the tunes, go for the gold.

But it’s too easy to compartmentalize Saliva’s sound into a couple snappy sound bites when in fact there’s more depth than meets the eye. As the band inches ever toward consumerism, other musical references continue to swim just below the surface. The big opener and the album’s first single, “Ladies And Gentleman” shows how these Tennesseans can be perfectly in tune with the rap-metal movement while channeling the spirit of heavy southern rockers like Lynrd Skynrd and Molly Hatchet. And you can’t miss the soaring ELO and Beatles flavors present on the mid-tempo “Going Under” or the new wave pop of the album’s catchiest track, “Twister.”

With such emphasis placed on smart songcraft, Crosby’s drum parts are reduced to a purely supportive role on much of Blood Stained Love Story. His tubs sound big, fat, and ambient, and he unleashes a succession of infectious grooves that bounce with ample gusto through these ten tracks. When he gets the chance to catch some spotlight time, Crosby makes the most of it without going overboard, such as the well-conceived four-limbed triplet fill that provides a transition from the guitar solo into the final chorus on “One More Chance.” And he sounds like his old self on the hardest number on the album, “Black Sheep,” hammering skipping snare drum ghost notes that nudge the momentum forward.

However, Blood Stained Love Story comes off as an impressive collection of singles rather than a cohesive piece of work, a byproduct of Saliva’s split personality. We applaud any band that struggles to be three-dimensional, but while they are skilled on stage and in the studio, there seem to be only two sides to Saliva’s coin.

Boys Like Girls
Boys Like Girls
Red Ink/Columbia

Music
At first blush (or maybe pimple), the Boys were probably a regular bunch of brash Bostonian popsters. But after slathering on some emo-earnest vocals, sprinkling on some slyly sophisticated electronic bleeps, and packing on a bit of hard-rock muscle, the energetic four-piece sounds about as great as any young band ever has. And if that description doesn’t grab you, the group’s catchy melodies surely will. Just try to escape “Heels Over Head.”

Drumming
John Keefe’s shred-grooving swings all kinds of ways. First check out his punchy kick drum sound on 2-and-4 whackers like “On Top Of The World.” Next listen as he spices things up a little with the hi-hat sloops on “Hero/Heroine.” And then take notes on how he subtly combines acoustic patterns with electronic rhythms on “Me, You, And My Medication.” Excellent work.

Verdict
Smart boys and girls like Boys Like Girls. You’re not dumb, are you?

Josh Dion Band
Live!
WeBad

Music
Josh Dion and company are old-school cool in the very best way: They’re real musicians playing real songs on real instruments. And they’re doing it real damn good, particularly on this live release. Juggling duties as leader and lead vocalist, Dion belts out the band’s jam-thick tunes with a rich voice that proves white guys might just have soul after all. And that’s not even the coolest part. Dion, you see, not only sings …

Drumming
… He plays all the drums too. And the dude is appropriately funky and skilled, a born pocket player with plenty of slick licks that keep a beat bouncy and interesting, like on the intro of “Boogie On Reggae Woman” with its infectious sixteenth-note rim-clicks. Fast-forward to the 16-minute-plus “Birdwalker” for a dash of Dion’s chops.

Verdict
A drummer-led, soul-soaked jam band that isn’t afraid to work up a sweat. Or sling it around. Bring a towel.

The Photo Atlas No, Not Me, Never
Stolen Transmission

Music
Billed as dance-punk phenoms straight out of sky-high Denver, Photo Atlas does indeed get the feet moving and the head flailing. The band’s tunes are appropriately and appealingly schizo, a combination of angst-pained vocals (Alan Andrews doesn’t so much sing as exorcise demons) and up-tempo happy-tapping rhythms. And after mixing in plenty of those angular, math-rocky guitar parts made popular by Brit-hipsters like Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys, the Photo foursome forge a sound that’s not at all pretty, but is certainly seductive. And dangerous. Two minutes in, you’ll wonder whether to dance or to break stuff.

Drumming
Devon Shirley, taking charge of both drums and sampling, hits with tendon-snapping abandon. Give a listen to the big-ass kick bombs on “Little Tiny Explosions.” The guy means business.

Verdict

No, Not Me, Never – an essential purchase for real music fans? Yes, you, always. Go grab a copy.

Alkaline Trio
Remains
Vagrant

Music

Occam’s razor – “the simplest solution tends to be the best one” – is the first thing that comes to mind while listening to Alkaline Trio’s newest compilation of rarities and b-sides. When this group rushes into a smaller studio to throw down a few tracks for a split, the raw angst and black humor that distinguishes their music tends to come through more than when they spend weeks in a sound booth with mega-producer Jerry Finn. The trio works well under the gun, and this is some of their best work.

Drumming
Listening to Derek Grant drum with Alkaline Trio is like watching Steve Gadd back up Eric Clapton. The two drummers are so capable on the instrument that anything they play is a cohesive musical statement. And what they don’t play tends to be even more interesting.

Verdict
Like all of Alkaline Trio’s music, these 22 pop-punk tunes make you wish you were more depressed. For a pick up, definitely pick this one up.

Self Against City
Telling Secrets to Strangers
Drive-Thru/Rushmore

Music
Telling Secrets To Strangers is melodic and youthful pop punk, oozing indie-rock flair. It’s not necessarily deep or groundbreaking, but I don’t think that’s the point. It’s fun, accessible, and one of those guilty pleasures that’ll have you singing along with the MySpacers, especially on “Ready And Willing.” The tracks “Tequila Moonlight” and “Back To Our Innocence” are surprisingly mature and worthy of multiple spins.

Drumming
Drummer Chris Trombley left the band after making the album, but not without leaving a solid footprint of driving rhythms – all full of energy and pivotal for each catchy chorus.

Verdict
Famous for discovering groups like Dashboard Confessional and New Found Glory, Drive-Thru Records has done it again with Self Against City (who got the name by mishearing a DJ publicize Bowie’s “Suffragette City”). Though the Sacramento-based band has plenty of ground to cover, Telling Secrets To Strangers is a good sign they’re on the right track.

Piebald
Accidental Gentleman
Side One Dummy

Music
Piebald is used to doing things their own way. Whether it’s driving a tour bus that runs on fast-food grease or recording an album (dare I say?) via analog tape, there’s something so punk – and, of course, economical – about avoiding modern technology. Accidental Gentleman is raw, poignant, borderline sloppy, and yet retains an overall sincerity and urgency that is oh so admirable. As one might expect by their eco-conscious lifestyle, Piebald’s lyrics are rooted in meaningful subject matter, particularly on the track “There’s Always Something Better To Do,” which challenges a consumer-driven existence.

Drumming
Luke Garro shifts between poppy punk and borderline folk-country tempos like a truck driver in a traffic jam, grinding his grooves with intensity.

Verdict
There’s no doubt that Accidental Gentleman is rooted in punk, but gems like the piano ballad “Strangers” make for the perfect pint-pounding sing-along. Cheers.

Kill Hannah
Until There’s Nothing Left Of Us Atlantic Records

Music
Until There’s Nothing Left Of Us is somewhat of a new beginning for Kill Hannah. Whereas their previous release, Forever Never & Ever, was recorded in L.A., this album takes them home to Chi-town, a place that shaped their synth-driven goth pop. The result is better for it. (They’ll still give any ’80s glam-rock band a run for their money in the mascara department.) The music is emotive and recalls bands like Smashing Pumpkins and The Cure. Mat Devine’s androgynous vocals are perfect for the spaced-out sounds, especially on the cover of The Church’s “Under The Milky Way,” which happens to be phenomenal.

Drumming
Garret Hammond amiably passed the drum torch to Joe Babiak after finishing the album, leaving the hefty task of executing perfectly thumping beats and fills.

Verdict
Kill Hannah has been tiptoeing around mainstream success for years, but with this new album and the sudden emergence of bands like My Chemical Romance, they won’t be able to hide any longer. No matter how much makeup they lather on.

Softlightes Say No To Being Cool - Say Yes To Being Happy
Modular Records

Music
Maybe it’s being close enough to L.A. to bask in the cinematic glow but far enough to steer clear of the plastic surgery veneer, but San Diego, with its gentle waves and warm nights, has spawned a continuous stream of pretty, sweet, and downright wholesome bands. The latest is Softlightes – a gumdrop pop gem with sugary vocals and shoe-gaze guitars. Think heartfelt melodies, sad boy singers in V-necks, and next season’s soundtrack for The O.C., but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Softlightes feels strangely familiar: the best band you think you’ve already heard, whose records you’re sure you already own, but somehow don’t.

Drumming
Whether smacking the snare in succinct, lockstep marching style or lightly tapping a clave-inspired click pattern, Tim Fogarty knows just when to push forward, fall back, fill the space, or open up and let the vocals take hold. Subtle, shimmery, steady – it’s the frosting on top of the Softlightes sugar cookie.

Verdict
Pass the syrup please: irresistible sweets sure to decay your teeth.

Dr. Dog
We All Belong
Park The Van

Music
Any band that openly embraces a 24-track, 2" tape machine is a-okay by us. Or for that matter any band that, in today’s digital minefield, embraces analog, period. No dis to digital, but there’s just something unmatchably authentic about that fuzzed-out warm tape sound. Home recording wizards and five-piece Philly collaborative Dr. Dog know this and use it to make the most of their ’60s-inspired sound – Beatles harmonies meet psych rock slathered with keys and a nice dollop of tambourine swish on top.

Drumming
Juston Stens mines the gentle grooves of ’60s soul kings and The White Album to bounce the beat between slow-dance shoe scuffers and chaotic, semi-experimental rock breakdowns. Be sure to check out “The Girl” with its spastic, clattering cowbell chaos.

Verdict
Makes you want to buy a record player and get this on vinyl just to hear the sound of the needle in the groove, the popping static, and the occasional scratch.

Sonic Youth
The Destroyed Room
Geffen

Music
Here’s the thing about Sonic Youth: The seminal art-punk NYC noise rockers who elevated pretty/noisy, noisy/pretty to an art form have been together so long and have so many albums and offshoots not even the most dedicated Thurston Moore worshiper can keep up! Now SY bring you b-sides and rarities. Heavy on instrumentals, The Destroyed Room swerves from 10-minute-plus jams to ambient avant noise to unpolished pop gems. Add the breathy “Razor Blade” outtake and “Kim’s Chords” to your SY greatest-hits play list.

Drumming
The amazing thing about skinsman Steve Shelley is that amid all the amped-up stacks, crazy feedback, and collapsing chords, he anchors every track – sometimes just tapping lightly on the cymbals or hats. And when structures evaporate, giving way to sonic exploration, it’s Shelley who keeps the framework and the song intact.

Verdict
Do we really need a b-sides and rarities record from this beloved band? In a word: no, but oh how we want it anyway.

Mitch Mitchell, Legendary Drummer Dead at 61

Mitch Mitchell, the legendary drummer who was Jimi Hendrix's greatest musical partner, died November 12 during the Experience Hendrix tour.

Mitchell was one of the greatest drummers in rock history, not only because he played with its greatest guitarist but because of his great contributions to the music. More than any drummer of the Sixties Mitchell brought a jazz vocabulary and a free Elvin Jones-like sensibility to his playing. His greatest contribution was the way he communicated with Hendrix and played off the guitarist's extravagant improvisations.

Mitchell's sound depended on a fast snare and rapid cymbal riding, borrowed from jazz with basic rock patterns. His busy style with brilliant usage of hi-hat and cymbals has rarely been matched in rock or pop music.

Mitchell was 61.

Mitch Mitchell obituaries

• Boston Herald
• Seattle Times

DRUM! put Mitchell on its cover in 1998. Andy Doerschuk's original story.

New Drums: the $7,000 Majestic Elite

At this year’s 18th Chicago Vintage and Custom Drum Show, we saw a lot of incredible drums, none more amazing than the new Majestic Elite (Serial #001) from Joyful Noise Drum Company. Like some of their previous releases, this drum offers a breathtaking example of artistic beauty, superior craftsmanship, and innovative design. This spectacular drum is the latest edition to the JNDC Elite Series, which now includes the “Winged Elite”, “Scrolled Elite”, and “Majestic Elite”.

The drum is electro-plated with 24k gold from top to bottom and adorned with the JNDC Elite Series scroll pattern, hand engraved by master engraver and drum historian John Aldridge.

Radiating the hand-engraved scrolled panel pattern in 24k gold-plating, the spun seamless bronze shell of the “Majestic Elite” is a company standard, featuring sharp, bell-flanged bearing edges and vintage- inspired crimped snare beds. The “Majestic Elite” also features the JNDC “One Touch” Classic Snare Drum Strainer System cast in bronze, as well as 2.5mm solid brass hoops and solid brass Corder tube lugs, all also 24k gold-plated. Other company standards featured on the “Majestic Elite” are JNDC drumheads by Remo™ USA, and PureSound™ snare wires.

According to Curt Waltrip, JNDC President, “Sonically, the ‘Majestic Elite’ possesses explosive power while delivering full-bodied tone and warmth. This is accompanied by an incredibly wide tuning range and exceptional snare sensitivity that affords a musical array of color and character.”

Such meticulous engineering does not come cheaply. As the pinnacle of the JNDC snare drum collection and electro-plated in over 3.5 ounces of 24k gold, the “Majestic Elite” currently lists at $7000.00 MSRP. Nonetheless it lives up to the name "Majestic Elite and will be a future collectible.

For more information visit http://www.joyfulnoisedrumcompany.com .

Rikki Rockett Exonerated

Congratulations Rikki! Poison Drummer Exonerated of Mississippi Rape Charge

Drummers around the world are happy today to hear that Poison drummer Rikki Rockett was exonerated today of all charges relating to a felony rape charge. Apparently, Rikki had never had any contact with the woman and had never been in Mississippi during the time that the rape took place.

This is a chilling tale of how famous individuals can become targets—intentionally in this case—of people who would trade on that fame for personal gain. The complete details are spelled out in the press release below.

Poison drummer Rikki Rockett was exonerated of a felony rape chargefiled in Mississippi stemming from a September 23, 2007 incident in which a Neshoba County, Mississippi woman claimed that Rockett had forcibly raped her. Rockett was not in Mississippi during September 2007. The Neshoba County District Attorney refused to prosecute the case after determining that Rockett was not the person who committed the alleged rape. The charges carry a potential life sentence. Rockett said, “I want to sincerely thank my lawyers Barry Tarlow and Mi Kim for their commitment to my case and their terrific legal work that exonerated me of any wrongdoing.”

The warrant, issued on December 18, 2007, sought the arrest and extradition of “Rockett, Rikki A” a/k/a “Minskosf, John” to Mississippi for “strong arm rape.” News stories shortly disclosed the correct spelling of the name John Minskosf as “John Minskoff.” Rockett has never used the Minskoff name. It is now believed that Minskoff used Rockett's name to convince the complaining witness to sleep with him.

"I think it was a case where the woman and her husband unfortunately believed they could extort money from me and my band,” Rockett said, “This is a gross example of people attempting to abuse the law for personal profit. They tried to subvert and make a mockery of the criminal justice system. It is abhorrent and disgraceful.” Rockett happily continued: “It's nice to feel like I can have my life back now. I have a Poison tour to look forward to as well as a wedding to prepare for.” Rockett was arrested at LAX when he and his band mates arrived after performing at a large music festival in Wellington, New Zealand. Rockett said: "I was exhausted from a 14-hour flight and then was hauled off to jail. The worst part was having to walk past my fiancé in handcuffs. She had no idea what was happening and neither did I! When I was finally told that I was arrested on charges of rape, I about passed out!" Rockett was booked, fingerprinted, and photographed at the Los Angeles county jail. "The Police were as cool to me as they could be considering the circumstances. I was never disrespected by them during the time I was there. I want them to know that I appreciate that.”

A flood of press coverage, both negative and positive, soon followed. "I remain surprised that no member of the educated and savvy press ever googled the name ‘John Minskoff’! Had they done so, they would have found out that in 1996, John Minskoff claimed to have been involved with the rock band, White Snake, when he lured and kidnapped a 15-year-old girl in Reno, Nevada. Minskoff is a violent career criminal and felon and convicted perjurer with multiple convictions who has admitted to impersonating “rock stars” to sexually pursue women.”

“I received undying support from my band, friends, and fans, but unfortunately, my detractors had a field day with the story. I look forward to serving the press who created defamatory remarks some healthy lawsuits!” Rockett went on to say, "I also look forward to helping other people who have been falsely accused of committing heinous crimes. My lawyers, Barry Tarlow and Mi Kim, are helping me seek out organizations like Centurion Ministries to help if I can. This wonderful organization works to free innocent people in prison who have done serious time for crimes they did not commit."

Video Interview with Jordan Mancino of As I Lay Dying

Warped Tour 2007

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Jordan Mancino of As I Lay Dying.

For more information on As I Lay Dying be sure to check out the official website

Ludwig Introduces New Element Lacquer Series Drums

Since 1909, Ludwig has been making exceptionally crafted percussion products for drummers of all styles. During the 100th Anniversary year, Ludwig is proud to announce the new Ludwig Element Lacquer Series Drums.

Today's up-and-coming player is more discerning than ever, demanding gear with custom options, sizing, and appointments. Element Series Drums are the answer to that call, with 6-ply shells boasting inner and outer plies of Marbled Birch and a Poplar core. For a limited time, all 5-pc. Element Lacquer shell packs come with a 6th drum free, adding true value to these accessibly-priced kits. Fortified with 2.5mm power snare hoops, available in four configurations and four high-gloss lacquer finishes, and accented by the new Classic Keystone Lug, Element is the key to the next level.<.p>

"We are really excited about the features Element Lacquer kits come standard with," says Combo Percussion Director of Marketing Kevin Packard. "Getting a 6-pc kit for the cost of a 5-pc. is just the icing on the cake!” 6-pc. Element Lacquer shell pack MSRP: $1,045.00. For more information, go to the newly re-vamped http://www.ludwig-drums.com

Ludwig Drums are manufactured and distributed by Conn-Selmer, Inc., the largest manufacturer of band and orchestral instruments and accessories in the United States and a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc.

To contact Conn-Selmer, write to P.O. Box 310, Elkhart, IN 46515-0310 U.S.A. or visit http://www.conn-selmer.com.

Sabian Nails Versatility With Vault Crossover Ride

The sound gnomes at Sabian (http://www.sabian.com) have introduced the Vault Crossover Ride, an all-new 21-inch versatile cymbal featuring a modern jazz design that is intended to be responsive yet controllable. Combining vintage darkness and modern response concepts, the Crossover Ride is a medium-thin model with a medium-size bell, plus lathing and hammering combinations on its top and bottom surfaces, according to Mark Love, SABIAN’s master product specialist.

"The Crossover Ride is great for versatility without compromise,” Love said. “The tone is warm, semi-dark and very musical, while the ability to ride and crash with total stick articulation means even the most complex sticking patterns can be played – and heard – at all times. The single-line lathing on its top surface gives this model a look that hints at its sound: darkness and brightness combined to create a rich tonal color in a cymbal one can ride, accent, and crash in virtually any style of music. Partial lathing on the top ensures increased articulation, while lathing the outer perimeter of the bottom allows the cymbal to ‘open up’, for increased crash capability.”

The Crossover Ride is made of B20 Bronze and is available in Natural Finish only. It carries a two-year warranty.

 

Warped Tour Interview with Dan Gluszak

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Dan Gluszak of Envy On The Coast.

For more information about the band visit http://www.envyonthecoast.com

Warped Tour Interview with Frank and Adam

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Frank and Adam from The Street Drum Corps.

For more information about this band visit http://www.streetdrumcorps.com

Warped Tour Interview with Tom Falcone

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Tom Falcone of Cute Is What We Aim.

Find more about the band at http://www.cuteiswhatweaimfor.com

Jam Cruise Slideshow

DRUM! Visits Jam Cruise 6

Each winter a couple of thousand friendly jam band fanatics crowd onto a cruise ship for a week of sun, fun and music in the Carribean. This year DRUM!'s associate editor Dave Constantin and wife Jen tagged along to slake their jam-band jones and report back for the magazine. The story, in our April issue, is augmented with a set of video interviews you'll also find here. Travel along with Jam Cruise 6 in the following slide show.

Photos by Dave Constantin

Click photo below to view photos.

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Guitar Center Crowns Donald Marple of Keyser Drum-Off Grand Champion

Angels & Airwaves, Stephen Perkins, "Go Get A Late Pass!!!" featuring ?uestlove & Nikka Costa, Street Drum Corps, Adrian Young, Brooks Wackerman, Shannon Leto, John Sawicki, and Byron McMackin also participated.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, January 14, 2008 - Donald Marple of Keyser, WV was crowned the Guitar Center Drum-Off Grand Champion this past Saturday at the Music Box @ Fonda in Hollywood, CA. Playing in front of a packed house, 20-year-old Marple proved he had the skills to be the nation's greatest undiscovered drummer. He also walked away with a prize package that included a Toyota FJ Cruiser, $10,000 cash, a feature in a Guitar Center ad campaign, a $2,500 Levi's shopping spree, a custom designed drum kit, a Roland TD20 electronic drum-set, a set of cymbals custom printed with the winner's signature, a one year drum, cymbal, stick and head endorsement deal, and a write-up in Modern Drummer magazine valued at more than $40,000.

Check Out The Slideshow (4 Images)

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After four rounds of intense competition, Marple battled it out with Paul Stoot of Everett, WA, Sherman Arnold of Aurora, CO, and Ivan Garcia from Oglethorpe, GA, to win the title of Drum-Off Grand Champion. Performing a five minute drum solo, Marple impressed the likes of Thomas Lang, Joey Castillo of Queens of the Stone Age, Vinny Appice of Black Sabbath, Ray Luzier of Army of Anyone and Korn, Kenny Aronoff, Alan White of Yes, drummer for Rob Zombie John Tempesta, Steve Smith of Journey and David Garibaldi of Tower of Power, who had the tough job of selecting the winner among the four outstanding Drum-Off finalists.

The incredible night, hosted by Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction, featured performances by the four Drum-Off finalists as well as Angels & Airwaves, "Go Get A Late Pass!!!" featuring ?uestlove of The Roots and Nikka Costa, as well as Street Drum Corps with special guests Adrian Young of No Doubt, Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion, Shannon Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars, John Sawicki of Stomp and Byron McMackin of Pennywise. Steve Smith of Journey and Dave Garibaldi were presented with the Drum Legends Award by Alan White. Also attending the event were Kirsten Dunst, Matt Dallas and Josh Groban, among many others.

Drummers across the country began competing this past September at Guitar Center stores. Beginning with preliminaries in over 213 Guitar Center stores, drummers then advanced on from store preliminaries to store finals. Winners of store finals then went on to compete at district finals at 24 Guitar Center stores nationwide for the chance to advance on to four regional competitions with the winner of each of these regions advancing on to compete, this past Saturday, to be crowned the Drum-Off Grand Champion.

"Tonight marked a life changing experience for four incredible drummers from across the country," said Dustin Hinz, Manager Entanglement Marketing, Guitar Center. Guitar Center is proud to provide these amazing drummers with the opportunity to further their careers through showcasing their talent in front of drum legends, industry VIPs and celebrities. Guitar Center's Drum-Off represents the core essence of our brand; we are a vehicle to achieve dreams.

"I am so in awe; this has been such a wonderful experience, and I am thankful for the opportunity that Guitar Center has provided me" said Marple. "I have met new friends, my idols, and this has changed me as a person. It has opened my eyes to a whole new world of drumming. I have no idea where this contest will take me now, but I do know that I want to play the drums for the rest of my life."

Born and raised in Keyser, WV, 20-year-old Marple began playing the drums at the age of three at his former church, Elk Garden Assembly of God. A high school percussion instructor by day, Marple perfects his talents on the drums in a local Christian rock band, High Pressure. Having never had a drum lesson in his life, Marple's practice and persistence has paid off with him being crowned Guitar Center's Drum-Off Grand Champion.

Previous Drum-Off winners have gone on to enjoy successful music careers, record albums and tour the world with noteworthy artists. Drum-Off Champion 2002, Cora Coleman, is currently performing with legendary recording artist Prince. Eric Moore II, Drum-Off 2003 Champion, has also achieved notoriety by performing with psychedelic funk band Sly and the Family Stone as well as singer Bobby Brown.

Partners for Drum-Off 2007 include: Levi's, DW, Evans, Vic Firth, Remo, Zildjian, Pearl, Roland, Sabian, Tama, Gretsch, ProMark, and Modern Drummer.

About Guitar Center

Guitar Center is the leading United States retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates more than 200 Guitar Center stores across the U.S. In addition, our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, http://www.musiciansfriend.com. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's Web site at http://www.guitarcenter.com.

Video Interview with Anthony Kirkham of The Vincent Black Shadow

Warped Tour 2007

Setoff’s drummer / DRUM! employee Eric Kamm interviewed around 30 of the best punk drummers in the world while on the Warped Tour, and will be posting the videos of these interviews on your favorite website, http://www.drummagazine.com.

FARMINGDALE, NY, May 12, 2009 – On May 5-7, 2009, Sveti band leader and Drummers Collective professor Marko Djordjevic performed three clinics for Fork’s Drum Closet Knoxville, TN, Ken Stanton Music Stone Mountain, GA, and Ken Stanton Music Marietta, GA.

All three clinics had excellent attendance and great question and answer sessions. Marko’s unearthly grasp on Eastern European folk rhythms mixed with modern jazz, funk, and rock had jaws on the floor and people moving from their seats to see what his hands and feet were doing. The clinics were also coupled with Evans snare drum tune up night hosted by Evans product specialist Josh Touchton. Josh talked about this importance of changing heads and snare wires for optimal tone and the crucial skill of tuning your drums to find individual sound.

The clinics were sponsored by Evans Drumheads, Puresound Snare Wires, Mapex Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth drumsticks, and Alfred publishing.

For more information on Marko Djordjevic, please visit http://www.myspace.com/svetimarko.

Los Cabos Drumsticks Expands In Difficult Economy

In this time of economic uncertainty, many manufacturers are reducing their production, reducing the number of their employees, or closing altogether. In the midst of this turmoil, one company is expanding; Los Cabos Drumsticks of Fredericton New Brunswick has constructed a new facility in one of the city’s industrial parks. “It was something we felt was necessary at this time,” says Larry Guay, owner and operations manager. “We just didn’t have the room in our old location to store all the raw wood and finished product we had in the building.”

Moving from a rented space to a building of their own was daunting, but adds Guay, “It just made sense to us that we own the building. That gave us control over the design, and we would never face an increase in rent. We also have a great deal more room.”

In addition, the new building takes the company two steps closer to being environmentally friendly. Instead of the waste product being sent to the landfill, it is used to heat the building during the long New Brunswick winters. A great deal of planning went into the new facility, from the wood intake, to the production area, storage, office spaces, and the safety of employees and visitors.

Guay anticipates additional staff in the not-too-distant future as well. “We are in most major music chains in Canada, with a distributor in Germany supplying the European market. We also have support from several U.S. artists, and are continually seeking American distributorship; that all leads to increased production and the eventual need for additional employees.”

Ever expanding not only in their facility, but in popularity as well, Los Cabos Drumsticks are poised to become a powerful force in the drumstick market. To see more, go to http://www.loscabosdrumsticks.com

Sean Vega Joins Pro-Mark’s Family Of Endorsers

Pro-Mark Corporation welcomes Sean Vega to its family of endorsers and signature artists.

Sean Vega is a percussion staff member of The Concord Blue Devils, Program Coordinator and Battery Arranger for the WGI Independent World Class Champion Riverside Community College (RCC), and accomplished arranger, composer and choreographer.

Serving as a member of the prestigious percussion staff of the twelve-time DCI Champion Concord Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, Sean is no stranger to corps life or The Blue Devils. He has spent thirteen combined years with The Blue Devils as a member of the tenor line from 1994 to 1997, winning the DCI Multi-Tenor Individual Title in 1995, and a staff member from 1998 to the present. Sean has helped the corps win six DCI Championships and four DCI High Percussion Awards.

Sean’s time at RCC has also been successful. Since RCC’s inaugural visit to WGI World Championships in 2002, the ensemble has ranked in the top 2 placements five times and has won three Gold Medals. RCC is also home to the world-renowned Marching Tigers, a regular guest at Bands of America Grand National Championships, and has appeared in numerous television commercials, television shows, and movies.

As an arranger, composer, and choreographer, Sean’s list of credits include the award winning SeaWorld production entitled “Riptide,” and entertainment provided for a long list of distinguished companies such as Rite Aid, Mazda, Peoplesoft, Cisco, Wells Fargo, Jaguar, National Basketball Association, and the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

Sean is a graduate of both Riverside Community College and California State University-San Bernardino. He received an Associate of Arts degree from Riverside Community College in 2002 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations from California State University San Bernardino in 2005.

Sean is a proud endorser of Pro-Mark, Dynasty USA, Remo, Zildjian, and Xymox. http://www.promark.com

Five Star Drums to Get Loud for Charity

The sound of drums will rumble across North America on Sunday, November 2, as ten Five-Star member drum shops launch the Big Beat. This effort will bring together the largest gathering of drummers ever assembled, celebrate the joy of drumming, and raise money for worthwhile causes. Not only will each location try to break the Guinness world record for the most drummers playing the same beat at one time (previously set by Donn Bennett Drum Studio, with 533 participating players), but the participants will also try to set a record for drummers in all cities playing simultaneously.

Big Beat events will benefit the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation and in some cities, the addition of a local charity as well.

Patterned after similar events that have been held by Five-Star members in Seattle, Tulsa, and Houston, the Big Beat is the first attempt to coordinate efforts on a large scale, with the hope of expanding each year, until drummers across the globe are locked in on one worldwide groove.

"What started out as a lark has grown into the single most dynamic demonstration of the power of drums and drummers in our community, making this event the focal point of the Northwest drumming world," said Donn Bennett, owner of Donn Bennett Drum Studio.

Donna Fisher, president of the Percussion Center in Houston, produced a Big Beat event for the first time in 2007 and called it "an awesome experience." She elaborated, "The energy of having all those drummers gathered in one place playing simultaneously is something that's hard to describe."

Top Big Beat pledge-raisers in each city will be awarded prizes donated by the biggest names in the drum industry and there will be a raffle at all locations, with the national winner getting an authentic Ringo Starr autograph on a replica Beatles logo bass drum head.

In addition to Bennett and Fisher's stores being involved, also included are: Buffalo Drum Outlet; Columbus Percussion; Drum World; Fork's Drum Closet; Just Drums; Memphis Drum Shop; Resurrection Drums; and Stebal Drums.

Carl Fischer Rolls Out Beginning Hand Drumming DVD

Carl Fischer has just released Beginning Hand Drumming: A Guide to Recreation and Wellness by noted performer, clinician and teacher Jill Sager.

BHD is designed to teach you the basics of hand drumming and as a tool for developing life-improving drum circle programs. The DVD includes an informative instructional booklet that guides the viewer through the process of learning to play the hand drum. This DVD teaches hand drum technique, world beat rhythms, what to play at drum circles, and more. All of the lessons are thorough and designed to be used by a range of users, including private drum teachers, music therapists, and recreation centers. The growing use of music as a tool for personal health and spiritual well-being demands good instructional materials and this is a welcome addition. Find out more at http://www.carlfischer.com .

Warped Tour Interview with Danny Cooper

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Danny Cooper of Drop Dead Gorgeous.

Find more information about the band at http://www.dropdeadgorgeousrock.com

Video Interview with Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion

Warped Tour 2007

Setoff’s drummer / DRUM! employee Eric Kamm interviewed around 30 of the best punk drummers in the world while on the Warped Tour, and will be posting the videos of these interviews on your favorite website, http://www.drummagazine.com.

Video Interview with Matt Whalen of The Matches

Warped Tour 2007

Setoff’s drummer / DRUM! employee Eric Kamm interviewed around 30 of the best punk drummers in the world while on the Warped Tour, and will be posting the videos of these interviews on your favorite website, http://www.drummagazine.com.

Drumskull Drums: Art In Action

By Phil Hood Published Septemeber 21, 2009

It's all about the art at Drumskull Drums in Santa Cruz, California. Co-owners Matt Hardwick, Ryan Bennett and Kevin Walsh run the small manufacturer of custom djembes. They are dedicated students of West African and Congolese drum and dance, and regulars on the African drumming scene in northern California. They are inspired by the great drumming masters and teachers of Africa to create drums that are meticulously faithful to African traditions while standing up to the demands of modern players.

Wood comes in one door. Djembes leave by the other.

Dozens of djembes are under construction at any one time.

A staff of six works in the factory.

Intricate carving is a Drumskull specialty.

They offer many options and make other drums as well as djembes.

Dunun drums.

The finished product. Let’s play.

Drumskull drums are built entirely by hand in their well-organized Santa Cruz shop, which is stacked with shells in various stages of carving and finishing. In addition to djembes they also make some Ashiko drums (conical drums, constructed of staves) Dununs (sets of three drums that provide rhythm for djembe ensembles), Balafons (native marimbas) and other instruments. But their main business is building djembes to customer specifications and their drums are widely acknowledged as among the very best handmade drums of any type. If you want one they start at $565 and frequently are back-ordered, but worth the wait.

Contact Drumskull Drums or if you're in Santa Cruz, drop by the store, which also carries teaching materials and accessories. Address: 105 Pioneer Street Suite C, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. Telephone 831-429-5766. http://www.drumskulldrums.com

An Online Hub For Both Students & Teachers With Private Teacher Directory and 
Over 1,500 Educational Resources Including Videos, Lessons, Interviews, and Interactive Tools.

D'Addario recently launched http://www.theLessonroom.com, a new education-based website focusing on bringing together music teachers and students while providing a wealth of accessible resources that speak to each group. The site includes over 1,500 educational resources spanning from videos, lessons, artist and tech interviews provided by various partners including Percussive Arts Society (PAS), Shure, Joel Rothman, Workship Live, Alfred, BerkleeMusic.com. Additional partners including the Alliance of Independent Music Merchants (AIMM) and the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) have provided support.

On theLessonroom.com, users will also find articles that span topics including gear and technology, business and career, technique and rehearsal tips. Also available are music notation, interactive music games and tools, as well as performance and care topics by instrument. Additionally, the site houses a teacher directory for students to search by instrument, location, and other criteria. Educator forums allow teachers to connect with each other and discuss an array of music education topics.

theLessonroom.com will also make available to its users etudes, exercises, and musical selections can be used as teaching tools for numerous instruments. There are interactive music games and tools focusing on subjects like note reading, clefs, key signatures, rhythm, pitches, scales, intervals, ear training, and fingerings. Also included are an online metronome, online tuner, and organizational tools for teachers and students.

D'Addario, which makes Evans drumheads, HQ practice pads, Rico reeds, D'Addario strings and other accessories, has long been active in education. Jim Bailey, the company's education relations manager says, “At D’Addario, music education and community development have been - and continue to be - some of our biggest priorities. theLessonroom.com was conceived to satisfy the need for one outlet that both music educators and aspiring students can access quickly to find the information and resources they need. We’re very proud of theLessonroom.com’s debut and of the information and resources that it offers both teachers and students.”

Vater Introduce Eternal Black Series Sticks

The past year has been the year of black. Starting with Remo’s Black Suede heads and Zildjan’s black cymbals, black has become the color of choice for all manner of drum gear. Vater now has produced the Eternal Black Series sticks, with a half dozen models finished in black stain. These include Vater’s popular 5A, 5B, and Power 5B as well as three brand new designs: Warrior, Punisher and Destroyer. All Eternal Black Series models come in both wood and nylon tip.

According to Vater the Eternal 5A is a balanced stick, heavier toward the tip for fast attack and response. The Black 5B is a balanced stick with an acorn tip. There is also an External Black Power 5B which is an extra half-inch in length. The Warrior is slightly heavier than a 5A with a more pronounced taper and rounded barrel tip. For more weight and volume the Eternal Black Punisher is slightly bigger, designed for solid rim shots and full tones. The Eternal Black Destroyer is designed with extra length and should appeal to the heaviest players. Vater.com.

Hudson Music
and Modern Drummer Team Up For Ten-Year Retrospective DVD

By Salman Haqqi

Featuring exceptional and inspirational performances by over 50 of the world’s top drum artists, the Best Of The Modern Drummer Festival 1997-2006 DVD offers drummers and drum enthusiasts an incredible opportunity to watch heroes and legends at the top of their careers as well as up-and-coming players just starting out. The two-disc, almost five-hour compilation is presented by Hudson Music in association with Modern Drummer and spans ten years and six editions of the drumming event that has become a world famous drum festivals.

The digitally remastered footage from Modern Drummer Festivals between 1997 and 2006, features clips of drumming greats from a diversity of musical styles, ranging from Alex Acuña, Chris Adler, Jason Bittner, Don Brewer, Ronald Bruner Jr, to Stewart Copeland, Jack DeJohnette, Virgil Donati and Billy Ward. Also included is a rare performance by late Modern Drummer founder Ron Spagnardi.

“The Best Of The Modern Drummer Festival” is recommended for drummers of all ages, interests, and abilities. The DVD is available from Modern Drummer online at http://www.moderndrummer.com/itemList/videos or by phone at 973-239-4140 and at drumshops and music stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. For international sales, go to http://www.hudsonmusic.com or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Buddy Rich Memorial Concert

Buddy Rich Memorial Concert Rolls Out After 10 Years of Marking Time; Performers Include Bozzio, John Blackwell, Chad Smith, Tommy Igoe And Many Others For This Historic Drumming Event.

Las Vegas, -- The much awaited return of the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert is now over. In late August, Cathy Rich, daughter of the late, legendary drummer Buddy Rich, confirmed plans for the Buddy Rich Memorial and that it would take place at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on October 18. Her company, Scabeba Entertainment, Drucker Labs and drumming icon Neil Peart will produce this historic event, which promises to be the most intense and compelling ever in terms of the performers and sponsors.

”The concerts themselves are an expression of Buddy's generous musical spirit. It's our goal to give back as much as possible and have all parties involved leave with a good feeling.” Rich noted. “We should also point out that all our sponsors will make this event truly amazing. Without the love and support from all sponsors, these events would not happen.”

Some Superb Sponsors

Title sponsors are Drucker Labs, Scabeba Entertainment, Manhattan Center Productions, Drum Channel, and Enter Music Publishing's Drum! and Traps magazines.

Other sponsors include Remo, JazzImprov magazine, Buddy Rich Drum Company, DW Drums, Pro-Mark, Dunnett Drums, Mark Bass, Vic Firth, SJC Custom Drums, Guitar Center, Sabian, Caroldean El Paseo, Joshua Clothing, and Roland.

In addition to the sponsors listed, Drumchannel.com will unveil a presentation on Buddy Rich and will LIVE STREAM the event over the web. In addition, the entire affair is being taped in high-definition for a Christmas DVD release.

A Legendary Lineup

This years lineup, one of the most diverse to be scheduled for The Memorial, features some of the most well-respected drummers in the world, who will be performing original rock and jazz arrangements with the big band.

• Terry Bozzio formerly of Frank Zappa's band and his own platinum selling band, Missing Persons.  Terry went on to revolutionize drumming with his one-man shows and clinics featuring his sea of drums and percussion. He’s performing a Zappa tune, among others.
• John Blackwell who was with Prince's band and most recently toured the world with Justin Timberlake.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith will perform four tunes including some Rolling Stones material scored for big band.
• New York drumming icon Tommy Igoe, leader of the Birdland Big Band and in demand session and Broadway drummer.  His recent educational DVD's are currently the number one sellers in the marketplace.
• This is also the debut of Buddy's 23 year old grandson Nick Rich playing for the first time in his grandfather's big band. Nick is an in demand drummer on the west coast, having recently recorded with platinum selling artist Ray J.
• Neil Peart will also perform.

Joining Buddy's Big Band will be Late Show with David Letterman bass player Will Lee.  Bassist Jeff Berlin will appear as a special guest. There will be a special appearance by Guitar Center 2007 Drum Off winner Donnie Marple. More surprises will be added.

What makes this year’s show hip is the artists having big band arrangements made of some of their most popular hits, as well as playing their favorite Buddy Rich charts. And, it will take on a life of its own since the show will be streamed live globally by the Drum Channel, and recorded in Hi Def for worldwide release.

”After a ten-year hold on this world wide drum event, we are coming back with a vengeance”, said Rich. “We started doing these concerts in 1989 and they were the first of their kind. I originally had the idea of having all the greatest drummers in the world sitting in with my father’s big band, playing his charts with their own unique spin.

A giant Buddy Rich Memorial Concert Product Promotion began in late August next with a chance to win dozens of prizes including Roland V-drums, snares from Dunnett, George Way, Buddy Rich Drum Company, and DW, and much more. Be sure to reserve your tickets now.

For ticket info call Ticket Master 212-307-7171 or visit http://www.ticketmaster.com .

To enter the Buddy Rich Concert Giveaway visit http://www.drummagazine.com/buddyrich .

Get Grooving With Metropolitan Drums

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Cocktail drums were introduced in the 1940's, as a small visually appealing, happy-hour kit, but have never been more than a novelty item for most drum companies, until now. Metropolitan Drum Company has gained a growing reputation as the only company to specialize in cocktail drums.

We were impressed by their gleaming glitter wraps and other finishes the first time we saw them, so we're glad to have a chance to show you a few of their models here.

All Metropolitan kits are American-made and range in price from roughly $649 to $1399 depending on the model. Despite their party-time image, these cocktail kits are serious musical tools. They're made from Keller shells with 2.3mm Superhoops on every drum, 10.4mm legs and other heavy-duty hardware.

The cocktail drums feature 24" deep maple shells in 16: or 14" widths, 45º bearing edges, double-ply bottom heads and a single-ply top heads. They can produce cannon-like volume and have the equivalent air capacity of an 18" bass drum. The cocktail drums are paired with a 10" x 5" or 10" x 4" snare. With accessory mounts you can add toms, cymbals, cowbells or other accessories.

The drums can be played standing or seated and feature adjustable mounts to that they may be positioned comfortably for the drummer. The company's models range from the Clubster, a single cocktail drum up to the Trickster, a four-piece with snare and two toms. Pedals and hardware are sold separately.

Contact Matt at Metropolitan Drum Company for more details. http://www.metrodrum.com/id1.html

Vic Firth Releases New Endorser Sticks

Vic Firth Inc. is one of many companies enjoying the renewed popularity of Lenny White and Return to Forever and has released a new Lenny White autograph model. "We're excited to be working with Lenny White as he participates in this year's smash reunion with Return to Forever," said company spokesperson Mark Dyke.

At the same time, they've announced that Joey Heredia has joined the Vic Firth family of endorsers. Joey got his start years ago playing top 40 gigs to Latin audiences in East  L.A. when he was 18. But his big break came when he was chosen by Billy Childs to be part of Dianne Reeves band. His playing style generated considerable interest in the music community and led to Joey being hired to replace one of his idols, the unavailable Alex Acuna, in Tania Maria's touring band.  Joey’s amazing talent and incredible ability to play percussion and drum set at the same time has earned him much respect throughout the drumming community! Joey’s current trio consists of Marco Mendoza on bass and Renato Netto on keys. Vic Firth is currently developing a signature stick with Joey, which will be available in the near future.

For more information, please contact Vic Firth Inc. at http://www.vicfirth.com or phone: 617-364-6869; fax: 617-364-2571.

For Immediate, Rhythmic Release

Traps Magazine Sells Out Lenny White; Issue 6 Feature On Return To Forever Drummer: Free Download Available

San Jose, Calif., -- With Return To Forever receiving rave reviews, it should be no surprise that Enter Music Publishing, publishers of hip, drum/percussion magazines worldwide, has completely sold out Issue 6, featuring Lenny White on the Cover. As a result, Enter Music Publishing has made available the Lenny White feature as a free download at: http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/free-download-lenny-white-of-return-of-forever/.

The success of the Lenny White Issue is similiar to that of Enter Music Publishing's Issue 3, featuring John Bonham on the cover, which coincided with the reunion of Led Zepellin. However, in the case of Zepellin, the confirmation of the tour came after the magazine had hit the streets while the White feature gave a compelling discussion of his thoughts and insights regarding the upcoming tour.

Describing the current enthusiasm for Return To Forever's reunion tour, Phil Hood, editor of Enter Music Publishing, writes in an introduction to the download feature, " For fusion fans, the prospect of Return To Forever getting back together again after all these years (the group dis-banded in 1976) is akin to a Beatles reunion, and for the past few decades seemed about as unlikely. Corea was the lone holdout in recent years. While Clarke, Di Meola, and White had been lobbying for an RTF reunion, the three were unable to persuade Corea to take up the cause, until now ... "

Commeting further, Hood noted: This (the current Return To Forever Tour) is discussed at length in our feature and we want all fusion fans to have the opportunity to read about the reunion from the perspective of one of jazz fusion's most important drummers."

About Enter Music Publishing

Founded in San Jose, CA in 1992, Enter Music Publishing, Inc. is a leading publisher of drum/percussion magazines, with distribution in 30 countries. DRUM! is the flagship publication of Enter Music Publishing, Inc. and continues to set the industry standard for editorial quality and innovation. In addition to DRUM! And DRUM! Digital, the company publishes Traps and HOW TO PLAY DRUMS. Additional information about the company can be found at: drummagazine.com.

—30—

For further information contact Phil Hood at 408-971-9794 ext. 203.
Release by Josh Moscov PR, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Warped Tour 2007

Video Recap

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage.  Check out the videos.

• Warped Tour Interview with Dan Gluszak
• Warped Tour Interview with Frank and Adam
• Warped Tour Interview with Tommy Quinn
• Warped Tour Interview with Jon Wilkes
• Warped Tour Interview with Yesod Williams
• Warped Tour Interview with Nick Price
• Warped Tour Interview with Justin Foley
• Warped Tour Interview with Eron Bucciarelli
• Warped Tour Interview with George Schwindt
• Warped Tour Interview with Robert Ortiz
• Warped Tour Interview with Danny Cooper
• Warped Tour Interview with Tom Falcone
• Warped Tour Interview with Boz Rivera of the Real McKenzies
• Warped Tour Interview with John Reilly of Dig D and The Kids Table
• Warped Tour Video Interview with Jordan Mancino of As I Lay Dying
• Warped Tour Video Interview with Dango of Amber Pacific
• Video Interview with Anthony Kirkham of The Vincent Black Shadow - Warped Tour 2007
• Video Interview with Frank and Adam from the Street Drum Corps - Warped Tour 2007
• Video Interview with Eron Bucciarelli of Hawthorn Heights - Warped Tour 2007
• Video Interview with Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion - Warped Tour 2007
• Video Interview with Matt Whalen of The Matches - Warped Tour 2007
• Progressive Punk - Punk Interviews From The Warped Tour and Digital Magazine

Warped Tour Interview with Yesod Williams

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Yesod Williams of Pepper.

For more information about the band visit http://www.pepperlive.com

Pearl Artist News

Reports that Charlie Waymire, who is featured on the DVD for How To Play Drums 2 has unleashed Basher Radio. The new updated site features complete tunes from his album, with new music being updated regularly.

New Endorsers for Zildjian

Zildjian is happy to announce that drummers Chris Layton and John Blackwell have joined the company as endorsers. Layton, famed for his work with Stevie Ray Vaughan, says he decided to switch after hearing the Armand Series cymbals that Mitch Mitchell played on tour in 2007. Blackwell, legendary stickman for hitmakers such as Prince and Justin Timberlake also is now shooting his second DVD for Hudson Music.

Not the Best of Weeks

A bit of scandal hit the drumming world this week when Poison's Rikki Rocket, fresh from a tour of New Zealand, was arrested at Los Angeles airport and charged with rape in relation to an incident in 2007. Link...

Video Interview with John Reilly of Big D and the Kids Table

Warped Tour 2007

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with John Reilly of Big D and The Kids Table.

For more information on John Reilly of Big D and the Kids Table be sure to check out the official website.

Blink-182 and Travis To Tour This Summer

It's true. Blink-182, the band that brought Travis Barker to his inital fame, is hitting the road this summer, with more than 50 shows between July and October. Along the way they'll hit dozens of venues, including several shows in Las Vegas. Reportedly, the group will be supported with opening acts including Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, All-American Rejects, Taking Back Sunday, Asher Roth, and Chester French.

Travis Barker was in an airplane crash in 2008 and it was unclear as to whether a planned Blink reunion would take place. But Travis is feeling better and members Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge are eager to hit the road. this is the band's first tour in five years. Tickets go on sale May 30 on the Live Nation web site. and reportedly will be reasonably priced.

New David Garibaldi DVD and Tommy Igoe Clinic Tour!

David Garibaldi: Breaking the Code DVD! Now Avalable for Pre Order! The comfortable sound and feel of the funk style have become the rhythmic foundation of modern rock, pop, R&B and hip-hop music, and in Breaking The Code Garibaldi offers an overview of the general concepts and techniques used to create funk drumming’s characteristic sounds and infectious grooves while showcasing his own contributions to the style. Expanding on the information in his award-winning Code Of Funk book/audio package, and drawing from his experience with the legendary Tower Of Power, world-renowned drummer David Garibaldi’s new Lessons: Breaking The Code DVD provides some of the most insightful instructional content ever available on the subject of funk drumming.

For more information visit: hudsonmusic.com/site/products

Click here to check out 4 FREE videos from this new DVD - including 2 lessons, an interview and a video trailer! hudsonmusic.com/site/index

Tommy Igoe and Hudson Music are teaming up to bring you the Groove Essentials™ Clinic Tour!

For more information visit our Groove Essentials page: hudsonmusic.com/site/index

Tiger Bill's Speed Lesson #62: Increase Your Speed Around The Drums - Part 5

Many drummers sound great when playing on a practice pad but don't sound nearly as great behind a set of drums. That's because they've spent too much time practicing "static" speed and not enough time practicing "dynamic" or what I call "mobile" speed.

This series is designed to help you increase your mobile speed around the drumset. It is based on my concepts of Tension Free Drumming, which allow you to play at maximum speed, power, endurance, and precision while maintaining exact control over each stroke. If you missed any of the previous lessons, I suggest you work on them before moving to this one. They are designed to work best when practiced in the proper order.

Video Lesson
After studying the written exercise, watch the video clip. I first demonstrate the optimum method of playing the exercise slowly around the drumset. Then I show you how it sounds and looks when played up to speed. Although it is not easy to move around the drumset without tensing up your muscles, it can be done - with enough practice!

Single Hand Practice Is Important
This is the third lesson in the series that requires you to play around the drumset using only one hand at a time. Moving around the drumset using one hand is not easy to do. But when practiced enough to build these drills into your muscle memory, you will find that going back to using two hands around the kit is much easier than it was before. But that's coming up in our sixth and final segment. For now, just keep on working each hand separately around the drumset.

For more details on my concepts of Tension Free Drumming, visit www.TensionFreeDrumming.com. For drum talk in general, check out my Drummersblog.TigerBill.com.

Feel free to email questions on this month's lesson to me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Until next time: Stay loose and have fun!

Tiger Bill Meligari

Babaghanoush: Track By Track

Besides being a great fun word to say, Babaghanoush (the name refers to an eggplant dip, probably originally from Iraq or Iran) is a great listen. The music is a fusion of middle eastern rhythm and melodic elements with wildly inventive improvisations and masterful driving rhythms. The band is led by Jimmy Mahlis who plays guitar and fretless guitar, Jerry Watts on upright and standard basses, saxophonist Antti Suzuki and Ralph Humphrey. From the opening raga-esque notes of “Club Bollywood” , to the danceable Greek melodies of “Karapataki” to the blue eloquence of “Eleni’s Waltz”, this recording surprises and rewards close listening at every turn. Mahlis is a wonderful composer, and Ralph’s playing on the recording is nothing short of masterful. We asked him to break down how he approached recording each of the tracks on the CD Sudhumani.

DRUM!This tune opens very powerfully with you playing sort of a quadruple speed rhythm under the head.

RHI played the tune with a jazzy approach because the head is jazzy. The melody is modal in character and not really based on a harmonic structure either. It’s open and sort of like one chord but there is a little event that happens at the end of the melody which sort of changes the meter, and it goes into eight bars of drumming and four bars later on.

“Karapataki”

DRUM! This is a beautiful, very folky, very Greek tune and the guitar sounds like Nashville telecaster meets the Greek isles.

RH I first heard this on a recording I think it was unreleased with Tos Panos and Jimmy. I gave it a rock approach, a little heavier and tried to make it sound bigger. I’m really going for it banging the cymbals, sort of like John Bonham meets fusion. Jimmy is going for the quartertone effect on guitar, it’s like a Greek folk song in that respect. He’s playing a fretless guitar, which allows those bends and tones. I just try to keep the groove happening but really driving hard through the solos and making it really strong.

“Kufala”

DRUM! This is a beautiful ballad.

RH The approach that Jerry and I take here is based on instinct. Jimmy did not say what he was looking for. I play with brushes, and I took the snares off, and really tried to choose phrases that would erase the bar line. No big downbeats.

DRUM! You almost sound like a hand drummer.

RH I like to use the drum set so it gives the effect of a dumbek, it’s almost talking.

“Twirling”

DRUM! Is this song about whirling dervishes. For me it conjures images of gypsy woman dancing in a giant circle.

RH Something like that is probably where the tune comes from. The idea was to get it started and wind it up so it would have a frenetic climax and resolve in the end. It’s the longest cut on the record.

DRUM! "Open The Door, Lenio" is another Greek-influenced tune.

RH That’s as Greek as you can get, the rhythm in nine is 2-2-2-3. We keep that beat going all the way through and it’s a very intense piece, with all the sections sort of very traditional Greek structure.

DRUM! Jimmy's solo is amazing.

RH Jimmy is not your usual guitar player. He likes to get into something and work with it. Every time he plays the solo is different, he digs down and finds something that is inspiring and unique.

DRUM! Antti Suzuki sounds like an anti-saxophonist. He plays piano lines on sax.

RH He really plays beautifully, avoiding clichés. He’s also a wonderful pianist, by the way.

DRUM! I notice that throughout this record, you’re really playing grooves and anchoring the music, not necessarily dialoguing with the melodic instruments.

RH You'll hear some of that. Most of the time in this band I'm playing my function, just pushing the energy. You’ll hear some of that. Most of the time in this band I’m playing my function. In this band, the bass is most unusual because generally the bass is the center post, but here, he has to find out where he needs to go.

DRUM! The structure doesn’t wait for the bass player to provide the foundation.

RH Not at all, there is nothing to read and I have my role and Jimmy has his and the bass finds a creative place in between. It’s really folk music.

DRUM! A lot of folk music is really built with implied rhythm. People sat around campfires and sang and had flutes and this music is like that, the melody embodies everything.

RH That’s right it’s built from the top down, not from the bottom up.

“Aphrodite”

DRUM! This is a beautiful Greek modal kind of tune.

RH I call this the ECM style in which means straight eighth notes, erasing the bar lines, keeping it moving but without a lot of structured phrasing or patterns, you’re playing straighter. The texture there is very much the style of Peter Erskine, Brian Blade, Bill Stewart, Jack DeJohnette.

DRUM! How long did it take to record the CD?

RH We did all the basic tracks in two days and then came back did one more tune, because the recording went to Digital Heaven [laughs]. I think it was “Sudhamani”. It was produced by Ronin Murphy and mixed by Dennis Moody. Ronin Murphy and mixed by Dennis Moody. We recorded at Two Tone Studios in Venice. It was comfortable we took our time had two full days there. We tried to be relaxed but as you know, budgets don’t exist these days so we tried to be frugal.

Ralph’s Setup

I used Yamaha and Zildjian. For this record it’s a Maple Custom setup. I started with a 20” kick and because I wanted it nice and warm I used two heads. In retrospect I’d rather hear more attack on the kick drum and there were some other problems, but it sounds okay. The kick does not overpower the toms on the record. But they are very expressive. I’m very careful with tuning. I was using a great head by Remo called Suede. I find them interesting for jazz and this kind of music. It’s very warm, I like the attack. They last. I used a couple different snares. I used the 18” kick on Sudhamani and maybe one other tune.

DRUM! When you say you’re careful what do you mean?

RH I just mean that I really set them up just for that session. I then try to get the right sonic mix of drums for each tune. Like I used the 18” kick on Sudhamani and maybe one other tune. Then for “Karapataki” I pulled out the 10” I use 10, 12, 14, 16. With every tune, I’m varying the approach to the drums more than the tuning.

Here’s another example. I was doing the sessions for a show called “American Idol.” You might have heard of it [laughs]. We were recording those tunes in shorter versions than the originals and we were doing this a few days before they would be performed on television. My whole goal was to cop the original feel. So what I would do for the tunes is change the snare and that would change the whole character of the drum set. Sometimes I might change a ride. The engineer might come in and try to move the mics to get a different sound or mood but really I did it with snare drums and attack.

DRUM! Ralph, you’re the only guy who played with Frank Zappa and Kelly Clarkson. [more laughs]. How did you set the mikes for the Babaghanoush sessions?

RH Two overhead, a mike on each tom, two on the kick, one close and one further back. There was a hi-hat mike but we took it out. I was in an isolation booth. There was no opportunity for ambient mikes but it wasn’t necessary for this project.

DRUM! Can we expect a follow-up?

RH There will be a follow-up record. We’re already talking about that. We’re gigging in town and want to tour. You can get hold of the CD at www.babaganoushmusic.com.

2008 Warped Tour Interview - Chris Arredondo of the Briggs

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent three days performing on the Warped Tour in '08. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Chris Arredondo of The Briggs. In it he discusses Topper Headon, his new record and his new Spaun drum set.

Rob Birenbaum Joins Brady Drums

Percussion industry veteran Rob Birenbaum has joined the Brady Drum Company as Marketing and Dealer Relations Consultant. He will work on Brady’s efforts worldwide, but will focus on the company’s North American business.

Rob says “I am excited about working with such a passionate and creative drum maker as Chris Brady and his family to bring these exceptional instruments to drummers and to help the Brady brand become recognized for what it is - the most original boutique drum manufacturer in the world. I look forward to working with my fellow drum brothers and sisters so they can offer these unique drums and distinguish their stores from others.”

Rob is the founder and former owner of Drum Headquarters in St. Louis. He started the store in 1981 and built it into one of the most-recognized specialty music products retailers, before selling it to long-time employee Jim Uding in 2005. He also started HQ Percussion Products in 1988, which became the industry leader in drum practice devices. The company’s two main products, RealFeel and SoundOff are the most identifiable and desired practice items for drummers worldwide. He sold HQ to D’Addario & Co. in 2004.

Rob was the first retail member of the Percussion Marketing Council (known then as International Drum Month) and he is a co-founder and long-time board member of the Five-Star Drum Shops group. He has served as the organization’s manager since he sold Drum Headquarters. In addition to his activity in the drum industry, Rob owns a number of commercial buildings in an area of St. Louis that has undergone a stunning renaissance and he is a partner in El Scorcho, a fun and funky Tex-Mex/barbecue restaurant and bar!

“Rush: Moving Pictures” Songbook Now Available

LOS ANGELES, CA – Alfred Publishing is introducing the authentic drumset edition of Rush: Moving Pictures. This new songbook showcases the amazing, technical proficiency of award-winning drummer Neil Peart in perfectly transcribed note-for-note detail, so any drummer can accurately play these legendary tracks from Moving Pictures.

A favorite among Rush fans, Moving Pictures, has sold over 4 million copies and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard charts—making this one of Rush’s best albums, both commercially and critically. Now drummers can read and play Neil Peart’s phenomenal drumming passages, as heard on every song in the album, including “Limelight,” “Tom Sawyer,” and the instrumental track “YYZ,” which was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rock Instrumental category.

Rush: Moving Pictures, authentic drumset edition, is now available for $14.95. Formore information log on to alfred.com .

Meinl To Webcast the Meinl Drum Festival September 4-7

Meinl has announced that this weekend drummers around the world can have a front row seat to the Meinl Drum Festival (meinldrumfestival.com). Four webcams will be set up sending a new picture every minute. Unfortunately, there is no video yet—you’ll have to fly to Germany to see it live.

I just wanted to let you all know that as of right now we have four webcams online at www.meinldrumfestival.com sending a new picture (no video) every minute.

Currently there is not much to see yet, since most preparations will start tomorrow morning. Please also consider the time-difference from one part of the world to the other.

Tomorrow Thursday, all stage, truss, pa, sound equipment will be setup.

Friday all soundchecks will take place.

Saturday and sunday: festival

Monday: breakdown

Monday evening: webcams will go offline again.

MONTREAL DRUM FEST

CELEBRATES 16 YEARS ON OCTOBER 25-26

The Montreal Drum Fest, now in its 16th year, will be presented on October 25-26. The festival has become one of the most prestigious of its kind internationally and a meeting place for established drummers and percussionists.

Headliners are: Legend Lenny White (Innovation, Istanbul, Vic Firth, Remo), Simon Phillips (Zildjian, Tama, Pro-Mark, Remo),  Morgan Agren & the Mats/Morgan Band (DW, Sabian, Vic Firth), The Yamaha Groove Hour with Canadian drummers Paul Brochu, Mark Kelso and Larnell Lewis, Wolfgang Haffner (Meinl), Johnny Rabb (Roland) and Tommy Clufetos (Sonor, Sabian).

Also on the roster are:  Hakim Ludin (LP Percussion), Eric Velez, Jafet Murguia & Daniel Diaz (Toca), Markus Czenia (Pearl, Zildjian, Evans), Eric Boudreault & Waza (DW, Meinl, Remo, Regal Tip), and more to be announced.

For more information about the Montreal Drum Fest, contact Ralph Angelillo at 1-888-928-1726 (toll-free) or visit the festival web site:  www.montrealdrumfest.com

KOSA Announces Festival Lineup

International Percussion Workshop, Camp & Festival

The 13th Annual KoSA International Percussion Workshop, Drum Camp and Festival returns to the green meadows and mountains of Vermont's Castleton State College, July 30-August 3, 2008. This year's event features a world-class diverse mix of acclaimed artists on the faculty. These include:

• Memo Acevedo (Afro-Colombian & Brazilian rhythms)
• Cyro Baptista (Brazilian, World, Jazz percussion)
• Ignacio Berroa (Cuban & Jazz drumset)
• Mario DeCiutiis (electronic & mallet percussion)
• Marc Dicciani (digital drumset)
• Dom Famularo (drumset techniques)
• Gordon Gottlieb (classical, session, improv, drum circle)
• Arnie Lang (classical percussion ensemble)
• Marco Lienhard (Japanese Taiko)
• Aldo Mazza (world/drumset percussion)
• Allan Molnar (music & technology)
• Jonathan Mover (rock drumming)
• Emil Richards (jazz vibraphone)
• Lou Robinson (digeridoo master)
• Jim Royle (steel drum ensemble)
• Rajna Swaminathan (South Indian percussion
• Chester Thompson (fusion drumset, arena master)
• Rick Van Horn (real world drumming)
• Glen Velez (Frame drum master)
• Michael Wimberly & African Drum & Dance (rhythms of Africa)
• Nancy Zeltsman (classical marimba)
• KoSA Rhythm Section:
  • Oscar Stagnaro (bass guitar)
  • Rafael Alcala (piano)

“This year's KoSA IPW, Camp and Festival will be stunning,” states KoSA Founder and Artistic Director, Aldo Mazza. “Castleton State College has constructed several new spaces for us to work with, and the overall atmosphere on the campus is electric. Plus, the community at large is really enthusiastic about the return of KoSA to Castleton. We couldn't be more pleased with how things are shaping up. When you add in our amazing faculty we're all in for something on the order of magical.” Learn more: www.kosamusic.com

Warped Tour Interview with Tommy Quinn

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Tommy Quinn Of the Rocket Summer.

For more information about the band visit http://www.therocketsummer.com

Warped Tour Interview with Justin Foley

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Justin Foley of Killswitch Engage.

For more information about the band visit http://www.killswitchengage.com

Warped Tour Interview with Eron Bucciarelli

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with Eron Bucciarelli of Hawthorne Heights.

For more information about the band visit http://www.hawthorneheights.com

Warped Tour Interview with George Schwindt

DRUM! staffer Eric Kamm of the group Setoff, spent a week performing on the Warped Tour on 2007. After gigs, he went around interviewing drummers backstage. Here's his interview with George Schwindt of Flogging Molly.

For more information about the band visit http://www.floggingmolly.com

Paiste Expands RUDE Line

It's the cymbal line that will not die. For more than three decades Paiste's RUDE cymbals have been a hit with drummers. The RUDE series was developed in the late 70’s, when rock and metal were already well established and the punk made its debut. RUDE cymbals, with their un-lathed surface, uniform thickness, and aggressive frequency mix perfectly mirrored the unconventional trends of the time. Recently, the line has been expanded with new models based on consumer requests for additional choices in the line.

With the RUDE Wild Hats in 14" size, Paiste now offers a RUDE version of the recently introduced 2002 Wild Hats. Its wild, metallic, and harsh overall character, roaring open sound, fast attack with merciless shatter, and tight, barking chick sound makes it ideal for today's aggressive music styles. The RUDE Novo China in 18" and 20" sizes (a Paiste innovation) features a unique china shape that makes both the bell and downward turned china edge accessible at once. It's sound is bright and silky with a metallic character and a sizzling deeply layered china timbre that makes it a cross between a china and a crash. And,responding to the general trend for cymbals in larger sizes, Paiste finally re-launches the RUDE China in 20" size. This is a dark, rwa, extremely loud and nasty China. RUDE cymbals are made by hand in Switzerland.

For more information visit http://www.paiste.com.

NAMM 2008 Sneak Preview
from Peace Drums

The Winter NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show in January is the world's biggest musical equipment event. It's been described as the secret consumer electronics show that they won't let you attend, because passes to the event are rationed to music stores and manufacturers. We'll be reporting all the coming month on products that will debut at this year's event, which runs from January 17-21 in Anaheim, California.

First up are reports that Peace Drums will unveil the Neo Rebel Series kit. It combines a powerful, deep 9-ply mahogany shell design, with a menacing colored hardware look. For those who love modern designs, the Neo Rebel will be an object of lust in 2008. Drum sizes will include a 16"x22" Bass Drum, 10"x12" Tom, 11"x13" Tom, 16"x16" Floor Tom and a 5.5"x14" Snare Drum. You can see all the available colors at http://www.peacedrum.com/product_detail.asp?ID=105

Peace will be in booth #3470 at the Winter Namm Show.
Peace Musical Company.

Phil Hood

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