gear

Buyer's Guide \

New Heads For 2010

To be honest, 2010 isn’t a banner year for new drumhead designs. But the trend — groovy graphics tattooed right on the business side — was oddly pervasive at NAMM.

Buyer's Guide \

New Hardware For 2010

Where engineering innovation comes into play — here are all of the pedals, stands, mounts, racks, and other metallic gizmos that debuted at this year’s NAMM convention.

Buyer's Guide \

New Electronic Percussion For 2010

Electronic percussion isn’t just here to stay, it now represents one of the fastest growing segments of the percussion market, as this year’s crop of shiny new controllers conclusively proves.

Buyer's Guide \

New Drum Sets For 2010

Big, juicy drum sets have always played a central role at the NAMM show, and this year’s expo was no exception (although we noticed a distinct emphasis on mid- to low-end models, presumably a reaction to last year’s sucky economy).

Buyer's Guide \

New Cymbals For 2010

Crashes, rides, splashes, Chinas, hats, and indescribably weird stuff — there were lots of new cymbals (and cymbal companies!) at this year’s NAMM show. You’ll find them all in this exhaustive report.

Buyer's Guide \

DRUM! Wishbook: Dream Cymbals

DRUM! Magazine's 105 Great Gift Ideas For 2009. Hot gear from Vic Firth, LP, Alfred Roland, Remo, Alternate Mode, Sabian, Pintech, Dream, Killer Rings, Hammerax, SKB, Axis, & More!

Buyer's Guide \

The DRUM! Wishbook Has Landed

Christmas trees. Percussion trees. Sleigh bells. Cowbells. Tiny Tim. Tom-Toms. If you're like us at DRUM!, the words you associate with Christmas include snare drums, new heads, and recording gear. And, just in time to help you choose some dandy drumming goodies for the holidays, the DRUM! Wishbook has arrived. It features info and specs on 47 different gifts, from electronic drums to heads to congas to DVDs. Check it out here.

Buyer's Guide \

MXL CUBE Microphone

MXL has been a presence on the pro audio scene for a number of years. The company was originally known as a maker of entry-level recording mikes, meaning that if you needed something decent but didn’t have a lot of money, you considered an MXL. About five years ago the company started introducing products that offered significant improvements in fidelity with only moderate price increases. For example, lower cost hook-up wire was replaced with cable from Mogami, one of the world’s leading names in studio-grade wire. People started to take notice.