Valerie Naranjo Presents West African Rhythms

Vic Firth and Pikes Peak Community College offer Colorado drummers a chance to experience one of the best percussionists on the planet this weekend when Valerie Naranjo, of the Saturday Night Live Band and Broadway's The Lion King present hand drums from West Africa. In addition, the PPCC Percussion Ensemble will perform as well as the Bruce Anderson Drum Circuit Community Groups. This event is sponsored by Vic Firth, Zildjian, the Green Room Music Complex, PPCC Music Department, and the Bruce Andersons Drum Circuit.

Drums of Illumination

Shrouded in mystery, the frame drum can be traced back to the Paleolithic era, and has been historically used as an ancient technology to alter consciousness in spiritual ritual. Images of women playing the frame drum are pervasive in artifacts of goddess traditions from ancient civilizations in the Near East, India, Greece, Rome, and other parts of the world.

Cover Story

Luis Conte Signature Congas And Bongos

Grammy-winning percussionist Luis Conte has put his years of experience and insight into the design of these MIPA-award-winning signature congas and bongos. Conte and Meinl have gathered the best components of old-school Cuban drums and coupled them with some hip modern innovations. These instruments offer top-notch craftsmanship and an incredible sound. And besides being great drums, they’re also cost-effective. So you get value, great sound quality, and attractiveness — what more do you need?

Features

PAS Creates Non-Western Percussion Contest

Non-Western percussion-based performing ensembles from around the world are invited to enter the Percussive Arts Society's World Music Percussion Ensemble Competition. The winning ensemble will be invited to perform at PASIC 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Cover StoryGear

Pearl Jingle Cajon

Pearl has long been a driving force in the world of drum sets, hardware, and drum-set accessories. But over the course of the last several years the company has been steadily branching out, expanding its percussion catalog with products that seamlessly meld hard-won traditional wisdom and forward-thinking design innovations. Enter the Pearl Jingle Cajon. Designed alongside Los Angeles percussionist Pete Korpela, the Jingle Cajon takes what is fast becoming the percussion-instrument innovator’s preferred palette to a whole new level.

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All In The Mars Volta Familia

You would be unlikely to point to Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez as the little brother of Omar, the notoriously ironhanded leader of The Mars Volta. Seven years younger with a mellow drawl punctuated by hip-hop-style damns and surfer-dude fer sures, Marcel is the Texas-bred prog-rock group’s wild card — the guy who does a little of everything in a way that couldn’t be done by just anyone.

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Cover Story

Lenny Castro: The Art Of Accompaniment

What can you say about a percussionist whose voluminous bio includes work with The Rolling Stones, Toto, Boz Scaggs, Stevie Wonder, Randy Newman, and even The Mars Volta? You can say, “That must be Lenny Castro.” And you’d be right.... MORE »

Cover Story

The Life Of Ray Barretto

Forever remembered as Mr. Hard Hands, Ray Barretto was an institution in Latin jazz, who separated himself from many of his contemporaries by putting more emphasis on the improvisational jazz that forever fascinated him while de-emphasizing his Latin influences. The great conguero never felt as if he had received the recognition he long deserved until the day before he suffered a fatal heart attack in January 2006.... MORE »

Lessons

Guiro Grooving

This month we are going to look at some widely used guiro patterns that should become part of your percussion vocabulary. Ex. 1 is a medium-tempo cha-cha-chá. Ex. 2 is a fast-tempo charanga. Ex. 3 is a slow-tempo dannón. Practice the faster patterns slowly at first, gradually bringing up the tempo when you feel comfortable.

Features

Ralph Irizarry Back With Ruben Blades

World-class timbalero Ralph Irizarry is back on the road with internationally-acclaimed Latin singer/songwriter Rubén Blades’ Todos Vuelven tour as a featured member of the Seis Del Solar band.... MORE »

Gear

Gon Bops California Series Bongo Trio

How low can you bongo?

Lessons

Video Lesson: Clave & Cascara

By Richie “Gajate” Garcia From DRUM! April 2009
Here are two patterns that go great together. The patterns will change hands in the second measure of each example.