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Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
INDUSTRY HAPPENINGS
Zildjian’s 400th Year Anniversary Celebration As part of Zildjian’s 400th year anniversary celebration, the company has commissioned a special T-shirt honoring one of its legendary artists, Art Blakey. All profits from the new T-shirt will go to the NAACP Legal…
OUT NOW! March 2023 – Volume 47 • Number 3
Modern Drummer is spotlighting certain new recordings that have the drums at the center of their sound. These recordings might be drummer-led, or just include a high-quality, special, or unique drumming and musical performance from the drummer and/or musicians in…
Premier 1973 Alice Cooper Billion Dollar Babies tour kit
The kit shown here was created by Premier for Alice Cooper’s 1973 Billion Dollar Babies tour. According to a description posted on drummercafe.com in February of 2016, “This iconic mirror ball set consists of two 22” bass drums, three 16”…
Persistence
As I read this month’s Modern Drummer, I see a common theme, persistence. Unfortunately, as I look around the musical world (and the world in general,) I see less and less of it. There seems to be a lot of…
AJ’s Swampy Outlaw Kit
The most recent Kit of the Month comes to Modern Drummer from AJ Newton, who is the drummer for Nautical Rock Band Rusty Shipp based out of Nashville, TN. Michael explains, “Back in 2019 Michael Outlaw of Outlaw Drums built…
The Art & Challenge of Teaching
I am writing this on the last day of 2022, in preparation for my last semester of teaching full-time at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. Why am I leaving such a coveted job? The…
Phil Seamen: Percussion Genius, Legendary Rebel, and Born Raver By Peter Dawn
One day in late 2022, my phone rang, it was drum industry stalwart John DeChristopher telling me that fellow drum industry vet Colin Schofield was trying to get in touch with me. I emailed Colin only to learn about a…
Rogers 1960s Gold Louie Bellson and Sammy Davis Jr. Kit
This Rogers kit was originally owned and used by Louie Bellson in the 1960s. Noted drum historian and drum shop owner Steve Maxwell once owned the kit, and he provides the following description: the kit features two 14X24 bass drums,…
Under The Radar
We have all seen the lists on the internet: Underappreciated Drummers, Underrated Drummers, Unsung Drumming Heroes, Drumming Talents Deserving Wider Recognition… Why do so many drummers go under the radar? What does a drummer have to do to get some…
Ludwig Classic Maple, classic indeed!
Every Modern Drummer Kit of the Month doesn’t have to be a huge monster kit. Sometimes there’s nothing cooler than a classic four-piece kit. This month’s Kit of the Month comes to us from Jim Chronopoulos of Whitby Ontario, Canada.…
My Cup Runneth Over…
It’s been a good month. More precisely, it’s been one heck of a week. First, my wife returned home from being nanny and granny to our grandson in Italy while our daughter is busy filming a new show there. Much…
The 2022 Music City Drum Show
It was another difficult year with COVID-19 in our midst, but with vaccinations and boosters, people have started to venture out, live life, and enjoy live music again. One of the highlights of 2022 was the return of the Music…
Drum Workshop’s Don Lombardi and John Good and Roland’s Masahiro Minowa: A New Team for 50 More Years of Innovation
Upon the news of the purchase of Drum Workshop by Roland, and in celebration of Drum Workshop’s 50th Anniversary, Modern Drummer is excited to sit down with the primary players in this new musical dream team: Don Lombardi,John Good, and…
Drumsville! The Evolution of the New Orleans Beat
In Modern Drummer’s “Out Now” column, we usually spotlight several different CD’s, DVD’s, or books that have been recently released that feature notable drummers or impeccable drumming. But every once in a while, something comes along that deserves a little…