Departments
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.
Simple Truths
It feels like a good time to state some simple truths… THE BESTS The best-recorded drum sounds (in my opinion)… Buddy Rich’s Rogers kit on the first two big band albums he recorded for Pacific Jazz. Wally Heider was the…
BE A FUSION DRUMMER
The word fusion gets a lot of use in this issue. Unfortunately, it’s become somewhat of a “bad” word in some musical circles. It’s (unfortunate) meaning has become the name of the style of music, born in the late 60s…
Clement Anthony “Clem Burke” Bozewski November 24, 1954 – April 6, 2025
Clem Burke is known as the influential drummer for Blondie, he was a member of Blondie from 1975 until his death and appeared on every Blondie recording and every hit. According to Burke, Blondie combined the influences of The Beatles,…
DeAndre Hemby's Teddy Swims Touring Kit
Drums: SJC Drums – 16×22 Kick, 7×8, 7×10, 7×12 Rack Toms, 14×16 and 16×18 Floor Toms, 6.5×14 Brass Snare, 6.5×14 Maple Snare.Heads: Evans – EC2 and EC Reso on rack toms; EMAD and EC Reso on floor toms; HD Dry on main…
Out Now June 2025
Modern Drummer is spotlighting new recordings that have the drums at the center of their sound. These recordings might be drummer-led, or just include high-quality, special, or unique drumming and musical performances from the drummer and/or musicians in the band. This…
Variety is the Main Ingredient, The Rule of Threes
365 days in a year. That’s 52 weeks. 12 months. 525,600 minutes. And so on. While some minutes will be more exciting, interesting, or pleasurable than others, every minute is to be cherished. Lucky you, just LOOK at how many…
Sonny’s Gold Sparkle Founders Reserve Kit
This month’s Modern Drummer Kit of the Month comes to us from Sonny Flint. Sonny’s main rock kit is a hand-crafted British Drum Company Founders Reserve kit with a Gold Sparkle wrap, roundover bearing edges, and Palladium hardware. The shells are Rock…
TWO MONTHS OF COVER INSPIRATIONAND ADVICE
Modern Drummer’s last two cover interviews should act as true inspiration and advice for drummers everywhere. John Hoffman came out of nowhere to earn the gig as the new drummer for Primus. There were other drummers competing for that gig…
Joe Letz' Till Lindemann Touring Kit
Drums: DW Collectors Maple in Matte Red – 18×22 Kick, 18×22 Gong Drum, 14×26 Kick, 16×6 Octoban, 8×12 Rack Tom, 14×16 Floor Tom, 16×18 Floor Tom.Snares: 6.5×14 Maple Snare, 6×12 Maple Side Snare, 7×14 Brass Snare (backup.)Heads: Evans – Main Snare: Heavyweight, Side…
Out Now May 2025
Modern Drummer is spotlighting new recordings that have the drums at the center of their sound. These recordings might be drummer-led, or just include high-quality, special, or unique drumming and musical performances from the drummer and/or musicians in the band. This…
Have You Been Practicing?
I’m no stranger to the mental time machine, going back a few or many years to revisit something I said or a choice I made. Of course, life does not allow us to go back and change history, but we…
Clearly, Daniel’s Dream Kit
This month’s Modern Drummer Kit of the Month comes from Daniel Fleischmann of Germany. He writes, “This is my dream kit just because of how it sounds. Acrylic is such a modern material but I was fortunate enough to do…
The Drum Community
Because of the passing of everybody’s friend Marco Soccoli, and the fact that so many drummers wanted to contribute their thoughts to Marco’s Modern Drummer tribute, I am thinking about the drum community a lot this month. The Modern Drummer…
Caleb Crosby's Kelsea Ballerini Touring Kit
Drums: Gretsch USA Custom in Satin Tangerine Metallic – 14×22 Kick, 9×13 Rack Tom, 16×16 and 16×18 Floor Toms, 6.5×14 2mm Copper Snare (main,) 8×14 Maple Matching (side,) 6.5×14 Bell Brass (spare.) Heads: Remo – Controlled Sound Coated on all Snares/Clear Ambassador…
