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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.
The Power of Exciting an Audience
Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but Nandi Bushell is the youngest drummer ever to grace the cover of this magazine. (Honorable mention to 16-year-old Tony Royster Jr., who appeared on the January 2000 cover along with Dennis Chambers.)…
A Wealth of Options
Christian Morissette’s Rig is Ready for Any Style Christian Morissette is a psychologist in Quebec, Canada, who somehow finds the time to not only pursue his passion for drumming, but also to do session work, run a home studio, teach…
Sean J. Kennedy Salutes Ray Deeley
I studied drums and percussion with Ray Deeley while I was a high-school student back in the mid 1980s. Ironically, so did my wife, Heather, who went to a different high school about an hour away from where I lived.…
Experiential Healing and Drumming
Experiential healing is a therapeutic technique for consciously participating in our own physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual healing processes. It is healing with awareness and purpose to unlock feelings, thoughts, and pain that may be keeping us in patterns of…
Session Thoughts
From the MD Archives Modern Drummer has assembled tons of wisdom from incredible players throughout its 45 years, so it’s no surprise we have exhaustive data on how drummers approach their art in the recording studio. Here are ten quick…
Drum Miking on the Cheap
Many of us have read about the stellar, well-populated microphone cabinets of famous big studios that were used to record famous big albums. Fabulous luxury-mic manufacturers such as Neumann, Telefunken, Earthworks, and Coles get tossed around in these articles, and,…
Bobby Morris 1928 – 2021
When Bobby Morris first reached out to see if Hudson Music would be interested in publishing his autobiography, My Las Vegas, I had two concerns. First, “Do enough people in the Hudson Music audience know who he is?” And second,…
John Densmore
Modern Drummer, December 1982 “On the Doors albums, I always went for the drums to have real personality. I always had the bottom heads off all of my drums, and I hated new skins and new drums. I liked to…
How a Dave Weckl Performance Changed My Life
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Dave Weckl play the drums. At the time, I had heard Dave on records, but had never seen him play live or on TV. One fateful day, I happened to have the…
Who Is Your Favorite Post-Beatles Drummer on Any Former Beatle’s Solo Albums?
Apparently, the Modern Drummer community loves their post-Beatles drummers. When we reached out on our Facebook page to query you about your favorite drummers on the solo albums of Paul, John, George, and Ringo, we received quite a flurry of…
True Colors
Kenny Kuzniar Designs Kit to Celebrate His 30th Anniversary of Drumming Kenny Kuzniar did a bit more than throw a party to mark his 30th year of playing drums. Instead, the Saskatchewan, Canada, drummer worked with Dustin Drummond of Drummond…
10 Pieces of Wisdom from the MD Archives
In its 45 years of publication, Modern Drummer has collected essential data from thousands of remarkable drummers, percussionists, and educators. Throughout our 45th anniversary in 2021, we will offer some features that celebrate the musicians, editors, writers, and photographers who…
Fanny Hill, Fanny 1972
Fanny became the first all-female rock band to release an album on a major label when mega-producer Richard Perry signed the act to Reprise in 1969. Often missed is the other culture-changing element of Fanny—that, with Philippines-born sisters June (guitar)…
Ralph Peterson Jr. - A Look at the Life
Ralph Peterson Jr.—who came to prominence in the 1980s as one of jazz’s swinging, improv-driven “Young Lions”—succumbed to cancer on March 1. He was just 58 years old. Peterson’s commitment to bebop—as well as being an avid student of the…