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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.
Harvey Mason
I have always been a sympathetic player. I’ve always been in situations where I felt I was backing someone else up, and the object is to make them feel comfortable so they can do what they do the best they…
Charli Persip1929–2020
In hindsight, Charli Persip uttered perhaps the most unintentionally comical two words of his life when landing the biggest connection of his drumming career. In 1953, the upcoming drummer was playing in the house band at the Piccadilly nightclub in…
Mike Clark’sPost-Bop Drum Book
Mike Clark is a jazz-funk pioneer. As a member of keyboardist Herbie Hancock’s legendary fusion band Head Hunters, he wrote the playbook on how to turn busy, displaced 16th-note grooves into some of the coldest, most-sampled beats of all time.…
The Modern Drummer Festival Returns!
Another year has flown by, and what a year it was! 2021 is here and with it a new beginning. Modern Drummer is as committed as ever in uniting and inspiring the worldwide drumming community. It was in this spirit…
Nick Mason’s
Mysterious Mirror Hi, Modern Drummer. I hope everyone there is doing well and is healthy and safe. I don’t really see your Ask A Pro section these days, but I have a question about Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason that has…
CRITIQUE
Puscifer Existential Reckoning Puscifer began its life as a joke in a Mr. Show sketch but has since become Maynard James Keenan’s creative refuge from Tool and A Perfect Circle. Existential Reckoning is the fourth full-length from the project and…
Liberty DeVitto’s Life, Billy and the Pursuit of Happiness
When conversations turn to great drummers of the classic-rock era, Liberty DeVitto’s name is invariably near the top of the list. After appearing on the scene in the mid-’70s, the New York native began a thirty-year stint with pop icon…
Max Roach on Promotion of Dummers
When drummers are playing, horn players should color the way we color behind them. To me, it’s a matter of imagination, and it also has something to do with humility. Drummers have a great deal of humility in order to…
CRITIQUE
RECORDINGS Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic, and Damu the Fudgemunk Ocean Bridges A delightfully swinging hip-hop-meets-jazz excursion that sounds composed yet is completely improvised. Ocean Bridges features tenor great Archie Shepp; his nephew, rapper Raw Poetic; and Earl “Damu the Fudgemunk”…
Be a Dreamer, and Don’t Stop Believing
I hope all is as well as can be for you in these still uncertain times. Since my last editorial, the world has gone a bit nutty, and we’ve all been going through some changes, frustrations, and fears. We all…
Single-Headed Toms: Cool or Not?
Very cool, bring them back!Lorenzo Rosmini I greatly prefer single-headed drums.Pete Wilson They provide that classic bark!@welafever The coolest!Pete Bultitude I’m adding 8″, 10″, and 12″ concert toms to add some high-end crack to my 13″, 16″, and 18″ double-headed…
“Color Toys”
This month’s KOTM is one of a number of different setups Brooklyn drummer Joshua Berrios likes to break out, depending on the gig. Joshua Berrios enjoys experimenting with drum setups, and from the photos he sent us, he has a…
Critique
Louisiana’s LeRoux One of Those Days The latest from this funky southern-rock institution shows the group still has get-up-and-go. LeRoux, sometimes known as Lousiana’s LeRoux, enjoyed some major-label success with their 1978 Capitol debut and have remained regionally active. While…
Chris Frantz’s Remain in Love
The Talking Heads never fit neatly into the grimy mid-’70s New York punk scene that bore the Voidoids, the Ramones, and Johnny Thunders’ Heartbreakers. Transplants from the Rhode Island School of Design, the band’s initial clean-cut aesthetic ran contrary to…
