Gear Reviews
Detailed assessments of the latest drum kits and accessories
Snare Drums from the Northup Drum Museum
The snare drum originated from the medieval tabor, a rope-tensioned drum used for military signals, it became a distinct instrument with sharper, brighter, sounds through innovations like screw-tensioning gut and coiled metal snares. Throughout the Middle Ages it was used to…
VOXEL Percussion: 3D Printed Drums, Sound Art in Audio Visions
In the beginning there was wood. And then clay, metal, plastic, fiberglass, acrylic and even glass to name a few! Seems like folks have been making drums out of almost anything they can stretch a membrane on and create a…
Roland VAD516
Roland VAD516 V-Drums Kit If you‘ve followed Roland’s Acoustic Design lineup of V-Drums over the past few years, you already know the story: full size shells, premium hardware, and an e-kit that looks like it belongs in front of a large audience rather than in the…
Artstruments MR1 Drum Mounting Bracket
In a previous review of Artstruments products, I explored the full display experience of the 5PK-L Drum Mounting Kit with its multiple brackets and LED lighting designed to turn a drum set into an elaborate art installation. The reality is…
New Yamaha Recording Custom Snare Drums: Aluminum and Stainless Steel
In Modern Drummer’s first look at the new series of Recording Custom Snare Drums, we looked at the Birch and Brass shell models. This time we are going to look at a few more shell versions of this storied series.…
Roland V-Drums 3 and 5 Series, TR 1000 Rhythm Creator, and CR-78 Software Rhythm Composer, DW 3000 Hardware Series Hardware Packs, True-Cast Snare, PDP Concept Series Locking Thrones, Concept Acrylic Kit and Snare, Latin Percussion City Timbales, Limited Edition Cherry Congas and Bongos
Roland V-Drums 3 and 5 Series Roland was showcasing the V-Drums 3 and 5 Series, two all-new electronic drum kit lineups based around the powerful V31and V51sound modules during The NAMM Show 2026 (Room 202, Level 2). These next-generation modules are part of a unified ecosystem with…
Zak Starkey’s Drums
Zak Starkey has long been regarded as the only drummer capable of adequately carrying the torch for The Who’s original drummer, Keith Moon. His 30-year gig with The Who, might have been considered a career highlight, but a lot has…
HHHusher
If you’ve ever recorded drums – or watched an engineer wrestle with a drum mix – you know one of the most hard-fought battles is microphone bleed. One particularly common occurrence is the hi-hat cymbals bleeding into the snare mic. Engineers try to squash it with mic placement, drummers adjust their technique, and in the end, everyone accepts a little bleed as “just part…
Yamaha EAD50
When Yamaha introduced the EAD10 drum recording system, it quietly rewired a lot of drummers’ expectations around recording. Clamp on a sensor, plug in a module, put on headphones, and suddenly you were producing a polished kit sound without fighting with mic placement, cable management, phase issues, and lost inspiration. It was a…
Slingerland Radio King Outfit 13/16/24 with 6.5 x 14 Snare Drum
Last year, after much anticipation, the Slingerland brand officially returned to the scene. Launched not as a reimagined modern version, but as a deliberate effort to reconnect with the brand’s original construction methods, materials, and tonal concepts that have helped define American drumming for decades. For this month’s Product Close-Up, we’re taking a…
JK Drum Systems: JK Hooves, Stabilize Your Drum Set!
Direct from the Netherlands comes “The Drum Positioning System of The World!” If you like to set up your kit the same way every time, you need to mark your gig rug with something. JK Drum Systems has an affordable,…
NEW PRODUCTS AND ENDORSERS FROM TOCA PERCUSSION, GROVER PRO PERCUSSION, AND THE AKAI MPC XL
NEW FROM TOCA PERCUSSION Toca percussion is proud to announce 15 new products including the Hannah Welton Auxiliary Snare Drum, the Boom-A-Drums, and our new innovation, the Talking Djembe. Toca is also proud to announce Eddie Montalvo as an endorser.…
History of the Early 20th Century East Coast Drum Companies
When we think of popular vintage drum makers, most of us think of Ludwig, Slingerland, Leedy, and Gretsch. The mid-western cities of Chicago, Illinois, Elkhart and Indianapolis, Indiana were the original homes of Ludwig, Slingerland, and Leedy. C.G Conn acquired…
Yamaha Recording Custom Snares: Birch and Brass, Wood and Metal
Yamaha Recording Custom Snares are considered by many to be some of the finest drums made for recording or live use. The attention to detail in any of Yamaha’s Recording Custom drums is second to none! The folks at Yamaha…
