Gear Reviews
Detailed assessments of the latest drum kits and accessories
DW - Collector’s Series Cherry/Mahogany Drumset
The Collector’s Series is DW’s flagship line, comprising a variety of single-species shell types (maple, cherry, and red oak) and hybrid mixtures, such as the poplar/maple Classics, the maple/gum Jazz, and the bamboo/birch Eco-X. Adding deeper- and darker-sounding mahogany to…
Istanbul Mehmet - Sahra and Kirkor Signature Rides
Mehmet recently added two 22" rides to its Signature series, the Sahra and Kirkor, which balance the dark, nuanced sounds of traditional Turkish cymbals with the control and clarity required by today’s drummer. Let’s check them out. TO READ THE…
DrumLite - LED System
Drummers Jeff Sevaldson and Joey Nesbitt established DrumLite in 2011 in an effort to pump up the visual appeal of the drumset. What they created is an easy-to-install LED system comprising RGB light strips with 3M foam-backed adhesive and a…
Snare Drum Effects - 16 Add-ons to Quickly Modify Tone
The snare drum could be viewed as a drummer’s most important voice and has helped define some of the drumming community’s most revered performances. Consider John Bonham’s deep, throaty snare on Led Zeppelin’s IV, which dominates tracks such as “When…
Product Close-up - Paiste Giant Beat and 2002 Sound Edge Hi-Hats
This year Paiste introduced a slew of new cymbals, including an entire line of heavily hammered 2002 Big Beats, signature rides for top artists like Carl Palmer and Danny Carey, and some massive hi-hats and rides in the 2002 and…
Product Close-Up – Evans Calftone Drumheads
Evans is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary with a tribute to the calfskin heads drummers used prior to the implementation of Mylar plastics. These new old-school heads, called Calftone, feature a layer of beige, subtly textured synthetic material over a clear…
Product Close-Up - Van Kleef All Titanium and B20 Bronze Snares
Sheffield, England–based VK Drums has quickly risen to the top of the high-end custom-shop heap with its elegant and highly musical range of snare drums. We tested a trio of titanium, stainless-steel, and aluminum models in the March 2016 issue,…
Product Close-Up – CRX Stack Packs
CRX is the China-made sub-brand of TRX cymbals designed to offer professional-quality sounds at competitive prices. The latest offerings from CRX include a collection of ten Stack Packs designed to create white-noise special effects. The collection comprises various combinations of…
Ddrum - Max Series Drumset
Originally a Swedish electronics company, ddrum began offering acoustic drumsets after being purchased by Florida-based Armadillo Enterprises in 2005. Some of ddrum’s acoustic drum innovations include the first all-ash shell and the more recent all-alder shell. TO READ THE FULL…
6 More Mobile Apps Every Drummer Should Know
According to a series of surveys conducted by Pew Research Center in 2015, sixty-four percent of Americans now own smartphones. And they’ve become increasingly useful for musicians. In the October 2015 issue of MD we took a look at nine…
Dream - Paper-Thin Crashes, TriHats, and Libor Hadrava Stacks
Since 2005, Dream Cymbals and Gongs has been providing competitively priced handcrafted instruments that are designed by professional Canadian percussionists and manufactured by expert metalsmiths in China. The company’s product line includes traditional Chinese effects (Lion, Han, and Jing), interesting…
Noble & Cooley - SS Classic, Horizon, and Walnut Snare Drums
Noble & Cooley’s history goes all the way back to 1854, when Silas Noble and James P. Cooley made their first marching snare drum in the kitchen of Cooley’s Massachusetts farmhouse. After moving production into a small factory, Noble &…
DW - Bass Drum Beaters
DW recently released a quartet of bass drum beaters that are designed to provide multiple tones and textures from a single source. The Black Sheep and Control Beater XL models were created in collaboration with top endorsers Rich Redmond and…
CooperGroove - GrooveGrip Performance Drumsticks
CooperGroove drumsticks feature a modification of traditional stick design with the intention of improving grip, stimulating pressure points, decreasing fatigue, and helping players who drop sticks due to sweaty hands. The namesake of these new tools is Chicago-area drummer Carlo…
