Features
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.
Gallery of Groove
Photos from the 2021 Modern Drummer Festival For the second year in a row, the global pandemic chased the Modern Drummer Festival to an online venue. But we were unbowed. Presented by the MD team and produced by Thom Mozloom’s…
Mareike Wiening
The Sounds of Emotion German composer, producer, and drummer Mareike Wiening views music as a series of conversations. Given her flawless command of the musical storytelling on her recent, eight-song release Future Memories , it may be convenient to envision…
Yoron Israel
Dreaming of Hope, Joy, and Aspiration Crystal balls always seem to be in short supply as we attempt to make sense of the world around us, but Yoron Israel must have had a cell-phone connection to the future when he…
Pegasus Warning
Inspiration and Versatility on The Late Late Show Normally a professor wouldn’t be on national TV every night of the week playing drums, but Guillermo E. Brown—known as Pegasus Warning—can be seen as the house drummer for the Emmy award-winning…
Mike Mangini
The Making of Dream Theater’s A View from the Top of the World It certainly does not suck to be Dream Theater. Founded 37 years ago, the band continues to cast a mammoth imprint across the progressive-metal field. Starting back…
The Art of Drum Replacement
Producer Jerry Stucker Shares his Sampling and Triggering Techniques Recording drums in the studio is far from a snap. Close mics on the toms, kick drum, and snare may introduce signal-phasing gremlins that can interfere with producing a muscular drum…
8 Tips for Playing Live Drums with Loops
Producing commercial drum tracks—especially in the pop, urban, and dance fields—typically means combining live and digital drums. Drum loops harness a world of sound that’s impossible to create on an acoustic kit alone, and there are infinite ways to use…
The MD Guide to Home-Studio Gear
If only you were a singer/songwriter. Then, all you’d need in your studio is a simple two-channel audio interface, one or two microphones, and GarageBand. But you’re not. You’re a drummer. So, welcome to the world of multichannel interfaces and…
Remembering Ron Spagnardi
Quotes from the Original Fearless Leader No plan. No staff. Just a grand passion, the personal savings of Ron Spagnardi and his wife Isabel, and the sweat entity of his dad and their daughter. There was little hope that a…
By the Numbers MD Covers Reveal Drum-Culture Stats
Forty-five years provides a lot of perspective on the artists, styles, and techniques Modern Drummer has covered, as well as how those subjects informed the drum community from year to year. Any magazine editor will tell you that choosing cover…
Toppermost of the Poppermost
Pop-Culture Triumphs, 1977-2021 Modern Drummer has reported on a colossal number of drummers in its 45-year history, but pop-culture doesn’t revolve solely around drums and drumming. (Drats!) Creativity does not exist in a vacuum. Other events tend to inspire, inform,…
Ian Paice
Recording Deep Purple’s Turning to Crime When fans and critics talk about the pantheon of British greatness in heavy-rock drumming, there are the beatmasters, such as John Bonham, Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Cozy Powell, Phil Rudd, Bill Ward, and so…
Tony Succar
Percussion Powerhous The brisk, social-media tidbit on producer/percussionist Tony Succar is that he is a wildly successful musician who has won two Grammys. There’s also the temptation to credit Succar’s accomplishments to some wild-eyed DNA profiling forged by his grandparents…
Lynn Perko-Truell
Punk-Rock Pioneer Drumming found Lynn Perko-Truell at a sweaty punk-rock show in the basement of a house in Reno, Nevada, and the spell that was cast transformed her into one of the iconic drummers of the hardcore and grunge scenes…
