modern drummer
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.
Remo Belli - How Time and Circumstance Gave Rise to the King of the Mylar Drumhead
Remo is one of the most well-known brands in the music industry. Its logo can be found in concert halls, school band rooms, recording studios, late-night venues, and even therapy sessions and hospital rooms. Remo Belli, founder of Remo, Inc.,…
IN THE POCKET - The Collapsing Concept in 6/8
The legendary drummer and long-time member of Tower of Power, David Garibaldi, emailed me last year with variations on a lesson I wrote for Modern Drummer’s March 2015 issue. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN
CONCEPTS - Drum Clinics
I had a conversation with an employee of one of the drum companies the other day. In this conversation, he said, “Drum clinics are a waste of time and money, and they don’t work anymore.” This struck me as very…
PRODUCT CLOSE-UP - Paiste
Swiss cymbal maker Paiste does a commendable job of balancing its catalog of creative, specialty products with more general offerings for all types of drummers. This month we have a small collection of cymbals to review, two of which were…
PRODUCT CLOSE-UP - Canopus Solid Brass and Harvey Mason Signature Snares
Canopus has been hand-building high-end drums in Japan since 1977, with the primary focus being on replicating and updating the most coveted sounds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN
PRODUCT CLOSE-UP - Shure PGADRUMKIT7 Mic Pack
It’s become increasingly common for drummers to bypass professional recording studios as they acquire the skills and tools to record from home. Shure has made a name for itself by providing some of the most reliable microphones available, especially gold…
Peter Erskine - Playing With Intent
Peter Erskine’s career has been like a highway that is constantly under construction, with numerous detours, side roads, bridges, sharp curves, hills, and intersections.
CATCHING UP WITH…Kenny Aronoff
He’s played with everybody, but he doesn’t get called just for his technique.It’s been more than thirty years since Kenny Aronoff first received national attention as the drummer on John Cougar Mellencamp’s hits “Hurts So Good” and “Jack and Diane.”…
CATCHING UP WITH...John Fred Young
Anyone who’s checked out Black Stone Cherry’s music videos might be surprised to learn that in conversation, the man who plays drums like a god of thunder is an absolute Southern gentleman. “We were very fortunate to be from a…
Jimmy Branly
He blends the best of Cuba’s intricate and colorful percussive tradition with a North American sense of swing and a firm command of 2 and 4—like Walfredo Reyes Sr., David Garibaldi, and Dennis Chambers all rolled into one, with the…
TEACHER’S FORUM - Those Who Can, Teach
Drummers today face increasingly difficult circumstances trying to earn a full-time living playing music. To make ends meet, many turn to instruction. I’ve outlined here some of the things I’ve learned over decades of teaching to help you if and…
BASICS - Six-Stroke Success
The six-stroke roll is easily one of my favorite rudiments. I was hooked on it after hearing the first few bars of the Temptations’ “My Girl.” This popular lick has crept its way into all types of music—from big band…
STRICTLY TECHNIQUE - Nine Over Two
The simplest way to think about a nine-over-two polyrhythm is by dividing each partial of a quarter-note triplet into another triplet. In this lesson, we’re adding accent patterns to this polyrhythm. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG…
ROCK ’N’ JAZZ CLINIC - Groove Construction
In the second part of this series, we’ll continue to create new grooves by displacing the snare drum. We’ll start with a basic pattern that consists of 8th notes on the hi-hat, snare hits on beats 2 and 4, and…
